The Flame of the North releases today!

The Flame of the North is out there in the wild!

About the book:
Ten-year-old Mica hates the cold. Yet he’s bound by duty—and prophecy—to rule over the City of Winter as his grandfather’s heir. All signs seem to indicate that something is wrong and the reappearance of the Yuki-Onna in the Painted Hall is an additional worrisome detail…

The Flame of the North (North #2) follows Danis & Hana’s son as he attempts to fulfil the last portion of Dragon’s Prophecy.

Find out more: The North Series

BUY NOW!
Amazon | Kobo | iBooks | Barnes and Noble | Google Play | Smashwords

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In conjunction with Flame's release, and because I haven't had a giveaway in a while, here's a rafflecopter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What's Skyping Back in Time, you ask?

Well, Skyping Back in Time is a MG story written by a fellow Malaysian Writer, Agnes Ong. It won the Merit Award in the 2014 Calistro Prize and is a really lovely read. (Agnes also features in my book, Love in Penang, so obviously I like her writing :p) As far as I know, the only place you can buy this book is from the author herself.
Because I hardly ever keep children's books on my shelf AND I wanted to help a fellow Malaysian writer, I decided that I'll give it away to someone on the Internet! But someone on the Internet who lives in Malaysia because shipping is expensive, yo.

AAAANNNYYYWAAAYYYYY Giveaway is up for a week. Good luck!

(P/S: check back tomorrow for my review on Skyping Back in Time)

2016: a year in review

In preparation to write my year in review post, I went back through my archives and realised that I've actually been doing this for a long time.

Here are the previous year-in-review posts:
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015

So... what can we say about 2016?

Click to enlarge

Starting with the blog, simple maths says that this blog has garnered 48.6K views this year, which really goes to show that last year was an anomaly. And because I have apparently rediscovered my love for analysing figures and making graphs, here's a graph which shows you 2015 was weird:

Then again, my all-time top posts are mainly from 2015, so... *shrug*

Other than the A-to-Z blogging challenge (which I started doing in 2011!), this year's blog has primarily consisted of 3 types of posts:

• #musicmonday 
• Wednesday's #bookreview 
• #fridayflash posts

I have to admit, I mainly slacked with the flash posts because... well... lazy. And busy. And writing other things. But since the book reviews have been mostly consistent until December, here's a round up of my favourite books for the year!

Well, there were actually 16 5-star books, but the last one couldn't fit in my screenshot :P 

I don't actually know how Goodreads arranges these but here they are in alphabetical order on Amazon (affiliate links):

A Thousand Perfect Things (Kay Kenyon)

Beguilement [The Sharing Knife] (Lois-McMaster Bujold)

Book Launch Blueprint (Tim Grahl)

Cinder (Marissa Meyer)

Dissolution (Lee S. Hawke)

Indie Author Survival Guide (Susan Kaye Quinn) - there might be a 3rd edition out but I can't seem to find it

Just One Damned Thing After Another (Jodi Taylor)

Little Lord Fauntleroy (Frances Hodgson Burnett) - such a classic

Subversive Jesus (Craig Greenfield)

Take Back Tomorrow (Richard Levesque)

The Blind Pig (Elizabeth Dougherty)

The Ladybird Book of Dating (Ladybirds for grownups) - okay, this was a bit of a joke, but it's HILARIOUS

The Man with Two Pasts (Dan Rix) - this is the last book in a series, FYI. But it's a good series!

The Princess and the Captain (Anne-Laure Bondoux)

The Untold Tale (JM Frey) - OWAITOWAITBOOK2JUSTRELEASED

Zoe's Tale (John Scalzi) - this is book 4 in a series, but I read it without reading any other book of the series!

To read all my flash fiction for the year, follow this tag.

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Writing-wise, several things happened this year.

 

 

I released Coexist on 31 March 2016 with a semi-successful blog tour. (Okay, I don't know how successful it was, but I think it was successful? But maybe not, because several months later a friend says oh, I didn't know you launched.) At any rate, I have just approved a quotation to do a print run in Malaysia, so that should be out sometime... I don't know. January? Hopefully.

I wrote and released Anna's A to Z of Worship Leading, which was written for the A to Z blogging challenge, in May 2016.

Working with the Malaysian Writers Society (MYWriters) in Penang, we launched the first volume of NutMag, an annual zine which features writings from Penang! I had the privilege of editing this volume, and one of my flash fiction pieces is also included in the list of 10 authors.

