Last Saturday was Nanowrimo Singapore’s Thank Goodness It’s Over party!

We had a sign and everything!

We had catering, so Earshot cafe was mostly ours for the afternoon :D But yess.

Sign-in area: stickers, Vicious the Ninja Bunny, sign-in sheet, assorted [...]]]> This post comes a little late, but I got caught up with school! But here it is.

Last Saturday was Nanowrimo Singapore’s Thank Goodness It’s Over party!

We had a sign and everything!

We had catering, so Earshot cafe was mostly ours for the afternoon :D But yess.

Sign-in area: stickers, Vicious the Ninja Bunny, sign-in sheet, assorted condiments

So I arrived early and set up for the arrival, then Sarah of Seriously Sarah arrived with more stuff! Awesome stuff of the prizey sort.

Have a funny story: she came into the cafe with her bags and no cake. I thought the cake had met with some sort of mishap, and I experienced a moment of panic. All I could think of was “THE CAKE WAS A LIE!”.

It turns out the (extremely large and heavy) cake was in the car. She went back to get it. And this was right after I’d been joking with a Wrimo about the cake not being a lie.

More and more Wrimos started arriving so we could really get the party started.

Wrimos galore

There were quiz questions, and we gave out all sorts of prizes. There were prizes for Highest Wordcount (200,000+ words – amazing), Best Last Line, Earliest New Wrimo of 2009, among others.

It was all rather fun, even from the ML side of things. After all the prizes and quizzes, there was cake! :D

The cake isn't a lie

It was an awesome cake. The ’50′ was, of course, for Nanowrimo’s 50,000-word goal. The coins were chocolate Euros, which was amusing because I didn’t even know they made chocolate coins in Euros.

The yellow stuff next to the coins are meant to be gold bars, I think. They were made out of white chocolate colored yellow. Everybody was wondering what the heck they were, until someone cut them up into little cubes and passed it around. They were quite nice, even if the color was a bit off-putting.

The cake in all its yummy glory!

Cake cutting

After the cake, we had the refreshments catered by the Arts House: muffins (with chocolate cores), assorted mini-cakes, puffs, and beverages. Lots of sugar meant a lot of interesting conversations were had :D

While we ate some of us did readings! Mostly from Happiness At The End of The World, a collection of short stories that I’m in ($18 from the publisher, hinthintnudgenudge) but also from our Nanovels. I read the Phail Whale bits from my Nanovel :D

Sarah Coldheart reading

It was good. I had some extremely entertaining conversations, cake, and other sugary baked goods. And as we all know, cake and assorted sugary baked goods are always good.

Happy MLs are happy

Til next year! :D

This week Dates: 21 Nov (Sat) and 22 Nov (Sun) Venue: Earshot Cafe, The Arts House, 1 Old Parliament Lane Time: 2pm to 4pm

Bring your brolly! It’s been raining like mad these past few days, so hopefully we wouldn’t be flooded in.

Here’s a map from City Hall mrt station:

View [...]]]> We’ll be at The Arts House again!

This week
Dates: 21 Nov (Sat) and 22 Nov (Sun)
Venue: Earshot Cafe, The Arts House, 1 Old Parliament Lane
Time: 2pm to 4pm

Bring your brolly! It’s been raining like mad these past few days, so hopefully we wouldn’t be flooded in.

Here’s a map from City Hall mrt station:

View Larger Map

Again: don’t own Twitter or any of its trademarks, won’t be making money off the novel, and Fail Whales are adorable.

“It’s almost nightfall,” Lina explained, splashing water onto the Phail Whales. “The Twitter birds are about to come out, so the migration is gonna start.”

“Ooh,” she cooed. “Time to say goodbye?”

“Time to say goodbye,” Lina agreed.

“Aww.” Rain leaned down to hug the Phail Whale, tickling it under the chin. “I have to go.”

“Faaaaaaaaaaail,” the baby Phail Whale sang. “Faa?”

