Goodbye to SCBWI's Lady with the Perfect Prose.

It's with great sadness that I have to say that my good friend and SCBWI Singapore Coordinator, Catherine Carvell is moving back to Australia. Catherine's a fantastic author and an equally great co-ordinator  for our meetings.  It's going to be really strange and different without her here. I call Catherine my literary twin because we've gone through the same ups and downs on our writing journey and we've got a lot of similarities in life, although I'm not British-Australian, I'm not a woman, I haven't gotten married, nor do I have to two fantastic kids.

Last week we gathered at out regular meeting spot - it's kind of like a local version of the Central Perk - The Book Cafe for Catherine's last official meeting.

And wouldn't you know it, the genius that I am, I forgot my camera. Anyway, it was a busy day: I spent the morning going through final proof-checks before heading to the police station to help my mum file a lost and found report. Then I had to dash over to Tanglin Mall to pick up a cake for Catherine's farewell meeting and then heading to Emma's for a meeting with our agent, Helen. It was a great meeting, BTW.

At 6:00pm, Emma called for a cab and we floored it to the Book Cafe. Catherine was already there so I had to surreptitiously hand the cake to the restaurant manager to keep in the kitchen. Saraharrived shortly thereafter with a huge bouquet of orchids, which was also handed over to the kitchen staff.

Catherine, David, Evelyn, Vidhya, Simon, Linda, Tracy, Maddie and my distributors Denise and Kelvin from Closetful of Books were already settled in our assigned corner of the cafe.  Catherine's brilliant and soon-to-be-blockbusting best-seller, Darcy Moon and the Deep Fried Frogs had just arrived and Catherine looked quite at home signing copies of her book. She's a natural. Her distributors were more than happy when they made a tidy sum from book sales that night.

After announcing her imminent departure to the rest of the members, we started the meeting proper by critiquing manuscripts from Vidhya, Simon and Linda. 

Vidhya's piece was an engaging piece about a lunch that mysteriously vanished, Simon's was funny is a squirmish, blood and guts way, and Linda's was about going home.

Catherine read Linda's story and it touched home! Linda later confessed she didn't think about that when she submitted in for review.

SCBWI RA showed up in the middle of the critiques after a full day of planning this year's Asian Festival of Children's Content. Though he was swamped at work, nothing was going make him miss Catherine's last meeting!

With the critiques over it was time for the cake and flowers. Sarah and I brought out cake and Sarah carried the flowers. I think Catherine was surprised. At least I hope she was. 

Catherine gives  a speech!

With her flowers and cake

After a short, informal but heartfelt speech, we all dug into the cake, which was kind of difficult to cut into. Then we all sort of sat around chatting and catching up before it was time to head on home. It's still hasn't sunk in that it was Catherine's last meeting but I'm sure it will. I'm sorry that Emma, Kenneth and I won't be here for her book launch next month at the Arts House but I'm sure it will be fantastic. I'll miss you lots, Catherine. You're a great friend.

One last shot of the group

Front Row (left to Right): Vidhya, Linda, Evelyn, me, Kenneth, Simon, Kristy, David
Back row: Vinnie, Maddie, Tracy, Emma, Sarah, Catherine.
Absent with regrets: Felicia, Adan, Emily, Kate.

Over the Moon with Darcy Moon!

Today my good friend, Catherine Carvell,  just received a special package in the mail - an advance copy of her debut MG novel Darcy Moon and the Deep Fried Frogs! 

Catherine's over the moon with her first copy of Darcy!

Mark my words, people, Catherine's book is destined to be a best-seller. I was fortunate enough to read the early drafts of the story and I loved it. The story is gut-busting funny and it's green in every sense of the word.  Catherine's been working on it for a very long time and so this is an especially thrilling day for her and I think we can all understand why.

Catherine, congratulations, you've done an amazing job! We're proud of you. Now onto those best-seller lists!  Darcy Moon and the Deep Fried Frogs is published by Fremantle Press and will be available in all good bookstores in March.

Darcy Moon is a book for readers of all ages.

The Writing Year

It's barely been two weeks into the new year and I've already broken several resolutions. Oh well, I guess I can start over for Chinese New Year, right? Anyway, I'll try to be better at  from now on.

Firstly, I hope to be more disciplined with myself when it comes to writing. The beginning of the year always reminds me of the first school. For one thing, I get anxious about the year ahead and for another, I regret the the things I didn't accomplish the previous year. So my new year's resolution is to be much more time efficient and productive this year.

Speaking of the first day of school, Emma came back  from the UK in time to help me with the final proofing of Sebbie's First Day of School. Thanks, Emma.

Final Proofs for Sebbie's First Day of School

Emma's book Princess Petunia's Dragon is now available at Kinokuniya, MPH and all good bookstores in Singapore, so go grab a copy now! It's a brilliant book, really brilliant...a real fire-breather of a book. Stop reading this blog and buy a copy.

