#bookreview: Witch Week by Diana Wynne Jones

Witch Week by Diana Wynne Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Mr Crossley receives an anonymous note stating "SOMEONE IN THIS CLASS IS A WITCH". This is dangerous because witches are still hunted down and burnt at stake in this alternate version of England and as Mr Crossley teaches in Larwood House, a boarding school for witch orphans and other problematic children, it could very well be true. Suspicion falls on Nan Pilgrim, the outcast girl with a famous witch's name (teasingly at first), whilst other classmates in 2Y soon discover some hidden talents. (I'm not sure why the edition I'm reading states their class as 2Y but Goodreads and Amazon says it's 6B?)

I think I'm pretty much a fan of Diana Wynne Jones by now so this may end up to be another gushing review. I must say this is the first of the Chrestomanci series that I have read so far (I started off with the Howl trilogy, got a little disappointed at Dogsbody and was pleasantly delighted by Dark Lord of Derkholm) and I loved it. Chrestomanci doesn't come in until maybe the third quarter of the book, so I didn't realise at first that it was part of the series - and now I want to find out who this mysterious personage (or personages) is (are).

The story is refreshingly and childishly funny, which I prefer over the current tendency to be either sexual or gross or mean in an effort to try to be "funny". There's a tinge of the old boarding school stories (i.e. St Clare's, Malory Towers) with late night prowls and watchful prefects in between the wonder and delight of magic. But if you're starting to think it's a simple straight-forward children's book, you'll be mistaken. There are twists within twists in this story, and there are more witches than you'd ever expect to appear in one class!

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The weekend setlist

You are loving beyond measure
Your presence is the treasure I am seeking
You are an all-consuming fire
I am Your desire and You are mine


It took an awfully long time to pick the songs for this week.
I had this song in my head that I was utterly convinced we'd sung in church before, but evidently we hadn't (I don't know why I was so sure!).
I'd swapped in and out at least a dozen songs (okay, maybe ten, but "a dozen" sounds nicer), some multiple times.
But I'm ending with this.
Because even after we have said all we can, described Him in every way we can think of, He is still so much more than we can ever say.

Love in Penang: a call for entries

Some time last month, Gina alerted me to an invitation by Fixi Novo to apply to compile and edit their upcoming anthology of short stories, Love in Penang. And well yes, things just fell into place last weekend, with the call for entries up since Tuesday.

cross posted from: http://bukufixi.tumblr.com/post/44608462759/love-in-penang

I still think I'm flying by the seat of my pants, but hey it's a cool learning curve, ain't it?

So yes, if the theme "Love in Penang" is ringing any bells in your head right now, or if you've suddenly been struck by some wonderful idea - get to writing!

Can't wait to read all your submissions! =D

#bookreview: Single & Single by John le Carre

Single & Single by John le Carré
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When a book starts off with the intriguing line This gun is not a gun, you know you're in for a rather interesting read.

Single & Single starts off with the cold-blooded murder of a British corporate lawyer in Turkey. His boss, Tiger Single, the brains behind the financial house Single and Single, goes missing. In the middle of the night, Oliver Hawthorne, a children's entertainer, is questioned about a sudden influx of cash to his daughter's trust fund.

John le Carre explores the shady world of money laundering (in epic proportions!), pitting the acts of the father against the conscience of his son. How much love do you need to have to continually gloss over the sins of your loved ones? And what would it take to bring you back again?

Nothing in life is ever clear-cut, and this is evident in the story that le Carre weaves. Who is right and who is wrong, how much of this is real and how much of it is embellishment? What is the magic behind these successful people who seem to get away with their crimes? What moral fiber holds up those strong enough to stand for what is right?

Strong food for thought in a fictional thriller.

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Leading on from that, I'd like to call in a rather interesting parallel that came to mind... which was something I was mulling over in A Place to Call Home, where Daniel finds out his adoptive father is paying out bribes to get contracts. The question I had was - was that really strong enough to make someone decide to leave his home? We figured that maybe yes, it was.
And in Single & Single (hope this isn't a spoiler), Oliver turns himself in and snitches on his father's money laundering operations because his conscience finally caught up with him. But in this case, he had support from the government and was given a new start on life, anonymously, with a different name. And when troubled times hit his family, he turned back and did all he could to save his father.
Where would Daniel's conscience have led him? I wanted him to leave. To turn his back and say no, this life of lies is not for me.
But on the other hand, it would have been ungrateful of him to leave. What kind of gratitude is this boy, adopted from nowhere, showing, if he just ups and leaves after all of the things the Lees have done for him?
What would true love have been? To stay because of the bond of family? Or to call out the wrong?
I think this covers pretty much the essence I was looking for, but missed:

He needed to dab the bruises from his father's face and get him a tooth job and put a pressed suit on him and shave him and deliver him to Brock, and after Brock to sit him behind his half-acre desk at Curzon street; to set him on his feet but say, "There you are, you're on your own, we're quits."