“It’s time for us to go,” she said indulgently, patting its head. “The migration is about to start. You need to go back to your mummy.”

“Illll? Aaaaaaaail,” it sang. “Ffttt. Ail. Ill.”

“He’s saying goodbye,” Lina translated.

“Llllll. Aaaaaaa. Ffffft aaaaaaaail. Failllll…”

“And he wants to play with you again,” Lina smiled.

“I wanna play with you again too,” she said, hugging it tightly around where its neck was approximately was.

It bumped its nose against her chest affectionately, and she gave it a little push towards the deeper waters. A big wave hit her, and she could see the adult Phail Whales surfacing as they approached the shore for the migration.

The baby Phail Whale swam off, followed closely by its bigger friend. It stopped halfway to its parents and turned around, singing and waving its tail at her.

Rain laughed and waved back. “He’s adorable!”

“They are,” Lina smiled, “The young ones are very friendly. They like humans.”

[...]

“Tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet tweet tw,” the Twitter birds sang. The tone had changed, and she could hear the sounds of hundreds of birds preparing to move.

“The migration?” she whispered to Lina.

Lina smiled. “Of the Phail Whales. The Phail Whales protect the Twitter Isles from anything that might want to eat the Twitter birds – they’re big enough and scary enough that most predators think twice about coming near the Isles.”

“In exchange, the birds help the Phail Whales migrate to the warmer waters on the other side of the Isles. It’s a spectacular sight.”

The birds were singing now, and suddenly a group of about two dozen birds burst out from the forest and raced towards the water.

“There they go!” Lina said.

Rain craned her neck to watch them. They were carrying something that gleamed in their beaks. It was so thin and clear that she could barely see it, just the way the light glinted off it.

She knew what it was: the famed gossamer nets of the Twitter birds. Much like the cave swift birds of Asia, whose spit dried into a gelatinous mass that formed their nests, the Twitter birds spun nets out of their spit for the migration.

Twenty birds joined their individual strands together so that it formed a stronger net large enough for an adult Phail Whale.

There was a Phail Whale swimming apart from the pods gathered as near the shore as they could stand to be. She recognised her little Phail Whale friend hovering near a much larger, adult Phail Whale who looked kind of feminine, presumably its mother.

The birds headed for the separated Phail Whale and dipped low to the water. The clear net disappeared underneath the surface of the water, and the birds hovered close to the surface as the Phail Whale propelled itself gently towards the net. It didn’t swim as such; with a big flick of its large, inverted handlebar moustache, it glided towards the net.

It glided to a stop more or less within the net’s boundaries, and sang loudly to signal the birds that it was ready. “Ffffftt aaaaaal.”

The birds tweeted back, and their little white and orange wings flapping madly, started to lift the Phail Whale up.

It didn’t seem that difficult for them, and before long the Phail Whale rose from the surface of the sea around the Twitter Isles.

Rain’s breath caught in her chest. It was beautiful, and so serene. The Phail Whale was singing loudly. It was so loud that, as they rose to several dozen feet above the heads of the spectators, Rain could feel the song vibrating in her chest. It was beautiful.

The Phail Whale was calm and serene, and – and smiling. She didn’t know Phail Whales could smile, but this one was, and it was singing.

“It’s reassuring the others,” Lina whispered. “It’s telling them that everything is fine and that the view from the top is beautiful. It’s telling them that they’re going to a better place with lots of fish and warm water and funny humans.”

Rain couldn’t help but smile. “It’s so gorgeous…”

And then everything went wrong.

She saw the lights in the sky first, and she thought perhaps they were more birds. As they emerged from the cloud cover, she saw what they were.

Fireballs.

Travelling at high speed.

Towards the Phail Whale.

She didn’t even have time to scream when the first fireball struck.

‘Informata’ is based on the premise that things on the Internet exist in a dimension that certain people can access and maintain, so it was a natural choice that the Fail Whales of Twitter fame should make an appearance.

