Robert Raymer's Blog, page 10

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award is Back for 2014!

It’s time again for Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.  At stake is the $50,000 Grand Prize, plus four $15,000 First Prizes and Amazon Publishing Contracts.
Feb 15-March 2: Round 1 (Pitch) –Amazon-selected editors will read and rate a pitch (up to 300 words) from each entrant. The top 400 entries in each of the five categories will advance to the second round. (Note that the entry period will end as soon as they receive the maximum number of entries—10,000 for General Fiction, Romance, Mystery & Thriller, Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror and Young Adult Fiction combined.)
March 18: Round 2 (Excerpt) – Amazon expert reviewers will read and rate excerpts (3,000 to 5,000 words) and provide feedback to the entrants. The top 100 entries in each of the five categories will advance to the Quarter-Finals.

April 14:  Quarter-Finals (Full Manuscript) – Reviewers from Publishers Weekly will read and rate full manuscripts and provide feedback to the entrants. The top five entries in each of the five categories will advance to the Semi-Finals.

June 13:  Semi-Finals –The Amazon Publishing judging panel, consisting of qualified representatives selected by Amazon Publishing, will review the manuscript and the accompanying reviews of each Semi-Finalist’s entry to select a Finalist in each category (each, a “Finalist”) using the judging criteria.

July 8:  Finals –Amazon customers will vote to determine the Grand Prize winner. All remaining Finalists will receive a First Prize.

July 21:  Grand Prize winner is announced.


TIPS for preparing your entry
Select the genre that best fits your book.Stay within the word count limits: pitch (up to 300 words); excerpt (3,000 to 5,000 words); manuscript (50,000 to 125,000 words).Remove all identifying information from your pitch, excerpt and manuscript, including your name and/or pen name, contact information, author bio/resume, and any awards received for your book. Submit all your material in English.
Here are six lessons that I learned as a Quarter-Finalist in 2012 for one of my novels, The Resurrection of Jonathan Brady, which will also useful when submitting your work to agents and publishers. 
Good Luck!
                 —Borneo Expat Writer  
**Here's a link to my website, to MPH online for orders for all three of my books, including my latest, Spirit of Malaysia and forTrois autres Malaisie.

Lovers and Strangers Revisited and Tropical Affairs Subject of a Dissertation!

Melyza Nathan came across my collection of short stories, now in it's 21st year, during her teacher's training stint in Penang (Institut Perguruan Persekutuan Pulau Pinang) where I gave a seminar on creative writing back in 2006.  Four years later, she contacted me in March of 2010 to inform me that she had chosen my books Lovers and Strangers Revisited (MPH 2008) and Tropical Affairs: Episodes from an Expat’s Life in Malaysia (MPH 2009) as the subject of her dissertation on the use of Malaysian English for her Masters in English as a Second Language at the University Malaya, titled, “The Use of Malaysian English in Robert Raymer’s Short Stories.”
Melyza made plans to travel to Kuching to interview me in May 2010, but due to her father’s illness she had to put her graduate studies on hold for two years.  Fortunately her university allowed her to continue her research.  When she contacted me again in July 2012, I was in the USA after my father had passed away.
I was trying to answer her questions as to why I would use Malaysian English in various contexts without being able to refer to my books, then I remembered that my brother in Colorado had a copy so when I reached there I was able to complete the remainder of her questions without further delay.
Many of the words that Melyza had highlighted were articles of clothing like baju kurung in “Home for Hari Raya” (adapted into a filmby Ohio University), or related to food, such as kenduri (celebratory feast) in “Mat Salleh”.  From the context, readers would have a good idea what the word meant.  Others were common slang words like Mat Salleh (for white man) from the same story or place name like kampong (village) or madrasah (the village religious center) in “The Stare”.   I told Melyza that I preferred to use Malay words that were common in certain Malaysian contexts such as parang (machete) and bomohin “Smooth Stones” since ‘witch doctor’ had other connotations that could confuse non-Malaysian readers or give them the wrong impression.

Granted another extension for her thesis due to the difficulty of having to take care of her father and her grandmother, who had been hospitalized numerous times in the recent months, Melyza persevered.
Now her work is finished and bound for shelves, including my own.  So congrats to Melyza.  It was an honor to have my books chosen as the subject of your dissertation. 
Nice, title, too!               —Borneo Expat Writer
  *Here's a link to my website, to MPH online for mythree of my books, including my latest, Spirit of Malaysia and forTrois autres Malaisie. 