We caught ourselves in a strange compromise in the musical, allowing Daniel to stay because Mrs Lee had independent money that was not tainted, but it wasn't the best of endings.
No, it wasn't at all.

A Grand New Age of Boom or Dust?

Boomtown Craze, Book 3 in the Backworlds series is here!

In the far future, humanity settles the stars, bioengineering its descendents to survive in a harsh universe.

To secure his future, Craze must propel his world into a more prosperous era. Only days away from the grand opening of his new and improved tavern, he is confronted by a loony Backworlder intent on mucking up his plans. Gaunt and trembling, she claims her spaceship is possessed. She also has a connection to the underworld that shakes loose the dark past of one of Craze’s closest friends. It all threatens to end Craze’s prosperity before it begins.

Meanwhile off world, Captain Talos works desperately to outwit the mercenary Jixes and lure them away from his and Craze’s budding prospects. The mind-control weapon Talos uses against them is wearing thin, and his next move may be his last.

Will Craze and Talos’s efforts bring about a grand new age of boom or damn them to forever struggle in the dust?

Available in ebook at:

AmazonUS / AmazonUK / B&N / Smashwords

Other Outlets can be found at http://mpaxauthor.com

It will also be available in paperback from Amazon shortly.

MPAX

M. Pax is a Browncoat and SG fan, she’s also slightly obsessed with Jane Austen. In the summers she docents as a star guide at Pine Mountain Observatory where the other astronomers now believe she has the most extensive collection of moon photos in existence. No fear, there will be more next summer. She lives in stunning Central Oregon with the Husband Unit and two lovely, spoiled cats.

Website / Blog ~ Twitter ~ FB ~ Goodreads

You can also find M. Pax on LinkedIN, Pinterest, YouTube, and Wattpad

From March 4 to March 22, folks can enter to win the following:

1 set of signed Backworlds paperbacks, including The Backworlds, Stopover at the Backworlds’ Edge, and Boomtown Craze. Will only ship to US residents.

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One of five free ebooks. All countries eligible. Enter the rafflecopter for a chance.

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fireplace: Praying with power

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people, and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength He exerted when He raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

Ephesians 1:18-21

I've been putting off this post to almost a month now, but there are some things that somehow need to be said. I'm just not sure if I'm the one to be saying or if I even know how to say it. The thing with prayer is that it's very easy to talk about it. It's easy to bounce off theories and come up with placating reasons why some prayers were answered and others were not; about how sometimes we may not be able to recognise the answer, or how we refuse to accept answers we don't like, and all that kind of thing. But when it comes down to it, no matter what you or I can say, if you just cannot grasp what prayer really is about (and it's about a lot of things!), if your mindset and your worldview is wrong (what is wrong and what is right?), you're just never going to get it. And most times I don't yet either. I wish I did.

Dr Philip Lyn preached on The Believer's Authority about a month ago when I visited SIB KL, and one of the things he said that resonated with me went something like this: "Stop describing the mountain to God. He knows what it looks like and the more you talk you make it bigger for yourself. Speak to the mountain the words and promises of God."

And that's just it. I'm not a proponent of the "name it and claim it" theology, but at the same time, I think that a lot of times our prayers are ineffective because we forget or we don't really believe that God may actually want to answer our prayers. We act as if we need to twist God's arm or manipulate him into doing something that He actually wants to do for us.

And that comes to speaking it into being. Because you know, God spoke, and the world was made. And if we're learning to become more like Christ, there are times when we just need to speak into the situation, to say to the mountain that it should move, and wait for it to move. And we do have that authority in Christ to do so, if only we claim it. His incomparably great power for us who believe - the same power that raised Christ from the dead.

We - I - need to stop living in defeat.

The story that didn't win anything

So there was this competition to win a free copy of KL NOIR: Red by submitting a short story (300 words) based on one of the titles in the book.
I didn't get anything, but here's the flash fic anyway. Enjoy!

The Oracle of Truth

“You’ll never find true love,” Katelyn blurted, then covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes wide.

“That’s not a nice thing to say, dear,” Mother said distractedly as she continued to eat her breakfast. Keith glared at his younger sister.

I’m sorry, she mouthed at him, but he narrowed his gaze and beckoned her out.

“You did not just say that to me,” Keith hissed at her once they’d left the dining room. His grip left white marks on her arm when she pulled it away.

Unsay it, Katelyn, unsay it, she willed herself, but she couldn’t. The words wouldn’t form on her lips, no matter how hard she tried.

“Katelyn, please.” There was desperation in Keith’s voice now.

“I can’t,” she whimpered. “You know how it is.”

“No, I don’t know. I don’t know how you can claim to be the oracle and just make things you wish to happen come true.”

“I don’t wish it to happen! Why would I want to do that to you? It just happens to be true. I can’t change it.” Her brain felt like it would explode from the pressure of his will that fought against the truth that had made itself known in her mind. Sometimes she just wished they were normal. “Stop it, Keith. It hurts.”

“Not until you change it.”

