AUDREY CHIN

Award winning Asian writer and reader of the Libra Mundi

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The words are back!

Nine Cuts – Book of the Year?

Immensely grateful to be a daughter of Singapore

Apr 12, 2014
1 min

Immensely grateful to be a daughter of Singapore

It may be unfashionable but I’m shouting it out anyway – It’s good being a daughter of Singapore. It’s something to be immensely grateful for. I had flown from the Little Red Dot to the North Eastern USA for a wedding and then a book reading in Virginia. Unexpectedly, my country offered me a launch in their Washington DC embassy, the first of my book promotion events in the USA. I expected a subdued cosy evening, I found out they’d pulled out the works! This was one moment

Feb 23, 2014
1 min

Reading in Myanmar: They were five

No pictures, just some words describing a scene while waiting for a flight in the domestic terminal at Yangon Airport. They were five Off the plane Crossing the airport hall In jungle green In control – the tallest A ranger hat slouched over his head Protecting a face already turned to stone On the right flank – the one just grown His teak brown cheeks newly shaven Smooth as planed wood and as unmoved Then two more – pushing a baggage cart Captives? Cargo? Kin? I c

Stepping out of the box

Jan 17, 2014
1 min

Stepping out of the box

I’m stepping out of the box. The last three nights I’ve had nightmares. They were all related to one of my two WIPS’s – the one about a detective solving a series of ritual cannibal murders. I needed saving from my own imagination! Youngest was the rescuing hero. Digging around the store-room under the staircase yesterday he discovered my old leather art-portfolio. Stuffed in it were some illustrations I did for the two older children. They were meant to accompany a series of

Nov 4, 2013
3 min

Writers I Read: On The Dirt Road to Dystopia with Nadeem Aslam and Kim Young Ha

What is Dystopia? Does the Road to Dystopia need to be made of dirt? Are our modern and comfortable societies already on the road to Dystopia? These were the weighty questions thrown at a panel I was featured on at a Singapore Writer’s Festival, together with literary eminents Nadeem Aslam and Kim Young-Ha, and moderated by experienced Hong Kong journalist Steven McCarty. http://www.singaporewritersfestival.com/author-details/nadeem-aslam Nadeem is a British writer who fled h

Writers I read – H.S. Kim and Waxing Moon

Oct 5, 2013
5 min

Writers I read – H.S. Kim and Waxing Moon

Photo Credit: Amazon H.S. Kim is the author of Waxing Moon http://www.amazon.com/Waxing-Moon-H-S-Kim/dp/1937178382/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1/185-6130206-7266437, a novel about feudal Korea recently released on September 2013 by WiDo Publishing. Waxing Moon – the Novel Waxing Moon tells the story of a group of strong women living under the protection of the O household in 19th century Korea. A good story is about characters and how they interact to achieve their goals. The women char

When the intangible becomes real

Sep 28, 2013
1 min

When the intangible becomes real

First there’s a whisper, next the words on paper and then the object begins to take shape … It becomes a physical book! I couldn’t have done it without support. This post is about everyone who helped make my intangible real – everyone who supported me. After years and multiple revisions my novel is going to print Monday with a “real cover”, and a “real” set of acknowledgements- All I can say is: Our writer’s dreams become reality only with the support of other writers. So …

Does your writing transcend culture?

Sep 21, 2013
4 min

Does your writing transcend culture?

I thought I was a global person but it turns out I’m not … My novel As the Heart Bones Break is making its debut globally at Singapore Writer’s Festival in November. Well, almost globally. Singapore based international publisher Marshall Cavendish has the rights to everywhere except North America. I’m a global Asian. Jennifer’s Asian-American. The book, written in the 2nd person, is about a conflicted Vietnamese man and what happens when his American Vietnamese wife discovers

Dieting or writing – we still need to outwit our reptilian brains

Jun 12, 2013
3 min

Dieting or writing – we still need to outwit our reptilian brains

Our writing-dieting selves like to think we’re all frontal lobe, all about visioning, reasoning, planning and problem solving. But hidden deep in the centre of the head are our reptilian brains – the amygdala associated with memory, emotion and fear, and the hypothalamus which controls thirst, hunger, sleep and sex. These are the hunting gathering parts of the brain that refuse to let us starve to death or to think too much before acting. They’re why, despite dieting, we ca

Critiquing Can Make You a Better Writer… and Person

Jun 2, 2013
1 min

Critiquing Can Make You a Better Writer… and Person

If you critique other writers work, your own writing improves. Everyone knows that. But can critiquing make you a better person? In my experience, it can. See my guest post at Joe Bunting, The Write Practice. This is a great community for anyone who’s serious about practicing their craft in a safe community. I’m proud to be part of it. Do hop over there to see what we’re up to. #Critique #ChatsandForums #writing #UnitedStates #Writer #Organizations #KarenConnelly #WritersReso

Where has your muse taken you?

May 13, 2013
3 min

Where has your muse taken you?

No dear reader … it wasn’t me, it was my muse. First the spoiler – this coming of age tale of a Chinatown girl’s affair with her Australian professor set in the rainforests of Borneo isn’t about me. The facts are stranger still. It started with the Asian Financial crisis in 1996. Working in the financial sector then, and stressed from seeing the currencies of one neighbouring country after another entering free-fall, I’d spend my lunchtimes wandering around Fort Canning, the

A Singapore Thanksgiving – Should we be content with small blessings?

Nov 20, 2012
3 min

A Singapore Thanksgiving – Should we be content with small blessings?

Some say this with disdain. But what’s not to love about buses and train systems that more or less work, even if they’re stuffed to the gills; water that comes out of the faucet drinkable; drains that drain 360 out of 365 days a year. In November the rains begin In Los Angeles, it came in dribbles. Here 1o 15’ from the equator it falls in torrents. I’m grateful for the sound of the rain waking me, the cool of the rainy mornings. Selfishly, I’m also grateful I no longer have

Mid-Autumn: Why on this night?

Sep 30, 2012
4 min

Mid-Autumn: Why on this night?

Moonlight over Clementi Rail Bridge Finally, 15th day of the 8th moon – Mid-Autumn Festival. The moon a beautiful yellow orb. The moon cakes set out with tea. The children traipsing around the garden with their lanterns. The children want to know why. Why on this night we eat these pastry crusted cakes. Why we walk around with lanterns. Why we sing these silly songs – to the jade rabbit, the lady Chang E? What do I tell them? That the cakes and the lanterns commemorate a rev

MONEY AND YOUR WRITING LIFE

Aug 25, 2012
2 min

MONEY AND YOUR WRITING LIFE

Should you quit your job to write full time? Photo Credit: Xzactlycorp.com Writer’s Digest has just published agreat article by Jeff Yeager on the ten questions to consider before you quit your jobs to write full timehttp://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-goal/write-first-chapter-get-started/10-questions-writers-must-ask-before-quitting-their-day-job You can find all ten questions by clicking on the link above. Question #3 is – Do you have a sensible financ

Writing – A mirror to our selves

Aug 22, 2012
2 min

Writing – A mirror to our selves

We all need mirrors to see ourselves. Without reflection, we are just unconsidered action and reaction. It’s only when we sit and stare, that we see what we’re made of, how we’ve made ourselves. Writing is a great mirror for reflection. Words staring us in the face bring us face to face with what we’ve done, what we are thinking, what we hope will happen. Photo Credit: Dreamstime.com When we write four things can happen: – We recover our origins. Writing about our fa