Skip to main content

The Last Entry...

...for 2006!

Since I have no internet at home (I'll get to paying the bill, one day), today will be the last post for the year.

What has 2006 meant for me? 2006 was to me, the Year of Writing. This year, for the first time in my life, I took my writing very seriously. For the past 5 years or so, my New Year's resolutions had always included one where I resolved to write The Novel. Though I have yet to fulfil that promise, I have at least made huge strides in my writing.

This year, I wrote 9 short stories, submitted 6 of them to 11 publications, and have had 2 of them accepted for publication (one of them is included in a book being launched tomorrow). Compare that to the previous years... all I had written were some story outlines for the games company I work for... and that's it. They were pretty lame outlines too, come to think of it.

I joined a writing class, which gave me the confidence to actually keep writing (thanks, Sharon!) and I started a blog about books and writing. Both venues allowed me to meet and know other local writers and editors (here and abroad) who give me wonderful morale support for my writing.

I'd like to think that my writing has improved too. My first stories were terrible, now they're less terrible. And my characters don't drone on and on like they used to.

Oh, and I had two book reviews published in The Star.

All in all, it's been a pretty good year, writing-wise.

Resolutions for 2007:
  1. Get that novel done
  2. Get short stories published abroad
Happy New Year everyone!
Labels:

Comments

  1. Lydia Teh30/12/06 1:33 pm

    Good on you, Ted. I need to get another book written too, to shorten the length of time in-between books.

    Happy New Year.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Artemis Hunt30/12/06 2:02 pm

    Dear Ted, this is so great! So this is in place of the Book Project 3? I'm sure it will be a hit. Just found out about this today, so sorry I can't be there. Have a few complications from my surgery - like a really huge abscess and now a saliva leak from the wound :) But do tell me when your next book reading is, okay? I will hopefully recover enough to be there.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous31/12/06 3:22 pm

    u left before i could get u to sign my book :(

    yays for good story publications!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous3/1/07 3:36 am

    Lurker here :) Anyway, I don't know if you know this already, but Duotrope's Digest (www.duotrope.com) has a pretty comprehensive database of publications abroad (in the US mostly). I thought you might find it helpful if you are looking to publish overseas.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ted Mahsun3/1/07 2:57 pm

    Lydia: Thanks. Happy new year to you too! Good luck with that book. Fiction this time or Non-fic as usual?

    Xeus: Yup, Write Out Loud replaces BP3... and I'm guessing BP4 will be called WOL2? *shrug shrug* Hope you get well soon... those complications sound scary! Not sure when I'll have another book reading but I'll be sure to invite you along.

    Jolin: Alamak... sorry! I'll sign when there's another WOL event kays? It was great meeting ya at the launch!

    Eliza: Thanks Eliza! Happy New Year! I think I'll mostly be posting my reviews on my blog from now on... Star works too slow for an impatient me :D

    Jen: That is an EXCELLENT link! Thank you very much! *bookmarks*

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lesson: Commemorative Covers are Lame.

Well, I got the first day cover that commemorates the 35th anniversary of the establishment diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia that I mentioned a couple of posts ago. Except that it's not a first day cover, it's a commemorative cover, which is a slightly different beast. I guess I should read the news article properly next time! The difference between the two is that first day covers are specially-designed envelopes stuck on with specially-designed stamps, and marked with a specially-designed postmark. A commemorative cover is a specially-designed envelope... and that's it. All in all, it's an unremarkable affair, especially if you're used to well-designed first day covers (not that Malaysian first day covers are well-designed... but I digress). Oh sure, a commemorative cover has a stamp printed right on to it but that's just like an overglorified aerogramme. Lame. On the whole, what a disappointment. I haven't been collecting first day cover...
5 comments
Read more

REVIEW: Confessions of an Old Boy by Kam Raslan

Kam Raslan's right. In the preface for his new book, Confessions of an Old Boy: The Dato' Hamid Adventures he writes that we've known Dato' Hamid all our lives. Seeing as my own dad is an old boy of MCKK, the people I get to meet when he drags me to an Old Boy function and the people he tells me of, reflect the characters found in Kam's book. It really does feel like I've known Dato' Hamid all my life. Dato' Hamid is a civil servant of the Tunku Abdul Rahman generation. He is the sort of person you rarely see nowadays, a fine example of the anachronistic Malay. This generation, groomed in the ways of the colonial British would be out of place not just in 21st century Malaysia, but in Britain too. And yet, Dato' Hamid, in all his snobbishness and patronising ways, is essentially a Malaysian. Without people like him, our country would probably never exist at all. At least not like we know it now. I'm glad that Kam Raslan decided to capture this ...
5 comments
Read more

An Ipoh Ghost Story.

When I was growing up in Ipoh in the 90s, the only good bookshops around were Mubaruk's, which specialised in textbooks (and still does), and Novelhut, the second-hand bookstore that used to be in Yik Foong (and maybe still is there, but I haven't checked in years since I prefer going to their Ipoh Parade outlet when I'm in town). There was also a pretty good bookstore in the Parkson Grand in Ipoh Parade which could have been a Berita outlet, but I don't remember. This was in the days before they expanded Ipoh Parade into what it is today. (And temporarily causing the Convent school next door to consider moving.) I recall this because I was thinking of when exactly I started reading "serious" fiction, trying to pinpoint the years when I moved from young adult/fantasy/sci-fi books into non-genre fiction. I still can't remember, but it brought back memories of a book I bought from a short-lived bookshop in Old Town. Mum had brought me there, because she must...
6 comments
Read more