Did people actually pay for this? For the privilege of knowing the future and then blaming the one who foretold it if they didn’t like it? Something gave way in her mind right then, and she knew that Keith had managed to change the truth, just a little.

“You will fall desperately in love one day,” she said with finality. It was better than nothing.

My #atozchallenge list of words

We played a game on Tuesday for icebreakers in carecell. It went like this: "I went to the supermarket and bought..." and each person takes turn to fill in an item starting with the letters A until Z. Woke up this on Wednesday morning and went Voila! Problem solved! I have my words for A to Z challenge next month.
Surprisingly I still remembered almost all the words, except Z.

• Asparagus
• Balloon
• Corkscrew
• Dart
• Elevator
• Flag
• Gum
• Hammer
• Ink
• Jellybean
• Kitkat
• Lipstick
• Monitor
• Nugget
• Orange
• Paradigm Penang Report
• Quilt
• Rumplestiltskin's secret magic potion
• Story
• Tantrums
• Umbrella
• Vampire
• Wire
• Xylophone
• Yellow submarine

Anyone wants to help me with Z?

P/S Sign ups are still open here.

Also, oh lookie! My KOL account still exists!

Readings from Readings 2: a review

Readings from Readings 2: New Writing from Malaysia, Singapore and Beyond by Bernice Chauly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Readings from Readings 2: New writing from Malaysia, Singapore and beyond, is a wonderful collection of work, comprising short pieces of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. The flavour is undoubtedly Malaysian (ok, and Singaporean) with sprinklings of other voices in between. I found that I preferred the local (or at least Asian) pieces more than the odd sprinkling of “Western” names that found their way into the book. For one, Marc de Faoite’s pieces on Night Fishing in Langkawi and The Milking Pen were rather bland, non-moving pieces that might have worked well with a more introspective or literary-type collection of stories. Also, whilst I liked Crimson Starlet, it felt rather out of place in the anthology, having nothing at all to do with Malaysia, or even anything remotely Asian.

Angeline Woon’s Big Bertha and the Stones of Justice and Shahminee Selvakannu’s Lighting the Darkness highlight starkly the realities of life and the apathy of the powers-that-be in Malaysia. Fadzlishah Johanabas’ Picking up the Pieces gripped me right from the start with the power of love and longing in his words. Damyanti Ghosh’s An Orchestrated Ending was beautiful prose with an unexpected ending, whilst Alfian Sa’at’s The Cat Who Asked For Forgiveness made me chuckle.

The non-fiction pieces have power of their own: Preeta Samarasan talks about the prejudice she faces as the dark-skinned mother of a blue-eyed child in Blue, whilst Saras Manickam pours out his heart about taking care of a disabled child in Will You Let Him Drink The Wind.

The poetry pieces didn’t quite work for me, except for Sharon Bakar’s Abuses at the end. It’s a strange thing because I do write poetry sometimes. Maybe it’s to do with the style of these pieces or maybe they were meant to be read aloud, rather than in your head.

Overall, Readings from Readings 2: New Writing from Malaysia, Singapore and Beyond was an enjoyable read. I would have finished it in one sitting, except that I had several work deadlines to rush, so I broke it up into a few manageable pieces instead. Which is what anthologies are useful for, aren’t they?


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I read a few of the reviews over at Amazon. Some were good, some were bad and some made me wonder if they even read the same book.
Oh well.
A side note though in relation to some of those: if you're particularly politically correct, you probably won't like most of the pieces in this book. Why? Because it's unashamedly racist in some way or another. And that's a fact of life in Malaysia. Most of the time we accept it, we laugh over it, and we laugh at each other about it. It's typical stereotyping and most of us know that and move on. We find ways to live with each other because we share too many things to argue about the things we disagree about. Half of what we believe to be our "inherited cultures" (be it Chinese, Indian or Malay) we have found to be so different from what is actually practiced in our so-called ancestral lands due to the shared experiences and culture we ourselves have built in this melting-pot that we call home. To edit out the inherent racism in these pieces would be to censor the voice of Malaysians. And that is something we are fighting very hard against.

Sometimes though, someone with some kind of political agenda decides to make a big row over something that half the populace can't be bothered about. And it takes on a life of its own while everyone else goes about scratching their heads. But that's another story for another day.

A People's Politics

Ok. So I'm pushing out this book review earlier than others because it's a little time sensitive (sorry to Readings, which got pushed back another week).

A People's Politics by Keat Peng Goh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"The people are the nation. The nation is its people. Its people as a whole must thrive, and be cared for."
For me, this is the heart behind the book.

For someone who is really rather too lazy to think about the political arena and too annoyed to get into debates about it, this was a good read. It relates in easy, understandable language about what politics is, the situation in Malaysia at this point of time, and what we as individuals can do about it.

I would suggest reading this if you are a first time voter, if you really can't understand what all the fuss is about on facebook and twitter and the interwebs, or if you just want to know why you should care instead of just migrating.