“Neighbours” (6th Cycle texts) Extended Again (SMP 2008-2015)

My short story “Neighbours” from Lovers and Strangers Revisited as part of the 6th cycle texts for SMP Literature has been extended again through SPM 2015.  The 7th cycle texts (so far unknown, I think) will begin for SPM 2016.   Again the stories from that original collection, after 20 years, is still going strong, heading into its 21st year (and even 22ndyear).
Let’s hope another of my short stories from the collection will be selected for the 7th cycle, perhaps “Home for Hari Raya” recently taught and filmed by Ohio University, or “Merkeda Miracle”written with Lydia Teh and Tunku Halim for Going Places (August 2009), the in-flight magazine Malaysia Airlines.
*Link to my website, to MPH online for mythree of my books, including my latest, Spirit of Malaysia and forTrois autres Malaisie. 

 

Lovers and Strangers Revisited - 20 Years

Near the end of 2013 a friend from Penang sent me a Christmas card and mentioned that she was teaching my short story “Mat Salleh” from my collection Lovers and Strangers Revisited for her reading class at UiTM.  I then realized that 2013 was the 20th anniversary of the original publication of Lovers and Strangers (Heinemann Asia, 1993).  Although I’m posting this a little late, I have a strong feeling I haven’t heard the end of these stories for years to come.
   “Mat Salleh” was the first short story from the collection published in The New Straits Times.  I sold it again a few months later to My Weekly in the UK, and then "The Future Barrister" won third prize in the 1988 Star contest and "Sister's Room" third place in a contest in the US.  I knew I was onto something.  The 17 short stories set mostly in Malaysiahave so far been published 82 times in twelve countries, the collection won the 2009 Popular-The Star Reader’s Choice Award and has been translated into French.  (Previously, three stories had been translated into Japanese.) 
In 2005, a colleague at Universiti Sains Malaysia where I taught creative writing informed me that he was not only teaching my story “On Fridays” in his post colonial course on Singaporean and Malaysian Literature but also planning to teach the collection in the following semester.  Since the book had gone out of print, I contacted Silverfish Books (I was the editor for their Silverfish New Writing 4) and they agreed to re-publish the book.
Having revised the stories numerous times since its initial publishing, I wanted something more; so I revisited (and overhauled) each story—adding new openings, new endings, new back stories, even doubling several stories in length, which I wrote about in the introduction and then added the word ‘revisited’ to the title.
The first book launch in 1993 was organized by Penang Players (I used to be the stage manager for several of their productions and critiqued many of their plays prior to their performance.)  Penang Players not only sponsored the book launch they also read extracts from four stories and did a delightful play reading of One Drink Too Many, a comedy that I wrote based on the short story “Neighbors”, thus turning a simple book launch into a literary event attended by over 100 people.
In 2007, after moving to Sarawak, the Malaysian part of Borneo, I encountered some distribution problems, so I agreed to buy out the last of the stock from Silverfish and switched publishers to MPH (2008), followed by another round of editing and adding two stories.  I alsocreated the blog series, The Story Behind the Story, for each of the 17 stories, separating fact from fiction and noting the significant changes that led to their various publications.
“Neighbours” (about neighbors gossiping over a neighbor’s suicide) was then selected by the Malaysian Education Ministry to be part of the sixth cycle of reading texts for SPM literature for Form 5 students for 2008-2010.  Three times it has been renewed and will be be taught in selected schools through 2015. The Malaysian English Language Teaching Association (MELTA) also had an online thread for “Neighbours” with over 20,500 hits and 30 pages of comments (around 290) before they archived it then took it down.  Denis Harry even wrote an article for the New Straits Times about the story’s main character, a busybody, titled, “Are You Mrs. Koh?”
Over the years many students have contacted me about that story via my website or facebook. When I mentioned to one student whose class was adapting “Neighbours” into a play that I would be attending the Popular Bookfest in Kuala Lumpur the following week for Tropical Affairs , nominated for the 2010 Reader’s Choice Award, her teacher, Christina Chan organized a field trip bringing about a dozen students to meet me.  She said it was a rare opportunity for students in Malaysia to meet the writer of a story that they were currently studying (most had either passed away or lived overseas).   
