Books Malaysian, all Malaysian, only Malaysian

After being under construction for almost two months, our online bookshop has now reopened, bigger and better. For starters we are featuring over 750 titles -- all books written and published by Malaysians or written about Malaysia (or Malaya and Borneo, in the case of older titles) -- currently on our shelves, but we expect the numbers to rapidly rise by year end. In other words, it is meant to be a one-stop site meant for anyone -- researchers, scholars or interested readers -- looking for material about this country. (The main reason for the delay was that I had to learn and understand the fundamentals of PHP coding and migrate the entire site to an Apache (Unix) server which I thought would be easy, but was not. Then I discovered that Unix server names were case sensitive. Arggggh! I mention all that just to impress you.)

It is not infrequently that we receive requests from Embassies and Universities for our list of Malaysian books. In the past we have kept them satisfied with spreadsheets. But this is becoming increasingly difficult to generate, seeing how the number of Malaysian titles in print has grown exponentially these last few years.

Most would have heard the story of Ron Klein's first visit to Silverfish Books (I think this was in the year 2000) at our old premises in Desa Seri Hartamas, asking to see our Malaysian 'collection'. That was one embarrassing moment: here we were calling ourselves a Malaysian bookshop with a two foot shelf of local books, with a little over two dozen titles (most of them from Skoobs and Rhino Press, and the rest from Pa' Chong). That was one of the reasons we decided to go into publishing.

But that was then. Currently, we have almost an entire wall lined with Malaysian books, which make up almost 50% of our sales. (Maybe, the entire shop in future!) We have now put it all online for easy browsing, and buying. (For the purposes of this site, we are interpreting Malaysian books as those written by Malaysian authors, books published -- and/or printed -- within the country, those by others writing about their experiences here and books on history.)

In the (online) bookstore, you can browse books by the author, subject or publisher. I have also a sphider installed (similar to what Google uses) for quick indexing and searches. Although the default currency we use is MYR, browsers can check prices in USD, GBP, AUD or the Euro. We accept Credit cards (Visa and Mastercard), Alliance online transfer, CIMB Clicks, FXP, Hong Leong transfer, Maybank2u, Meps cash, Mobile money, Paypal (only in USD), RHB online and Webcash.

You can also put yourself on our 'Back in stock notification' system if you come across a book that is out of stock but you'd like a copy. We hope you understand that many of our books are the last surviving anywhere in the world, so we might not be able to put every book back in stock. But we shall notify you of these.

Well, do give the site a whirl. Although we have checked the site quite extensively (but that is always relative), I are sure some of you might encounter glitches. Please send us your feedback and we will try and rectify those. Of course, there are certain features we cannot modify without a major reprogramming.

Creative Writing Software Programmes

Many would have heard of these and wondered about the big deal, being quite satisfied with their trusty word processor. After all, word processors nowadays can do almost anything, except make coffee. But therein lies the problem; all the bells and whistles can get so distracting. If you are writing a relatively short piece that you have already thought through, it works just as well on a word processor. But if you have a more complicated piece with many timelines, characters, subplots and scenes, Microsoft Word can make it a right royal mess although all the tools you need are actually available in the programme. Hence, the Creative Writing Programmes where you can stash away all your research material (be they notes, websites, photographs, videos, or whatever) just a click away. You can switch from one scene to another at the other end of a novel for consistency and compare facts, all in one click. Or even view them side-by-side (or top and bottom), or write in full screen mode for minimum distraction. And then, after everything is done, one can format the whole thing in a fancy word processor.

MacWorld reports that Ulysses 2 writing program has just been released. I have never used Ulysses -- I have only taken Scrivener, Z-Write and Writers' Cafe for a spin -- so I can't say much about how good it is, but it appears to be worth a try-out at least. It comes with a full 60-day trial. (The full licence costs around RM200.00 -- a bit pricey compared to some of the others.) The report says that it sports a brand new interface, as well as new project templates, project-wide search and replace, enhancements and improvements to the browser and editor to include the ability to add bookmarks, wider export format support, and more. According to the Ulysses 2 website: "Whether you're a blogger, a poet or a published novelist: Ulysses 2.0 is the definite package for all your creative writing needs. Brainstorm, draft, revise, submit; distraction-free and fully focused. No strings or styles attached." But, it is a Mac-only programme

Literature and Latte's Scrivener is my favourite. Says the website: " Writing a book, short story or research paper is about more than hammering away at the keys until it's done. Research, scrawling fragmentary ideas that don't seem to fit anywhere yet, collecting faded photos from old newspapers, shuffling index cards to find that elusive structure -- most writing software is only fired up after much of the hard work is already done. Enter Scrivener: writing software that stays with you from that first, unformed idea all the way through to the first - or even final - draft. Outline and structure your ideas. Take notes. Storyboard your masterpiece using a powerful virtual corkboard. View research while you write. Track themes using keywords. Dynamically combine multiple scenes into a single text just to see how they fit. Scrivener has already been enthusiastically adopted by best-selling novelists, academics, lawyers, scriptwriters and journalists - whatever you write, grow your ideas in style." It cost RM140.00 and does everything it says, and comes with a 30-day free trial. Again, a Mac-only programme.