I also sold a short story to Insignia Stories, but I'm not quite sure when that's going to be released. I was hoping it would round out the end of the year.

Lastly, Love in Penang (which I edited) is #58 on Fixi's all-time bestseller list, with something like 6.5K sales total (according to the publisher), whilst Cyberpunk: Malaysia (which includes a short story of mine) is at #82.

On to unpublished stuff, Flame of the North is also mostly done, just waiting for a cover and the editor. Dongeng is on its first draft and Absolution is kind of in the pits. But I'll get back to that in 2017.

I also submitted to a bunch of places this year and whilst half of them were rejections, one was an acceptance (Insignia, as above) and the rest are probably rotting electronically in the slush pile, I'm kind of happy with the volume of work I've produced. Even with the other whole bunch of non-starters and half-abandoned ideas. I really should start tracking my word count.

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Community-wise, the Malaysian Writers Society is A THING, like a real legit registered society, okay. And while we're still working out the kinks and trying to set things up right, it's still awesome cos it's happening, if you know what I mean.

Want to be a member? Here's how!

You can apply for membership here.

We pulled off registrations and a fest in Sept & Oct, leaving a lot of people very frazzled. I also got to lead a workshop on Self-Publishing! Woohoo!

In Penang, our events are moving at full force with weekly write-ins on Mondays at LUMA, a monthly write-in on the weekends (Sat/Sun - we swapped quite a bit this year) and not-quite monthly readings on the 3rd Thursday of the month. Not-quite monthly because we have a quarterly special which is often just a catchup/makan session. Oh! We also instituted the monthly critique as part of the Monday write-ins, which sometimes works but sometimes not. Oh well.

And, of course, the MOST EXCITING PART: our drop-in writing space at LUMA during the last week of November was an absolute BLAST.

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I also went back to acting for a short while, doing W;T with the Penang Players.

One of our publicity shots. 

I also turned down a chance to act with them in 2017 because I didn't like the script. But maybe I'll go for another audition in Feb. I don't know. I DON'T KNOWWWWWW. I might be in a cave by February trying to align timelines and stuff, so, yeah.

We (I) also tried to kick-start (again) a drama team in church, but whilst we did do one show during Occupy Beach Street and in church followed by a Treasure Hunt for Christmas Eve, I don't know how or if it's going to work out. Right now, I'm thinking it's a non-starter.



I also joined a choir.

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I don't really know what else to add here. I think I've covered the main stuff: blog, writing, acting... I updated my website (again) and created another website and if you think it's pretty, it's only because of the wonders of drag-and-drop templates. And canva.com, which makes life simpler.
And this post is getting too long.

So, goodbye, 2016. You have been an interesting year.

Post #atozchallenge reflections

I'd wanted to do this reflection post earlier (like say Monday) but life got in the way, the same way it's been doing all through April.

My goals for the challenge, other than finishing the challenge, was to visit and comment more on other participants' blogs. So how did I do?

I finished the challenge.
Yay! Though I "cheated" a little bit - I wrote some of the Friday and Saturday posts really late... as in... I posted Friday's post on Saturday (hey, it was still Friday in the US) and the Saturday post on Sunday. But... well, I did it. So now I have a brand new fairy tale!

I visited a lot of blogs.
Okay, mainly because I had to, being part of #teamdamyanti. I could have done a better job of it by visiting more often, instead of when Damyanti was asking for reports (heh heh) but... well... I was busy and tired.

I lagged a little on commenting.
One thing about April was that I was out most nights, so when I visited blogs during lunch time in the office, or after office hours, I couldn't leave comments for all of the Wordpress sites. So I ended up commenting only on blogger blogs or those which weren't Wordpress based.

So overall... I'd say that this year's A to Z challenge was pretty successful for me - though not as much as I'd hoped for.

Well, there's still the road trip to consider...

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P/S in other happy news, Love in Penang has gone for its 3rd reprint! :D

Related articles

• The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge Reflections Post 2014 #atozchallenge
• #AtoZChallenge Reflections Post: Have I Thanked You Yet?

Announcing the #loveinpenang #giveaway winners!

Our two winners are Aila Namira Azizul from Malaysia and Samantha from Australia!

I'll be sending an e-mail out to the winners soon!

Congratulations! And a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to all who entered!