Robert Raymer with Christina Tan and her students at Bookfest 2010In addition to the collection itself (stories from the original collection were first taught at a high school in Canada), nine stories that I know of have been taught numerous times at several universities and private colleges throughout Malaysia (along with The Story Behind the Story, a handy aide for both teachers and students I’ve since learned).  In 2012, two of the stories “Mat Salleh” and “Home for Hari Raya” were even taught in the U.S. at Ohio University in their Southeast Asia Studies program (where I had the honor to skype with the students)
.The Lovers and Strangers collection has been instrumental in other aspects of my life.  In fact, it helped me to land my first teaching job at Universiti of Sains Malaysia where for six years I taught two courses on writing and then created a new course on creative writing that I taught for four years before introducing the materials to Universiti of Malaysia Sarawak and taught it there for another three years.  (I had used Lovers and Strangers Revisited as a calling card while giving a creative writing workshop for MELTA in Kuching.)
Back in 2006 the collection Lovers and Strangers Revisited (and unfortunately the author) was even psychoanalyzed by a Malaysian academic at a short story collection conference in the UK.  As a writer, it’s imperative to develop a thick skin; it also comes in handy for reviews. Thanks to LSR, I’ve been interviewed several times in magazines, newspapers, and online.  I was even put on national TV along with my friend Georgette Tan, who earlier had given me a nice review in The Borneo Post.  Together we appeared on Kuppa Kopi with Sharnaz Sabera. Georgette Tan, Robert Raymer and Sharnaz SaberaIn 2007, in reaction to a blog post by the Malaysian author Lydia Teh about publishing books in Malaysia, I posted a rather lengthy comment based on my experiences of publishing this collection in both countries, then I used it as the first posting for my own blog, Borneo Expat Writer.  Then in 2009, as part of publicity for LSR, I had been asked to write a short story for Going Places, Malaysian Airlines in-flight magazine for their August Merdeka (Independence) edition along with Lydia Teh and Tunku Halim, both successful authors in Malaysia whom I had yet to meet.   
Accepting the challenge, I quickly came up with an idea and an opening for “Merdeka Miracle”. The three of us furiously sent emails back and forth between Kuching, Kuala Lumpur and Paris and London (where Tunku was travelling with his family) to craft a first draft and then revised it daily, about twenty times, to meet the tight deadline.  Later, at the same K.L. Bookfest where I met the students and their teacher, I finally got to meet Lydia Teh. Lydia Teh and Robert Raymer and "The Merdeka Miracle"
I’m sure the success and the publicity surrounding Lovers and Strangers Revisited, which had just won the Popular Reader’s Choice Award, was largely responsible for me being named one of “50 Expatriates You Should Know” by Expatriate Lifestyle (January 2010)—quite an honor since most of the other expats were diplomats, celebrities, or leaders in their industry and mostly living in Kuala Lumpur, while I taught creative writing, gave workshops, and wrote books in Sarawak.

Robert Raymer standing between nominated writers Yvonne Lee and Adeline Loh. In 2011 Editions GOPE translated Lovers and Strangers Revisited into French and published it as Trois autres Malaisie, which means "Three Other Malaysia".   Then Ohio University School of Arts, Media & Studies turned my story “Home for Hari Raya” into a film, shot in Malaysia in December 2012/January 2013.  The 24-minute film can now be seen on YouTube. Twenty years has gone by quickly, but the stories in that original Lovers and Strangers collection have come a long way since 1993.  And for 2014, its 21st year, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens next.—Borneo Expat Writer

Uncle Gilbert’s Portrait of Jason Arrives...

Gilbert Rona presenting Jason his portraitGilbert Rona, my wife’s uncle, presented Jason, our nine-year-old, with his portrait for Christmas.  It was Gilbert’s first portrait, based on a photograph that he had taken.  Although the portrait was a few years in coming (you can’t rush an artist, especially when using oil paint), it was well worth the wait.
 