Emma at Kinokuniya with Princess Petunia!

Sarah's back safely from Cambodia and is hard at work on the third book in her pawtastical Purple Paw Print series and it should be out by May, just in time for the Asian Festival of Children's Content, right, Sarah? Sarah's  award-winning books are so much fun and unpredictable too. Kid's love them and I can't wait for the next one too!

Another book I'm terribly excited about is Darcy Moon and the Deep Fried Frogs by Catherine Carvell, which will be published in March. I was there when it was being written and I was lucky enough to be there when Catherine was crafting the story. It's hilarious and it's a green book too.  And by that I don't just mean it's an environmentally friendly book, I mean it's literally green - look it's got a green cover!   

And finally, Kristina Thornton and Michael Csokas's The Wee Adventures of Shabu Shabu: The Jade Legend has been a hit with kids here in Singapore, Sri Lanka, Japan and the USA since they launched it at the Asian Festival of Children's Content this year. The imaginative duo also have a top app for the book on itunes so buy it now for hours of entertainment for yourself or the kids in your life.

Now the sequel's about to hit to bookshelves. so get ready to order your copies of the next guaranteed blockbuster from Csoka and Thornton, The Wee Adventures of Shabu Shabu: The  Silk Route.

The working cover of book (NOT THE FINAL COVER)

Mark my words, Emma's, Sarah's and Catherine's, Kristina's and Michael's books are bound to be a best-selling award-winning must-have books of 2014.

That's it for now. I'll blog more tomorrow when I should actually be writing my next book! 

Highlights from this year's Singapore Writers Festival

The Learning Connection's production of There's Soup on My Fly!

Earlier this year, Emily Lim introduced me to the Learning Connections' Juliet Chia who  successfully staged Emily's book Prince Bear, Pauper Bear at this year's Asian Festival of Children's Content.

Juliet started the Learning Connections to introduce children to stories written by local authors through performances at schools and other venues.So when she contacted me about the possibility of turning There's Soup on My Fly! into a children's theatre production, I was intrigued. 

It's not the first time the story has been adapted in some form, it was  first dramatised by ACT3 at the 2012 AFCC Literature Lecture, but that was more of a ten-minute performance art production and Juliet wanted to adapt the story into an actual theatre production with props, costumes, actors and an actual script. Keen to see what she would come up with, I readily agreed.

Now let's just say she's had to fasten her seat-belt more than once on the journey towards production. This particular author has been quite particular about things... to say the least!

The storyteller

The show is expected to launch in  February, so two days ago, Catherine, Emma, and I went to watch the first dress rehearsal at a kindergarten in Changi. It took a while to find the place, but we finally did and then Emma had to buy me a pre-performance coke and cookie to get me in the right frame of mind to watch the show objectively. Thanks, Emma!

We had to take off the shoes when we arrived at the kindergarten and we were thrust into a roomful of extremely active and noisy children. One child eyed me drinking my coke. I was so tempted to say "Coca Cola is good for you!" But I would have probably gotten into big trouble for that. Anyway I started drinking Coke when I was five and there haven't been any side effects that I know of aside from embarking on my crazy writing career.

Emma, Catherine and me with the cast and crew of There's Soup on My Fly!

We took our seats and Emma and Catherine braced themselves to keep me in check for the duration of the show. Throughout the performance there were a handful of crying kids, but I suppose that's to be expected at any show. Anyway, Juliet heaved a sigh of relief when the performance was over. To put it simply, it was good. Were there some things I wish were done differently? Maybe, probably, but I think this process has taught me to let go somewhat and just relax.

A book is like a child, you bring it into the world and let it go. You can't control how people treat it, or react to it, but as long as they want the best for it and for it to do well, then you can't really complain. And they've turned the story into a musical and for someone who is as tone deaf as me, that's quite something. So thanks Juliet, Elaine, Melissa and Candice, and the cast and crew of There's Soup on My Fly! And thanks, Catherine and Emma for watching the show with me.

Jason Erik Lundberg at the Writers Fest

Catherine Carvell, Emily Lim, Pauline Lo 

I headed on down for Pauline Lo's second book launch appropriately on the second day of the writers' book fest. On my way there, I spied fellow Epigram authors Adan and Felicia Low Jiminez aka AJ Low of the immensely popular Sherlock Sam series, prepping for their treasure hunt. I decided not to frazzle them out and went straight to the Pavilion, where Pauline's launch was to be held.

Adan and Felicia and their many fans.

Hankering for some dessert, I perused the selection of cupcakes and cakes on offer at the cake stand and bought this for tea for S$6:50, only to discover that Pauline had a selection of tea time tasties for her book launch.  Darn, the cake lady refused to offer me a refund, even though my cake had only one bite in it! Unbelievable!!