#atozchallenge: Fairies

Previous: Elves

Jane awoke to the smell of bacon. A smile spread upon her face as she sniffed. Then she opened her eyes and sat up with a jolt.
“I wasn’t dreaming,” she said to no one in particular. She got off the narrow bed, stopping to smooth down the sheets and fold the blanket before turning to inspect the place. In the light of day, the little cottage looked positively cheery. She followed her nose and her ears through an open doorway, where she saw Ataneq stooping over a low fire, pan in hand.
“Good morning, Jane,” he greeted her.
She returned the greeting, studying him with great curiosity.

“So… what were you doing out here last night?” Ataneq asked as they tucked into their breakfast. They were seated on the ground at a low table that Ataneq had pulled out from a corner of his tiny kitchen.
“I was picking herbs for my mother’s medicine. I lost track of the time and it started to rain,” she hesitated. “I've been past here many times before but this is the first time I've seen your cottage.”
“Oh, you've never looked hard enough,” he replied. “It’s hard to see wood amongst wood.”
“No, but I've been through these woods almost daily - hey!” Something tugged at bacon, making it jump off the fork.
“But never at twilight.”
“Stop that,” Jane said, stabbing at the bacon that was jumping back and forth. Ataneq glanced over and chuckled.
“Here,” he said, reaching over and cutting off a lump of bread and placing it on Jane’s plate. “Now show yourself.”
A winged girl about as big as Jane’s palm materialised. “You spoil my fun, dog-man,” she grumbled, flitting over to land beside the bread.
“You don’t eat bacon anyway, Petals,” he replied.
“What are you doing here, human?” Petals cocked her head to the left as she peered at Jane.
Jane repeated her story, watching the fairy’s expression. It wasn't exactly hostile or mean, but it was unnerving all the same.
“You need to leave,” Petals said.
“I am leaving. Right after breakfast.”
Ataneq shook his head. “You can’t. The portal only opens from twilight until midnight.”
“What? But I can’t -”
“She needs to leave now.” The fairy turned to Ataneq, ignoring Jane.
“She can’t go back until the portal opens tonight,” the adlet repeated.
“Even so, she can’t stay here.”
“Why?” Ataneq said, holding up a hand to silence Jane’s protests. “What do you know?”
“The Fairy Queen is angry. I can feel it in my soles to the tips of my wings. Do not court the wrath of the Queen.”
“I don’t understand,” Jane said.
“The treaty was broken twice last night, human, evidenced by your presence here. The Fairy Kingdom has been breached, and you, dog-man, are harbouring a fugitive. Not that I care what happens to you,” she smiled almost sweetly at Jane, “but I do like to keep my friends out of trouble. So, dear girl, as much as Ataneq likes you, you must go.”
“I don’t bow to the Fairy Queen,” Ataneq said after an uncomfortable silence. “She remains my guest until she is able to leave again this evening.”
“You don’t bow to her, maybe, but you still do live in her land, under her rule. Think about that.” Petals glared again at Jane before zipping away.
“Will she -”
“She won’t tell,” Ataneq interrupted. “She’s a good friend. But we must find ways to keep you hidden.”
“Why does she hate me so?”
“The fairies have not been treated well by humans, Jane. It’s a generational grudge she bears, not any personal animosity for you. Her ancestors were once enslaved by men a long time ago.”
“What was the treaty she mentioned?”
“I don’t know. I keep to myself as a stranger in this land - this was the first time Petals brought it up. I don’t like the sound of it.”

Next: Ghillie Dhu
Back to the theme list.

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From Wikipedia:

A fairy (also fay, fae; from faery, faerie, "realm of the fays") is a type of mythical being or legendary creature in European folklore, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural. Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term fairy offers many definitions. Sometimes the term describes any magical creature, including goblins or gnomes: at other times, the term only describes a specific type of more ethereal creature or sprite.^[1] Various folkloristic traditions refer to them euphemistically, by names such as wee folk, good folk, people of peace, fair folk (Welsh tylwyth teg), etc.^[2]

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Monday plug: Love in Penang giveaway runs for another 3 and 1/2 weeks! Enter NOW.