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Truthfully... I wouldn't have picked this up of my own volition. It was only because I kind of volunteered to assist Mr Goh in putting up the e-book version on smashwords that I actually even opened it. Thing is... I hate discussing politics because it always ends up in heated discussions and name-calling and dirt-flinging.

It's hard to ever say that this side did something right but the other side also did something right on a case to case basis without being called into question about who you support. The ideology here seems to be that one party is all bad and the other is all good. But they're not. Both sides have good and bad politicians. Both sides have people who say stupid things. (Only one more often than the other.) It's just that one side...

Let's not go into that.

Read the book.

Make an informed vote.

Time is short.

A People's Politics is available in all e-reader formats here, or PDF only here.

Youth finding their "It" - Guest post by Raphyel M. Jordan

Continuing on with the Prossia blog tour, let's welcome Raphyel with his post on Youth finding their "It".

---

In "Prossia," we follow the journey of a girl named Aly, who was simply trying to make it out of her equivalent to high school (she's an alien) one day, and killing in order to survive the next. She learns what I was learning when I started writing the story , just how fast the world can become a madhouse. I've had some readers say the opening parts of my novel feel like a Disney movie that gets ripped with reality without warning, and I intently wrote it in that fashion. Transitioning into a grownup isn't always graceful, casual, or determined for one's convenience or age. So, when the book was published, and I was in need of a marketing campaign, it asked the one question with my ads: "Where were you when you had to grow up?"
The process of growing up is one that must be made alone. Even if people know about the hardship you're enduring, you're the one left with the burden of not knowing how you're going to get through the obstacle. And who's to say you'll only face grownup decisions at the designated age of 18? Many individuals have lost that sense of innocence years before society dubbed them "grown" due to drugs, rape, child abuse, death, and I'd even put excessive bullying in there as well ("kids will be kids" isn't an acceptable excuse).

But alas! There's always the possibility for greatness after the storm. Even though my book's protagonist suffers hardships from every level, we see her face the challenges as best as possible. Sure, she may gripe about it, she'll wish her burden was someone else's, her faith in herself and others will get shaken without mercy, and her entire perception of how wonderful the real world is will come to a devastating end. Even so, Aly presses on because she has a stubborn inner will that refuses to let life defeat her, even when she so desperately needs to just let go and give in.

And that's what inspired me to write "Prossia," seeing that awesome stubbornness and determination in young people firsthand. It seems society has already designated my generation and the one before me for failure. They say we complain too much, and only want what was inherited by the generation that came before us without putting any effort into anything. And while there does seem to be an obnoxiously loud minority of individuals in our age group that have those traits, I know there's more to the leaders of tomorrow. Trust me. I've seen it firsthand.

I saw it when young single mothers were top of the class, knowing what they doing now would lay out a better future for their child. I saw it when I went straight to work after being at school all day, came back to campus around 12:00 am to finish a ceramics project, and other people were in there as well because they had no other time to work on their assignments. I saw it when friends flipped buggers, only making minimum wage, barely able to pay bills, but still finding what little ounce of time to study for their finals. I saw it when all of these young people, when they were all scraping bread crumbs to keep their nostrils over water, have enough strength to tell me that I could do it because they could.


Moreso, I've seen the strength in youth even before the "college years." A 14-year-old boy had to be the man of the house by taking care of his blind mother and two younger siblings. A little girl inspires an entire community to rally around her family so her father can get money for his cancer treatment. A young Muslim girl inspires an entire nation filled with underprivileged women to stand up for their rights to an education when an extremist group tries to silence her with a bullet to the head. If these aren't signs of power, I don't know what is. These people found their "it" factor, and in spite having people look down on them because of their youths, they stood up because they saw no other choice but to do so. If someone didn't do "it," who would?

However, sometimes we need to be reminded that we even that potential for strength and determination, especially when our personal worlds are coming to ruin the way Aly's was in "Prossia." We need to be reminded that it's okay to doubt. It's okay to be unsure. Hey, it's even okay to cry and break when life is at its worst.

Regardless, BE SURE TO HOLD ON TO YOUR "IT."

And no, your "it" may not be the rallying call that will end world hunger or change governments, but it very well may be the thing that makes a stranger's day a little better. So, find it in knowing that there are other people in similar trenches of life with you, even if they're a continent away. Find it in the faith you have, that has taught you to take life one step at a time with each passing day. Find it in yourself, that amazing stubbornness telling you to press forward even though the facts are telling you it's a waste of time and effort. Trust me. "It" is there. You only need to know where to look. ;)

---

Raphyel Montez Jordan grew up in a household sensitive to the creative arts. As a child, his hobbies were drawing favorite cartoon and video game characters while making illustrated stories. This passion for art never left and followed him all the way up to his high school and college years.

It wasn’t until college when he underwent a personal “renaissance” of sorts that Jordan took his interest in writing to another level. When he was 19, he started writing a novel for fun, taking inspiration from the constant exposure of different ideas and cultures that college showed him while staying true to the values he grew up to embrace. However, when the “signs of the times” influenced the story and the characters to spawn into universes of their own, he figured he might possibly be on to something.

