Talk/Discussion on Writing Real Life Speculative Fiction

Admission: Free

Location: Central library, multipurpose room (basement)

When: 24 September, Saturday, 6pm

Come on down if you’re interested in learning how to write fiction and yes, finally we have this once more since it was postponed by the elections. Gee.

MEANWHILE…

The same weekend has a WaterFire® art installation by Barnaby Evans at Bedok Reservoir. Main programme starts at 6pm but the fires light up at 7.40pm for 24th and 25th September. I know I’ll be going to the one on Sunday. Would be lovely to check it out and get inspiration and whatnot.

Click the picture above to see the full programme!

Also, what’s this…?

Oooh a Comics Xchange?

Yes! They’ve got workshops for artists and writers. I’m going for the seminar though.

Location: Goodman Arts Centre (You might remember this is the GAC when the crew made a mug)

Time: 10am – 8pm

Date: 1 – 2 October

The seminar is $40 for one day or $60 for both while the workshop is $50 for both days since it’s a course. You choose either:

Character Design for Comics
For anyone age 12 or above (including mature adults!) who would like to know how to create original, convincing and varied characters, then the Actions Workshop is just the place to be. There are basic fundamentals for creating characters – whether or not your passion is Shojo, Fantasy, Superhero or Sci-Fi, and this two day workshop will both strongly enlighten plus entertain!

Plot & Script Writing for Comics
There are many forms of writing, and few are as unique as comics. The Captions Workshop will teach and demonstrate essential fundamentals of plot building, story structuring and development of narrative with character dialogue. How to format a professional script is vital knowledge for any writer, as editors and artists require them to relay clear and concise instructions. Suitable for age 12 and above (including mature adults!).

The programme for the seminar is a whole lot more so you’ll have to check on their website to see which day you’d like to attend… OR GO TO BOTH!

Meanwhile, there’s a FREE entry to the bazaar where you can go there and buy doujinshi, artwork and cosplay.

The grounds of GAC is pretty good for cosplay. Lots of different scenarios you can capture. Plus, I know 24 hour comics is going to be there too, the comics equivalent of Nanowrimo. Sorta.

Anyway, go look see what do you want to do.

They’ve a website and Facebook for you to ask questions if you have any!

I went to Lauren Kate’s first at the Serangoon Public Library. The other appearances would be at the books stores and the Jurong library for that day. Anyway,  I was early. Like, super early so I lurked around near the shelves standing around and reading children books where the Granny had alzheimer’s and couldn’t make her golden soup right (?!?) and that the children had to understand and stuff.  (I continued to read about lonely hippos having a party and some cat who wanted to be other animals but yeah, ok.)

Eventually near 12.30pm MPH and the library staff started to set up the place and I lurked more near the doors cause all the seats in the other side of the library were taken up by readers at the newspaper section and the other reading corners. So heck it, I could just lurk if I couldn’t sit somewhere.

These are her books! There was a discount going on and I hadn’t bought Passion yet so hah! I did it there since author appearances always meant some discount compared to a usual sale price anyway. If you wanna know more about these books, you can definitely find reviews online at Amazon or other sites. I haven’t read The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove so I can’t summarize it but here’s some points for those who HAVE read the Fallen series on what my take is since I won’t “review” it but tell you what I think:

Fallen – Daniel, you so romantic. I like you. Also Arianne and everyone else. Luce, you’re being creeped out but that’s ok. Also Penn, SADFACE. This is the first book, things are slow but I am sure the next one will be better.

Torment – Luce, you’re getting cooler now. Daniel, you’re being an idiot. Bye.

Passion – Oh my travelling boots! Daniel, you aren’t stupid after all! You’re just so bad at communicating verbally! Luce, you’re totally on to something here. WHAT IS WITH THE LIGHTS? I don’t know what to think! FWOOSH. FWOOSH!! WHEN IS RAPTURE COMING OUT? AHHHHH.

Yes. That is what I think of it.