#atozchallenge: Centaur

Previous: Baba Yaga

Sometimes a good gallop was what was needed to clear one’s head. So Charon thought as he galloped around the open field, stretching his muscles, putting on some serious speed. He came to an abrupt stop. There was something strange in the air tonight. He lifted his head and sniffed carefully, cursing his muted human nose. There were somethings horses just did better. Still, he could sense that something wasn't right. Something - he spotted it, a little shadow at the edge of the forest. Curious, he trotted over. And backed away.
The child stared up at him with wide eyes. Charon looked over his shoulder, wondering if he could gallop away and let the child think that she was dreaming. But no - she was reaching out to him, holding her hand out as if to touch him.
“May I touch you?” she asked shyly at the last minute.
“I suppose you could,” Charon said uncertainly. He knew he was going to get into trouble with Alexei and the Council. But what was the child doing out alone in the middle of the night? Her touch was gentle and hesitant; she stood on tip toes and stroked his flank with awe in her eyes.
“What are you doing out here?” he asked.
“Mother is sick and Jane didn't come home,” she said. “I thought I would help look for her, but I got lost.”
Two children lost in the woods? Charon thought to himself. How like a fairy tale. I suppose one of them will turn out to be a princess or end up marrying a prince. Or maybe eaten by a witch. Isn't that how all the stories go?
“What are you called?” the child asked, interrupting his thoughts.
“I am Charon,” he answered. “What is your name?”
“Mary. But I mean, what are you?”
“Why, do you not know? I am a Centaur,” he drew himself up proudly.
“A Centaur!” Her breath came out with a whoosh. “Father always said that those were children’s stories.”
“Aren't you a child?”
“Well, yes. I always supposed he meant that it wasn't real.”
Charon almost whinnied in annoyance. “Not real? I’m as real as you are.”
“Yes, but I suppose he couldn't know, not having met you.”
“At any rate, isn't it time you went back home? The moon is high in the sky - now is not a time for children to be out.”
“Yes, but I got lost.”
“Ah, there is that.”
“Do you know how to get back to my home?”
Charon shook his head. “We stay clear of all human habitation. I could bring you to a village, or point you in the right direction, but I wouldn't know if that were yours, so to speak.”
Mary sighed unhappily. “I don’t suppose you've seen Jane wandering about somewhere either, have you?”
Charon shook his head. He ran his fingers through his thick hair teasing them out of their sweaty clumps as he considered what to do. Then he looked up at the sky, tracing the arch of the stars with his eyes. “I suppose I will take you to the nearest village. It’s somewhere in that direction. Come along.”
Mary took his hand as they walked through the forest. Charon stared at her for a while, but didn't shake off her grip. He frequently looked up at the stars to check if they were going in the right direction.
“Can you tell the future?” Mary asked suddenly.
He narrowed his eyes. “Why do you ask?”
“Only Mother said that Centaurs could read the stars and I really wanted to know if she would get well again.”
“Hmph. We don’t foretell the future in that way. We read the signs of the times, but we’re not concerned with the individual workings of humans or horses.”
“Oh.”
“Anyway, we’re here, I think.” He pointed at a well-worn path through the forest. “This should lead you back to your village - or a human village, at any rate.”
“Won’t you come with me?”
Charon shivered. “I’m sorry, I can’t. I’ll be in enough trouble from letting you see me, as it is. We don’t like showing ourselves to humans. You - you won’t say you've seen me, will you? To any human?”
“I wont,” Mary promised. “Thank you,” she said as she let go of his hand and stepped hesitantly onto the path.

Next: Dryads
Back to the theme list.

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From Wikipedia:

A centaur (/ˈsɛntɔːr/; Greek: Κένταυρος, Kéntauros, Latin: centaurus) or hippocentaur[1][2][3] is a mythological creature with the head, arms, and torso of a human and the body and legs of a horse.[4]

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Need some love? Check out my giveaway here!

#atozchallenge: Baba Yaga

Previous: Adlet

“What happened then?” Jane waited for Ataneq to continue, but he seemed to be caught up in his memories. Eventually, he shook his head and looked up at her with a wistful smile.
“I took what they could give me - blankets, what food they could spare, a mended spear. As I left, they played the drums and chanted to drive away the evil spirits. I travelled for many days, over tundra and ice alike, always following the setting sun. Before long, I left the familiar places of my youth, continuing on until even the trees changed and the snow melted, until one day people stared at me with curiosity rather than fear. I knew then that I had left the land of my people. Now it was the name of Baba Yaga that terrified them, rather than what I was.”
“Who was she?”
“Was? You mean ‘is’, I think. I’ve not heard of her death yet, though she has lived for hundreds of years. She’s a frightening old woman, weathered and wise. She can be friend or foe, defender or accuser. One does not search for her lightly, and yet, I did. I wonder now at my innocence. Maybe I was too desperate then to be afraid, or maybe I felt I had nothing left to lose. After all, I was feared by my own people, though I was nothing to be afraid of. So I searched for her, asking everyone I could. Most would not answer me, and those who did were increasingly vague. It was like picking out a specific snowflake from a drift of snow.”
Ataneq looked up to see that Jane had fallen asleep by the fire. Tenderly, he picked her up and laid her on the bed, tucking her under the blankets. She stirred.
“Did you ever find her?” she asked sleepily.
Ataneq settled himself by the bed. “Yes, I did. Word of my search soon spread and one day, I found Baba Yaga waiting for me in a snowless clearing.


