Perlis State Park continued…

Posted on by March 13, 2021
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Along Forest Trails…
A palm fighting for light in the understorey
Liana curling on the right…
Bahaya Rengas – beware the rengas tree. Some people react very badly,  leading to anaphylaxis.
A flower-strewn path. Forest trees often have millions of tiny flowers.
And here’s a look at those flowers on the path
Forest pool
The beginning of the climb up Mount Perlis

Why I haven’t posted much lately

Posted on by March 13, 2021
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Yeah, I know. I haven’t been posting lately. We are sorting out our house, throwing away things, deciding what it going to end up with the kids, and what we will take to Australia when we go, and what will stay here for my husband, who will — we assume — still be working here for a while yet. The house, however, will go up for sale soon.
This is the kind of life-change that many people have to make after the kids have left home. Do we really what to rattle around in a HUGE house, large garden, with all the expenses of upkeep, the large amount of housework that the tropics loves to give me to do? We’ve decided that we don’t.  
Yesterday I gave away 188 SF/F and crime books. This week I will be going through the more literary-type fiction. My husband has been disposing of outdated papers and files…
The manuscript has been put away for the time being after the completion of the “first” full draft. I always do this, as I find that there’s nothing like separating myself from it for a while, then coming back to it. The mistakes tend to leap off the page.
If you know anyone who wants a 5 bedrm/3bathrm single-storey house and garden/orchard complete with mature rambutan, sukun (breadfruit), avocado, pink guava (jambu), and longan trees, markisa (passionfruit) vines in Bandar Baru Bangi… It’ll be up for viewing around the end of February.

In search of oneself

Posted on by March 13, 2021
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This was the Four-lined Tree-Frog in my kitchen this morning. I tried to catch him and put him out, and he managed to disappear, only to reappear (see second photo)…

 

Yes, that’s him on the book case, reading the titles of the books. He’s darkened himself to match the cover of my husband’s honours thesis on pregnancy urine. For those of you who remember that they used to use frogs to determine if a woman was pregnant, that might seem so wrong on so many levels, but I assure you, he’s obviously looking for the book on the far right, titled “Frogs and Toads of the World.”

Told you he could read.

New book, new cover…

Posted on by March 13, 2021
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Marvellous what you find on the internet when you are looking for something else…like a book by yourself (and your translator!) I have no idea who the cover artist is, but the translator is Susanne Gerold and the publisher is Blanvalet. It is due for publication in September.

And for those who don’t speak German, from the cover, 
what’s the book?

The literal translation is “The Federation of Illusionists” — Whispering Sand

More from my Xmas trip to Perlis State Park

Posted on by March 13, 2021
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Christmas dinner — lovely fresh seafood — was eaten at sunset in Kuala Perlis beside the Andaman Sea, looking out towards Langkawi Islands. Unfortunately, the haze was bad so you really have to strain your eyes to see the islands, and the photo doesn’t show them at all!

A bus-stop in Perlis, along a country road
Sugar Cane fields
Rice fields
Nakawan Range, bordering Thailand–a 36km continuous limestone hill
Where we had a quite delicious Xmas dinner

2011 in retrospect and what’s on the plate for 2012

Posted on by March 13, 2021
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In some ways, 2011 was an important year. 
Here are some of the things that happened, in no particular order of importance:
  • Stormlord’s Exile was proofed and published in US, UK and Australia. It received excellent reviews from bloggers, Publishers Weekly and Romantic Times etc etc. and so another trilogy came to an end. Sales in Australia have not been good, but wonderful elsewhere! Talk about irony…
  • Der Heiler (i.e. Gilfeather) came out in Germany
  • Guerisseur (Gilfeather mass paperback) came out in France
  • Corrumpue (The Tainted mass paperback) came out in France
  • I wrote a whole book, called The Lascar’s Dagger*

  •  I travelled to Cambodia (Siem Reap and Angkor Wat with my elder daughter and family, and my sister — also met up with my nephew there), and twice to Thailand (Krabi and Pattaya)
  • I travelled within Malaysia to Langkawi Islands, Penang, twice to Perlis State Park
  • I went twice to Western Australia to settle on a place for our retirement (which will happen one day), and we put a deposit on a patch of land in Mandurah
  • I had a book Stormlord Rising shortlisted for two awards (Aurealis and Ditmars). (As usual, it didn’t win.)
  • Much to my genuine astonishment, I had a trilogy (the Mirage Makers) voted as the second most popular completed Australian sf/f trilogy (after Sean Williams’ The Books of the Cataclysm)
  • I went to yet another fabulous Swancon. I look forward to going every year soon!!
  • The birding tourism project was completed. This year included writing the final report, giving some birding courses to guides and stakeholders in Fraser’s Hill and Lake Temenggor, and taking part in presentations of the material and in a seminar. In fact, this was probably my retirement year, as far as a “normal” working life is concerned … although one never knows. I haven’t ruled more work out, but there’s none in the offing. Which is pretty damned big, come to think of it. I have not always worked full-time, but I don’t think there’s been a year since … um… 1959 that I haven’t worked at all. Wow, 2012 could be my first year of unemployment (if you don’t count writing of course…).
And of course, every year has its  downside stuff:
  • I was diagnosed with Sjogren’s Syndrome
  • I was unable to sell the present work in progress on the basis of a proposal (sign of the times? I’m not the only established author to come across this one of late!)

What’s up for next year?
 Who knows?
Here are some things on the cards that might happen, all being well:
  • Due out: Die Magieren in mid-January (The Tainted in German)
  • Due out: L’Ombre de Tyr in February(?) (Shadow of Tyr in French)
  • Sell the new trilogy Sorcery and Spice*
  • Re-publish Havenstar
  • Start building the house in Mandurah and sell the present house in Malaysia
  • Have both daughters visit us in Malaysia
  • Take a road trip to the Murchison/Gascoigne with husband and sister
In the meantime: Happy New Year!!
*Working titles

Seasons Greetings

Posted on by March 13, 2021
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To everyone, no matter what your faith.

I’m staying in the middle of the rainforest and had to emerge back to civilisation for a bit in order to telephone the kids…so taking this opportunity to hope all my friends and readers have a safe and happy holiday.

Twenty-one years ago we were on top of the twin towers

Posted on by March 13, 2021
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21 years ago, I went to New York for the first time. Husband was on duty travel for the UN, I tagged along. This is us with the Malaysian Ambassador to the UN at the time. The year was 1990.
Unfortunately the camera lens was dirty, hence the spot in the middle.
And, of course, what did we do? We went to the Twin Towers.
Husband
Me
Me with the Ambassador
Down on the ground again
Husband in front of the UN building.
Today husband was cleaning out some old files and he came across these. I’ve been to NY plenty of times since, including the time daughter was giving her defence of her Ph.D. thesis, but these photos are of the only time I went up the twin towers. The last time I saw them was a couple of months before they came down — as I was flying out of Newark, I had a window seat. I remember thinking, lord, how huge they are in comparison to everything else around them…