Tag: mad tea book club

Posted on by — 1 Comment

A New Experience: Editing Alasan Alin

Alasan Alin is a brand new book by Krisan Wijaya (author of Cerita Carissa) which I had the privilege to edit. The book is published by Omah Library (RAW Press), in a collaborative effort with Mad Tea Book Club. Here is your cue to toast to little dreams coming true.

A Big Little Dream

Since we started the Mad Tea Book Club, Sherry, Krisan, and I had been thinking about also having a small publishing house focusing on Indonesian women authors, with a curated theme of women empowerment. Of course, a dream takes time, resources, connections, hard work, and support. We’re super excited that Omah Library is on board to give it a shot for the first venture. Out of the box? Yes. Unusual? You bet.

Well. Life is short.

And so it was that I came to the editorial role for our first book: Alasan Alin. First of all, please be aware that the book is in Bahasa Indonesia. Lucky for me, Krisan is an excellent writer, so it makes things very easy. My contributions in editing Alasan Alin were largely 2 points: the stylistic footnotes and the plot twist at the end.

Ala Crazy Rich Asians

Since the book is a medical chick-lit, there are some healthcare related words that the general public might not be aware of. The author, Krisan, is a doctor herself, so in the first draft, she explained the terms in the narration. As we all know, this helps the general reader understand the terms, but it takes a lot away from the flow of the story. In order to keep both objectives, I suggested to Krisan to adopt what Kevin Kwan does in his series Crazy Rich Asians.

If you’ve read that series, its full of slangs and terms that’s very Singaporean, so Kevin Kwan moves all the explanation to the footnotes. He keeps the footnotes interesting by taking a different narrative approach – its sarcastic and snappy. I think this style works well for Alasan Alin, so that’s what we did for the final draft.

Alin’s Character Arc

My second contribution is the plot twist at the end. This is crucial to Alin’s personality and her whole character arc, thus Krisan and I discussed it back and forth. I don’t want to spoil things, so will just hint mysteriously (HA). Upon my first reading, I got the impression that the author (Krisan) had wanted to take it a certain way, but then shied away in the end. In so doing, the original intent built throughout the draft seems compromised. I suggested a plot twist that feels like it really was there all along – so Alin can really be Alin, with all her imperfection, flaws, and also fiery spirit.

…so Alin can really be Alin, with all her imperfection, flaws, and also fiery spirit.

Editing Alasan Alin was a completely new experience for me, but I loved it. The book can be ordered here. I do hope you enjoy her story!

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Book Review: Strings Attached

Through the Mad Tea Book Club, I’ve been so pleased to meet more Indonesian readers and writers (especially women writers). One author I have really enjoyed reading is Firnita. She has two books published by Pop and Ice Cube: Strings Attached (2020), and Shorter Stories (2021).

Twitter Lift

I first met her through the #writerslift which is something fun that happens on Twitter where writers boost each other. I think this is a wonderfully supportive gesture, so we tried it on our book club’s twitter account. That’s where Firnita dropped her most recent book and how Sherry, Krisan, and I got to meet her. Then, funny as things can be sometimes, in the book club meeting that month (it was August), Krisan and I both (coincidentally) brought up Shorter Stories! That’s a sign. A good sign.

So, we decided to start a new segment on our bookclub’s Instagram which is discussion with authors, and Krisan started it off by doing an interview with Firnita. You can check out the whole interview here.

Strings Attached

Strings Attached is written in a genre of which I had never heard before called flash fiction. It’s a collection of many short fiction stories surrounding the theme of romance. The book also has some really modern illustrations which I LOVED. They totally added to the atmosphere of reading the stories.

The first and second section is the fluttering and bliss of being in love, so it will suit you if you are a helpless romantic. To be honest, I’m not a romantic person anymore, so I liked the third section better which was about the despair of break-ups and rejections. Yes, me likes this. Much more realistic.

Despite my personal tastes though, the stories (written in English) were well written and had a lilt to it, something like a slow dance. Firnita did say in the interview with Krisan that she loves music, so this is where it shows.

Q and A with Firnita

To make this article more fun, I decided to ask Firnita several questions about Strings Attached. Here they are.

Airin: How did you get the ideas for the flash fiction stories in strings attached? were some from real-life observation, or from experience, or?

Firnita: The stories in strings attached are mostly my train of thoughts in class for 6 years (haha). The idea is whatever I can finish in that one sitting, that’s it. It’s a collection of pieces from my notebooks: science, English, Bahasa Indonesia, everything. Some of them are real-life observations, movie-watching observations, and experience. It’s a mix of all~

Airin: Why do you find writing in English easier than Bahasa Indonesia?

Firnita: I always feel bad for writing in English because I know I do love Bahasa Indonesia too, but I guess it’s the matter of upbringing. I attended a semi-international school where most of the materials were taught in English, so I got to familiarize myself with English since kindergarden. I do write in bahasa too btw!! Haha.

Airin: I have noticed in my own writing, where I write something from my imagination, and then couple months after then it happens. It’s CRAZY! I am wondering if this has ever happened to you, like suddenly one or two of the stories you wrote happened in real life.

Firnita: OH I’ve heard this too! I can say that some pieces in Strings Attached are my manifestations, but I don’t know whether it will happen in the near/far future. But it happened to me too, just not the pieces in Strings Attached! Nothing specific, but when it happened I felt like I think I wrote this a while ago in my journal. And BAM when I trace back to my old journals, I see that piece manifest in the event that just happened, lol.

Way cool!

To support Firnita, purchase a copy of her books by contacting her.

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Book Review: Heartless

My fellow co-founders of the Mad Tea Book Club Sherry from The Cozy Library and Krisandryka Wijaya recommended Heartless. In fact, Marissa Meyer is Sherry’s favorite author! With such high recommendations, I thought I had to check it out. Spoiler Alerts!

Synopsis

Heartless is a delicious, flirtatious, and absolutely MAD retelling of how the Queen of Hearts (from Alice in Wonderland) became so angry, vengeful, and well…heartless all the time. Given the title and the subject of choice, we all know where the ending is going right?

Obviously, the relationship between the protagonist Lady Cath and the mysterious court Joker Jest was not going to go well, even before those two characters were ever conceived. Alas, a sad destiny. But oh, the build-up! Marissa Meyer is great at building up the chemistry between the two of them, and slow cooking them into each other’s lives.

All our favorite characters from Wonderland are here. The Hatter (who is not yet mad!), Cheshire the invisible-invincible-infuriating cat, and even the monster we all love to slay: the Jabberwock. Thinking about it, I wonder why no one has made a retelling of the Jabberwock’s story…a little ugly beast dejected by the other creatures, his environment destroyed as a result of the ever-pressing humans into his natural environment…okay there’s an idea for you writers!

Too Long?

As much as I enjoy Wonderland and all its loony characters, I felt like this book was rambling on a bit too long. Lady Cath is extremely indecisive in choosing her dreams over the expectations of her parents. She is equally as flimsy in choosing between the mysterious Jest or the silly but kind King. Several of the back and forth scenes also did not add anything to the plot, nor to the characters’ developments.

The ending still packed a punch despite being obvious (the creepy Three Sisters even prophesied it). However, I was so impatient that by the time I got to the ending, I was not as heart-broken as Cath.

All in all, 3 stars. Would I venture to read more Marissa Meyer’s stuff? YES, because I do love fairy tale retellings. I just hope the other protagonists are more decisive than this one!