Plus they are so ridiculously cute.

Disclaimer: I don’t own, and don’t claim to own, any of Twitter’s trademarks. The Fail Whale belongs to Twitter. I’m not making any money off Informata, because I fully intend to bury it in my hard drive forever after November.

That being said, have Part 1 of a preview!

“Ftl ftl fffaalll,” it sang happily. It made a “ftft!” sound when Elaine splashed water playfully at it.

“Rain,” Elaine greeted cheerfully, waving at her. “Come join us!”

Lina was in the water too, wearing a big loose scarf around her waist. She was standing in deeper water; where the water was at Elaine’s thighs, Elaine was fully chest deep in water.

She was patting the side of a larger baby Phail Whale. Its tail was flapping happily as well.

“Is there space?” Rain grinned.

“There’s always space!” Elaine giggled. She had never seen Elaine quite so… girly before. She was still in her overalls, but she didn’t seem to care that she was getting soaked. She was having too much fun with the Phail Whale.

Rain threw her towel over a convenient low branch and waddled into the water. The Phail Whale Elaine was playing with circled around her, singing in what sounded like a curious tone as she approached. “Faaaaa?”

“Aaailll,” Lina sang back. “Illlll. Ftt.”

“Fffffft,” it sang back, then swam right against her leg in greeting. It felt soft and slightly squishy.

“Can I touch him?” she asked Elaine, her voice hushed.

“Go ahead,” Elaine grinned dreamily. She put her hand in the water and the Phail Whale swam right up to it, bumping its nose against her hand

Rain tried it too; she put her hand in the water, and seeing it, the baby Phail Whale swam through to her. It bumped against her hand but didn’t go away, instead bumping against her repeatedly.

Then it sang. “Fffffft. Ffftallllll. Faaaaaaailfff…”

“He likes you,” Lina smiled. “And he wants to play.”

Elaine splashed her and laughed. Rain splashed back and the Phail Whale sang happily. Its tail, shaped like an exaggerated upside down handlebar moustache, wriggled happily.

[...]

Lina beckoned her, and she swam out to the deeper waters. The two Phail Whales circled them, singing happily.

“You can understand Whale song?” she asked Lina as they splashed water at the Phail Whales.

“Sure I can,” Lina smiled. “I’m here because I’m the only person they could find who’s fluent enough in Whale song. I’m actually our Phail Whale specialist. Everyone else specialises in the Twitter birds.”

“By the way,” Lina continued, “Did you see my uncle? He works at the Junction City air docks. Ian Woon?”

“I did,” Rain said. “Rodney promised to bring back saltwater taffy for him.”
“In saltwater, I hope,” Lina smiled. They laughed.

“Faaaaaaaaail,” the larger Phail Whale sang, its tail brushing against her hand.
“Guess we couldn’t ignore them for too long,” Lina laughed. She reached down and tickled the Phail Whale’s chin.

“You can do that?” Rain exclaimed.

“Yes,” Lina grinned. “See?”

She took Rain’s hand and guided it under the water. The larger Phail Whale sang, almost purred, as she scratched it under the chin.

The smaller one, clearly the younger whale of the two, swam up to them, not wanting to be left out. “Ffft? Ailll?”

“It’s okay, we haven’t forgotten you,” Rain laughed, reaching underneath and tickling it under the chin.

The Phail Whale shivered, its entire body wriggling, and it swam around her happily. “Ffft! Ftl ftl fttttttl.”

“He likes it,” Lina translated.

Rain giggled. “Who’s a good little Phail Whale? Who’s a good widdle Phailey Whaley?”

“Fffft! Aaaaiii.”

It splashed water at her. She laughed, tasting the salty orange water. She splashed back, and before long they were involved in a playful splashing match, their laughter echoing back to shore.

Part 2 is now available! Click me to go the second part of the preview!

