Writing Projects

I treat every book as a writing project. Keeps me serious about writing and all. You sometimes need to force yourself to do what you need to do. In this section I like to just keep you updated on some of the projects I am working on. Some are half bake stuff and others will birth into the next big novel. But you’ll be inform about it all the way.

Jasmines on the 4th Floor
Published under ALAF21, Jasmines was my first full foray into writing. Before this I’ve been writing short stories for friends and independent publications. Jasmines took three (3) months to draft and another nine (9) months to publish. In short, it took a year for Jasmines to find its way to the bookshelves.

This little book has done well, selling 1500++ copies in 2008. There are people reading local English titles in Malaysia and this is enough motivation for me to continue writing.

The Bicycle
The tentative title for my second book which is currently with the publishers for editing purposes. This book took about a year to draft and polish before I had the courage to send the manuscript to ALAF21. I was holding out for another bigger publisher of English titles but they did not give any feedback to any of my queries so I went back to the publisher who gave me my first break. My subsequent books will all be published through ALAF21. Save me a lot of headaches.

The Bicycle has a period piece element to it, brought to life via flashbacks of the main character. This is why it took so long to write. I spent time doing some research into the time before the Japanese invasion of Malaya during World War 2.

I hope to see The Bicycle on the bookshelves in 2010.

Book Three
I’m currently writing book three (3). I hope to answer the question, “How much would a man endure to remain loyal to the love of his life?”

I’ve got a title floating in my head but I won’t reveal it till I’ve a proper draft done. My target word count would be about 40,000 – 60,000 words.

I’ve written the closing chapters. And would start on the opening chapters soon. I hope to capture the pain, hopes, frustration and joys of a man being true to his heart’s love. I’m toying with the idea of making it a memoir of sorts.

I hope to get this book finished by year end.