As he studied graphic design at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia, Jordan also used his electives to study sciences like Astronomy, Psychology, and Biology in order enhance the reading experience in his story. He eventually made it a goal to have the story published after he graduated, and dubbed the goal “Operation Prosia,” the very same project that would develop into his first published book, “Prossia.”

Even though his novel is not necessarily a religious book, Jordan utilizes his Christian faith by urging people to encourage, not condemn, in his story. Best known for ending his PSFC newsletters with “Unity Within Diversity,” he hopes “Prossia’s” success will inspire people to consider and support the positive outlook in the difference human kind can share, whether it be race, religion, or any other cultural difference.

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#bookreview: Prossia by Raphyel M Jordan

Prossia by Raphyel M. Jordan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Alytchai (Aly) is seventeen and has been drafted to fight a war on a planet she has never been to amongst a people she has never seen against an enemy who would wipe out their entire civilisation. Dealing with teenage hormones whilst trying to focus on the war and their mission, Aly has a harder time at it than her fellow Goolians who can make fireballs of hot plasma out of their hands. On the way she learns to mix with other races - the cheeky Ufrian called Gruago, the imposing Hethroycken, Lord Gurythrus, Lord Juazi of Argutain their team leader and even a Cyogen half-breed, Cyleroa whom she cannot decide if she should trust. And yet, although she doesn’t know it, the biggest danger to them all is herself, for the strength and power that she doesn’t know she has or how to control.

Whilst I was interested enough to finish reading the story, Prossia could have been much better if it had been properly edited to make the scenes and writing tighter and less rambly. As it was, the story meandered its way through from when Aly and her best friend Cattalice (Cat) were first drafted and takes a terribly long time through training and strange mishaps until it reaches the final battle, which wasn’t quite a battle. The book also contained numerous errors, which rather detracted from what would have been a pretty much enjoyable read. Several phrases were also overused, especially “ticking time bomb” (to describe Aly) to the point that it got a little bit annoying.

Another annoying thing was that after all the gradual revelation of who (or what) Aly really was, it was never clearly defined what exactly was wrong with being a Sungstra. Yes, they lacked control of their being, but what was it that so clearly marked them apart? Or, more interestingly, what marked them to be hated or compared with the Cyogens? Was it because the Cyogens too were Sungstren and that somehow made them alike? (It didn’t seem that way).

Also you don’t discover what Prossia actually is until something like the last chapter of the book.
All that said… it was an okay read. The story itself is strong enough on its own to attract you, if only the other things didn’t really detract as much.

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Prossia by Raphyel M. Jordan (blog tour)

I was invited to join the Prossia blog tour through Masquerade Crew again, and since I don't have to time right now to sit down and hash out posts, I thought I'd just join in the fun with a cover reveal and an excerpt today.

I'll be reviewing the book tomorrow so do check back then. (Also, check out giveaway at the bottom!)

Excerpt:

Happy Chinese New Year!

If you haven't made any new year's resolutions, or if you've already broken all of them, this is a good time to start again!

Wishing you a prosperous Chinese New Year!

Since Tomorrow by Morgan Nyberg ( a blog tour by @masqcrew)

Since Tomorrow

by Morgan Nyberg

Follow @MorganNyberg

Blog Tour Hosted by
The Masquerade Crew

Fireplace: Reluctantly, you change.

I supposed the biggest problem is that I haven't quite changed my mental image of myself.
You see, I never expected to reach here, despite putting it in my goal setting every year. You had to have a goal to set, right? Didn't mean that you actually saw yourself getting there.

I'd calculated that I wouldn't be here for another 2 years yet. After all, when I first joined they said it takes 8 years. EIGHT YEARS, right? Not six and slightly less than a half. And in my mental image of me, I'd be out of here before then, maybe married (HAH), hopefully working a half day job whilst building a creative arts team in church and writing my novel. I had time to slowly work things out for another year, at least, until I got there.

Things never work out how you imagine it to be. You wish that it would, but life never follows your schedule, especially with God in the mix.

And as everything piles up, it's very easy to think of this as a curse, as if God didn't think I had enough to deal with, contrary to normal expectations that I would be happy. (Ender randomly comes to mind. Not all promotions are good for you, physically and mentally.) Sometimes I wonder if I'm even normal, if the responses I have actually correlate to what the general population would feel. But I've been reminded a couple of times that promotion comes from the Lord so I'm holding on to that - that this year will not be the death of my creative dreams, that this year will not end with defeat before it even starts.

Psalm 65:11 says:

You crown the year with Your goodness, richness overflows wherever You are.

Goodness (NIV says bounty) has overflowed in the past year, as I said in my 2012 year end review, and looking back, I have no idea how I did all of that, except by God's grace. So I'm holding on to that. I'm holding on to His promise that when we walk in His ways, we will be the head and not the tail.

May the latter continually be greater as you walk with Him.

