Thursday, November 16, 2023

A Spoonful of Malaysian Magic

An Anthology —

A burong descends from Tansang Kenyalang in the midst of a dire catastrophe.
A shapeshifter frees Kedah from the dreaded Raja Bersiong only to uncover a darker secret.
A woman learns to channel her family’s food magic.
A young huntress of supernatural creatures charts her own path of love . . .

This anthology of short stories offers fresh takes on Malaysian folklore and fairy tales, adds enchantment to the ordinary, and bursts with new, wonderful flavours. Stir a little spoonful of magic into your tea, whether you’re from these shores or from far away.


Stories by

Collin Yeoh • Hamizah Adzmi • Ilnaz A. Faizal • Ismim Putera • Joni Chng • Joshua Lim • Julia Alba • Rowan C • Sharmilla Ganesan • Stuart Danker • Syazwani Jefferdin • Zufar Zeid


Cover Art and Design:Amita Sevellaraja (amitaseve.com)
Illustrations:Yura (yura-w.carrd.co)
Postcard Design:Chew Yuin-Y (instagram.com/elvenstar/)

Release date:23 November 2023
Published by:Teaspoon Publishing
Print ISBN:978-967-19634-6-3
Ebook ISBN:978-967-19634-7-0
Add the book to GoodReads:Click here
Amazon Pre-order link:Click here
Other retailers:Click here
Ebook Pre-order Price:$2.99 / RM14 | Full Price: $4.99 / RM20
Teaspoon Publishing store:Click here
Paperback Pre-order Price:RM50 | Full Price: RM60

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Collin Yeoh has wanted to be a writer all his life, and indeed has been writing professionally for 17 years. At some point, he remembered that advertising copy wasn’t what he wanted to write growing up as a lonely bookworm kid. He now finds writing things that have plots, characters, themes, genres, and that won’t be subject to notes like “please include more product benefits” a lot more fun. He lives in Kuala Lumpur.

Hamizah Adzmi is a storyteller and currently works as the Knowledge Mobilization Programme Officer for Musawah, an international women’s rights NGO. She pursued a MA in Creative Writing under the Chevening scholarship in 2016/2017, where she focused on writing fiction revolving around Malaysian women. Previously, she was in the media industry and taught Creative Writing in universities. Her interests include books, writing, and feminism.
Link : https://www.twitter.com/omgthisbook

Ilnaz A. Faizal enjoys writing stories that cross between the genres of horror, fantasy, and romance. She also writes poetry and screenplays. Her favourite authors are Sarah Dessen and R.L Stine. When she’s not writing, she can either be found reading, embroidering cartoon characters, or sleeping.
Link : https://twitter.com/Ilnaz_Faizal

Ismim Putera (he/him) is a poet and writer from Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. His works can be found in online journals as well as anthologised in To Let the Light In Anthology of Life and Death, Instinct: Asian Speculative Poetry 2021, Colours of Tapestry 2: Stories from Asia, Unsaid: An Asian Anthology, and recently in The Big Book of Malaysian Horror. His poem “Durian Blossoms” won third place in the 7th Singapore Poetry Contest (2021) and “Jantina” was longlisted for the Malaysian Poetry Competition (2021).
Link : https://twitter.com/ismimputera

Joni Chng is a writer and photographer based in Malaysia, born and raised in Kedah. She draws a lot of inspiration from diverse cultures around the world, particularly from the Far East and Southeast Asia, with speculative elements of her own invention thrown in for good measure. Her work has appeared in several anthologies and magazines, including The Big Book of Malaysian Horror Stories (Fixi Novo, 2022), Night Terrors: Vol. 21 (Scare Street, 2022), Tainted Love: Women in Horror (Twisted Wing productions, 2021), and NANG 3: Fiction (2017).
Link : https://twitter.com/jonichng | https://www.instagram.com/jonichng/

Joshua Lim writes stories that reimagine the world around him. His fantasy short story “Generation Game Night” was shortlisted for the Malaysian Short Story Writing Competition 2022, and his other works have appeared in Fixi Novo’s anthologies KL Noir: Magic (2021) and The Big Book of Malaysian Horror Stories (2022). He is currently a medical student who finds time in between classes to write fiction and overthink his future.

