Tag: Writing
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The Fighting-Man of a Hundred Faces
The fighting-man is the quintessential pulp hero. He has graced pages and screens since the dawn of the pulp age, driving stories through relentless action and raw vitality. He is an enduring archetype, and for good reason. As Bradford Walker discusses: To succeed as a fighting-man, you have to have the very qualities of character that…
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Initial Reviews for HAMMER OF THE WITCHES
Reader reception of my latest novel, “Hammer of the Witches*, has been overwhelmingly positive. With an unbroken streak of 11 5-star reviews on Amazon, it is quite possibly one of the best stories I’ve written to date. Here are a few quotes: The first thing I thought upon finishing the first book of Kai Wai Cheah’s…
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How to Make More Singaporean Writers
Reading Sumiko Tan’s interview with Tash Aw, I am reminded of the questions that haunt the Singapore writing scene. How can we produce more writers? How do we get international recognition? How do we create, in Tan’s words, ‘international literary successes’? From my perspective, the answer is simple: Do not be limited by Singapore. The Culture Crush…
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12 Strong and the Choice Between Drama and Realism
12 Strong is everything you expect from a Hollywood movie about the American military machine. Featuring tough-talking soldiers, rugged wind-swept valleys and mountains, and enough explosions and gunfire for a small war, 12 Strong accomplishes what it set out to do: honour the first American Special Forces troops in Afghanistan. Just don’t treat it as a ‘true story’.…
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How Poor Worldbuilding Destroyed Talentless Nana
The more fantastic a story, the greater the need for justification. To write a technothriller about a covert ops team hunting down terrorists, all you have to do is say that the government created new counterterrorist organisation with the best training and technology to pursue evildoers, and a reader will happily lap it up. But…
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What Do Otaku Readers Really Want?
The Japanese publishing industry is getting predictable. Every other week, there’s a brand new series starring a Japanese high schooler who is mysteriously transported to a fantasy world. There he promptly gains overwhelming powers, the antagonism of the local Demon King, and the affections of a harem of cute, buxom, mature, demihuman and underage girls.…