#bookreview: Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones

Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Derk is a mild-mannered wizard with a sprawling country estate, a lovely wizard wife, two human children, four griffin children and a menagerie of strange animals. Everything seems to be going well in his family until he is chosen by the Oracle to play the role of the Dark Lord as part of Mr Chesney's Pilgrim Parties.

High Chancellor Querida, the most powerful wizard in the world, is looking for a way to stop these Pilgrim Parties - packaged excursions for tourists from another world that has been slowly destroying their world over the last forty years.

Needless to say, the two don't quite get along, even though they have the same goal in mind.

I am a fan of Diana Wynne Jones' Howl series, and the Dark Lord of Derkholm didn't let me down. I loved the light and witty writing, wrapped around what is really quite a complex web of deceit and magic. The book is not dark as the title suggests (it's marketed as a children's book after all) and is actually quite funny.

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The Homicide Chronicle by Ralph Shamas (a blog tour hosted by @masqcrew)

The Homicide Chronicle

Defending the Citizen Accused

by Ralph Shamas

Blog Tour Hosted by
The Masquerade Crew

Stressed poetry

On the verge
Of wordless tears
Waiting to squeeze
Out in shudders

Days like these
I hate myself
Hate you
Hate everyone

Yet still looking
For that one green dot
To know you're awake
Though all I'd do is bitch
If I open my mouth

Why is this worth it again?

#bookreview: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show has arrived in town. Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway are excited to visit the carnival. But somewhere along the way, as the boys prowl in the night, they are caught up in a series of frightening events that threaten their very lives.

Something Wicked This Way Comes is a truly frightening story, where evil, hidden evil, darkens what should have been a happy carnival and starts taking the lives of the people of Green Town.

I struggled a little to finish this book. The writing was fine - it was beautiful. You surged in anticipation with the boys and their excitement, and slowed down a little where Charles Halloway, fifty four, plods his way slowly. It's just that horror is not quite my genre; it was cheap and it was a Bradbury. (I've fallen in love with Bradbury after Fahrenheit 451)

But still, the writing is beautiful.

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This last weekend...

My cousin got married...

Baby Ridgers arrived in Penang...

I received Readings from Readings 2 in the mail...

And the peak period has commenced (or my table has exploded again). 

Your regularly scheduled posts will resume... some time after Chinese New Year (Feb 10).

Listen!

Okay, so I finally watched the Listen video that's been going round the Malaysian social media network.

My thoughts:
Bawani was pretty articulate and had facts to support her points (though I've never researched the stuff so I wouldn't know if her facts were valid or not). She did sound rather emotional and excited while talking - but then again, I felt she was speaking rather as if she was in a debate, and you know all debaters are emotional and excited because they're rushing to get a point across.
Plus point to her - she actually spoke in one language at a time. I don't know if you think that's a plus point. I think it is.
Sharifah on the other hand sounded like she had the need to speak louder and repeat herself in order to get her point across. And talking about points, I didn't get what she was trying to get at. I couldn't make the necessary jump in logic required. Also, she didn't answer any of the questions Bawani raised even though she said she did.
Minus point - she couldn't speak either a proper complete sentence in Malay or English. If it were a casual conversation, fine and good. We do it all the time. But this was a formal public forum. 
Another point to note, if the main difference between Sharifah's POV and Bawani's was a matter of a degree, I think it was stated in one of the reports that Bawani already has a degree in psychology and is now doing a second one in law or something like that. So that's kind of... void?
(Galaxy Note Diversion at the end is also classic, I tell you, just CLASSIC! I'd watch the video over and over again just to watch hear her dismiss panelist Peter and divert attention to freebies. Bwahahaha.)

I do think however that the level of backlash is quite out of proportion. How is ridiculing Sharifah at this level of (internet) publicity less of an evil than Sharifah ridiculing Bawani  in a public forum? Okay, so it was an outrageous act by a ridiculous person - but if it's true about death threats??

Dear people who seek to change a country, do not stoop to their level.
If you do, we will never change.

Righteousness exalts a nation.

Heaping insult and shame isn't righteous indignation. It only pulls you down into their dung heap.
We are better than that, aren't we?

Mini #bookreview: A Wrinkle in Time and A Wizard of Earthsea

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I recently re-read this as I just bought myself a copy during a recent book sale (I previously borrowed it). I think I loved it more this time than before, if that could happen. Then again I can't remember when I first read it, so I really can't judge.

I like the way L'engle uses Meg's faults to be their very saving grace. It reminds me that sometimes what I perceive as my faults and weaknesses can also be used by God in mysterious ways. That's not to say that we don't work to become better people, but rather that we need to accept ourselves as who we are now so that we can move on gracefully as we change and grow.


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A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I once found the Earthsea series very exciting, having borrowed the set of four from a friend and devoured them in one sitting during a school break. After a decade (or maybe more), I found the first of the series during a book sale and decided to buy it to start my own collection.

The story itself is much as I remembered; how Ged, the young boy from Gont, full of pride, releases a black shadow into the world, almost losing his power of wizardry in the process and how, as a young wizard, he faces down his fear and his nemesis and becomes whole again. However, instead of being transported to that rapture I recalled, I found instead dry, almost boring narration.