“Mother, can you help me?’ Ataneq asked, approaching the old woman with caution. He tried to stop himself from staring in awe at the hut that squatted behind her on long, spindly legs. 
“Why should I help you, foreigner?” She didn’t lift her eyes from her mortar and pestle.
“Because no one else can, Mother. The shaman of my home has sent me to you.”
“He has, has he? And why does he think that a crone of Rus has power over that which the seas breaks against? Is not the sea more powerful than a mere woman?”
Ataneq shrugged. “I do not know, Mother. But you are my only hope. Can you help me?”
The old woman stared at him with sharp eyes, seeming to see into his soul. “What will you do for me in return?” she finally said.
“I have nothing to offer,” Ataneq stammered. “What do you wish for?” 
Baba Yaga shook her head, clicking her tongue. “Come back when you do,” she replied, going into her hut. 
He watched despondently as the hut rose on its legs and wandered deeper into the forest.


Checking that Jane had truly fallen asleep, Ataneq curled up by the fireplace, pondering the long-forgotten question.
“What do I have to offer?” he asked the crackling fire. After a hundred years and a million steps, he still did not know.

Next: Centaur
Back to the theme list.
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From Wikipedia:

In Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga (/ˈbɑːbə jəˈɡɑː/) is a supernatural being (or one of a trio of sisters of the same name) who appears as a deformed and/or ferocious-looking woman. Baba Yaga flies around in a mortar, wields a pestle, and dwells deep in the forest in a hut usually described as standing on chicken legs. Baba Yaga may help or hinder those that encounter or seek her out and may play a maternal role and has associations with forest wildlife. According to Vladimir Propp's folktale morphology, Baba Yaga commonly appears as either a donor, villain, or may be altogether ambiguous.

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Reminder! The Love in Penang giveaway runs until 5/1!

#atozchallenge: Adlet

Jane kept a wary eye on the sky as she hurried along the path. Everyone knew that you shouldn't get caught out in the forest when the sun began to dip - and here she was, the sun dangerously low and a storm brewing.
“Were those herbs worth it?” she imagined the village sentry asking, refusing to reopen the gates. “Of course they’re worth it,” she mumbled under her breath. What else has been sustaining Mother? But she had gone too far and forgotten the time. A howl echoed in the distance. Jane hiked up her skirts and tried to run.
Barely thirty steps later, the rain began to pour down in torrents. “Who shelters in the forest at night? Only stupid girls like you,” she berated herself, scanning her surroundings for a place to wait out the storm. A dim light just off the side of the path attracted her attention. Her hesitation lasted seconds.
The neat little cottage was quiet.
“Hello?” Jane called as she hurried under the shelter of the porch. She wondered at the lack of the customary lamp by the doorway; the light she had seen shone through a single window. “Is anyone home?”
The door opened at her touch and she called out again. Nothing stirred, so she closed the door and hurried to the fireplace. She had almost fallen asleep in the warmth when the door slammed shut behind her.
“Who’s that?” she asked, her voice thin and shrill in her ears.
There was the sound of scuffling before a deep voice answered, “Shouldn't I be the one asking who you are?”
“I’m sorry, I didn't mean -”
“No, don’t turn around!”
Jane froze.
“You - you can stay. But - just don’t turn and look at me.”
“What’s wrong with you?” Jane tried to speak in measured tones.
“No - nothing. You’ll just… Just don’t.”
Jane kept her eyes on the fire, trying not to react to the noises behind her or the growing smell of wet dog. “What are you?” she finally asked.
Sudden silence. “What do you mean?”
Taking a deep breath, she turned around. The face of a young man stared at her, his eyes widening in horror. His four feet scrabbled against the wooden floor as he backed into the corner, holding out a towel as if to hide himself.
“What are you? Half man, half dog?”
“I’m an adlet. I won’t harm you,” he said quickly. “I don’t eat humans. I mean, there are some who - but I’m not - I don’t.”
“You were the howl I heard in the forest,” she said in a near whisper.
“You heard me?”
“Were you following me?”
“No, I was out hunting. I didn't know you were in the area. The rain washed away your smell.”
“You don’t smell that great yourself.”
He blushed. “I was caught in the rain.”
“You’re shivering!” she exclaimed. “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you,” she said as she approached him. “You’d better come to the fire and dry out.”
They stared at each other, each trying to judge the other’s intentions.
“I’ll go this way,” he gestured to the left, “and you can stay that way.” Jane nodded. A comfortable distance maintained, the adlet sighed as he settled down beside the fire. Jane sat opposite him, watching him with curiosity across the hearth.
“Do you have a name? I’m Jane.”
“Ataneq.” He stared dreamily at the fire. “Once, a long time ago, I used to be human.”

