This is Sophia and our carpet is rolled up because Sophia’s not toilet trained (yet). She’s around six years old, but…
Sophia’s Lessons on Writing, Walking and How Wonderful Life Is
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Blog
New Stuff & Re-Newing Stuff
We celebrated the first work week of the Western new year by going back to one of our neighbourhood kopitiams (literally ‘coffee shop’ but more a collection of food stalls)…
Facing my LLM Dragons (on Crime Fiction in 2026)
In this strange space between Christmas and the start of the new year, I’ve been finding it hard to focus productively…
Down Time versus Down Moods
Down time and down moods look very similar from the outside–low productivity, high junk food intake–but feel very different and leave me in a very different place…
If Jacky Cheung Can Still Do Splits, I Can Still…
It was a huge treat going to watch the ‘God of Songs’ Jacky Cheung at his 60+ concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium! It was…
My Media Attempt (Self Skills Future Part 2)
I was still waiting for the WIP’s structural edits, so decided to attempt another 2 week project. It seemed like a good idea at the time: I didn’t want to take on…
Self Skills Future 1: Kindle Direct Published!
And I’m (almost) self-published!! I’ve submitted my first piece ever (short story) to Kindle Direct Publish! And completed the first Self Skills Future course I set myself…
Terminating Tembusu and Tiny Candles
It’s Deepavali, the Festival of Lights, in Singapore. And tonight (or last night, by the time this comes out) I’ll be lighting my little sandlewood, spruce and…
Midautumn, Moonlight and Gratitude
The Mid-Autumn or the Mooncake Festival marks the end of the Hungry Ghost Month and the start of the last quarter of the year. But before saying goodbye…
Paths, Pages and a Circle to Meow
We’ve been renovating our bedroom. At last. After sixty-plus years of ignoring interior décor and living like perennial grad students, we now have closets…
Books, Books, Books and Book Space
I’ve kind of been struggling with books lately—not just the ones I’m writing, but the ones I’ve been living with. I have shelves and stacks and cupboards full of books…
Sick And (not ‘Of’) Fixing Doors on Bookshelves
My office is a bookmess right now because I’ve decided I need glass doors on my bookcases…
Singapore is Sixty!
Singapore is 60 years old! I didn’t make it to watch the National Day Parade this year; this banner is from the park next door where we went to watch the Red Lions doing flybys over the heartlands– You probably can’t tell from the photo…
A Sinkhole in Singapore, Children’s Stories and Celebrating Mr Subbiah!
Here in Singapore we’re celebrating Mr Subbiah–Construction site foreman Pitchai Udaiyappan Subbiah…
Two Card Games and a Wedding
It’s always hot in Singapore (We’re on the equator, after all) but recently it’s also been raining and rainstorming. Luckily even the showers are warm here, so it’s not so bad… and Singapore umbrellas are…
Blending Carrots and Murder Plots
Last weekend, instead of attending Pink Dot (Singapore’s annual celebration of our LGBTQ+ community), I was using a blender to pulverise carrots / pumpkin/ bananas and quick-cooking oats…
Stories and Sculptures: Jin Yong’s Wuxia World in 3D
This is the White-Browed Eagle King–he appears in Jin Yong’s “The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber,” as one of the leaders of the Ming Cult who later establishes…
Breaking out Books and Bowels amidst Friendship and White Fish
First the good news! I’m back in Singapore and my advance copies of The Rose Apple Tree Mystery are here!!! And even though I’d already seen the cover images, I think…
Growing Pangs, Changing Pains
Crimefest was wonderful–as always. But now that’s it’s over (for now even if–hopefully–not forever) there’s a bit of a let down, of course. The trouble with the wonderful high of meeting and hanging out with auld acquaintances…
Scattered but Stepping Forward–
We’ve been living in very interesting times lately–we just had our 90 year old Dad move in due to a bunch of stuff that came out. So after a whirl of medical appointments and investigations and nutritional consultations…
3 Eves and An Apple: Old Friends in a New World
‘What are those?’ ‘Those orange fruits? I don’t recognise the plant.’ ‘Smell familiar?’ [sniffs] ‘No… can’t smell anything–‘ ‘Some kind of fruit. Wonder if they’re sweet.’ ‘Take a picture and do Google search.’ ‘Okay, I got it – oh and it’s poisonous…’