I'm not sure if it's a trick of my memory, or whether it's the years of reading that has made the difference, but re-reading this spoilt the magic of Earthsea for me, and I begin to understand why there were some rather negative reviews for this book.


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The Live-Action Mindjack Book Trailer Reveal

from the bestselling Mindjack series by Susan Kaye Quinn

With the help of over 20 cast and crew members, award-winning director Beth Spitalny has brought the concept of the bestselling Mindjack Trilogy to life on the screen.
  When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.

Please share!

Ways you can share the trailer:

1) Watch the trailer on YouTube (or here)! (more views=higher visibility)
2) Post it to Facebook (copy & paste below)

Check out the live-action Mindjack Book Trailer (from the bestselling Mindjack Trilogy by Susan Kaye Quinn): When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep. http:// bit.ly/MindjackBookTrailer

  3) Post it to Twitter (copy & paste below)

When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep. Watch the live-action Mindjack Book Trailer http://bit.ly/MindjackBookTrailer

  4) Share to Google+, Tumbler, Pinterest, and more

Go to the trailer on YouTube and click the "share" button. Click the arrow to expand and see all the options. Easy peasy. (While you're there, click "like" on YouTube, or leave a comment!)

  5) Post the trailer on your blog

Grab the embed code from YouTube or email me for a copy of the HTML for a complete post announcing the trailer and ways to share!

Thanks so much for sharing!

To celebrate the release of the trailer,

I'm putting Open Minds on sale!

$2.99 now $0.99

for one week only

$9.99 now $7.99

for one week only

THANK YOU to everyone who is sharing the trailer today!

An EXTRA SPECIAL THANKS to everyone involved in making the trailer a reality, including Director Beth Spitalny, Producer Angel Acevedo, Director of Photography Lance Kaplan, lead actor Nikki Flemming (Kira) and the many fine actors, crew members, and post-production staff who donated their time and talent to the project. For the making-of the trailer, see the Mindjack Trilogy website.

Susan Kaye Quinn is the author of the bestselling Mindjack Series, which includes three novels, three novellas, and a trailer. She's currently writing a steampunk fantasy romance, just for kicks. When that's out of her system, she has ambitious plans to embark on a series about the Singularity (the time when computers become more intelligent than humans) that should appeal to fans of the Mindjack novels. Or possibly play on Facebook all day. Could go either way.

#bookreview: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter - he hunts down renegade androids who are posing as humans on the devastated, crumbling Earth. The only thing that separates humans and androids, other than a long and painful bone marrow test, is man's ability to feel empathy for others. But what if humans are also "retired" in this process for underdeveloped emphatic abilities? And what happens when the bounty hunter starts feeling empathy for the very beings he is supposed to murder?

Written in 1968, this novel was then made into the show Blade Runner (which I haven't watched, so I can't compare them). It took a while for me to get into the swing of things, as it was written in a drier style than what I've been currently reading; I have to say this though, Philip K. Dick's writing is compelling. He subtly nudges you to question your own humanity even as you wonder if Deckard really is human, or if he's being played by the androids. What if the psycopathic killers, like the one behind the Sandy Hook shootings, was really an android who can't feel anything for others? Is empathy really what makes humans human?

I'm probably late to the party, only having heard of him recently on the web. One thing I know is I'm going to be looking out for his books from now on. Hopefully they're still in print.

View all my reviews

Blog tour: Bringing YA to you!

Have you ever wished that a big YA book tour would make a stop in your hometown? Well, here's your chance for that wish to come true! YA2U is a program that features five award-winning and best-selling authors who are holding a contest to see what city they should visit in an exclusive tour stop!

The authors are collecting votes from January 1 to February 15, and any city in the continental US or any Canadian city that has an international airport can win an exclusive visit from all five authors, including an author panel and book signing! Entering is super easy--and if you help spread the word about the contest, you can also enter win a signed copy of all of their books (TEN signed books in total!)--and the book contest is open internationally!

The authors in the program are:

• Marie Lu, the New York Times best-selling author of Legend and the upcoming Prodigy
• Marissa Meyer, the New York Times best-selling author of Cinder and the upcoming Scarlet
• Beth Revis, the New York Times best-selling author of Across the Universe, A Million Suns, and the upcoming Shades of Earth
• Victoria Schwab, author of The Near Witch and the highly-anticipated upcoming The Archived
• Megan Shepherd, author of the debut novel The Madman's Daughter

And they want to have an event in your home town! To participate, just got to the YA2U website and let them know what city you want them to come to. And while you're there, help spread the word about the contest and you can be entered to win all of their books--TEN signed books in total! 

Here's why the YA2U Team should come to MY hometown! 

Because Penang is the best place to visit when you're going on an international trip. We have beaches and mountains (okay, it's a hill), shopping, and perpetual sunshine. Except when it rains. And did I mention the George Town Literary Festival? And that we're a UNESCO World Cultrual Heritage Site?