Jason was excited seeing it and, being the proud father, I kept pointing it out to various relatives who came to our Open House on Christmas.  Most of them didn’t even know that Gilbert had taken up painting, let alone the huge talent that he possesses.
Now Jason’s younger brother Justin is expecting his own portrait after Gilbert mentioned that he planned to do one of him, too, though that may take a couple more years...
Four years back, after a  Lovers and Strangers Revisited talk and reading at the Little Penang Street Market, Rashid, an old friend who sketches there every month, did a quick sketch of me.  Personally, I’d rather have a portrait than a selfie any day.  Any idiot can take a photo of himself and post it, but it takes real talent to sketch and paint and a little patience by the subject to sit and wait for the final product.
Robert Raymer *Link to my website, to MPH online for my three of my books, including my latest, Spirit of Malaysia and for Trois autres Malaisie. 

Home for Hari Raya on YouTube!

Ohio University School of Arts, Media & Studies posted the film adaptation of my short story “Home for Hari Raya” from Lovers and Strangers Revisited on YouTube.  Apparently it was posted on 3 October 2013 which I recently found out by accident while updating my files on stories related to the filming.  Had I known (I must’ve overlooked it while in the midst of rewriting one of novels), I could’ve posted it in time for Hari Raya Haji in Malaysia (October 15th)

For some strange reason YouTube opens the film at 3:16 mark.  The film is about 24 minutes long.  Just scroll back to the beginning. It starts out with the call to prayer and some scenery shots of rural Malaysia.  This is in English, though in the opening scenes some Malay is being spoken.   Last December I had blogged about Associate Professor Frederick Lewis and his team of students from Ohio University coming to Malaysia for the filming. http://borneoexpatwriter.blogspot.com/2012/12/ohio-university-in-malaysia-shooting.html
Enjoy the film, a nice introduction to Malaysia, and share it with friends.  Here is also the link to The Story Behind the Story.
*Link to my website, to MPH online for my three of my books, including my latest, Spirit of Malaysia and for Trois autres Malaisie.  

Father and Son in Jogathon, and a Trophy Too!

I admit I’ve been letting myself get out of shape, so when my 9-year old son Jason asked me to take part in a jogathon that his primary school, St Joseph’s (Kuching, Sarawak) was organizing, I was less than enthusiastic about the idea. 
True my left knee had been hurting me for awhile causing me to abort my last three jogging attempts, but that was a month ago.  Even last night, concerned about the knee, concerned that I had done absolutely nothing to prepare for the race, other than deciding what to wear, I was not all that keen to go.  Meanwhile my wife kept urging me to go to bed since I had to wake up at 5:30 am; already it was past 10.
The alarm went off; I didn’t hear it but I felt my wife shaking me and threatening to throw me out of bed.  I took a shower to wake up, woke up Jason, stretched for about a minute and was out the door by 6 am.  I had assured myself that if my knee gave out just a little, I was bailing out.  No need to push myself into an early wheelchair.  Then I saw the trophies on display and thought, as a proud father, how nice it would be if Jason won one of those.
The race began by categories, primary one and two and the women ran first.  Primary three and four and the men ran second.  Primary five and six, last. While waiting to start, I sized up the competition, the other fathers in particular.  Most looked to be in far better shape and much younger than me, in their 20s and 30s.  A couple of the guys you could tell were runners; they had that mean and lean and hungry for a trophy look about them.  Two in particular had the race won before we even began. 
The rest of us were anyone’s guess.  At our age and fitness level we might put up a good show by showing up in branded sweat suits only to get winded by bending down to retie our shoes.  I told Jason don’t start off in a sprint; that’s what the showoffs do to impress their friends (and wives); we all know the story of the tortoise and the hare, so I won’t go into detail.
I began the race at a comfortable pace, the four leaders way ahead of me but in eyesight.  Then I lost sight of them completely. I kept my steady pace, passing the occasional kid who had burned himself out on the opening sprint.  Then about half way I passed a guy and I thought, no way, wasn’t he one of the four who were miles ahead of me?  That gave me hope.
Then I saw Jason and caught up to him and thought, good he can keep me company, and for a short while he did as we passed another of the leading men.  Further ahead I could barely glimpse the two hares.  But there was no one, other than a bunch of kids, separating us, giving me hope.
But Jason was fading.
“Daddy, wait,” he said, and I waved at him, urging him to keep my pace.  I felt torn actually, but I knew that all I had to do was hang in there and I had a legitimate shot at the bronze trophy, so long as my stamina, my knee, and my shoe laces held up.  Of course, I should’ve done a better job tying those laces.  In fact, I gave Jason double knots to prevent any potential disasters.
I kept looking over my shoulder to see if Jason was getting a second wind and to see if anyone else was sneaking up on me.  Meanwhile I kept thinking that running a race is a whole lot like writing a novel.  Far too many writers sprint through those early pages, even writing a chapter or two before they burn themselves out.  Slow and steady may not win the race, but it would get me to the finish line, and if I stepped it up, who knows the outcome, as in the recent Faulkner-Wisdom contest.
Then there it was the finish line.  Ignoring my loosening laces, I pressed on (it’s always better to have a strong finish than a great start that piddles out).  The organizers flagged me down and stuck a third place sticker on my sweaty shirt.  I felt so proud.  I held up the family honor.  I felt proud for Jason, too, when he came in 8th place for his category and would receive a medal too, so we would both come home with a prize.
Later, Jason admitted that he was disappointed that I didn’t stay back with him, but he sure looked proud that I won a trophy.  He showed it off to his friends, no doubt telling them, “He may be old (and white) but he can run!”
My wife was impressed, too, but then added, “I thought you didn’t want to go?”
“Well someone has to win a trophy around here,” I said.  Besides, as a father it’s my job to lead by example, so long as the laces and the knees hold up.  I also wanted some revenge on Jason for beating me in chess!  So there is hope for me yet; for him, too.  Pretty soon he’ll be creaming me in everything, but for now, I’m holding my own—my own trophy high above my head.
                             —Borneo Expat Writer
**Link to my website, to MPH online for my three of my books, including my latest, Spirit of Malaysia and for Trois autres Malaisie.  

