New Cover Art - Yay!!!
Current mood: ecstatic

See below the new cover art of Tales of Enchantment.  It’s absolutely beautiful!!! (I’m deaf to contrary opinions.)  I’m absolutely thrilled!

Yes, The Question of Royalty and The Quest are being re-released in a single volume in ebook format soon!  Watch out for it!

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Thoughts on The Fountain
Current mood: thoughtful
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

I just finished watching The Fountain, directed by Darren Aronofsky, and portrayed by Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz.

*warning: spoilers ahead*

At first, I couldn't understand what the hell was happening, and even read the back of the DVD cover thrice (or was it five times?), but it was only when the story focused on the present that the story started to gel for me.

First, I love love love this film. It's very hard to understand and certainly not your typical romantic comedy entertainment. But it's very thought-provoking and deals with the issues of life and death.

Second, I like the incredible cinematography and superb acting. I believe the actors' very beautiful acting, the real emotion they displayed made the concepts of life, love and death very tangible. I could really feel Tom Creo's love for his wife, the desperation that underlined his every action as he raced against time to search a cure for his wife.

Third, no summary would do it justice, not even my thoughts on the film as I try to express it (however inadequately) below. To really appreciate it, you must go and watch this, experience it for yourself! It's worth the time and money spent. However, it's not your usual film, and if you are looking for light entertainment at the end of a hard day, this is not it.

Fourth, did I mention the film was thought-provoking? All throughout the ages, men have been searching for the tree of life, the fountain of youth, anything to stop aging, anything to live forever. However, while performing this quest, they may have overlooked something important in their lives, something that, when lost, can never be retrieved.

Like, Tom Creo, who elected to spend his time in the lab doing more experiments to find "the tree" to heal his wife, instead of spending more time with his terminally-ill wife in her last days.

Also, what we think of as "the tree of life" (granting immortality) may be different from what we think it would be. Like the conquistador Thomas, who found the hidden tree of life deep in the Mayan jungle, which sap healed his wounds, but in the end, plants grew out of him. He did get immortal life, but as a plant. (What delicious irony!)

And then, the concept/truth that for each of us, death will come. Until then, it's a matter of how you live your life to the full, treasure and cherish the people around you, the time you have with them, build relationships that warm the heart and transcend time.

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Happy Valentine’s Day!
Current mood: contemplative
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Hope yours is more interesting than mine.

I just finished watching the last episode of The Amazing Race Asia Season 2, and I was so affected that I had to blog about it.

*spoilers ahead*

For those who've watched, the winners are the two men from Singapore team, and one of them has a slight difficulty in speaking. Yet, this difficulty didn't prevent him from entering the race and it definitely didn't prevent him from winning. He was instrumental in causing the team to pull ahead of the other two competing teams, so while the victory was definitely a team effort, he contributed a lot, even the main part, I would say, in this crucial leg of the race.

I'm a big fan of lessons, I guess, so I was really touched to realize that no obstacle, barrier, hindrance, physical disability is so great that we couldn't achieve what we want, as long as we set our minds to it. It reminded me of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (the first movie). When I first went to watch the movie, I was intrigued by the character that Angelina Jolie was portraying. Here is this woman who's strong and who believes that she can do whatever a man does--even better. At that time, I thought that if I were still in school and my teacher asked me to write who I want to be when I grow up, I would say I want to be Lara Croft, or someone like Lara Croft.

This is not to say that I'm a feminist. I still appreciate all the small gestures that gentlemen do to make a woman feel special, which is sadly in short quantity these days. I guess, the point I want to hammer into my head, to be my mantra from now on is this: There is no limit to what I can do, as long as I want it badly enough and set my mind to achieve it.

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STARDUST the movie
Current mood: bouncy
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

Has anyone watched this movie yet?  It's awesome!  It's a fantasy story involving a star. The book was written by Neil Gaiman. As can be expected, the books are all out from the library, and I'm going to the bookstore to get my very own copy.  

I won't give anything away in this post, but I'm positively awed by the story, by how every detail is connected/used for some greater/central purpose to tie up the story in a tight ball. There are no wasted details, is what I'm trying to say, I suppose.

And ok, yes, I admit, it's my dream to write such a story one day.

We watched this movie with our parents, who came to visit us. I must confess that I thought they wouldn't appreciate the movie, but it turns out that they love it, and even understood it better than me. We had such fun discussing it afterwards. I guess that's where I got my love-for-fantasy-stories genes.

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Spring Onion Chicken Recipe
Current mood: sleepy
Category: Food and Restaurants

I cooked this recipe for the second time yesterday, and everybody still gushed over it, so I must be doing something right.

Anyway, just wanted to share it with you all.

Ingredients (Serves 2):

- 2 chicken thighs
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 2 stalks spring onion
- a few slices ginger
- 1/2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tbsp rice wine
- 1 pc rock sugar
- 1/4 cup water or chicken broth

Cooking method:

1. Debone chicken and cut into pieces. Marinate with dark soy sauce and set aside for about 15 minutes.

2. Heat up 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a wok. While doing so, cut spring onion on the bias into one and a half inch pieces. Cut ginger into slices.

3. Stir fry garlic and chicken until chicken changes color. Set aside.

4. Stir fry ginger and spring onions until fragrant. Add chicken, rice wine, rock sugar and water (or chicken broth). Mix well, cover wok and allow to braise over low heat for about 10 minutes (or until sauce is thick - that's my input ).

