I have just finished reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “Love and Other Demons”. That should be required reading for all those Malaysian students in the UK* who think they were possessed of djinns. (Alternatively, they could start studying their own religion … Continue reading
I go to as many sf/ conventions as I can afford, which is actually not half as many as I’d like. I do without stuff to get there. Last year I attended my second Worldcon, this one in Denver. I … Continue reading
When it comes to the apparently inexplicable, people like explanations that make sense to them. When they are failing (on any level – academically, socially, economically, spiritually or even on their level of contentment or happiness), they seek reasons – … Continue reading
I have completed my stint at the lighthouse – two weeks overlooking the Straits of Malacca. (The watch goes on, but I do have to work. Like, um, write. You know, books.) So it’s back to Book Two of the … Continue reading
This from Thomas Christensen’s Tom’s Glossary of Book Publishing Terms, via Elizabeth Moon. This is just a taste from this delicious website. See more here.Some of this is so true, it hurts! ADVANCE: A secret code signalling to the marketing … Continue reading
I have written elsewhere about a reader bringing baggage along with them every time they sit down with a book. But a writer also has baggage. I have a lot of it. I have lived in four different continents and … Continue reading
When the storm comes, you end up looking at other stuff, because the birds sure don’t make it across the Straits of Malacca. My handphone is not a particularly small one as it is rather ancient. Believe me, the beetle … Continue reading
These photos (I borrowed my husband’s camera) were taken yesterday. Today, it rained all day. No birds. None. Five hours of looking at rain, then we gave up.Maybe this cloud was a harbinger of today’s weather… … Continue reading
800 Oriental Honey Buzzards, one Japanese Sparrowhawk, an Osprey, one Chinese Goshawk and 200 Black Bazas, 70 Bee-eaters (ok, that last are not raptors). And one Black-shouldered Kite going the wrong way. Apparently he didn’t like Malaysia. And here’s the … Continue reading
The Tanjung Tuan Raptor Watch, started by two friends of mine who had a dream, had its tenth anniversary this year. I have missed a couple – when I was in Sabah or overseas – but otherwise I am there … Continue reading
