Anna Tan's Blog, page 11

#AtoZChallenge: W for War

What Yosua wants is peace. What Uncle Jeffett wants is retribution.

It feels like war always wins, violence always wins. There is only so much you can do in peaceful protest until it feels like you need to strike back if only to protect yourself. 

And so Yosua cannot step down because he knows that the minute he does, Uncle Jeffett—or whoever he backs—is going to restart the war.

Chapter 2 excerpt

“So tell me, Han, which am I? The frog under the tempurung? Or the one afraid of the rain?” I raise an ...

#AtoZChallenge: V for Vibes

I’ve been pretty stumped about what to write for V, so I figured I’d go for the vibes.

Unfortunately, it seems I never made a musical mood board for The Tale of the Hostage Prince at any point in the writing process (there’s one for Amok), but I think maybe this one might fit.

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That's it for today!

Head back to my theme reveal and master list.

Go check out the other A to Z Bloggers!

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The Tale of the Hostage Prince (Absolution 1.5) Yosua wears an uneasy crown. Although he is now Raja of Bayan...

#AtoZChallenge: U for Uncle Jeffett

I have a lot of conflicting feelings about Uncle Jeffett. On one hand, he’s obviously the Villain (or at least Antagonist) in this story, because much of what he wants is in opposition to what Yosua wants. Yet at the same time, what they both really want (even though they can’t agree as to how to get it or what it should look like) is peace and prosperity for Bayangan. 

The thing about Jeffett is that he has ultimately shaped Bayangan a great deal just by being the one to hold the kingdom togethe...

#AtoZChallenge: T for Tuah

Che Carla Tuah has a minor appearance in Amok, but it’s her family that becomes a little more prominent in the Tale of the Hostage Prince. 

Her grandnephew, Azman Tuah, is Yosua’s new best friend in Bayangan, someone who he gets into trouble with, but who also acts as his bodyguard.

Chapter 1 excerpt

I am halfway across the hall when Azman intercepts me. 

“You know, of all your Mahan ideas, Yosua, I think this one is the best,” he says, waving his glass in a circle.

“This one?”

“Dinner entertainment! ...

#AtoZChallenge: S for Succession

In B for Bayangan, I talked a little about the kingdom itself and said I’d go a little more into the Succession rules under S.

Here are a couple of excerpts from The Tale of the Hostage Prince that explains how the next Raja of Bayangan is selected. 

Chapter 4 excerpt

Succession in Bayangan is expected, but not guaranteed. Unlike Terang, where the throne is always passed to the firstborn male, the Bayangan Raja’s successor is elected from a pool of candidates who fulfil certain criteria. 

First, the...

#AtoZChallenge: R for Relka

After all the fancy explanations of where I got (quite a lot) of names, I will go ahead and admit that Relka was a placeholder name that I never got round to replacing, and was created solely out of “let’s simply put these syllables together” and then “it’s too much effort to find another meaningful name now”. (Isn’t writing fun?)

But if you google it, it’s apparently a real name? Or at least a quick search gives me:

A musician/bandA character in another book – Goblin War, Jim C. HinesSome kind of...

#AtoZChallenge: Q for Quills and that pesky thing called anachronism

The problem with setting the Absolution series in a magical Nusantara with no exact corresponding real-world time period is that pesky thing called anachronism. I mean, obviously, it’s fantasy, and it’s not historical fiction, so I could really, really fudge a lot of details if I wanted to.

Which I did.

I think I did pretty well, and there’s nothing too noticeably advanced for the apparent time period/setting.

Except that in my original draft, I had Jeffett pass Yosua a pen. Because he had to write...

#AtoZChallenge: P for Paderi, the Perantaraan Gift, and Suci

Chapter 2 excerpt

Before I can get too comfortable, there’s a light rap on the door. I jump to my feet and pull it open. Ibu steps in. 

“I didn’t expect you to still be here.” I step closer to give her a hug.

“Your Ayah and I will be heading home soon. I thought I’d say good night. We didn’t get to talk much over dinner.”

“Why don’t you stay the night?”

She smiles wryly. “You know why.”

I do. After the decades my mother spent as a hostage and servant in Maha, she’s had enough of palaces and politics. ...

#AtoZChallenge: O for Obedience

One of the things my (American) critique group brought up was the fact that Yosua, at many times, seemed too obedient. He was supposed to be king, supposed to be issuing orders, but, at the start at least, he was just letting all the “adults” run the show—whether it’s his father, Garett, or his uncle, Jeffett. 

Part of that, I figured, was his upbringing. He was literally brought up as a servant. He was used to obeying if he didn’t want to get into trouble. Then again, he’d also already spent som...

#AtoZChallenge: N for Nusantara

I’m tired, so I’m going to cannibalise part of my dissertation essay (EN5528 Assessment 2: Writer’s Journal) for this one, updated with the new name of the novel (i.e., The Weight of Strength changed to Amok).

Setting the Scene: How Centring Nusantara Changed the Backdrop of the Novel

[One] one development in the final version of Amok is its deliberate setting in a magical version of Nusantara, which first started during the planning module. Part of this epiphany came from reading books within the...