We ♥ badminton

A couple of weeks ago, Kenneth brought Andre to try out the badminton courts in the OCBC Arena at the new Sports Hub.

Andre loves the hall. It has wooden flooring overlaid with green mats, giving the surface the right amount of friction and bounce that you don't get with community centre courts (those tend to have cement floors, which can be tough on the knees).

Andre's love for badminton has steadily grown over the years, which makes us happy. We think it's a fantastic lifelong skill and will keep him active and healthy. School training takes place three times a week and there is a tremendous emphasis on fitness. Sometimes, after a three-hour training stint, the students have to run 6km. That sounds impossible to me but apparently it's quite the norm for school training.

Ever since Andre started secondary school, he no longer has private coaching due to lack of time but quite fortunately, that was when Uncle Arthur entered the picture. Arthur is actually a client of mine and when I found out that he was a badminton buff, I asked if he would like to play with Andre. That triggered an almost weekly routine of badminton games between the two, for about two years now. Arthur is a wonderful mentor, patient and generous with advice. Andre totally looks up to Arthur as his role model: "When I grow up, I want to be just like Uncle Arthur!"

Just a bit of trivia - Andre's favourite badminton player is Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei. Such grace on the court - both physically and in personality.

I used to be able to take videos of Andre's school matches but now that he's older, he has banned me from attending his games :( But he has allowed us to record his Saturday game with Arthur so here are a couple of recent ones.

The second clip is spliced from a few videos to capture some of the longer rallies, otherwise the clips can be boring with many starts and stops. So here are the more exciting bits and obviously, I picked segments where Andre played well so even though it may not be apparent from the videos, I need to state upfront that Arthur is a MUCH better player than Andre, haha. If Andre can take one set from Arthur, he considers it a good day for him.

Keeping an eye on the ball

As you probably know, Andre loves sports, especially when it entails leaving the books behind for a while. For the first time last year, the students who were admitted to his school at sec 1 via sports DSA or appeals were placed in the same class. Being in a sports class means that Andre is surrounded by kids who reinforce his love of all things active. PE is where his classmates are the most competitive, even in a casual game. When a PE period is cancelled, it is met with the most vehement and indignant outcry.

His school organises sabbaticals for the students at the end of each year and this year, every single one of Andre's classmates went for a sports activity - from fencing to golf. No hip hop or K-pop dancing for them, thank you very much. Last year, Andre picked up air rifle which he enjoyed very much. This year, he's going for archery.

The situation couldn't be more different with Lesley-Anne. Lesley-Anne dislikes sports and PE is her most hated period, especially when it involves running the dreaded 2.4km. She claims that she passes her NAPFA only through sheer will power, as failing the 2.4km run means you'll have to do it again.

Lesley-Anne has another handicap and that is, she's petite. Very petite. This means that the only sports she is any good at are table tennis (because it's played on a small table) and floorball (because the ball is on the ground). Any sport that involves the ball flying through the air is a dead sport to her. Netball. Volleyball. Basketball. Captain's ball. To add to the challenge, she's sometimes assigned as a defender against a tall, sporty guy. She said despairingly, "What do they expect me to do? Tickle him?" Game over.

During one PE session, the class had to play frisbee. A friend called out to Lesley-Anne to pass him the frisbee. Instead of throwing it, she WALKED over and handed him the frisbee. Her reasoning? "If I'd thrown it, it would have flown somewhere else."

If it's any consolation, being in a humanities class means she's in good company. Many of her classmates veer towards the performing arts and more creative activities, meaning that apart from the handful of sports kids, the rest of them can't run/jump/catch a ball to save their lives. From what Lesley-Anne tells me, PE is often a comedy of errors, with kids tripping over their own two feet, throwing balls backwards or hurling balls randomly to the wrong teammate. When the school organised a cross-country run, the class groaned. Then on the day of the run, it rained so heavily it flooded and the run had to be postponed. A classmate mused, "I think we prayed too hard for rain."

They say dancers have good hand-eye coordination but this doesn't seem to bear out in sports. Lesley-Anne's class has three dancers (her included) and regardless of gender, keeping the ball in play remains an elusive dream for them. During a PE lesson, a volleyball match was arranged and before the game, the teacher announced that the losing team would have to do pushups. The hapless members in Lesley-Anne's team looked at each other and asked the teacher, "Can we just do the pushups now?"

Lesley-Anne's sports anecdotes sometimes make me laugh until I cry. So maybe that's the silver lining - even though sports is not fun for her, at least it's funny (for me). 

Danger Dan and the Runaway Readers!

We had a crazy day today. First, the big news: Danger Dan book 4 is out! Wahoo! Well, when I say "out", I mean it's fresh from the printers and we've gotten our hands on it. Unfortunately, it will take at least 2 weeks for bookstores to stock them on shelves... just a leetle longer, DD fans!

I think this is our favourite cover yet - both the colour and the design. Here's the lovely Aqilah from Epigram Books with the giant poster.

Don't the book covers look wonderful as a series? Such gorgeous shades!