After tea, I bumped into Kristina Thornton, co-author of the ultra successful The Wee Adventures of Shabu-Shabu book and app and we hightailed it to the Alternate Realities panel, featuring Jason Erik Lunberg  and Dean Francis Alfar. We were late and according to Kristina I made quite an entrance as my rustling paper bags were quite a distraction.  I'm  Sorry, Jason and Dean, but if Kristina hadn't been late, we wouldn't have been quite disruptive! :P I have to say their session was the best, a riot and I had a blast. We all did.

Jason Erik Lundberg,  Rajeev Patke, Dean Francis Alfar

We had post panel drinks at TCC with Kenneth and Emma

before grabbing dinner at Mexican eatery Baja Fresh and heading back home.  Watch out for my post about my one minute pitch at the Singapore Writers Festival.

SWF: Tibby the Tiger Bunny and The Robot in my Playground Book Launch

Pauline Lo, Emily Lim and Christine from Epigram

On Saturday afternoon I found myself at the SMU campus for the joint book launch of  award-winning authors Emily Lim's and Pauline Lo's books Tibby the Tiger Bunny and The Robot in My Playground; both ladies are my fellow authors at Epigram Books.

Also in attendance representing Epigram were Edmund, Sheri, Christine, and Ilangoh. Kenneth, Catherine, Sarah and I were there to show support for team SCBWI. And course I bought the books!

Tibby the Tiger Bunny

The Robot in My Playground

Emily, Catherine, and Jade (Photo: C. Carvell)

It's needless to say that the book launch was packed and Emily brought along her  adorably energetic son Caleb, to whom she dedicated her book.

After the launch we caught up with Evelyn and headed for a post-book launch tea at one of the many establishments on the SMU campus. Now that was a lot of fun!!

Sarah, Kenneth and Sheri 

Pauline, Edmund and Avina

Emily Lim and Caleb.

Dinner with Jacquie Harvey @ Jumbo Seafood

L to R: Sarah, Simon, Jeff, Catherine, Jacqueline, Emma, Evelyn

Best selling author Jacqueline Harvey's back in town for school visits before heading off on a promotional tour of the UK for her best-selling Alice-Miranda and Clementine Rose books. (If you haven't started reading them yet, what are you waiting for?) So we, of course, had to take the opportunity to catch up with her for dinner. 

So last week, Catherine, Emma and I went for a food tasting at Jumbo Seafood Riverside Point. We're getting rather good at food tasting if I say so myself; we must have been royal food tasters in previous lifetimes. After our extremely well-honed and sophisticated palates were convinced that the cuisine was suitable for a best-selling author, we booked a table for 12, not realising that unforeseen circumstances would prevent some of our members from being able to make it at the very last minute. And the fact that Jaquie is allergic to shellfish. Sorry, Jacquie.

Catherine and Emma decided on the menu, the invitations were emailed and everything was set.  Emma and I planned to meet Jacquie at her hotel and we would make our way to the dinner venue from there. As with most plans, they never go according to plan. The one BIG hiccup was that I walked to the hotel and it took longer than I expected. Do most  Friday-evening pedestrians not understand the meaning of "Excuse me, please?" If that's the case, I'll just bark "Move it!" the next time someone is in my way.

By the time I got to the hotel, Emma and Jacquie were already in line for a taxi and that was great because we didn't have to wait too long to get one and then we were off to Jumbo Seafood, where Catherine, Jeff and  Simon were already waiting.

Now, why do restaurants take reservations when they can't give you a table on time? If you haven't realised it already, I'm not the most patient of people. 

Moonbeam

Anyway we eventually got our table and, in hindsight, I'm sure it wasn't as long a wait as I thought it was. Evelyn arrived just as we were being seated and the moon was high in the night sky when newly minted Moonbeam winner Sarah Mounsey made it to the restaurant after a trek from the MRT station.

Our fearless SCBWI leader, who's out of town, sent a message inquiring about the evening's proceedings. The ever efficient Kenneth Quek wanted to know if everything was going well. I was about to reply but my phone ran out of batteries. So he was kept in suspense for the remainder of the evening.

Chilli Crab 

When the food arrived, we had a hard time understanding what our waitress was saying as English was not her first language. She looked a tad annoyed with me when I asked her something repeatedly and later in the evening she kept rolled her eyes when I asked to look at the menu! Jumbo Seafood, your food's good but your customer service is much to be desired.

Chilli crab and Mantou buns

Deep fried baby squid

Asparagus

Now I would fill you in on our dinner conversation but you can't really do that justice on a blog post, can you? But what I will say is that it was great fun catching up with Jacquie and we can't wait to do it again.  Catherine, Emma, start planning! :) Thanks everyone for making it a fun evening. 

Here's a link to Jacqueline's website: http://jacquelineharvey.com.au