Let’s get back to the appearance by Lauren Kate shall we?

It was a cool session! She had been told us Singaporeans would be reaaally quiet and subdued. THIS IS TRUE. For any session by any writer who comes here. It’s not that we don’t like the authors but everyone is always too freaking shy to ask questions or they don’t want to freak the author out cause they came all the way from wherever to Singapore! We just don’t want to freak them out with fangirliness (or fanboyism) and chill.

Sorta.

In her session, she told us that Cam was based on her husband! Oh my! Also that Luce was based on her close friend and that Daniel was based on some OTHER friend in school that has no idea that he was written in. Well, it was his description but not him, himself since apparently Lauren hadn’t talked to him that much. The next book, Rapture is being written but ungh if you checked the last pages of Passion, you’ll see it’ll be out in 2012.

So faaaaar.

No matter, she also explained how she got the idea for her books and that she had research done in university where she could ask her Prof about the angels thing. I forgot what the module is called but it’s one of those bible analyzing class where you learn more for literature! The story of Luce and Daniel first started out as just a normal love story but then she figured that she could turn it different and tadaaaaa, here we have the Fallen series!

Besides info on her books, she gave us advice to writers which I will paraphrase:

It’s easy to start but finishing is much harder. Don’t give up.

Lauren had written stories before but with the advice of her friend, she finished her first book (that’s not Fallen). She thought it was crap and shoved it somewhere but she DID finish it! It meant that she could finish one whole book which thus, leads us eventually to Fallen! There was a point where she thought it was crap too but then she remembered her friend’s advice and now here we have 3 books and counting (four if you include BoNH)!

So people, finish your stories. No matter if you think it is crap, just finish it.

The Asian Festival of Children’s Content was on the 26-28 May 2011. I got registered for it and since it did cost quite a bit, here are some highlights and notes from the conferences! It is a literary adventure for this episode. The conferences and workshops were held at the Arts House.

The welcome speech was done by R.Ramachandran, the conference director and it was held at the chamber of the Arts House.

It was a lovely speech and then he introduced Stephen Mooser who presented with the first keynote of the day, What is the Future of Children’s Publishing? It was interesting since he also did talk about ebooks and applications too. Soon, it was time for the concurrent workshops and sessions.

I’ll be writing things down in point form cause there was a lot to learn anyway. Here are some of the sessions I went to.

Author/Illustrator School Visits: Develoing Your Best Programmes by Holly Thompson

• Be prepared.
• Small groups as opposed to doing readings for large halls are more fun and engaging.
• Make sure you have all your tech, as in adapters and powerplugs just in case the place you’re presenting doesn’t have the sort that you have.
• For children, it would be good to have physical items incorporated related to your story to present and show how it works.
• Be fluid and yet try not to freak out!

The Role of an Agent and De-mystifying the Publishing Process, Cradle to Grave by Kelly Sonnack

• Usually 15% commission if you get an Agent. Also, Agent only takes money when you make money. If Agent takes money from you before anything, it is most likely very dodgy.
• Editors from publishing houses send responses to the agent from four weeks, to months or years.
• Agent negotiates a lot with editor and also finalizes a contract. This is much different than the standard contract since they’d know the wording better and want better stuff for the writer too.
• Lots of work Agent does and it’s all for the good of the writer too. All deals are consulted to writer first and then if writer also has any problems with editor etc, Agent helps negotiate.

What was interesting about this session is that it was what some of us were saying about the publishing here, we need agents to even break into the international scene but some people think that it’s unneeded or just an extra when no… It’s not. ANYWHO, this was a very good session and she was a straight to the point and very well spoken presenter!

On Fairies (Diwata), Mousedeers (Sang Kancil), Merpeople, and Magic Spells – Threads that Bind Children’s Tales from Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia by Rhoda Myra Garces-Bascal

• Is not an academic research but more out of passion an interest but the facts were interesting.
• Used Nvivo 9 analysing software
• Singapore’s folktales had a lot of rules, obedience and liked power over love compared to other South East Asian folktales.
• At the end of the talk, feedback from audience, there’s another organization who did this academically and so more info can be found (in pdf form) at http://seameo.org/ !

