Brahmanto Anindito's Blog, page 13

Jailolo, Where the Story May Begin

As a thriller novelist, I always look for a unique, real setting for my story. Unquestionably, I don’t want those stories set in the middle of nowhere, because it would seem lame. I’m not comfortable either with the stories set overseas. My focus is always Indonesia: from Sabang to Merauke. Let’s say, this is part of my gratitude for the gift of being born in a cultural-rich country like Indonesia. So far, I published novel set in Surabaya (Pemuja Oksigen), Bandung (Satin Merah), and Kerinci (Rahasia Sunyi). I plan my fourth novel to set in Eastern Indonesia. I’ve got option between Papua and Moluccas. Luckily, I heard a cultural festival in Jailolo, North Moluccas, will come on May 16th-18th. The Teluk Jailolo Festival is an annual event, held to promote the potential for tourism, natural resources, culture and business in the area of Jailolo, West Halmahera Regency. Cool. Seriously! I checked the activities in schedule: Sigofi Ngolo (a sea rite), plant and adopt shells, Cakalele Dance, watch sunrise on Hill of Senyum Lima Ribu, visit Gamtala Village to see the making of handicrafts, sail through mangrove forest, spice trip, not to mention historical tour of Jailolo and a lot more [...]

What is Google Books to You

Since 2004, Google has a plan to digitize the books from all over the world, as many as it can. So when you feel like to find some books that has already become public domain, or books which the publisher and author let open, you can just freely and legally read it, even download it. With Google Books, you can read books from your legendary authors far before you were born, you’ll get more than material to do the research as well, you may promote your new book by launch some open pages for teaser, and sell books (via Google Play). Join it, and see what advantage you can get by this cool project. * * * Google Books menurut saya merupakan salah satu proyek gila. Mungkin lebih gila dari ide membuat ensiklopedia online yang massif tapi gratis. Melalui proyek Google Books ini, Google berniat mendigitalkan buku-buku di seluruh dunia. Ini dilakukan sejak 2004. Jadi, ketika Anda hendak mencari buku yang sudah menjadi public domain, atau buku-buku yang diikhlaskan penerbit dan pengarangnya, Anda tinggal membacanya, bahkan mengunduhnya. Tanpa beli. Tanpa mengorek-ngorek lapak toko buku seken yang berdebu. Terlihat seperti merugikan pelaku industri buku? Ah, tidak juga. Sebab Google selalu memberi [...]

Meet the World’s Largest Living Lizard

They natively inhabit the islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang and Gili Dasami, in Indonesia. Their average weight is 70 kilograms, with 2-3 meters in length. The largest specimen found is 3.13 meters in length male. Yes, we’re talking about the top predators in the ecosystems. Komodo dragon. A.k.a. Varanus komodoensis. Many filmmakers have been inspired by this monster. As far as I know, there are Komodo (1999), The Curse of the Komodo (2004), Komodo vs. Cobra (2005). In documentary genre, including old movies made since this species’ initial discovery in 1910, there are so many more. Komodo is capable of parthenogenesis, in which viable eggs are laid without fertilization by a male. In the simpler language, the female can be multiplied without any touch of the male. They really fulfill the characteristic of monster, don’t they? Moreover, how they hunt reminds me to a cold blood assassin. Although komodo is able to sprint briefly at 20 kilometers per hour, they seldom use this ability. Komodo is a stealth predator. They stay motionless and camouflaged alongside the unwary, which tend to be the very young, the old, or the infirm. Komodo attacks its victim by clasps it with the [...]

SEO for Writers

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a process to systematically increase traffic quantity and quality of a website through search engines. It’s very important for writers. Imagine this. You have a novel called The Secret of Silence. Later on, you notice that there has been a novel with the same exact title. Damn! You can’t revise your title. It’s already printed and about to send to book stores. The disaster doesn’t stop there. When your readers browse “secret of silence”, they have the other novel dominates the first Google SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages). Oh, boy. If this is a brands war, you already lost. But, I’ll be cool if I were you. I’ll fix my novel’s website and do some SEO. So, in just a few weeks, Google will start to show my URLs on its first SERPs. * * * Ketika penerbit menentukan judul novel baru saya adalah Rahasia Sunyi, saya merasa biasa-biasa saja. Saya memang bukan tipikal penulis yang mempermasalahkan hal-hal kecil. Toh saya yakin penerbit sudah mempertimbangkan segalanya, termasuk dari sudut pandang marketing, sebelum mengganti Kirey (judul yang saya ajukan) menjadi Rahasia Sunyi. Tapi saya terkejut saat browsing “rahasia sunyi” untuk kroscek. Hasil pencarian urutan pertama di [...]

