by Khairul Hisham Note: This essay is slightly edited from a 1000 word assignment for Professional Writing 1: Core Competency submitted last Sunday June 30. The story is a composite of several experiences I had as a teenager. Not sure if the right people as mentioned were present for the bulk of this story. If you’re reading this and you were there but I didn’t mention you, let me know. Not you, Ming Fang. You pipe down. The cerulean sky had not the slightest taint of cloud above us as we dismounted our bicycles upon our arrival at Teluk Batik beach. I don’t recall whose idea it was but it was the consensus among the four of us that we would walk the trail over the hills to Teluk Rubiah beach and then headed back to Teluk Batik by way of the shore. Ming Fang adjusted his glasses and excitedly […]
Continue readingTag Archives: Writing
A Yaya and Adik Story – February 2012
When we were kids, Hisham and I went through a “Choose your own adventure” book phase. You know, where you read the story and at the end of a chapter, you decide what the character should do. For instance, cross the bridge, proceed to Chapter 5, or take the footpath along the river go to Chapter 7. Wiki says this about it. But I think of it as kind of a watered-down RPG. Perhaps it led to Hisham’s enduring passion (and my old love) for it. In any case, what does that have to do with Yaya and Adik, you ask? Simple. This entry contains nine photos of a single interaction between the two children. For my version, I have ordered Photos 1 through 9 chronologically. The captions tell my fictional version of the story. But If you were to reorder the pictures, what kind of story could you come […]
Continue readingWhat Happened at the Coral Reef?
[[image:evagoestothebeach-cover.jpg:Well, she does!:left:0]]I wrote, dedicated and presented this book to baby Eva – currently less than half a year old – at the gathering last week. I hope some day Mei & Andrew will be able to read to Eva, and she will wonder what a crazy nut Uncle Hisham is for writing this book. Eva Goes to the Beach is now on sale on Lulu.com. It’s a perfect book to vex 4-8 year old young ‘uns with a simple storyline involving a trip to the beach, a swim around the coral reef, an undead shark and ice cream. I asked earlier what happens to the little girl who was diving at the coral reef? Check out the following image for a continuing image, and click here to purchase Eva Goes to the Beach at Lulu.com. Believe it or not, the book has a happy ending! [[image:eva-page-07.jpg:ZOMBIE SHARK!!!:center:0]]
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Secret Library Revamped and Re-released
After a long time taken out of the market, I’ve finally re-released the old The Secret Library children’s book as Irfan’s Secret Library. The story is basically the same, with some edits to the body text. There are no new artwork. Everything is from the older version of the book. It’s up on the Products page here [Page no longer exists]. You can see samples of the interior at its Lulu page here. It’s been a while since I worked to create a brand new children’s book. I should get back to it. The next one should concern animals or dinosaurs or something.
Continue readingSecond Hishgraphics Book In The Works
[[image:hishbanner.gif:My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult – After The Flesh:center:0]]Many moons after the release of The Secret Library, I’ve now finished writing a 12 page children’s book, a much simpler one this time. It’s about a child that imagines camping out on his or her bed with a blanket. There will be rhyming. There will be animals. And the best part is the idea hit me after playing make-believe campout on the bed with a blanket. Still have to revise the text and proofread before I start illustrating and laying out the book. So…. anyone knows what rhymes with “sasquatch”?
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A Writing Gig?
I wouldn’t have thought it possible a year ago. Heck, I would have scoffed at the idea 3 months ago, but upon browsing the RPG.Net Freelancing Forum recently, I decided to answer a call for freelance writers, instead of illustrators. I submitted the text for the Net.Guide to Spleens to the person in charge and hoped for the best. After a flurry of e-mails, I was tasked to write 2 articles for a book which will be released next spring. The tone of the short write-ups would be akin to that of the Twilight Zone or Twin Peaks, or like Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles (A great comic. Go out and read it if you haven’t.) The job isn’t a earth-shattering one, nor does it pay much but it would be my first professional writing gig, and as they say my foot at the door. The company I’m writing for is […]
Continue readingHishgraphics.com Joins A Webring
Not much sales happening at Hishgraphics Publications, so I’m currently trying out by using another internet marketing tool, a webring. More precisely, the eBooks 4 Kids webring. You can check out the link at the bottom of the index page of Hishgraphics.com, although our status with the webring is still pending. I’ll update this post when the ringmaster’s reviewed Hishgraphics and approved us. UPDATE (5 pm, Dec 6): We’ve been approved! Our link is in the Webring hub at the link above. [[image:hishbanner.gif:Hishgraphics.com:center:0]]Earlier today, I finally succeeded registering with eBay to see if I can sell other stuff there while passively marketing Hishgraphics Publications there… unfortunately to register as a Seller I need a credit card. Now I have to look into getting one, for the sole purpose of being an online merchant. Ugh.
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First Hishgraphics e-Book: The Secret Library
I wouldn’t have thought it possible a year ago, but here we are with our first e-book product on sale as of today. It’s a nice little tale with full colour illustrations throughout, where a young boy who just happens to have the same name as my son, discovers a wonderful library through a doorway in the cellar of his parents’ new house. I hope the public likes it well enough to purchase it. There is a black and white version in the Free Downloads page for a preview. If you know someone who might like it please spread the word. Thanks to everyone who helped me get the site up, especially my family, and all my friends who gave me moral support. In the meantime, I’ll be working on more new e-books.
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Tales of the Prototype and the Table
Last week, we printed out some of the prototype pages for the first ever Hishgraphics e-book. To be honest, prior to this I do have a fair amount of doubts about the project. In my mind, I estimated that perhaps this would have a 20-30% success when it’s eventually released into the wild. But after holding these coloured printouts in my hands, looking at the storytelling from the viewpoint of sequential art, I feel like this has at least 60% chance of succeeding. The story is somewhat half-baked, in retrospect it looks to me like its influenced by a bunch of different sources such as the C. S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree series, Neil Gaiman’s Sandman and Pixar’s Monsters Inc. Substantially more text has now been added to the short paragraphs with large typeface size that you see on the image above, so the current version […]
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