This session was more of a fun observational sort to know of folktales in SEA. It was pretty fun to know about more stories too and heh, the analyzing was somewhat pretty true too to real life.

Of Power and Emotions: Writing Fiction for Young Adults by Holly Thompson

• Middle grade school is 20,000- 40,000 words
• Young adult is 40,000 – 80,000 words generally (or more!)
• Is usually often an emotional read, fast paced and usually first person narrative.
• YA tends to be concerned with adolescent negotiating his or her place within a social system, learning their place in a power structure.
• “Crossover books” are YA books but it crosses into Adult where audiences from both like the books for example, The Hunger Games.

And then we got to the second day. Didn’t get there so early since the ones that I wanted to attend were later in the day.

Turning Life Experiences Into Fiction by Dianne Wolfer

• Flimsy, cheap notebooks are ok and getting a file to stuff in any ideas you have are good to keep in.
• Stake out a place where you would have your main writing place is. Creating a space gives your credibility that yes, you ARE a writer!
• Think of moments in the past and write about said moments for 3 minutes a day for ideas!
• Adding other senses besides sight, like sound, smell would let the reader feel as if they’re in the story.
• Embarrassing moments are always popular and good to write about in children’s fiction.
• Always take notes.

Ok, there’s so much more but mainly, the latest trend also from all the sessions is that YA is on the rise and that sci-fi and dystopian fantasy are in. Publishers, agents and writers are currently plagued by vampires and that everyone is still confused over the ebook and applications pricing and rights for now.

Eventually, it will be figured out but for now, it’s shaky to know what works and what doesn’t. Mostly, it has to do with the writer’s rights and contracts since if ebooks and apps are out now, what of the future, perhaps there will be other formats and what then?

So hmm, everyone’s going “Woaaaah” on it.

We’ll see how it is, in the future indeed.

Ahhh, lots of events on Saturday, 28 May!

Firstly, there is an Intro to Creative Writing talk/ workshop at the National Library, Multipurpose Room, basement 1, 2pm. It is FREE so come on by if you want to talk or learn more on creative writing and ask questions on it.

Secondly, we have a discussion talk that is FREE too at Spore-Con! That will be from 11am-12pm. It is about Writing Genre Fiction in Singapore! Click the link to know more plus you might be interested in going for some of the tournaments or games at the convention itself.

Yes, we’ll be going to Spore-Con and then to the library! Do come for either though the one at the library will be more on writing while the one at Spore-Con will be more on a discussion of the state of writing genre fiction here.

On the side that is not organized by us, there will also be The Asian Festival of Children’s Content! That is not free though and you have to pay for the conference fees. That will be at the Arts House, just in case you’re heading that direction and wondering what is up with all the people since the Cats of the World exhibition is there too.

Lastly, there is a Superheroes as a social commentary talk at the Esplanade library at 4.30pm by a screenwriting lecturer from the Puttnam School of Film, LASALLE College of the Arts.

What is up with Saturday indeed. Well, I hope to see at least some of you guys at either the library or Spore-Con!

Since I keep seeing it in my keywords searching more about the Singapore steampunk anthology by Two Trees… Here’s a public update! The non-acceptances have been emailed out with comments and the rest have been updated that they’ve passed through the first round!

At the moment, we’re sorting through which stories will fit together in the whole anthology since there ARE quite a lot! The results of that will most probably get through after New Year’s and then we’ll email once more who got through the final cut!

From then onwards, we’ll note to them which parts need editing if they need, etc.

So yes, submissions are closed but we’re still working on it to get it all together!

Hello, hello. We’ve had the kick off and now it’s the Thank Goodness It’s Over Party! Details in the poster but pretty much:

Date: 4 December 2010

Time: 2.30pm-4pm

Location: Earshot Cafe at The Arts House

It’ll be very informal and there will be cake, pastries, muffins and tea and coffee! Want to talk about anything literary or anything bookish or about writing, just come on even if you’re not a Nanowrimo-er! It’s always good to go to meet other writers and readers for this is usually one of the free events in which they’d come to!