Earlier this morning, we were at Holy Innocents Primary School to conduct a special Runaway Readers workshop for a class of p3 kids. This workshop was organised by the Singapore Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) as part of an initiative to promote Singapore literature in local schools.

We always enjoy ourselves most when the kids are participative and I have to say, this bunch was the most enthusiastic we've met so far! They were like eager little hamsters and bombarded us with lots of questions ("How did you come up with the name Danger Dan?" "What was your inspiration for the books?" "Which part of the book did you like best?")

As part of the programme, the kids had read Danger Dan books 1 and 2 and had done some activities before the workshop eg. they thought up alternative ways Danger Dan could time-travel and the different gadgets and costumes the characters could have. We were completely FLOORED by the level of imagination shown. (One boy wrote that if Danger Dan went into a lift and pressed every button, he would time-travel. Just so you know why kids do that!)

Who says local kids aren't creative?

We gave out prizes to some of the best entries (it was incredibly difficult to choose!) and the kids were really, oh so sweet.

As mentioned earlier, our Runaway Readers Workshop is organised by Singapore ASCD and the best part is, schools that are members of ASCD will have our visit and Danger Dan books for the students sponsored. So if you would like us to visit your child's school, do ask the school to contact ASCD directly and request for the workshop.

Gooey, fudgy brownies

Ever since the start of this year, Andre's appetite has exploded. He now eats the equivalent of two persons, so it can be quite a costly affair bringing him out for meals! At a recent trip to Sushi Express, our family of four chalked up a total of 32 plates of sushi, half of which was wolfed down by Andre. That's 32 pieces of sushi.

I didn't grow up around teenage boys so this voracious appetite is new territory for me. In fact, I was a little sceptical at first. Is Andre really going through a growth spurt or just a fat phase? Anecdotes from other parents have convinced me that it's most likely the former. Phew! Otherwise, I'd seriously have something to worry about. Eg. this was Andre's lunch yesterday:

Two pork chops with mashed potatoes and a heaped plate of spaghetti, followed by fruit and a glass of milk. A friend who's worried about her "tek-kor" son asked me how to cultivate such an appetite. I told her in all honesty, no need to cultivate. Just wait till he's 13 or 14, then boom! Bottomless pit!

Anyway, this isn't a post about my son's gastronomic habits, as you can probably tell from the title. It's been a long time since I posted a recipe. You might have guessed that cooking isn't exactly my thing. But since it's the school holidays and I now have an eating monster at home, I decided to bake brownies.

In the past, I thought the best brownies had to be made with chocolate, which put me off a little because it's expensive and I don't keep baking chocolate bars at home. Then I came across a recipe that said the best fudgy brownies with a chewy top are actually made with cocoa powder, not chocolate. Well! That's easy then. I usually have cocoa powder somewhere. So I tried it out and lo and behold, it was really good. So good that the first batch was walloped by me and the kids in one sitting. So the next time, I made another batch - this time a double. At least it lasted a couple of days.

The best part about making brownies is its simplicity. The ingredients are straightforward and it's a mix-everything-into-one-bowl (well, almost) kind of recipe. You don't even need to use a beater.

So here's my version of the recipe. It's a double portion and I tweaked it to reduce the sweetness. I also added chocolate chips cos I have this strange belief that everything tastes better with chocolate chips:

Ingredients:

• 290g unsalted butter, melted
• 400g caster sugar
• 160ml unsweetened cocoa powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs, cold
• 140g plain flour, sifted
• chocolate chips or nuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 165 degrees C.  Grease the bottom and sides of 13"x8" baking pan.

2. Combine melted butter, sugar, cocoa and salt. Stir until mixture is smooth. Don't worry if it looks gritty.

3. Stir in vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously after each one. 

4. When the batter looks thick, shiny and well blended, add the flour and stir until well mixed. Then beat vigorously for 40 strokes with a wooden spoon or spatula. 

5. Stir in the chocolate chips or nuts.  

6. Spread evenly in pan. 

7. Bake for about 30 minutes or until a skewer in centre emerges slightly moist with batter.

It really does have that chewy, candy-like crust and a gooey centre. When warm, it's quite light so if you like your brownies dense, you might prefer it cold. My kids love eating this straight from the fridge.
 

Popular Reader's Choice Awards 2014

More news on the Danger Dan front. First up: Danger Dan Spooks the Peculiar Peranakan Pirate has been shortlisted for the Popular Reader's Choice Awards 2014!

This is a really nice surprise for us. We're so thrilled that kids have been enjoying our books! And now, it's over to our readers - do support us by voting for Danger Dan (you stand to win $50 popular vouchers too!) You may fill in the voting form found in the latest issue of Pop Club magazine or vote online here. You don't need to have a Popular card to vote. Closing date is 31 October 2014.

And if you haven't read Danger Dan Spooks the Peculiar Peranakan Pirate yet, now's the time to do so! From now till 30 November, you can buy the book at a 20% discount from all Popular Bookstores.

In other Danger Dan news, Danger Dan Traces the Perilous Poison is almost ready to go to print. We were at Epigram Books last week to do the last round of proof-reading. See the McDonald's bag? Since Lesley-Anne always has to rush over after school, inevitably it's McD's for lunch. Not her favourite but Danger Dan would approve!