Garuda Riders, It’s Not Only a Digital Comic

Let’s join Naradja and his exhilarating adventure in Varadwipa Earth. It was about 10 centuries after Ramayana era. Naradja wanted to be a garuda rider so bad. But his father tried to stop him. Because he knew somehow that this would have an enormous impact on the Varadwipa’s future. A bad impact! This is the premise of Garuda Riders. Not just a comic book, Garuda Riders is an interactive digital comic, specially designed for tablets and smartphones. Here you can see animations, hear the original sound tracks, Balinese traditional music, also play the mini games. An entertaining way to spend your time! Download it through the links below: * * * Garuda Riders tampaknya telah mengubah definisi konvensional dari sebuah media komik. Jika Anda membayangkan komik yang tergambar di atas kertas atau, kalaupun didigitalkan, berformat .JPEG, .PDF, .html atau sebangsa itu, Anda salah. Sebab, inilah komik yang menggabungkan unsur-unsur dasar komik (menurut Scott McCloud), sound effect, visual effects, dan interaktivitas mini games. Penasaran? Download seri-serinya di sini: Runaway (23 MB). Via Google Play (free), iTunes (free, berbahasa Jepang dan khusus untuk wilayah Jepang), atau Telkomstore (free). The Chosen One (35 MB). Via Google Play (1.12 USD) atau Telkomstore (Rp 10.000). [...]

There is Probably Gold beneath Muaro Jambi Temples

Muaro Jambi Temples are not only about the ancient relic, which is aesthetically attractive. According to some geologists, beneath the temple complex has been also stored treasures from Buddha-era. Abdul Haviz, a tour guide and the chairman of Youth Creative Center of Muarojambi Temple revealed the discovery of gold paper and gold soil in Gumpang Temple is evidence of the treasure. I’m going move back a while to inform that, the temple complex is located in Muaro Jambi Village, Muaro Sebo District, two miles northeast of the city of Jambi. In this area we will also see Astano Temple, Tinggi Temple, Gumpung Temple, Kembar Batu Temple, Gedong Temple, Kedato Temple, and Koto Mahligai Temple. The Muaro Jambi Temples were anciently a place of education adherents of Buddhism. Interestingly, during the age of 7th-14th, the Indian travelers named the area “Swarnadwipa”, which means “gold island”. The naming becomes suspicious since the beginning. Thus, “I am sure when the temple was named the gold Island, that’s the way it is,” said Abdul. Speculation on the treasure has been reinforced by the Committee of Jambi Archaeological Heritage Preservation. When they dig Kedaton Temple on August 10, 2011, they found a pair of dragon-shaped [...]

Content is King

It’s an old saying that’s more and more proved true nowadays. But in this era of “copy-paste”, there are a lot of kings, I think. The content deluge is not beyond, it’s already here! They use content for marketing or self expression. The top companies have active blogs. Suddenly, every netizen is content writer. Spam and crap is everywhere. But do we need to worry that our king is sinking? No. As long as we focus on creating great, inline ones, we definitely don’t need to worry anything. * * * Di livetweet Rahasia Sunyi beberapa hari lalu, ada pertanyaan dari @naui_sesang_ tentang kendala-kendala copywriting. Mungkin OOT, tapi pertanyaannya menarik juga. Kita tahu, di era industri dan digital ini, penulis memang seharusnya tidak hanya berkutat pada novel atau skenario film. Mereka juga bisa menulis teks-teks untuk mendukung marketing, penjualan atau promosi. Di internet, perusahaan-perusahaan besar berlomba menggelontor audiensnya dengan konten. Antara lain melalui blog atau social media. Pertanyaannya, kenapa? Kenapa mereka mau repot-repot begitu? Kenapa mereka tidak mengurus penjualan atau iklan saja? Kenapa mereka tidak fokus ke pendapatan saja? Malah membuang-buang duit untuk maintenance social media dan blog? Jawabnya sebenarnya sederhana. Karena mereka butuh mengedukasi target pasar sambil membentuk komunitas. [...]

