Author: sarah

Well, this is seriously Sarah and that's all you need to know for now.

Storytelling Seminars at the Arts House!

storytelling

You got to click the thumbnail cause it’s pretty big. In any case you get discounts if you register before 31st July or in group registrations of 3… A bit late I think since I just got the email today so I guess you can only get the discount if you have at least two pals to go along with you or something.

Amusingly I checked out The Arts House website for August and they have a short storytelling competition too (it’s Singapore International Storytelling month by the way)!

How to Make a Baby in One Minute. Closing date is 25th August. It’s actually kinda funny if you do try out for it! Rules are you have to make a video telling about um, how to make a baby in one minute. They say there are attractive prizes too… I have no idea what they are though since it’s not stated but whatever. OH YES, IT HAS TO BE PG.

Which makes it all the more interesting. LA LA LA!!

Wena Poon talk at Republic Poly

Sooooo, Wena Poon was there and since I was pretty much there, I figured I’d go listen to her talk.

Wena Poon 1

It was an exclusive to RP talk anywho which was pretty cool since she had the time to come here. In any case, besides promoting her book Lions In Winter (her blog is at: http://lionsinwinterbook.blogspot.com/ ), she talked about reading and local writing in general.

Some tips she had that, when you publish a book it does not stop there. If your publisher sends you to the radio station to do an interview, you do it. If your publisher sends you to the tv station to talk on a morning show, just do it. In any case, you need all the publicity you need so just ACCEPT it.

Wena Poon 2

And even more interestingly, she talked about local books here and oh man were the sentiments similar to mine. Apparently Wena knows also that the majority of people here think it’s crap. HOWEVER, she brings up a good point that when you see our local books it’s by a limited number of people and genres.

As compared to in the US, there are more people and hence more variety of books. The main point is, not everyone likes Harry Potter (oh gasp!) but there’s STILL a number of people who like it.

In summary since the above was in “Sarah-speak”, there’s too little books in the Singapore section of different types that most people get turned off by it since it’s not in THEIR favourite genre.

And aww come on admit it people, drama, drama, ghost stories, detective? There’s a lack of fantasy and sci-fi and okay there’s bunches of romance too but it’s still not enough.

In her words, if you don’t like what you see in the shelves, why don’t you write one?

So… really, I think that’s the most sensible advice ever (besides the go everywhere your publisher asks you to bit).

Heck that! Just write a book and then publish it then maybe we’ll have more variety and then people will just start to drift more to the Singapore section of the bookstores and stuff!

So go forth and do it!

There are people here who WILL help you get your book published if it’s good enough.

Meg Cabot coming to Singapore!!!

I was reading her blog entry when I came onto this paragraph.

And people who’ve been asking me why I never come to their country? Well, if you live in England, Sweden, South Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore, or Thailand, you’ll be able to come see me (Brazil…you’re next, when I hit the Bienal do Rio de 2009). Click here to see the tentative UK, Sweden, and South Africa schedule…tentative because although the book festivals and public signings are pretty much set in stone, everything else is TOTALLY UP IN THE AIR!

WUARGH!!! SHE IS COMING HERE ON 6th AND 7TH OCTOBER!!!

You can check her tour info on this page: http://www.megcabot.com/tourinformation.php

BUT AAAAAH!!! MEG CABOT, YES!!

A luuurve attack!

So, I was waiting at the pickup point for my latest purchase that I bought on ebay and… OOH. What is this in front of the 7-11?

lurvegashapon

Like anyone could resist THAT!

Okay, anyone who isn’t me probably could… With that, I IGNORED that it was obviously May and not February and stuck a dollar coin in.

lurveball

Hence, let’s see what’s in the ball eh?

lurvefront

Ooooooooooooooh… Can you ever get overboard with roses? This package does not think so. Let’s turn it around, shall we?

lurveback

Truly, the instructions are a bit suspicious. Here’s a close up for you to read.

lurveinstructions

1) Break the water bag inside the gift with both hands completely.
2) Shake the gift a few seconds, then throw it away.
3) Wait for a few seconds, you will get a surprise gift.

Frankly, I was freaked out with number 2 so I decided to do it near a sink just in case. It DID feel like a bomb bag to me (those things are very fun to toss by the way) and there’s nothing romantic about being exploded with soda water.

So press it and toss it away, I did.

lurvexploded

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW, HOW FREAKING SWEET.

And I didn’t even get exploded too! A heart popped out of the plastic!

lurveheart

I HEART (with a rose) YOU!

lurvehand

So in the end… it’s actually now in a plastic bag in my cupboard just in case it does explode unexpectedly…

HAVE A LOVE ATTACK!

Get Mentored!

I got this in my email today. You writer/artsy types, go apply!

The Mentor Access Project (MAP), organised by National Arts Council,
is now open for applications for its sixth intake starting in July
2008. MAP is an 18-month mentorship programme to ensure the sustained
development of emerging writers by providing them with mentorship
opportunities and ongoing critical feedback.