A medical officer and quality manager by profession, Julia Alba has been writing fiction since she was a teenager. She loves a great story no matter the genre or the medium, whether it’s a book, a video game, an anime or a movie. Her bad habit is her inability to resist buying too much Harry Potter merchandise. She lives in Perak with her husband and daughter.
Link : https://twitter.com/joo_leeyah

Rowan C is 22 years old and currently studying accounting, which inspired the title of this work. They’re also heavily inspired by the D&D games they play, and they’ve always looked up to Neil Gaiman and the late Terry Pratchett. They hope, through their work, these interests of theirs can be shared with all of you.

Sharmilla Ganesan is a radio presenter, writer, and culture critic based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She was with The Star newspaper for over a decade; currently, she is attached to BFM 89.9, where she hosts shows on current affairs, the arts, books, and film. She has also written for The Atlantic, South China Morning Post, NewNaratif, and ArtsEquator.
Link : https://twitter.com/sharmillag | https://www.instagram.com/sharmillag/

Stuart Danker is a Malaysian author who’s spent a decade writing across multiple genres and mediums, and that’s after plying his trade in various industries such as hairdressing and accounting. His first novel, Tinhead City, KL, debuted in 2021. Find him at www.stuartdanker.com.
Link: https://twitter.com/stuartdanker | https://www.instagram.com/storystuey/

Syazwani Jefferdin is currently a 24-year-old PhD in English student at Nottingham University Malaysia. She has been writing since she was 9 and has been writing fantasy fiction since high school. Currently, she’s working on her PhD creative work titled God’s Eyes, a novel that will explore the Fantasy genre with Malaysian elements imbedded alongside classic western Fantasy elements.

Zufar Zeid lives in the morgue and tries to give a voice to the dead. In his free time, he pretends to write but is actually just daydreaming his life away.
Link: https://twitter.com/Lv80Necromancer | https://www.instagram.com/zufzeid/



ABOUT THE EDITOR

Anna Tan writes fantasy stories and fairy tales, and helps people publish books at Teaspoon Publishing. She also wrangles writers and deadlines for the Malaysian Writers Society (MYWriters) and Penang Art District.

Anna has an MA in Creative Writing: The Novel under a Chevening scholarship and is the current President of MYWriters. She can be found tweeting as @natzers and forgetting to update annatsp.com.

Links :
https://facebook.com/annatansp | https://twitter.com/natzers | https://instagram.com/annatsp



ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

Just as a teaspoon of sugar sweetens your tea, Teaspoon Publishing adds a dash of something special to your words. Whether it’s getting a dose of magic in your fiction, working magic with your words, or helping you find that magical balance of trad/indie/ hybrid publishing, we hope you’ll find what you’re looking for here!

It’s as simple as a TSP —

  • Traditional: where we source and publish fantasy works as a micro-press
  • Services: where we provide writing-related freelance services such as editing, proofreading, and copywriting.
  • Publishing Hub: where we hold your hand(s) and let you decide how we can help you fulfil your publishing dreams.

Talk to us at info@teaspoonpublishing.com.my or check out our website at teaspoonpublishing.com.my.

We can also be found at:
https://facebook.com/teaspoonpublishing | https://twitter.com/teaspoonpub | https://instagram.com/teaspoonpublishing

Friday, April 7, 2023

The Witches' Brew

Day 7 Prompt: A List

Today's prompt for National Poetry Writing Month is to write a poem using a list.
I have chosen part of the ingredients listed in the witches brew described in Shakespeare's Macbeth Act 4 Scene 1 for my poem —

"Fillet of a fenny snake, In the cauldron boil and bake; Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog, Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg and owlet's wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble."

