An end of an era...

So, January was hectic. I kicked off the year by finishing Huaca, the last in my trilogy. My editor, Harriet, who was as lovely as ever, expressed her sadness at the ending of the trilogy - though some of the more graphic chapters have apparently haunted her dreams of late. She still hasn’t forgiven me for the mouse scene. You’ll know it when you get there.

While I too am sad to end it here, it does feel like a complete story now. Each Character arc has come to its natural end. There will be no prequels or sequels. Thus, I took some time to reflect on the journey, walking along East Coast Beach in Singapore. Yes that's me being all pensive on the left. With a semi nude guy in the background. Nice.

Anyway, while thinking I drifted to my recent pitches to movie studios. Nine times out of ten, the exec said: 'how do you pronounce that? Hua-hu-key? Wow-woku?' Upon contemplating this, I decided to publish all three books in one volume, under one title. In English. Children of the Fifth Sun. Not so sodding clever.  Much easier to remember. The original titles will remain within this one volume, but I believe this may help retain some interested parties. You can check out my new website at www.childrenofthefifthsun.com. The infamous Johnny B, who did all three covers to my books, is currently working on the ultimate cover. Stay tuned.

Oh, and while I'm talking about pitching to movie studios, it just so happens that a creative exec from Ridley Scott's company (Scott Free) said she liked my idea asked to read the book(s). I'm not holding my breath, but I did nearly wee my pants. A guy can dream, right? Randomly, something happened at my Muay Thai gym that gave me a boost in confidence. It just so happens a friend of mine who also trains in Muay Thai (and is a serious arse kicker) is the General Manager of a major Hollywood special effects company. She checked out my books and website and like what she saw. So, if she as a professional can like it - perhaps someone who has some influence over getting my books optioned will too!

Of course, the Muay Thai link is a nice segue into the fact I got promoted to level 2 Muay Thai this month. I officially started sparring and felt all tough until a level 4 beat the snot out of me. Without breaking a sweat. Ouch. Still, makes me wanna go back and do it again.

And I guess that's the point. It may sound cliché, but it pays to never give up. I published my own books when no company wanted to. Now I have Hollywood reading them. I was told I'd never be able to escape my less-than-working class background. Now I hold a degree, a doctorate and am about to start my MBA while living in Singapore. In the immortal words of those most Barenaked of Ladies: 'you gotta kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight'.

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