Lion City lit notes: June 25 launch of Tales of Two Cities

Asian Books Blog is based in Singapore. Our regular column Lion City Lit explores in-depth what’s going on in the City-State, lit-wise. Lion City lit notes provide quick updates between columns. By Lucia Damacela

June 25: Launch of Tales of Two Cities: Singapore and Hong Kong 

Tales of Two Cities is an anthology that comprises twenty three short stories in which writers from The Singapore Writers Group and the Hong Kong Writers Circle introduce their respective cities to the readers. Told from a variety of unexpected angles, the stories are grouped by theme: the changing city; the historical city; the mystical city; the capricious city. Published by Ethos Books, Tales of Two Cities will be launched at Kinokuniya (Ngee Ann City, Orchard Road) on Saturday June 25, from 4 to 5. A review of the book was previously published in this blog. Authors from The Singapore Writers Group will read excerpts and answer questions about their stories and about the process of putting the collection together. There will be a lucky draw and authors will sign copies of the book.This event is open to the public. Admission is free.

Bookish Asia / John Grant Ross

Bookish Asia is a wonderful site I’ve recently discovered; it features book reviews and author interviews focussing on books about East Asia categorised by country, or region. Here one of the founders, John Grant Ross, provides a profile of the site.

The Sunday Post: suspended over summer

The Sunday Post will be suspended from now until mid Sept as I'm travelling quite a lot over the summer, and while I'm flitting here and there I'm sure I'll only be able to manage 1 post per week. New posts will generally go up each Thursday. Thanks for reading Asian Books Blog. 

Q & A: Lisa Beazley

Lisa Beazley is a Singapore-based expat who has just brought out her first novel, Keep Me Posted. The protagonist, Cassie, is close to her sister, Sid. Cassie has a great husband, but for much of the novel she fails to realise it. She lives in New York. Meanwhile Sid has a horrible husband, and she fairly quickly realises it.  She lives in Singapore. The sisters share all their secrets in traditional, pen-and-paper letters. But Cassie scans them, and stores them online. Alas, she gets her privacy settings wrong, and so anybody can view them.  Private letters as public property? All hell breaks loose…

So: over to Lisa …

Lion City Lit: Swag

Asian Books Blog is based in Singapore. Our regular column Lion City Lit explores in-depth what’s going on in the City-State, lit-wise. Here Lucía Damacela continues her series investigating Singapore online literary magazines by highlighting new kid on the block, Swag.

The Sunday Post

A rojak* of items that caught my eye this week…

Indie Spotlight: email lists

Indie Spotlight is Siobhan Daiko’s monthly column on self-publishing. This month she advises indie authors on the importance of maintaining an email list.