Apart from having the privilege of being tutored by an established
writer/playwright, participants will enjoy opportunities for peer
interaction and to foster stronger connections with the Singapore
literary scene.

Selected applicants can also participate in Masterclass Talks and
workshops conducted by established writers, public readings, as well
as discussion forums and talks covering the business of publishing,
such as copyrights and literary representations (agents).

The New Book Initiative enables promising original works submitted by
MAP participants to be considered for book publication, in conjunction
with NAC’s Publishing and Translation Grant. This is on top of
enjoying publishing opportunities in an online literary journal to be
produced by MAP at the end of the mentorship period.

MAP is managed by mediaexodus whose team members include Yong Shu
Hoong, a published poet and Singapore Literature Prize 2006 winner,
and Enoch Ng, General Manager of mediaexodus (and its imprint,
firstfruits publications), a Golden Point Award first-prize winner.

Applications are open to Singaporean citizens or permanent residents,
aged 18 years and above, writing in the field of poetry, prose or
drama in any of the four official languages. The deadline for
application is May 31, 2008, and application forms can be downloaded
from http://www.nac.gov.sg/lit/lit03.asp#men

Radical Comics – Caliber, Hercules and… Oblivion?!

fcbday

Okay, I got to go to Free Comic Day on 3rd of May, so yes amongst my free comics, I decided to buy Radical‘s new comics of Hercules and Caliber. It cost me $1US each since it was their first issues EVAAAAH. Also, I got my free comic book day by Radical too. A preview of their upcoming stories.

radpreview

Included inside were artwork from their upcoming titles like Aladdin and Freedom Formula too. Truthfully, I got to see most of the artwork during Barry Levine’s Comics to Film seminar but now I have it printed form so YES!!

The thing that made me gasp was this though:

oblivionrad

Firstly, yeah right, as if I’m going to squish my book onto the scanner and flatten it. Secondly, ACK!!??? WHAT IS THIS? Okay, I admit, it made me go ack cause Kai was my coursemate back in polytechnic.

Well technically it’s not THAT surprising considering he’s part of the upper people of Imaginary Friends Studio, so that’s duh.

What’s surprising is that this is like OUT OF NOWHERE. I haven’t SEEN or heard anything of this new title until this preview ad in their book. So he has his “own” comic coming soon. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! ;_;

But that’s okay… One day I’ll have my own comic too since I’ll keep working on it and see if they’d accept my story proposals. ANYWAY, back to THEIR comics.

hercules

This ain’t your Kevin Sorbo Hercules. This is the REAL utter gory Hercules of the Greek stories. First issue, let’s say… Even if this is the first official comic (besides Caliber) from Radical, you will know that the artwork of Radical is ALL beautiful.

The painting! ARRGH, they are all… Well, it is seriously a piece of art when you flip through the pages (I lie, I didn’t flip through the pages, I CAREFULLY turned it over one by one to not get my fingerprints on them) and look at it.

The story… Well, I’m not really sure how to explain without giving spoilers… but it REALLY is like how the unglamourous story of Hercules is. The real pain and anguish, nothing about “LALALA, I’ma son of Zeus and I’m soooo strong!”. Nah, it’s more of your classic type of the tale of Hercules. It ended with a DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUH moment of course.

Though, it makes me wonder… WHEN IS THE NEXT ISSUE GONNA BE WITH THIS HIGH QUALITY ARTWORK!? Cause seriously, I’d like to know if it’s a monthly or bimonthly thing.

caliber

Next up is Caliber. I totally like Arthurian stuff. This is a remake of King Arthur… With guns.

HOW AWESOME IS THAT?

Rumour says that this will be picked up and turned into a movie but we’ll see if and when it happens. So far, I LIIIKESS IT.

Painted artwork like woah.

Arthurian story = A double plus.

The way it’s being told = Major awesome.

And that’s it for me… I’m keeping my issues all pretty so next time I see any of the IFS guys who did the artwork, I can get them to sign it.

Ps. For both titles, there are alternate covers.

Pps. They’re both mini series so you don’t have to go “AAGH” like certain comics with their hundreds issue storyline and all.

48 Hours screening!

Tuesday, 6 May.

7pm.

And a bunch of 48 hour short films.

We were at Eng Wah, Suntec to watch our short film and see what did the other teams do.

michael48

Michael Rogers did a little intro about the whole thing, I can’t remember where Megan Shea was but I think she was somewhere in the front too.

ANYWHO! Apparently only two teams (including mine) were the only late ones amongst the whole load of them.

So ours was screened the second of the whole lot since they screened the late ones first.

intro48

Which is kinda cool since we got to see our intro and all that on the big screen.

flyer48

Blur pics cause it was after all, A DARK CINEMA. In any case, Gladius Studios will upload the video on youtube soon and you guys can watch it.

Truly, it was fun to do it. Heh heh. Hopefully there’ll be more short film productions I’ll be involved in, in the future.