Why should the YA2U Team come to your hometown?
Why not join in the fun today and share with others about this program and your hometown. The more votes your town gets, the closer you are to having your very own personal tour stop! Vote for YOUR town here!

And if you help spread the word, you can also participate in the book giveaway. Tell them that you learned about YA2U from me and we both get extra entries in the contest! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


* I'm obviously ineligible for the YA book tour (though I can hope), but since most of my readers are from the USA, I'm just helping to spread the word. Because you know, free books are good all the time. :)

Blog tour: Cephrael's Hand partial review

I wanted to post a book review as part of the tour, but it seems as if I won't be able to finish the book in time! I'm still less than midway through the book, according to Kobo, and I don't think I'll have the time the rest of this week to finish reading it.

All I can say at this moment, I'm loving the book. It would be a hefty tome in print (642 pages, I think). When I started reading it, I was strongly reminded of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, but it isn't as long-winded as him (fortunately!) and there aren't annoying girls like Nynaeve, Egwene and Elaine whose constant bickering got on my nerves really fast. 

Melissa McPhail weaves her story lines seamlessly, with new revelations in each chapter that make you hunger for more.

---

As part of this special promotional extravaganza sponsored by Novel Publicity, the price of the Cephrael's Hand eBook edition is just 99 cents this week. What’s more, by purchasing this fantastic book at an incredibly low price, you can enter to win many awesome prizes. The prizes include a Kindle Fire, $450 in Amazon gift cards, and 5 autographed copies of the book. All the info you need to win one of these amazing prizes is RIGHT HERE. Remember, winning is as easy as clicking a button or leaving a blog comment--easy to enter; easy to win!




  To win the prizes:

1. Purchase your copy of Cephrael's Hand for just 99 cents
2. Enter the Rafflecopter contest on Novel Publicity
3. Visit today’s featured social media event

About Cephrael's Hand: Two brothers find themselves on opposite sides of a great battle, neither knowing the other is alive... A traitor works in exile while preparing for the disaster only he knows is coming... A race of beings from beyond the fringe of the universe begin unmaking the world from within... And all across the land, magic is dying. Cephrael's Hand is the first novel in the award-winning series A Pattern of Shadow and Light. Get it on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

About the author: Melissa McPhail is a classically trained pianist, violinist and composer, a Vinyasa yoga instructor, and an avid Fantasy reader. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, their twin daughters and two very large cats. Visit Melissa on her website, Twitter, Facebook, or GoodReads.

2012: a year in review

I took a screenshot of my stats page today, looked up last year's review and had the shock of my life. Sometime in the frame of 366 days, my blog somehow garnered forty-one THOUSAND page views. How did that happen?
For all my readers, regular or sporadic, THANK YOU SO MUCH. You really made my year!

It really has been a crazy and fruitful year, and I'm not sure how I got through it all. All I can say is thank you, God. And thank you, all of you who have stood by me this year, to listen to my endless whingeings and whinings.

The major highlights of the year have been:

Israel Houghton Concert: I took a trip down to Singapore in February for Israel Houghton's concert, stayed with my cousin, and managed to meet up with quite a few friends, new and old.

A to Z challenge: The fest saw me writing 26 pieces of flashfiction in April, one of which remains my top read post of all time (as seen above).

YES Broadway Penang: Met many crazily talented dancers and singers through this programme in June, and had my one minute of fame as Mrs Lovett.

A Place To Call Home, the musical: My second full-length libretto, and my first try at actually directing. Conclusion remains that... I suck at directing, but it was a great experience. Oh. I also suck at costumes (no big surprise) and overall stage designery stuff.

Launch of annatsp.com: I finally launched my own website after thinking about it for a long time, and also launched my facebook page.

Stories from A Place To Call Home: Published a book of flash fiction based on the musical, and have 143 downloads to-date.
I'm pretty happy with this, seeing that I haven't really been doing much promotion for it.

Bali and Phuket: Two trips this year, with wonderful friends and CG members. I enjoyed the breaks even if they put me in frightening places!

GTLF2012: Attended my first Literary Festival! Also met a writer friend and attended the launch of her third novel. 

Nanowrimo 2012: Finished for the fourth time. And realised that I really need to get round to editing all these words that are lying around and do something with them. I suppose that will be 2013's goal.

Coursera: Got my first cert from Coursera.org for the Greek & Roman Mythology course! I struggled through some of the stuff... but it was fun all the same.

Giveaways: Ran my first giveaway on a whim. Experimented with Rafflecopter. I might do this again. On another whim, depending. 

Big Bad Wolf: Finally visited the Big Bad Wolf sale and came home very happy. I've already read 5 of the 19. All the unread books, which now fill 3 book shelves, are going into my read goals for 2013. I really need to clear those shelves out. 

Hasn't it been a really busy year? I felt quite tired going through all the things that have been happening. Looking over it now, I really don't know how I did it. 

2012 has been a good year overall, even if I didn't think it was while I struggled through it.
I wonder what 2013 will be like?