Before readers start wondering if Windows and the word 'creative' can exist in the same sentence, let me introduce Writers' Cafe.

"Writer's Cafe is a set of power tools for all fiction writers, whether experienced or just starting out. The heart of Writer's Cafe is StoryLines, a powerful but simple to use story development tool that dramatically accelerates the creation and structuring of your novel or screenplay.

"Designed by published novelist Harriet Smart, Writer's Café also includes a notebook, journal, research organiser, pinboard, inspirational quotations, daily writing tips, writing exercises, name generation, and a 60-page e-book, Fiction: The Facts, distilling 20 years of writing experience."

I have given Writer's Cafe a spin as well. While I can see where they are coming from, it does not address the way I think or write. I find it a bit too structured for my comfort, but I am sure others will find far more potential in it than I did. It is available as a demo download with no time limit on it, but with a few key features defeated. The licence costs approximately RM160.00 and is available for Windows, Macs and Linux.

Z-Write costs about RM120.00 and is another Mac-only programme. The website says: " Z-Write is a unique word processor designed for creative writers. In the process of writing a story, writers tend to create dozens or even hundreds of pages of notes, character bios, rewrites, reminders, and bits of research info. Organizing all that material within the linear structure of a traditional word processor is awkward at best." All that is true, but when compared with the rest, it is pretty basic. Try it for yourself. It comes with a two-week trial, after which it reverts to a 'demo' mode.

Bottom-line: if you are serious about writing, perhaps you'd like to give these creative writing programmes a spin. It is quite an enjoyable experience.

Frank O'Connor short story award

I had just left the office when Patrick Cotter, Director of The Munster Literature Centre, called on Monday. Phek Chin took the call and politely told the gentleman that I could not be contacted because I had already gone home. Gone home? It is only eleven o'clock here, he said. Whereupon, Phek Chin inquired where he was calling from. Ireland! And ... He was just calling to tell Mr Raman Krishnan that his writer, Shih-Li Kow, has been short-listed for the Frank O'Connor award!

The silence that followed must have been deafening. Phek Chin was petrified. She was speechless. She was afraid to say anything lest she sounded like a blithering idiot.(Oi!!! she protests to me, loudly.) But he assured her that it was a perfectly normal reaction and that he had been confronted by it several times before. He made her promise to tell me about it, as soon as possible, and gave her his email.

She says she was still frozen in shock for a while after she put down the phone, not knowing what do or think. Finally, after recovering some of her senses, she called my house (I was not there yet as I had some errands to run), then my wife's mobile and my house again, and managed to leave a message for me. Then, when I called her it was my turn to be gob-smacked.

Apparently, Shih-Li came in a while later that evening and Phek Chin made her sit down before telling her. Are you sure? It can't be, lah. Maybe it is a hoax, Aiyoh, I am going to pengsan ... and so on and so forth. Anyway, Phek Chin and I walked around the whole day, the next day, grinning from ear to ear, as if we had been smoking something. I cannot begin to imagine what Shih-Li must feel, but we are so incredibly happy for her.

I first met Shih-Li almost three years ago at the third Silverfish Writing Programme. News from Home was published about one year after she finished the Programme, and Ripples, another year later. She is unpretentious, she is level-headed, and she is prolific -- such a wonderful writer to work with. As I worked on Ripples, I felt that her work was very good -- a sort of prize-winning good, if you know what I mean -- and I was determined to nominate her for an award, any award. But still, when I received the news that she was short-listed for the Frank O'Connor (I mean the Frank O'Conner), it left me in a state of shock, in a daze -- though in a nice way.

Well, now she has to be in Cork, Ireland on the 20th of September for the awards presentation at the end of the Frank O'Connor Short Story Festival, which starts on the 16th of that month. Win or lose, it does not matter any more. She has already won. Malaysian writing has already won. Malaysian readers have won.

Let us bask in the warmth for a while more, then we shall resume prowling the streets for more hidden gems that we can polish. Congratulations again, Shih-Li Kow. You have blazed the trail.