The transformation had taken Ataneq by surprise. 
“What have you done, Keelut?” he cried at the fleeing back of his attacker. Picking up his broken spear, he trudged back to the winter encampment. 
He was greeted by the points of many arrows, spears and harpoons. Eventually Qannik took wary steps towards him.
“What is it, wife?” he asked, dropping his hands to his sides. “Why do you cringe from me? What have I done?”
“Ataneq - you are - you are not welcome here anymore.”
“What?”
“You would be a danger to our children. And you know we cannot spare any eyes to keep watching over you.” And you would hate it too, she added silently, hoping that he would understand. 
“You know I wouldn't eat them. You know I have more honour than that!” Ataneq protested. “I would give my life to protect my people!”
“We know, but you wouldn't be able to hunt either. You can’t bear your responsibility to this tribe.”
“Will you come with me?”
She looked down at her feet.
“You must go alone, Ataneq.” Ataneq looked up to see that the shaman had approached them, still in his mask, as if he had just emerged from a trance.
“What have you seen?”
“The spirits say this is an evil thing, too strong for them. But I have heard the echo over the wind. One who may help.”
“Who?”
“Baba Yaga.”
Ataneq frowned. “Who is he? I have not heard of him.”
The shaman shook his head. “She is not of our culture. She lives where the sun sets. That is all I know.”

Continuing in Baba Yaga on 4/2!
Return to theme list.
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From Wikipedia:

The Adlet (or Erqigdlet) are a race of creatures in the Inuit mythology of Greenland, as well as the Labrador and Hudson Bay coasts. While the word refers to inland native American tribes, it also denotes a tribe with dogs' legs and human bodies.^[1] The lower part of the body of the canine Adlet is like that of a dog and their upper part is like a man's. All Adlet run quickly, and usually encounters between men end up in battle, with man as the victor.^[2]

In Inuit lore, they are often portrayed as in conflict with humans, and are supposed to be taller than Inuit and white people.^[3] In some stories they are cannibals.^[4] Inuit from Labrador use the term Adlet, tribes west of the Hudson Bay use the word Erqigdlit.^[1] The monstrous race begotten by the Adlet was identified with inland native Americans by the Labrador and Hudson Bay tribes; Inuit from Greenland and Baffin Land, which had no native American neighbors, use the term to refer to the half human, half canine creatures.^[5]

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P/S in other matters, visit the GIVEAWAY page to win a copy of Love in Penang! (Yes, I edited that. IT'S ME!)

Friday Flash, A to Z, Divergent, Books and rambling about everything else!

I was thinking of doing a Friday Flash, but I think I need to concentrate on working out my A to Z posts. I'm working on E right now, and it seems the Elves want to fight over some obscure treaty or covenant that the men (or rather, the one man in trouble) have no clue about. I still have a long way to go and looking at the rate I've been writing... this does not bode well.

In other news, I've just watched Divergent. And Four, oh, Foooouuuurrrrrrr. *sigh* I don't know if I would fangirl enough about Theo James, but Four. Mmmmm =)

Comic-Con 2013 - Thursday (Photo credit: robjtak)

Okay, maybe I should finally go read the book. Which has been sitting in my TBR list for a few years. But...

In other other news, I just bought 30 books at the recent Big Bad Wolf box sale. My unread shelves are overflowing. I have 3 or 4 books in my Kindle/iPad waiting to be reviewed. I don't know how to arrange books on my shelf anymore. I need more shelves.

Oh and GIVEAWAY! Go get some love with my giveaway now!

*heads back to writing*

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P/S we're hopping within the hop for Supernatural themed A to Z. If you think you fit the bill, join here!

