Capturing the Spirit of Malaysia-Senses of Malaysia July-August 2011

*Here's a link to Table of Contents and sample pages with more great photos (taken by others!)

Here are links to some of my author-to-author interviews of first novelists:

Ivy Ngeow author of Cry of the Flying Rhino, winner of the 2016 Proverse Prize.

Golda Mowe author of Iban Dream and Iban Journey.

Preeta Samarasan author of Evening is the Whole Day. 

Chuah Guat Eng,  author of Echoes of Silence and Days of Change. 

Plus:

Five part Maugham and Me series

Beheaded on Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed—Part I 

Expatriate Lifestyle - February 2011

Not sure why this can't be clicked and enlarged.  It works for the one below!

**

Malay Mail - Spirit of Malaysia- review 1 March 2011

It's always nice (and a relief) to get that first good review out of the way. 
The hardest part of this project was to cut the words down to their bare
minimum.  There was tons to be written, but the space requirements for the
text was severely limited. The publisher purposely wanted to maximize the
photos and minimize the text, except for the five-part introduction, by far
the hardest to write.  Again, because I had tons of material to work with!
It was a matter of organizing it and distilling it all down the the essentials. 
 I'm glad we did it this way. Love the cover, too!

*Here's a link to the table of contents and an e-book link to view some 
of the photos. 

Here are links to some of my author-to-author interviews of first novelists:

Ivy Ngeow author of Cry of the Flying Rhino, winner of the 2016 Proverse Prize.

Golda Mowe author of Iban Dream and Iban Journey.

Preeta Samarasan author of Evening is the Whole Day. 

Chuah Guat Eng,  author of Echoes of Silence and Days of Change. 

Plus:

Five part Maugham and Me series

Beheaded on Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed—Part I

My Copy of Spirit of Malaysia Has Arrived with an Added Surprise!

Spirit of Malaysia  (Editions Didier Millet, 2011) just arrived at my house in Borneo!  Finally I get to see all of those 150 stunning photos in color in book form.  While working on the project, I had them available on the computer so I could describe them for the photo captions.  My two mock copies that I worked from, one with pseudo Latin text for layout and spacing purposes, and the final version to edit were both in black and white (no color printer at home).  I had forgotten how great those photos were. 

Again, I can’t take credit for them—the photo credits are all listed on the last page.  For a sneak peek, see the link below!  The photos were chosen by Editions Didier Millet even before I was brought on board to write the text.  I was just glad for the opportunity to help out, though initially a challenge for me to relearn Malaysia after 25 years of living here—so much has changed, so many news things to discover! 

Deadlines and a signed contract, by the way, are powerful motivators.  Without them, many books would never get written!

Introduction:

To think of the spirit of Malaysia is to conjure up images of celebration and festivity, a sweeping panorama of kampongs to longhouses, temples and mosques, sleepy provincial towns and modern cities.  A fascinating fusion of tradition and modernity is set amidst a tropical backdrop of lush rainforest, languid rivers and stunning beaches.  Here too are to be found an alluring mix of peoples, religions, customs, architecture and experiences—with Malays, Chinese, Indian, European, Arab, Thai, and indigenous influences blending to create a truly unique nation, rich in culture and heritage.

Table of Contents

Introduction

            History and heritage

            People and cultures

            Food glorious food

            Geography and economy

            Getty Around

Kuala Lumpur

Langkawi and Penang

Malacca

Johor and Negri Sembilan

Northwest Mainland

Pahang

East Coast

Sabah and Sarawak

And for the added surprise, a cool sampling of the photos and turning those pages check this out.  If you've never done this before, put your cursor at the bottom right corner to turn the pages and drag it from right to left.  After a few tries you’ll get the hang of it.  You can also click on it and other places, too.  Just try it and have fun.  This was a first for me, too.  My first entry into the e-book world.  Now I see what the fuss is all about – how they’re making it more like a real book experience.   

Of course, I still prefer the book I just got in the mail today.  This is something I can sink my teeth into! Then there's that new book smell. And the photos are much better!

* Here's also the first review.
**Update, the 20th anniversary of Lovers and Strangers Revisited, my collection of short stories set in Malaysia.

Here are links to some of my author-to-author interviews of first novelists:

Ivy Ngeow author of Cry of the Flying Rhino, winner of the 2016 Proverse Prize.

Golda Mowe author of Iban Dream and Iban Journey.

Preeta Samarasan author of Evening is the Whole Day. 

Chuah Guat Eng,  author of Echoes of Silence and Days of Change. 

Plus:

Five part Maugham and Me series

Beheaded on Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed—Part I

Spirit of Malaysia - a first look at the new cover

Here's the first look at Spirit of Malaysia, an Editions Didier Millet book that I was asked to write the text for, a state-by-state overview of modern Malaysia, a good learning experience for me and a pleasant opportunity to revisit all of Malaysia, if only from my computer and via stacks of guide and reference books, after living here for twenty-five years.  Amazing how much I learned, which is often the case with every book that you write.

The copyright holder of the series provided the photographs, and the layout was already done for me.  Just needed to come up with the text for each section and for the photos, too.  Sounds easy, but initially when writing this it gave me fits -- I was fighting it!  But then I found a way to break down each section, from the economy to transportation, from background history and heritage to diving sites and tourist resorts and just stuck with it.  The problem was always an overload of information from far too many sources and finding a way to distill it all down to a few paragraphs here and there.  Having a deadline and a signed contract helps!

The book will make a perfect gift for those wishing to know more about Malaysia, a happy balance between fascinating and well-chosen photographs (three or four per page) and just enough background information and depth to keep it interesting, without weighing you down.  At 80 pages, it's portable too, in a soft cover, so it's easy to slip into your luggage or backpack or mail overseas to your family and friends.

For advance orders you can go to Amazon.  In the US it sells for $15. In Malaysia RM49.90

Finally, I'm on Amazon, if you don't count some old copies of Lovers and Strangers from the Heinemann Asia Writing Series(1993):  two used from $75.23 and one collectible (an autographed copy) from $49.95.

Let's share the Spirit of Malaysia with the world.

*Here's an updated link with an e-book view of some of the photos.
** Here's also the first review.

***Update, the 20th anniversary of Lovers and Strangers Revisited, my collection of short stories set in Malaysia.

Here are links to some of my author-to-author interviews of first novelists:

Ivy Ngeow author of Cry of the Flying Rhino, winner of the 2016 Proverse Prize.

Golda Mowe author of Iban Dream and Iban Journey.

Preeta Samarasan author of Evening is the Whole Day. 

Chuah Guat Eng,  author of Echoes of Silence and Days of Change. 

Plus:

Five part Maugham and Me series

Beheaded on Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed—Part I