And so the 30th October was the kick off party for Nanowrimo in Singapore! It was at the multipurpose room of the national library. Most people ask why do Nanowrimo since you have to write at least 50k in 30 days well… That is pretty much the point! For others it’s a daunting task, to writers it is fun!

There were goody bags for the Nano-ers for those curious on what they are and what they mean:

• Either a monkey or octopus sticker from HQ.
• A burnable cd for backups!
• A pencil to write and a post it pad just in case.
• A nano booklet to help with writing.
• A dice to go with the things in the booklet.
• An alcohol swab to clean things and somewhat of a reminder not to get sick!
• A rabbit sweet for a plot bunny.
• Milo cause you’re champions!
• A plastic animal toy as a word prompt – if you don’t have a clue on what next in your story to put, insert the animal somewhere!

The queue as the people got in. It wasn’t even 6.30pm.

And yet the people were filling up the seats. Naturally they sat from the back first and then towards the front.

Maybe because Death (from Terry Pratchett) was there. Nya ha ha!

So it was a pretty fun time. The competitions and quizzes had prizes ranging from Moleskines to battery operated fans, girly/manly joke eye glasses and lots of notebooks.

We even had our book launch for Bubble G.U.M after the main bulk of what is Nanowrimo. You guys can get the book at Two Trees by emailing them or well, emailing me either way since I can contact them. In which in the slides we presented, we informed that the Nano-ers can still submit short stories of STEAMPUNK to Two Trees since we extended the deadline to 15 November for those that were interested.

And thus, we had our cake and discussion on comics and of speculative fiction. It was pretty fun as usual for that bit and we got everyone else to help with the chairs.

The flickr album will be updated with more photos of the event but yes! Fun. Hahah, I think the photos will explain more on the event since it has more things in it.

FYI for others, write-ins are from 2pm at the Earshot Cafe of The Arts House. They’re usually on weekends or check the info on the Nano forums anyway.

Here’s the line up guys. (For the official poster of the event, click here.)

National Library, Multipurpose room (basement 1) at 6.30pm (till 8.30pm)

The theme: Superheroes (people are gonna dress to the theme so don’t get freaked out, you’re at the right place!)

Anyone can leave before 8.30pm but that’s the maximum time slot we can be there because the library would close soon after.

Who should come?

• Nanowrimo-ers
• Readers and writers
• Comic fans and geeks

First we’ll have the Nanowrimo kick off! Things start at 6.30pm and all and it’ll lead on towards the mini launching of Bubble G.U.M (because some of us Nanowrimo-ers wrote it)! The book is just $15 just for the launch. You guys will want to buy it there because when it gets stocked at Kino or any other store, they’ll put GST and everything on it which could get the book priced above $19 or something. (We’ll have our previous publication Happiness at the End of the World there at $15 too.)

After the mini launch, we would end the main Nanowrimo events but stay to talk to each other and have our cake while we discuss on the evening’s theme of graphic novels and of speculative fiction in it! They’re related since graphic novels ARE a graphic form of speculative fiction. Batman, Superman, Powergirl and much more! If you’re there just for the discussion, come around 7.20pm! Our main programme isn’t going to be that long, the kick off is more for people to know each other and what they’re writing and reading anyway!

Getting there:

Ok. It’s the main library that’s in between Bugis and City Hall MRT. Ride the escalator down to the basement and once you get into the fiction section there, head on over to the comics shelf and there past that, you’ll find a door with the words “Multipurpose Room” on top.

What is this Bubble G.U.M?

It’s a futuristic science fiction story happening in Singapore when both boys and girls have to serve National Service. In 2045, we meet Prix (in the future, they call each other by their online names) and her other friends as they embark on an adventure off the main island of Singapore (that is protected by a dome made of bubble gum – you’ll learn why in the book) and stumble upon a plot while doing their NS.