#atozchallenge: the great and awesome theme reveal! #atozreveal

Back in December I was on a nature walk (haha, so unlike me) with my uncle’s family up in Cradle Mountain, Tasmania. Part of the trail was covered in planks, and it was pretty cold (at 6am!!) so there was frost on the ground. It was pretty magical. My head started filling with fairy stories, and then it struck me - how come all the cold places have really nice fairy tales? (Or at least Disney-fied ones?) Eastern folk tales seem to be more gory and scary and not (yet) cleaned up for kids - they seem targeted to frighten, rather than to inspire. I placed the idea out of my head until I visited in South Lake Tahoe, California in January and had my first experience ever of snow. That’s when I started to think seriously about it.

Snow. Wonder. Magic. Magical places. Fairy tales. Fairies and pixies and imps. Noble centaurs, light-footed elves and gruff dwarves. Dragons that swooped overhead, regal and majestic. I've always loved me a good fantasy story anyway, especially when there’s magic involved! Some of my favourite writers include Robin Hobb, JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, Brandon Sanderson, Lynn Flewelling, Terry Pratchett and Garth Nix. It’s all magic, magical systems, strange and wonderful lands and lots of different sentient, maybe magical, species.

In some of my recent writings, when I’m not being contemporary, I’ve also been toying with writing in a more fairy tale style. A little archaic sometimes, with some old-world charm (I think).

Putting all of these together, I’ve come up with my A to Z theme:

flash fiction: mythical creatures

Some of these stories will be inter-related. Some of them aren't. It really depends on where the stories have taken me and the places they've led me to. I hope they take you to magical places too. Because of my snow bias, I'm going to be more Western/European biased as well, since I grew up on British books anyway. I apologise in advance if the places aren't quite as real as they should be (especially if you actually live there) because there's only so much wikipedia can tell me about places I've only been to in books. Feedback is always welcome!

I'll be updating the index as I continue writing (as they may change as I continue writing). Links have been added to the pre-scheduled posts (that I'm really lagging on!) but you won't be able to get to the posts until they actually go live! So BE PATIENT.
P/S They're all scheduled for noon Malaysian time (+8GMT) so if you live somewhere further West you won't have to wait as long as those in the East. 

Index:

• Adlet
• Baba Yaga
• Centaur
• Dryads
• Elves
• Fairies
• Ghillie Dhu
• Half-elf
• Imps
• Jaculus
• Kelpies
• Leanan sídhe 
• Mermaids
• Naiads
• Ogre
• Phoenix
• (Fairy) Queen
• Ragana
• Sylph
• Trolls
• Unicorn
• Vila
• Wyrm
• Xiuhcoatl
• Yara-ma-yha-who
• Zână

In conjunction with A to Z, because I think it's a great blogfest, I'd like to give YOU a chance to win a copy of my book, Love in Penang. The giveaway will run from today (woohoo! Theme reveal!) all the way through April. More details are on the dedicated giveaway page here.

2022 update: Deleted old code. This A to Z Challenge has been compiled (and edited) into a novella, which you can get here!

2013: a year in review

I suppose I need to wrap up the year somehow.

Work life

A major milestone of the year, I suppose, would be that I completed 7 years with KPMG... and left. (Read my farewell post here.) Clearing off the backlog and cleaning up the table was an accomplishment in itself!

A feat only accomplished once in a lifetime...

Writing life


It's nice to close the year with a new book on the shelves and to know it's been doing quite well, all on its own. Okay, I shouldn't say "new book" as if I've been doing this regularly - Love in Penang is the first book I've published with Fixi Novo. If you count my self-published ebook Stories from A Place to Call Home from 2012, this is my second book released to the world!

Had a lovely surprise walking into Borders in Queensbay Mall last night and seeing it placed at number 8 on the list of top 10 fiction.
Based on Kinokuniya's weekly bestseller list (see pic on the left), Love in Penang is ranked at number 2 for the week. I don't know how long it's going to stay there but I hope it hangs on for a long while!

If you need a little help deciding on whether to get this (it's only RM19.90!) read these really lovely reviews from one of our writers, Fadz:
The generic version
The detailed version

Obligatory self promotion: You can buy Love in Penang from Fixi, Kinokuniya, MPH and Amazon.

If you've already read it, could you be so lovely as to write a review and post it on MPH, Amazon and Goodreads?

Other stuff that featured in my writing life was a rather dismal A to Z challenge offering as compared to a shiny new rather confused novel during Nanowrimo.

Blog life
I've become a little more inconsistent in blogging, what with work life and writing life going all sorts of ways, but it still amazes me that people. actually. read. my. blog.

