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! 

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.