Happy eating!

6:08 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Open call for submissions—Samhain Publishing psychic powers anthology for Fall 2008
Current mood: awake
Category: Writing and Poetry

* Permission to Forward Granted*

From Anne Scott, Editor of Samhain Publishing

I'd like to announce an open call for submissions for a new anthology. This psychic powers anthology will consist of three to four novellas to be released individually as ebooks for release November 2008 and combined into one print title for release November 2009.

I am open to any genre, setting and heat level. But the central premise MUST involve psychic powers. These psychic powers can be underlain by magic or science or both. A few examples would be: telepathy, telekinesis, precognition and mind control. The anthology is certainly not limited to these. Submissions should be 20,000 to 30,000 words in length.

Submissions are open to all authors previously published with Samhain and authors aspiring to publish with Samhain. Submissions must be new material, previously published material will not be considered.

To submit, please include the full manuscript (of 20,000 to 30,000 words) with a comprehensive 2-3 page synopsis. Also include a letter of introduction/query letter and tell me a little about yourself.

Submissions are open until January 13, 2008, and final decision will be made by February 3. Submissions should be sent to editor@samhainpublishing.com and please put Psychic Powers Anthology Submission in the subject line.

Anne Scott, Editor
Samhain Publishing
www.samhainpublishing.com

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STARDUST PRESS CLOSING
Current mood: sad

I've just received sad word that StarDust Press is closing by September 30, 2007. Looks like I'd have to find a new home for Perchance to Dream. Still, I count myself lucky to have PTD published at StarDust Press, for knowing the wonderful authors and staff. SDP has also promised to give us the royalties that are due us, something which is a refreshing change from all the rumors I've heard about other pubs which just up and ran.

8:04 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

BACK TO SCHOOL SALE - ALL TITLES
Current mood: creative

Loose Id is having a 5% discount on ALL TITLES until September 17!  Catch all the great reads here.

Don't forget The Collector series!  We've got all nine books available so you can read all the fabulous stories by different authors.

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Writing again & Moving
Current mood: busy

After my hard disk crash, yes, I'm writing again, and I hope to finish the one manuscript that was lost at 44k words (yup! you read that right. 44k and almost to the finish line when the %$&% HD crashed) this week. Then, I'd have to edit the whole thing and spot the loopholes, inconsistencies, grammar and what not.

Oh, did I also mention that I'm packing? Yes, we're moving house *again* soon, so I'm starting my packing early to avoid the BIG RUSH. There will always be something you "forget" to pack when you don't do it early, or "boxes are not enough" or "no more space". My brother told me to throw away those things that I think I'll need, because in reality, if I haven't searched for them these past 5 years, it goes to show that I didn't really need them. Makes sense? Still, I'd feel uncomfortable if I throw them away, so maybe, if I could insert them somewhere...I could still get away with it.

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The Collector Grand Tour Stop 6
Current mood: chipper

Mabuhay! Welcome to the lovely Philippine Islands.

The Collector 6: Love Cure takes place mostly in one of the towns of the Philippine Islands, where the Collector sent Marianne and Nicholas to retrieve the figurine of a demi-goddess.

The Philippines is an archipelago of over 7,000 islands lying about 500 miles (805 km) off the southeast coast of Asia. Situated in a tropical climate somewhere a little above the equator, it experienced only two seasons for the entire year: rainy and dry, but it has weathered numerous storms and earthquakes, landslides and volcanic eruptions over the years. Its people are generally very friendly and hospitable. In fact, Marianne and Nicholas were the recipients of this very hospitality, as bestowed on them by the Filipino family who was their host during their stay there.

Like all the countries in the world, Philippine literature is inundated with a fascinating and rich store of folktales, legends and myths, both oral and written, by which the people explained the origins of the land, rivers, nature and even human beings. They also have their own set of gods and goddesses with Bathala as the supreme or chief god who is the creator of humanity. His counterpart, Sitan, is the the god of the afterlife. Sitan has many helpers, among them Hukluban (death), Mangkukulam (fire), Manisalat (destroyer of love), and Manggagaway (sickness). Manggagaway is said to disguise herself as a healer, roaming the countryside not to heal, but to induce maladies with her charms.

In The Collector 6: Love Cure, Manggagaway is mentioned, but as the mother of the lovely demi-goddess of healing, Manggawana. I needed a goddess of healing, in line with the theme of the story, but in all my research, I couldn't find one. So, I admit that I took liberty with whatever material I have found and created Manggawana, who in direct opposition to her mother's occupation, found a niche for healing illnesses. It is her statuette that is depicted on the cover of the book.

Some Filipinos, though heavily Westernized and Christianized, still believe in deities, and the prevalence of belief in the figures of Philippine mythology is strong in the provinces.

Your question for the Grand Tour is: What did Marianne and Nicholas receive from their Filipino host during their stay in the Philippines?

Email your answer to collectors.contest @ inbox.com (no spaces) with Grand Tour Stop 6 in the subject line.

Your next Stop 7 – Visit Ireland with AJ Matthews at http://ajays- blog.blogspot. com/ on Saturday, August 25, 2007

Ref: http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Philippine_Mythology

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