My other writing life

And that’s “fiction writer” to you.

Working title

Wow, FH2O’s referrals to the last post gave me my highest hits day ever. I still need to write another post about the other set of birds, but the reason for my long silence is what this post is for.

About a week ago, I was bitchslapped by the creative muse so bad that I had to put my life and sleep on hold and obey. I knew about the Dark City 2 anthology since it was announced in October, but no particular story nibbled at me so I let the matter go. Not until a week before deadline anyway.

So I wrote like a demon all week. Like all writers, I was plagued by all manner of pessimistic thoughts during the writing process… like “won’t finish on time” and “but the story isn’t the kind they want” and “my characters are all yakkity yak”.

But I didn’t want to come this close and not try. Most of the time, I never even start.

So I finished it and sent it in. Xeus got back to me within 24 hours, a lot faster than I expected. I couldn’t open the email for a couple of hours.

Tarlia: I got a reply from Xeus about the story I submitted for dark city 2. I’m afraid to open it.
chet-a-box: I think you’re in, lah
chet-a-box: Go ahead and open it

[Gette opens the email]

Tarlia: … you’re right. I’m in. Excuse me while I fall off my chair.
Tarlia: *thunk*
chet-a-box: Congratulations!

There are edits and rewrites to do, but I can deal with that.

Not too shabby, considering it’s my first fiction submission. (The one I donated to the MNS column some years ago doesn’t count because it didn’t pay.) Yes, it’s the first time I submitted my fiction to an actual “market”… despite the fact that I once had my stories floating in various places on the Internet and people liked them. I guess people have more confidence in me than I do in myself.

So, Dark City 2 will be published in April. Xeus told me that two other authors who will be in it are none other than Lydia Teh and Tunku Halim. Xeus herself will also be in it, of course.

My resolution this year is to focus on my fiction, since I ran out of excuses on why I haven’t been working on any. One of my aim is to finish rewriting my novel, or at least, write more stories. Even if the only place I’m going to put it is in a folder somewhere. I started reading more authors/book blogs and found places I can submit to. I added that as a sub-resolution.

As you can imagine, getting in the first time I tried is an excellent confidence boost. Thanks Xeus. Glad you liked my story.

Year of the Roasted Pig

The CNY celebration has been pretty quiet for me. On the first day, I collected Sadat from home and we visited Andrea. I get “adopted” for lunch every year because my parents tend to be away and I have to eat at some point.

We then went off to visit FH2O, lured by laksa. It was good laksa. Really good. Especially since I haven’t had laksa in a while.

Sadat felt the need to wash down the laksa with a refreshing glass of water.

We went to visit Maggie and Alan after, and spent the time making fun of ‘Perhaps Love’ on Astro.

I was craving some KFC so we went to the branch at the airport. Joyce joined us. We proceeded to do some serious damage to our wallets by spending a really long time (with apologies to the token male) at the perfume outlet and purchasing various items. I got Lancome’s Miracle Forever, which cost so much, I hardly dare think about it… especially knowing that I’m going to KL next month.

At least I’m gonna go smelling good, damnit.

Why am I going? For this -> Kuala Lumpur International Literary Festival 2007

No, it’s not for work. It’s for me. As a reminder that I started out as a creative writer and that I have stories of my own to tell. I’m sick of writing everyone else’s stories.

Today, I slept till almost noon, watched Pan’s Labyrinth on DVD, and went to Coffee Bean with VelvetRaven.

Tomorrow, I go back to work. Because I always get a surprised outcry when I mention going back to work when everyone else is still on a holiday, let me take this moment to remind you that I work for a newspaper. Most people want their newspaper when they resume work (or even before the get back to work), but most people also don’t realise that other people have to start work a day early so they can get their paper.

This weekend will be eventful.

On the 23 Feb (Friday), SingleTrackMind will be launching his new album [hey.] at Hilton’s senso. It starts at 11pm and entrance fee is RM65, inclusive of a [hey.] CD and first drink.

On 24th Feb (Saturday), we have the Kuching Blogger’s Meet at Oregano, Travilion.

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