Sotto Voce's Blog, page 4

Another Spooky Tale for Halloween

 

Something terrifying is happening to me right now: my booksales have been flatlining for quite a while. I have no one to blame but myselfbecause I suck in getting them out there. I'm not a fan of advertisements, so Ialso don't wish to subject others to advertisements about my books, and thatearned me virtual smacks from several online acquaintances who tried their bestnot to yell at me, "How do you sell anything if you never tellanyone?"

Okay, I tell people through this newsletter. I am ...

Do You Have Spooky Tales?

This is not Locky trying to be spooky. He just tested if he was big enough to cover my TV (15inch monitor). Why do other things when you have a dog, right?

It’s October. I don’t celebrate Halloween, it’s notsomething common where I am. Yes, the cinemas here are populated by horrormovies, but that is common all year round. What’s up with that? I guess themarket is good, and most probably, horror movies require smaller budgets. Makeeverything dark, there are many settings that already look scar...

It Has Been A While

 

It has been a while. I was away for a family reunion and hadan unexpected health issue that required hospitalization, but it’s all wellnow.

Before they knew what to do with me, I was put in a big roomand wheeled here and there with many other patients. The room was full, filledwith beds in every corner; some were even put in the middle. We never stayed inthe same spot, they would take us to the X-ray room, Ultrasound, blood test,this corner for picture taking, and other corners for ques...

PNW Affliction I: Recycled

 

This is probably the first time I've read something in thisformat. The story picks up quickly, and I appreciate the author's backstoriesand explanations; they help when you read this book as a standalone.

We follow the main character, who sometimes talks to readersthroughout the night. He is caught in an unfortunate situation and has to spendthe night outside his home, trying to survive, which is the book's wholepremise.

I wish to know the character and the plot better. I know bitsand ...

You Are Not Alone

 

June is Male Mental Health Awareness Month, and Father’s Dayalso falls in June in many parts of the world.

Around 2002, I worked as a junior staff member in this bigcompany, with multiple departments on multiple floors. My department (around a dozenpeople) was located next to another (around four-five dozen). The workflowsequence was from ours to theirs. I don’t need to liaise with them inDepartment 2 since I only did technical presentation work exclusive toDepartment 1. Still, I know th...

Many Happy Returns

 

We have just celebrated my dog’s 9th birthday two weeks ago. 

Ihave always loved dogs and almost went through the adoption process with arescue shelter, but unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be (some schedulingand other issues). After that, I decided not to get a dog atall since I was traveling quite often, I didn't want to leave my dog inboarding houses often.

Mycolleague learned about it in a passing conversation, and a few weeksafter that, she offered me a puppy for adoption. It was...

Dial-up Internet

 

Whenever I meet with my friends (I only have a few, and it is dwindling), wealways reminisce about good old times, well, of course, on top of health talkand how annoying it is to grow older. Another topic is about technology and theinternet as we put on our best grumpy behaviors while squinting on the phoneand cursing that everything needs to be an app nowadays. 

I am a younger Gen-X (Gen-Xer?). I was a bit late, but the first time Iaccessed internet was in the year 2000 when I just gradu...

The Magnificent Swimming Pool

 

I had a chance to visit a traditional Asian village last week and spenthours in a place that brought me to the past.

With chickens and ducks freely roaming around, one always side-eyed me withjudgmental eyes (maybe he thought I was supposed to feed him). I had pleasantafternoons watching goat MBEEE on their way home. Kids were out playingbicycles and soccer and got muddy on one rainy afternoon with laughter as thesoundtrack. 

Dirt, animals, soaking in the rain, and playing outside were t...

A Tale of the Young Witch

 

A tale of a young witch is a very ambitious fantasy. However, I am not surewhy it’s divided into three parts because all three happen continuously and inthe same timeline, involving the same characters.

The book has a simple but interesting beginning. We follow the story ofAmelia as some origin story because she is the titular character who starts assomeone ordinary enough with ordinary life, but it doesn’t stay that way forlong. From there, the journey goes to common fantasy routes with ...

Fools' Day

 

Locky is not a fooland knows how to enjoy a beach day and make that bath worth it!

 

ONE: The hitmanS

 

You get what you pay for.

 

This was what a ChineseDeveloper thought when he hired a hitman to kill his competitor because he wassued over a project dispute. At the price of 2 million Yuan (around $282,800),that should be enough to get a good quality hitman, or so he thought, and gotHitman 1.

 

Hitman 1 happily took thejob, and with his impeccable business instinct, he hired Hit...