Mutant sea bass, talking dolphins and the speak good English campaign causing everyone in the future not to understand Singlish and bikinis, oh my!

Well, you guys will get to know more at the launch, won’t you?

Ps. This is the official poster of the event if you want to spread it around!

Hey guys! BUBBLE G.U.M IS OUT! Or rather, it’s printed and ready to be shipped by the distributors. HOWEVER, it will take time before the stores will receive it but I’m able to get copies from the publisher themselves. Ah! What’s BUBBLE G.U.M? If you read the last pages of Happiness at the End of the World, you’d be able to see a preview of it.

Here’s a brief description of what the story is though:

It’s 2045 and Prix Chan is beginning her National Service. Her father, Pierre, believes she can handle it but her mother, Su, is hysterical at the thought of her daughter leaving the safety of Singapore’s Green Underwater Metropolis, the Bubble G.U.M., a self-sufficient city-state protected three miles beneath the waves by a dome of chewing gum.

Little does anyone know that in less than a week Prix will cause the biggest crisis to hit Singapore since the planet went into meltdown creating a world of water and a human civilisation on the brink of annihilation.

Yes, it’s science fiction about futuristic Singapore! It’s a young adult with elements of comedy and adventure in it too. A very interesting 6 person collaboration by the Happy Smiley Writers Group.

You guys get can it during the Nanowrimo Kick-Off on the 30th October, 6.30pm at the National Library or email me to “pre-order” it if you want to have a copy before the date or to make sure you do get a copy before then. Why pre-order? Because it’ll take time for the distributors to put it in the stores and I might just have limited stock in my hands when I get some stacks of them from the publisher.

It’s not up for online sale at Two Trees yet but it will be.

What’s the price? $18! It’s probably going to be more expensive in stores when they include GST though. (Un?)Fortunately, you can only get a special sale price of $15 if you go to the Nanowrimo Kick-Off! But hey, if you’re going to the kick-off, you’ll be able to meet the writers, get autographs, listen about writing, talk about geekery such as books and comics while having cake!

It’s totally more worth it to pre-order one and collect it at the event itself. What’s my email? Check my about page, heh. Or ok. It’s sarah @ seriouslysarah.com

Hello everyone! This is an updated review of online book stores compared to back then when I wrote Open Trolley is my alternate universe Amazon! If you read the comments there, things got a bit heated up from the various stores telling me that they’ve got offers and whatnot and other people’s experiences with them. (The comments ARE very informative by the way.)

Now you need to know one thing from that era of me using Open Trolley, Acma Mall didn’t give free shipping to Singapore. That post was in August 2009 and then they had the free shipping later. That includes the existence of Book Depository to us Singaporeans even if the about page says it had been founded in 2004. It was just then, no one here really used BD to tell us it isn’t dodgy and all that.

I would like to quote George Stevens who had used all three before I get on with my review. This is one comment that’s very useful from that older post:

OK- tried all 3 of the stores above- here’s the results- all orders were for books shown as “in-stock”-

OpenTrolley- order placed January 6th, available for pickup January 15th- 7 working days. Paid $0.50 to pick them up at Plaza Singapura.

Acma Mall- order placed January 10th, delivered January 26th to my house- 12 working days. 40% off of best sellers and free shipping made this the best price, but the longest delivery.

Book Depository- order placed January 17th, delivered January 26th to my house. Overall good prices and best delivery time (6 working days), even though they are not local. Will probably continue to use them in the future.

I think both of the “local” bookstores are just a website who then order in bulk from overseas, thus the long lead times.

Right. So there you go. It’s pretty much the same timeline for me too. I’ve ordered from OT, AM and lately BD.

I ordered on the 12th July and got it on the 21st July which is pretty typical of a shipping time from the UK to here. Or at least whenever I bought items online, it usually comes around 10 days if it’s not in Singapore. What did I get?

