2012 kini semakin meriah nampaknya

Last week I received a wonderful news from tokey Buku Fixi that my debut novel, Jerat was going for second print. Alhamdulillah. I never expected this to happen. When I submitted the manuscript last year, I was only thinking of getting published and I'd be so grateful if 250 people buy my book. Now that Malaysian readers are getting more aware of this pulp/urban/contemporary genre and with a big help from the government (by giving book vouchers), it seemed many people bought the book. Now I'm a happy bunny, yeay!

The announcement at FIXI fan page

Page 1 of Bersaksi Kopi

The other good news is, on 1st March 2012 Buku Fixi will launch its first collection of short stories. It's called KOPI and I contributed one of my short stories, entitled 'Bersaksi Kopi'. You can like the fan page and read excerpts of the 19 short stories from this book. So, Bersaksi Kopi was written on a windy Saturday afternoon and edited on a cold Sunday night while sipping cup after cup of Nescafe and Neslo. The result? Owh, you'll have to buy KOPI to find out. KOPI will not be sold in bookstores (barang baik memang susah nak jumpa, dik), but you can order online at FIXI website or visit Pesta Buku Antarabangsa KL in April (and a few other Pesta Buku that'll be announced at the fan page). 

Late last year, another short story of mine was published online at futura.poskod.my. It was entitled '10 bulan sebelum misi ke Marikh' and it's a Science Fiction. I never imagined I'd be writing a Sci Fi. The truth is, I never read any Sci Fi book. I enjoyed movies like Matrix, iRobot, A.I, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the likes, but I couldn't bring myself to buy any Sci Fi book. As a die hard fan of Battlestar Galactica way back in the late 1970s, I found writing Sci Fi really interesting. You get to explore your thoughts, fears, aspirations and then start worrying about your grandchildren.  

Page 2 of '10 bulan sebelum misi ke Marih'

Besides these 3, I have a few on going projects that I'll share with you once it's confirmed to be published. Among them are a novel for teenagers (Bahasa Melayu standard, I tell you!) and another manuscript for FIXI (proposal sent last month). There's a lot of differences between writing a novel using standard BM and urban language. The latter is a lot more fun and you can feel you're given a lot of freedom doing it. It's like running on a huge green field with wind on your face. Frankly speaking, I don't enjoy writing using standard BM. I feel trapped, gagged and both hands tied up. 

Whatever it is, writing is the best hobby I have so far. It introduced me to many interesting, beautiful people and a very exciting world.

If you like writing, go for it. Never throw away any manuscript and never leave it under the bed, gathering dust. Finish whatever you started, get someone's opinion and submit it to one of the publishers. Or better still, publish it yourself. 

Have a great Wednesday, happy people!