This week Dates: 14 Nov (Sat) and 15 Nov (Sun) Venue: Earshot Cafe, The Arts House, 1 Old Parliament Lane Time: 2pm to 4pm

Take public transport! There are several road and lane closures because of the APEC meetings, so public transport is your best bet to getting [...]]]> This week is APEC meeting week, but we’re still on for Nanowrimo write-ins!

This week
Dates: 14 Nov (Sat) and 15 Nov (Sun)
Venue: Earshot Cafe, The Arts House, 1 Old Parliament Lane
Time: 2pm to 4pm

Take public transport! There are several road and lane closures because of the APEC meetings, so public transport is your best bet to getting to The Arts House.

Here’s a full list of the affected roads if you’re driving.

Nearest MRT stations are City Hall and Raffles Place, but I recommend you come from City Hall if you’re unfamiliar with the area.

Here’s a map from City Hall mrt station:

View Larger Map

This week Dates: 7 Nov (Sat) and 8 Nov (Sun) Venue: Earshot Cafe, The Arts House, 1 Old Parliament Lane Time: 2pm to 4pm

Nearest MRT stations are City Hall and Raffles Place, but I recommend [...]]]> Just a quick reminder! Nanowrimo Singapore will be meeting every weekend in November for write-ins, so come on down and join us if you can!

This week
Dates: 7 Nov (Sat) and 8 Nov (Sun)
Venue: Earshot Cafe, The Arts House, 1 Old Parliament Lane
Time: 2pm to 4pm

Nearest MRT stations are City Hall and Raffles Place, but I recommend you come from City Hall if you’re unfamiliar with the area.

Here’s a map from City Hall mrt station:

View Larger Map

You can come if you don’t have a laptop! Typewriters, computers, assorted phones or paper and pen are all welcome :D

On Saturday was the kick-off party for the Singapore chapter of Nanowrimo, of which I’m proud to be co-Municipal Liaison for. It was also the launch of Happiness at the End of the World, a collection of short stories revolving around the title theme. You can buy Happiness from our publisher, Two Trees!

Things started off really well with a gigantic cake box being delivered to my home. I was a little late because traffic was bad, but by the time I arrived at Earshot cafe things were already buzzing.

There’s quite a lot of thanks to go around, so I’ll try to fit everyone into my thirty-second speech :P

Thanks to: Seriously Sarah, Joelyn Alexandra, Nerwen, NotKieran (and family!), our long-suffering editor, publisher, typesetter and writer extraordinaire Rozen, Ziyang, Kiaace, Wena Poon, The Arts House, the National Arts Council, Singapore Writers Fest volunteers and staff, Singapore Wrimos, Hafiz aka ‘Zebra Preen’, HRH The Drama Queen Afiq, the boys who proved the cake was not a lie by finishing it (man slices!) and everybody else who came down to Earshot! :D

There were competitions and prizes given out, but everything went so fast and so crazy that I completely lost track. I had a heck of a time. I was so pleased with all our Undercover outfits – what with it being Halloween and all.

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Rozen undercover as a tourist, winner of the Best Undercover competition

Joelyn Alexandra as Lady Una

NotKieran, in characteristic black

Nerwen as a vampire, Sarah as someone with pink hair, horns and an eyepatch

Afiq aka Baghead and Hafiz aka "I'm Ris Low on the inside" (he was wearing zebra prints underneath)

A Wrimo who came underneath book covers!

Wrimos signing in

Earshot got crazy crowded as I took this - more than half were Wrimos!

Ziyang reading his story from Happiness

Aaand we actually finished our cake this year!

It’s that time of year again! This year, we’ll be merging the NaNoWriMo kickoff party with a book launch. :D

Happiness at the End of the World is a collection of short stories written by a few people who did NaNoWriMo last year, and will be on sale at the party-launch.

It’s that time of year again! This year, we’ll be merging the NaNoWriMo kickoff party with a book launch. :D

Happiness at the End of the World is a collection of short stories written by a few people who did NaNoWriMo last year, and will be on sale at the party-launch.

There will be cake for everyone! :D