Red Hood’s Revenge by Jim C Hines! I got a little bookmark too! Let’s do a little packaging comparison with the 3 stores.

Packaging

Open Trolley – You can either pick it up from the Toy Outpost or get it delivered to you. If you’re picking it up, bring your own bag or else you’ll be carrying your book(s) just like that. If you get it delivered, they send it to you in a box! So pretty protected and all that. However, I ordered a somewhat large book so it wasn’t stuffed into my postbox but instead the postman came up to deliver the parcel and all that.

Acma Mall – Deliveries only. Ditto on box. It’s more like a specialized book carton or something since it’s wrapped to the size of your book. Fits in your mailbox so a pleasant surprise (if you don’t count the days) when you open it up and see it there.

Book Depository – You can see above. A padded envelope! It was well protected and fit in my box. Pro point? You can play with squishy bubble wrap of the padded envelope once you’re done tearing it up in an attempt to get your book as fast as possible out of it.

All three companies don’t have dodgy packaging techniques so your books will be in pretty good condition when you get them.

NOW, let’s get on with the pricing!

Why did I use BD this time? Well, firstly you’ve got to know I had checked the book out once I learned it was uh out. My first step would be to check Kinokuniya’s book web catalogue. They didn’t have it yet even if they have the first few books in the series. No point in checking out Popular and Borders doesn’t have an online book search which is stupid really. If Kino didn’t have it yet (and they can be slow to stock some titles), it’s off to the online stores instead!

Amazon and Borders are out in my list because of their shipping costs so whatever. This post is for my favourite online stores instead. Open Trolley, Acma Mall and Book Depository.

Pricing (in SGD for Red Hood’s Revenge)

Acma Mall – $12.32 with free shipping. At the time of this post, they’ve got a new deal where you’ll get your book within 7 working days.

Book Depository – $11.38 with free shipping.

Open Trolley – $12.91, shipping = $4.98 (per order, not book) or book costs $11.62 if using DBS/POSB card or for non users of those banks, you’d get that cheaper price if you buy at least 2 books. Free “shipping” if you pick up at Toy Outpost instead.

The Verdict

You can see BD won this time.

However, I don’t stick to each particular store every time because it depends on the books. Acma Mall has popular titles but for some obscure ones, Open Trolley has it and Book Depository too.

The best time to go to Open Trolley is when they have sales going on where it sometimes can be 20% discount or more depending on the months. THEN you get your friends and go insane on the books. Get shipping if you’re feeling lazy since it’s just per order and not per book. It’s like the price of 2 long bus trips anyway.

Also when I mean their range of books is large, it is really large. For those obscure titles and comics, you can find it here mostly. If you can’t find a book you want, email them and they can try hunt it down for you, it’s in their services.

Meanwhile, Acma Mall has their own discounts too where you get codes from some book councils places and it’s faster than the brick and mortar stores here with new releases. The downside is their search engine on their website. Sometimes you get errors so you’ll just have refresh or key in a different key word like the author name instead of the book title.

They’re on twitter too and come out with promotions now and then. Quick to response to customer feedback etc so you don’t need to freak out if something happens to your package or something and need to email them etc. Oh and they sell more than just books too.

Book Depository is woah on the range and the price. Just remember that it’s from the UK and while the shipping time is around 10 days or so for us at the minimum, there might be delays due to unexpected volcanoes/strikes/bad weather/etc. Things do happen after all. I’m having a lack to say here because it pretty much an ideal store too! They don’t have promos from what I see though since they’re already providing free shipping and cheap book rates. If you buy a lot of books, they won’t come in one package, instead the books come individually via mail. It’s weird but they mail it to you one by one.

For each of the stores, it’s best to just see when you’re buying the book.

Also, this is a new Book SG price comparison site by Brian Ellison. You might like to have it a go if you don’t want to do that much work of comparing yourself. It’s new at the moment of this post so it might have a lack of data for now.

So any more online book stores you’ve tried out besides these three that I’ve used?