Winning as a Father but Losing to My Son in Chess

Last night my nine-year old son Jason beat me in chess.  I didn’t know if I should be embarrassed or proud.  Actually I was more proud than embarrassed since he had come close to beating me a couple of times before if not for some lapses on his part and some luck on mine.  Still I was hoping to stave off defeat for another couple of years or at least until he reached double figures.

Then it happened.   
Jason said, “Check,” and I thought, no problem, I’ll just move my king here and he said, “You can’t do that!”  I’m thinking, why not, and then I saw the problem.  He had a bishop waiting on that same slant.  I was flummoxed.  He had me.
“I won!  I won!”
“Not so fast,” I said, sure that I would find another way out, some clever move on my part that had served me well over the years, but lo and behold, no clever move materialized.  There was not a thing I could do and finally had to admit that he won.  Jason beat me.  I mean, I had this game so won!  I had been putting his king in check a half a dozen times already and was within two moves of clinching the deal, but then his queen came out of nowhere and he said. “Check.”  Then it became “Checkmate” and our whole chess relationship changed.   Instead of me being the mentor advising him against moves that he shouldn’t make lest he wanted to lose an important piece of his arsenal, and how he needs to find a better balance between offense and defense, I was now on the down slide, where pretty soon he’ll be trouncing me right and left while looking at his smart phone and talking to a couple of girlfriends in between my moves. 
“Have you finally moved, Dad?”
“Wait, let me get my walker.”
I can see it all now, more gloating from my son at the dinner table aided and abetted by his mother, who naturally took photos of my personal agony of defeat, and his six-year old younger brother Justin, who suddenly saw hope in his chess-playing future of trouncing me too.
Jason is now talking about trouncing me in badminton once my sore shoulder heals, which I’m hoping at this point it never does.  Maybe I should just stick with writing.  

-Don't Monkey with the Monkeys!

-Hospital Adventure for My Two Boys
   
        —Borneo Expat Writer

*Link to my website, to MPH online for my three of my books, including my latest, Spirit of Malaysia and for Trois autres Malaisie. 