It is often said, though arguably, that each ingredient in the witches brew is actually a plant, a flower, a seed or herb.
Here's my poem explaining some of those ingredients:

The Witches Brew

Eye of newt and toe of frog
the witches mixed them up
'twas nothing more than mustard seeds
and the yellow buttercup

Wool of bat and tongue of dog
were part of witches creed
The bat wool merely holly leaves
the dog a houndstongue weed

Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting
next went into the brew
Neither snake nor worm were boiled,
just a violet, a poppy or two

Then there was a lizard's leg
along with an owlet's wing
— little bits of ivy and garlic
as witches continued to sing

#GloPoWriMo #NaPoWriMo
By Harold B Huang
07Apr23 2121 hrs GMT+8
Edited 2200 hrs

Thursday, April 6, 2023

The Slayer

Day 6 Prompt: Borrowed sounds

La Paloma (The Dove), originally composed around 1863 by Spanish composer Sebastián Iradier. The first stanza and bridge is reproduced below:

"Una canción me recuerda aquel ayer
Cuando se marchó en silencio un atardecer
Se fue con su canto triste a otro lugar
Dejó como compañera mi soledad

Una paloma blanca me canta al alba
Viejas melancolías, cosas del alma
Llegan con el silencio de la mañana
Y cuando salgo a verla vuela a su casa"


A poem in English using sounds borrowed from the lyrics of the above Spanish song —

The Slayer

An ancient me recruited as a slayer
Marched in silence with Ataxerxes
Consumed by thirst to ambush like a cougar
Day and night accompanied by solitude

Then I turned pale and blank in a battle
A wave of melancholy filled my armour
Trembling in silence 'neath my fierce demeanour
Will I be vanquished by this invincible warrior?

#GloPoWriMo #NaPoWriMo
By Harold B Huang
06Apr23 2006 hrs GMT+8

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

He laughs

Day 5 Prompt: Inappropriate laughter

Our beloved Teacher

Teacher made a silly mistake
with an answer to his sums
We laughed

Teacher missed a little step
he stumbled in front of us
We laughed

Teacher jumped up suddenly
a bug crawled on his desk
We laughed

Teacher forgot the lyrics
singing our old school song
We laughed

Teacher lets us laugh at him
He makes us laugh with him
He laughs

#GloPoWriMo #NaPoWriMo
By Harold B Huang
05Apr23 2317 hrs GMT+8

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

A triolet

Day 4 Prompt: A triolet

  • a triolet consists of eight lines with the rhyme scheme ABaAabAB —
  • where A, B are repeated lines;
  • and a, b are rhyming lines with A, B respectively,
  • with each line written in iambic tetrameter
"A verse in rhyme" — a triolet

It is so hard to write in rhyme
A verse in rhyme I'll try to write
I may not get it done on time
It is so hard to write in rhyme
What seems to me an uphill climb
To make the matching words sound right
It is so hard to write in rhyme
A verse in rhyme I'll try to write

#GloPoWriMo #NaPoWriMo
By Harold B Huang
04Apr23 1920 hrs GMT+8

Monday, April 3, 2023

An opposite poem

Day 3 Prompt: An opposite poem

Today's prompt for National Poetry Writing Month is to write an opposite poem. My poem is based on the following original verse by William Blake —

To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour

(by William Blake, in "Auguries of Innocence")


** Opposite **
Ignore the sand that builds our world
and wild flowers that make our heaven
Our finite hands are held by infinity
An hour a captive of eternity

#GloPoWriMo #NaPoWriMo
By Harold B Huang
03Apr23 1707 hrs GMT+8

Surreal

Day 2 Prompt: Surreal

The heavy laden aeroplane
floats lightly through the air
It crawls like a snail among the clouds
soon it's no longer there

I hear its engines hum and roar
in a silent voiceless sky
The huge craft passes high above
like a sparrow flying by

#GloPoWriMo #NaPoWriMo
By Harold B Huang
03Apr23 0950 hrs GMT+8

Sunday, April 2, 2023

A Book Cover

Day 1 Prompt: A book cover

A book is discovered when
you see its elegant form
with vivid colours and
pretty pictures on its cover
you'd want to take a closer look

A book is uncovered when
you find its meaningful title
clearly written and
boldly printed across its cover
you'd want to get a glimpse within

A book is recovered when
you encounter its profound story
quietly lurking and
patiently waiting beneath its cover
you'd want to wake it up from sleep
and read it through

from cover to cover

#GloPoWriMo #NaPoWriMo
By Harold B Huang
02Apr23 1135 hrs GMT+8

A Spoonful of Malaysian Magic

An Anthology — A burong descends from Tansang Kenyalang in the midst of a dire catastrophe. A shapeshifter f...