Look at those numbers! There was a high of 7,561 views in May - how did THAT happen? The screen shot below is last year's statistics for comparison (post here).

Looking through my posts, it seems that I did more book review/tour posts than anything else in 2013. Number of posts have dropped from 134 in 2012 to 125 in 2013. I'm not sure why. Probably because I was so busy/distracted/confused. I think I should start blogging more regularly about more regular stuff, if that makes any sense.

Other stuff
I suppose if you're on facebook, you could look at my year in review there as well.
I had a great year-end trip to Melbourne and Tasmania (which was why I blogged less as well) and I'm still recovering from post-trip blues, trying to catch up with all the stuff I missed back here in Penang as well as trying to get ready for the new year.

I was probably a lot more organised in last year's posts... but well... I don't think I had so many year end events. Or at least I don't remember that I did.

Anyway, happy 2014!

A quick half-asleep update

Nanowrimo started on Friday and I have less than 2,000 words.

Mainly because I took a 18 hour train to Hua Hin on Saturday afternoon, before which I was up almost all Friday night and Saturday morning trying to fix edits for Love in Penang before I left (which I didn't manage to and have to continue tomorrow). And so I was sleepy all afternoon on the train, through a few games of Resistance, and then we had dinner during which I felt train sick, so as soon as they fixed up the beds I took an early night.

The bed was quite comfortable, but when I woke up in the morning I couldn't write either because I'm not that good at concentrating in moving vehicles.

Then it was Speed Bang on the train, breakfast, hanging out at the shopping mall because the sun was too hot, some rest and a few measly words, then Plearnwan, awesome seafood dinner and a little night market shopping and 2 rounds of Bang until 2AM.

There were only 7 places left on the train and there were 8 of us, so we spent a lot of time discussing how to get back home - but that was settled on Monday.

Monday started at 7-ish with the power going off and the water going off (all for short whiles, thankfully) and then searing hot beach with the after effects of a mini typhoon, where there were really strong waves and lots of washed up squid. I did not take pictures of the washed up fish.

(I apparently can't paste the squid picture here cos it didn't get sent to facebook, but you can look it up on instagram.)

Then it was lunch followed by drinks at Let's Sea, and then a slight pause in the afternoon to rest/wash up/play Speed Bang before dinner.
After dinner we waited at the bus station for almost an hour before our bus to Hatyai arrived, where I crashed almost immediately (at I think 9-ish pm? or maybe 10) and then we had supper at something like midnight and reached Hatyai at 8AM. Where we immediately hopped on another van (at 8.30am) to take us back to Penang where by the time we ta-paued lunch, I got home at 2pm.
And then I worked, because I was supposed to.
And now I'm going to sleep.

Good night all.
I am tired and cannot think anymore.

P/S. I had a look at the cover for Love in Penang. Too bad I can't share it yet :P

Love in Penang: Book launch on 30 November!

So like, I got this very exciting email yesterday:

I knew it was coming, but still.... =) Here's that link so that you can click on it: BOOK LAUNCH.

Also, online sales, cover reveal and line up will be announced on 22 November!

Hmm... blog tour and giveaway as well, maybe?

Right now - just need to fix that final last story with serious timeline issues. =(

How clean should #loveinpenang be?

So I've done a first read through for the Love in Penang submissions and generally separated the stories into three categories: yes, maybe and no. Those under "no" were fairly easy. Those under "yes" and "maybe" are in for another read, especially since the initial readings were done over the submission period of more than a month so things may have changed from the initial yesses and maybes up until the final few. To cut things down even further, even under the "yes" column I have my own category for "oh gosh super yes I love this story" and "yeah, that's nice", so I don't think I will have a problem with those. The problem that's weighing on my mind is this one story that I've put into the "maybe" category for now.

Thing is, I like the story. Okay, to be honest, it almost falls into the "oh gosh super yes I love this story" category. Except for one thing. The language. You know that age-old question about whether you should swear in your story? Or whether you should throw a few f-bombs here and there? (Okay, I don't know if it's really age-old, it's just... something I follow occasionally). Well. This story has those. And you know what, they really fit. Like, if you take them out or change the words, you mellow the story, water it down. So it's a really well-written story.

But I'm a prude. And I don't know how clean I want to go with this. Because I like books that I can recommend to people in my church. I like books that I can recommend to teens. And I can't do that with a clean conscience if there are aspects of language (or morals) that I can't justify to be there for a reason. And so this unlikely dilemma is now mine.

Yes or no? What say you?