Faulkner-Wisdom: Five Novels/Novella—Finalists/Short-list Finalist in 2012 & 2013

The Act of Theft, my novella, was just named short-list finalist for 2013 Faulkner-Wisdom. That’s the third short-list finalist this year, after An Unexpected Gift for a Growling Fool for the novel and The Girl in the Bathtub , for novel-in-progress.   Last year for the 2012 Faulkner-Wisdom, I had two finalists:  A Perfect Day for an Expat Exit, novel, and The Girl in the Bathtub, novel-in-progress, plus The Resurrection of Jonathan Brady was a short-list finalist novel (also 2011).
So over the last two years, five of my books—four novels and one novella—have been named a finalist or a short list finalist for Faulkner-Wisdom.
Back in 2007, “Malaysian Games”, was even named runner-up in the Faulkner-Wisdom for short story; therefore, my fiction have been named short-list finalists or better in four of their categories.   Isn’t it about time that I finally won the Faulkner-Wisdom?  

I did win the Popular-Star Reader’s Choice Award for my collection of short stories Lovers and Strangers Revisited back in 2009 (and translated into French in 2011).  And "Home for Hari Raya" from Lovers and Strangers Revisited was filmed in Malaysia by Ohio University in 2013.
  Odd years have been good for me.  Of course, I’d rather have an agent and a two-book publishing deal in the US or the UK (and a film optioned, if that's not too much to ask).  There is still plenty of time for 2013...      —Borneo Expat Writer
**Here's the link to my website, to MPH online for orders for all three of my books, including my latest, Spirit of Malaysia and forTrois autres Malaisie.

Faulkner-Wisdom: Gift from the Past: The Girl in the Bathtub

After last year when The Girl in the Bathtub was named a finalist in the 2012 Faulkner-Wisdom for the novel-in progress category (and a short-list finalist for 2013), I decided it was high time that I finished that book.  It was nearly a decade when I first wrote those opening chapters, gradually adding a chapter here and there until I passed the 200-page mark, ending Part One.   I still had two parts to go.
The Girl in the Bathtub is also the follow up to A Perfect Day for an Expat Exit, another finalist from last year’s Faulkner-Wisdom in the novel category, and the second in a series on Expats in Southeast Asia that I had planned while living in Penang, where both novels are set.  A third book would be set in Singapore, a fourth in Thailand, and a possibly a fifth in Borneo where I now live.

But that second book kept stalling or I kept setting it aside to work on my other novels (reviving two from the dead: one made it to the finals last year, the other short-list finals this year).  It wasn’t the blank page that was bothering me; it was the opposite—I was over­whelmed by all these notes, over 200 pages, single-spaced, and organized mostly in rough form by chapters for Part Two and Part Three.  Originally they were written on various sizes of papers from a pocket-size notebook to back of enve­lopes to half or full length pages in my scrawling handwriting that my students com­plained about for years:  “Thanks for all the comments on my story, sir, but I can’t read it.”

Even I had difficulty deciphering some of my cryptic notes for this novel.  Gradually, over the years, I did type these notes into the computer and did manage to fit them into the appropriate chapters (chapter outlines do come in handy) or if I wasn’t sure, tacked them on to the end of Part Two or Part Three to be dealt with later.  I would also advance the latest chapter, make more notes along the way, and occasionally revise the first fifty or all two hundred pages of Part One to keep the novel alive.
Still, I had to deal with this huge jigsaw puzzle of notes that contained individual sentences, paragraphs, descriptions, plot ideas, character sketches and snippets of dialogue . . . with plenty of pieces missing.   At times, they were overwhelming.
Finally last year I made some headway into Part Two, chapter 13, when I got stalled again.  Then mid-May this year, after editing and reading aloud three novelsbefore submitting them to 2013 Faulkner-Wisdom, in­cluding the first 50 pages of The Girl in the Bathtub, I reread the remainder of those two hundred pages of Part One and decided this is going to be the year that I completed the first draft.  I realized that I was looking at the problem the wrong way.  Instead of feeling overwhelmed by all these notes, I felt grateful that I had all these notes—better than a blank screen!  In fact, the notes were a gift from my past, and the time had arrived for me to accept this gift with open arms. 