Breaking News: Livetweet Rahasia Sunyi

Novel thriller Rahasia Sunyi sudah terbit. Rasanya juga sudah didistribusikan ke toko-toko buku besar di seluruh Indonesia. Rahasia Sunyi adalah novel bersetting Kerinci, Provinsi Jambi. Masih dengan gaya penuturan yang mengalir, renyah, dalam cerita yang menegangkan. Silakan mampir ke microsite-nya untuk informasi lebih Anyway, pada hari Sabtu, 16 Februari 2013 pukul 12.00 siang, kami mengajak para penikmat novel untuk merapat bersama di Twitter. Kita akan mengobrol bareng lewat hashtag #HiBrahm, bersama penulis Rahasia Sunyi dan penerbit @GagasMedia. Kirimkan pertanyaan-pertanyaan Anda mengenai cerita atau proses kreatif novel ini. Ada tiga paket buku untuk tiga penanya terbaik. So, see you on Twitter!

Uhang Pandak: The Indonesian Hobbits

Shabbier than human, smarter than the cleverest apes orangutan and chimpanzee. The Kerinci people called it uhang pandak, a Sumatran wildman. In Bahasa, it means “the short man”. Uhang pandak had some times been caught in the Kerinci Seblat National Park. Meet the Anak Dalam tribes (literary means “children of the inner-forest”), a.k.a. Orang Kubu, a.k.a. Orang Rimba, a.k.a Orang Batin Simbilan. They are nomadic tribes who have traditionally lived throughout the lowland forests of Jambi and South Sumatra. Anak Dalam tribe and Uhang pandak has been a co-inhabitant in the forest for centuries. So, if you examine to the deep forest of Kerinci, you may at the end found some villager or tribe member who witnessed uhang pandak once or twice. Mostly, the witnesses saw them as: 80-130 cm tall. Covered in short, grey to brown fur. Divergent big toe, separated from other toes as a thumb is from the other fingers. Ground dwelling, not arboreal. Walk in two legs. Maybe omnivorous like any other apes or hominid, as sometimes they sought the corns, potatoes, fruits, ginger roots, sometimes insects and river crabs. But the testimony of witness didn’t come from local tribes only. The crypto creature has purportedly [...]

Garuda Riders: The Adventure of Wanara

Authors: A. R. Wirawan, Brahmanto Anindito & Rie Yanti Genre: Fantasy Novel Publisher: Gramedia Pustaka Utama ISBN: 978-979-22-9198-8 Thick: 328 pages Selamat datang di Bumi Varadwipa! Tanah indah tempat ras mannusa (keturunan Sri Rama), asura (keturunan Rahwana) dan wanara (keturunan Anoman) hidup bersama. Varadwipa mulanya merupakan satu daratan yang luas sekali. Namun bencana alam datang, mengoyak-ngoyaknya menjadi pulau-pulau kecil. Terbentuklah banyak bangsa di pulau-pulau itu. Hingga satu milennium setelah era Ramayana, peradaban hanya mengakui tujuh negara besar: Republik Ayodhya, Kerajaan Alengka, Republik Kiskenda, Republik Wideha, Republik Kamyaka, Republik Dandaka, dan Republik Maliawan. Di negara-negara tersebut tersimpan harta yang bersahaja berupa elemen-elemen Hasta-brata. Mungkin tidak menarik bagi para pemburu harta karun. Tapi sangat bernilai bagi yang mengerti nilai filosofis dan historisnya. Dalam terjemahan bebas, Hasta-brata artinya delapan ajaran utama tentang kepemimpinan. Konsep ini ditularkan Sri Rama kepada adiknya yang saat itu hendak dinobatkan sebagai Raja Ayodhya. Pada dasarnya, Hasta-brata merupakan sifat-sifat mulia yang dipetik dari alam semesta, yaitu elemen Batara Indra (air), Yama (petir), Surya (matahari), Chandra (bulan), Maruta (angin), Bumi (tanah), Baruna (samudra), dan Agni (api). Elemen-elemen inilah yang dicari oleh Naradja beserta keempat kawannya. Pada awalnya, bocah wanara blasteran mannusa dan asura itu hanya ingin menjadi seorang penunggang garuda [...]