OK, I'll admit this. I am desperate to get published! No-lah, not me being published but all those stories that I have in my head, all those half-written stuff that I abandoned. Some of them are good, some suck to high heaven. I want to get them one by one, published.
I recently published a short-short story via amazon's self-publishing engine and I gotta say that although it's bloody expensive to order a proof of the book, the quality is pretty good. And it's just too neat to see your name in print....only thing is that I signed it off as 'marshamaung' (as in my username) instead of my name, albeit Marsha Maung. If you're looking to publish something for your own enjoyment or stroke your own ego, you can go this way. So, here I am, addicted.
I have this one book that I managed to drag to about 77,000 words now, right? So, I am thinking that this should be something that I finish because 77,000 words is not easy to come by, you know!! So, I start sending out emails to publishers to ask if they would take a look at my work. I expect many 'no replies' so I press 'submit' a lot of times, write, submit, write, submit. I have heard many horror stories about how authors have to go through many rejection letters and no-replies before one would say 'Let me see the stuff'.
Then suddenly Silverfish replied me and told me, "Show me your stuff" and I totally went ka-blank! What? NOW???
Then I went back to the first chapter and found that I have diverted so much toward the middle the end that the beginning no longer made sense. So, I edit it, edit it, mulling over each and every word because I used a lot of swear words in there and is...erm...ahem, not so nice and a bit ham-sap? I don't know if a Malaysian publisher would consider publishing a fiction story when in there contains stuff like men checking women's ass out and all that.
Hey, it's normal stuff lah, rite? This happens all over the place....yes, believe it or not, even in Malaysia.
So, a bit kan-cheong (anxious) about the whole story. Can or not ah? This one don't make sense? Wah, this one damn kwa-cheong. Eh, this one sure kena tendang balik (kicked back).
But hell, if there's nothing else good about me, persistence is one of my better points. When I have my heart on it, I will bloody get it done, by hook or by crook...except when it requires me to sleep with someone I don't know lah. Or rob a bank. Or push something off a building.
But you get my point.
77,000 words. I ain't giving up on that one. This one, by hook or by crook, if I have to take out scenes, then be it. But it loses the taste lah, how? I don't want it to be like...stuck in the Malaysiana genre. I want it to be global taste wan.
I ain't stepping back. That's for sure.
I. WILL. GET. PUBLISHED.
I have been doing this pose, part of Cosmic Dance (a type of yoga, I am assuming), called Stargazer pose without knowing it is called Stargazer's pose a lot in the past. You see, sometimes, I don't follow the rules and come up with my own stretches and poses. It is fun. I have on some music, nice, soothing music or just anything I can click on. Then I go with the flow, letting my hair down. Just moving to the music...and that is when I come up with the above Stargazer's pose. This pose really stretches your sides. Keep your eyes on the outstretched hand if you are keeping it pointed to the top, as if you are waving or connecting to a higher energy from the Universe. Your arms will ache a little but hey, toned arms, here you come! :-) For those who want a bigger stretch, it is safe to slowly and gently move the lifted hand towards your back...don't overdo it, listen to your body's complaints and respect it. You don't have to prove anything to anyone, reme...
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