I knew if I just stuck with it and plowed through them I could carve out a first draft in three months as a birth­day present to myself.  This sounded like a win-win challenge for me (plus a nice present, too).  Instead of looking at all 200 pages of notes as a mess to deal with, I broke them down to bite size chunks, first by chapter, then by scenes.  I would read through the 10-15 pages of notes for a chapter, jot down what the scenes were about, and organized the notes by scene (giving each note a letter a, b, c, d, e) and then shifted the notes into each section.  Next, I’d work within each scene, putting related stuff together and seeing if I could work out an opening and keep it going.
Once I finished chapter 13 (after cleaning it up, printing it out, editing and correcting) I immediately moved on to chapter 14, not wanting to stop my mo­mentum and risk letting weeks, months, or another ten years slip by.  The Girl in the Bathtub became this game for me, a challenge of taking all these old ideas and seeing if I could turn it into something new that moved the novel forward.  Occasionally I’d have to create new material as an opening for a chapter or as a transition scene, while tossing out stuff that no longer worked or shifting leftover material to later chapters or to the end of Part Two, just in case.   Pretty soon, I began rethinking my plot, making new notes, asking myself questions about scenes and the characters.  If you write down those questions to yourself, ultimately you’ll get the answers; I often did late at night or stepping out of the shower in the morning, a reason I keep notepads and pens everywhere.
I gained more confidence as I moved into chapter 15 and began thinking ahead to the following chapters and would work out the various scene sections and if I was lucky, an opening paragraph or two, so by the time I was ready to move into that chapter, I already had a head start; I wouldn’t have to start cold.
Some chapters, like chapter 19, the last chapter of Part Two, were a nightmare.  I had 30 pages of single-spaced notes (potentially 60 double spaced pages) for basically one really long scene, including all this leftover stuff from the preceding chapters that I couldn’t fit in any­where.  Some of the stuff I had to shift to Part Three for the same reasons.  I was careful about deleting stuff, because I found too many instances where I kept pushing bits and pieces of stuff that didn’t seem to work to later chapters, and then my subcon­scious would find a way to link three or four of these pieces together in a way that I had never antici­pated and I would think, wow, where did that come from?
Most chapters came together in a fairly straight forward manner; however, it may have taken me a week to piece it all altogether and iron out the wrinkles.  Others, like chapters 19 and 22, felt like I was pulling my hair and teeth at the same time.  I’d have all these notes, cleaned up more or less in order by section but I couldn’t see how they could work together, so I’d have to print it out and try matching them up with some creative editing notes and directional arrows whereby I needed to link a few sentences from four separate pages and then shift all that to a paragraph on a fifth page before combining it with another paragraph on a sixth page (spread over 15 or so pages, going back and forth in different directions).  A night­mare that re­quired a lot of concen­tration and no interruptions from my wife or children or I’d freak out and take hours to find out where missing stuff ended up and risk either losing my mind or getting stalled for another ten years.
Some chapters I had no idea how I was going to start or end it until I actually got to the end.  Other times, I had to skip the beginning and worked the later sections first and only then did I find a way to write an opening scene.  Mostly what I had to do was just sit there, hours on end, and plow through this maze of notes, scene by scene, and try not to bail out to check the internet or emails or work on other projects.
Eventually, out of sheer determination, I made it to the end of each scene, end of each chapter all the way to chapter 25 and the end of Part Three by August 2nd, the day before my birthday.  In the process, I took The Girl in the Bathtub from page 204, after years of going nowhere very fast, to page 510.  That’s three hundred decent pages in less than three months.
I know, it’s still a first draft and it’s still going to require a lot of work, but right now, unlike those previous years, I have a complete draft of a new novel to work with and that’s pretty exciting.  As I begin the revising process for draft two The Girl in the Bathtub can only get better.
Of course, I would not recommend writing a novel this way, but sometimes you got to do what you got to do to get the darn thing finished, if only for yourself.  And if judges for Faulkner-Wisdom competition are thinking the first part is pretty darn good, then I’d better make sure the rest is pretty good, too.
Once this second book in the Expats in Southeast Asia series is completed, I can start sifting through my notes for my Singapore book and the one set in Thailand.   
These books will also be gifts from my past.

                          --Borneo Expat Writer 
*An Unexpected Gift from a Growling Fool was also named a shortlist finalist for the 2013 Faulkner-Wisdom Novel. 

**Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards:  Six Lessons
***Here's the link to my website, to MPH online for orders for all three of my books, including my latest, Spirit of Malaysia and forTrois autres Malaisie.