Book 4 was the one we enjoyed writing the most. We love the storyline and had lots of fun with the action sequences and dialogue. But for some strange reason, it was an editing nightmare. Even at this late stage, we found many basic errors that had somehow eluded us and our editor in the previous rounds of edits. This makes us terribly nervous! Hopefully we've caught all the errors.

Meanwhile, here's a sneak peek at the cover. We adore the vibrant shade of lime!

Danger Dan Traces the Perilous Poison is scheduled to hit the printers this week and expected to be available early October. Stay tuned for updates!

Singapore Mumpreneur Awards

About a month ago, I was asked by my friend to be nominated for the inaugural Singapore Mumpreneur Awards (Mumpreneurs are mothers who juggle being a parent and an entrepreneur). I was hesitant, partly because I thought it would be a little strange since my friend is the organiser and secondly, I'm usually very paiseh to join such competitions lah.

But she assured me that she's not a judge so she'll have no say in the results, plus I wanted to support her since she's doing such a fantastic job helping mothers return to the workplace. She's the founder of Mums@Work Singapore which now has thousands of members. Personally, I think she should win Singapore Mumpreneur of the Year!

So I agreed to be nominated. Then on Saturday night, I received an email saying that I was a finalist in one of the categories! Wah. But then the tricky bit - the winner is based on public votes and that's another thing that makes me uncomfortable - canvassing for votes. So I'll just keep this brief: I'm a finalist in the Most Socially Responsible Mumpreneur category based on the fact that:

1) My business pays it forward by engaging mostly mums as writers (7 out of 9 of my writers are mums). These are capable women who gave up their careers to look after their kids and writing for me gives them meaningful flexi-work.

2) I write a blog (this one, haha!) to share my views on education and parenting with other parents.

3) After becoming a published author with Lesley-Anne, we do our part to give back to the community by sharing how we nurtured our love of reading and writing to school kids.  

So if you feel this is worth a vote, you can cast your vote for me here (my category is the last one). You can actually vote every day, up to 12 September 2014 so if you're feeling extra supportive, you may wanna do that :)

Thanks a million!

Balancing art and business

As a writer, one of my pet peeves is that there's so little regard for originality and creativity. The prevailing mindset seems to be: it's ok to copy a style/storyline/ideas or ride on the success of a formula, as long as it sells. It doesn't help that from primary school, kids are taught to follow model compositions which of course, ends up with all the compositions reading like they were mass produced.

When Lesley-Anne and I were brainstorming ideas for Danger Dan's time-travelling adventures, Epigram Books suggested that the character had a mad scientist dad who invented a time machine. Both of us protested because it was so formulaic and overdone. They said, "it's ok to be formulaic!" but let us have the final say. (That's one of the great things about Epigram Books - they never force their suggestions on us.)

I don't blame them at all because I understand why publishers like things formulaic. It's safer. Doing something original is risky because you don't know how it will affect book sales, vs something that has been tried and tested. However, for Lesley-Anne and me, writing is something very close to our hearts and the books are like our babies - we want to be proud of them. We want to add value to the world of fiction. We want people to love the story we've created, not something that was ripped off from somebody else.

However, I claim this as my personal philosophy and not as a judgement against others because I realise that I'm in a somewhat enviable position of having a day job. Writing books is a hobby and I don't have to depend on it to earn my living. Since I'm not doing this for the money, I have the luxury of being able to write what I want (as long as I can convince the publisher!) Whereas authors who depend on writing for income are under greater pressure to ensure their books sell.

That is the one of the reasons why I don't see myself giving up my career to pursue full-time fiction writing anytime soon. I don't want to be in a position where sales become so important that I feel the need to churn out books and series at the expense of the quality of writing.

Having said that, it would be silly to deny the importance of book sales. Fashion guru Michael Kors once said on an episode of Project Runway, that fashion is both art and business. I totally agree and I feel that this statement applies to books as well. Authors need to understand that a book they put out should at least have a chance at commercial viability. Publishing something that nobody wants to buy is just narcissistic and a waste of trees. Write a journal then.

Before I become an author, I thought how nice it would be to have a book published, end of story. Now that I'm one, I find myself looking at sales numbers, hoping my books will sell well. For the publisher, sales are critical to survival. A book that doesn't sell hurts their bottomline because it translates into real costs for them. Book publishing is a tough business to be in in this day and age where reading, especially fiction, seems to be low on the priority scale of most people. The stats are pretty scary.

In a challenging landscape, there's bound to be politics and underhanded practices and it's the same for the book industry. Becoming a published author has been an eye-opening experience for me. I won't go into detail but I was like a wide-eyed country bumpkin when I heard about some of the cut-throat stuff that went on behind the scenes in the industry.

Did I expect that because this was an industry that dealt with books, people would all be aboveboard and function with integrity? You can call me sotong right now. Even a seemingly minor decision like getting a book agent for school talks and sales created a moral dilemma for me. Originally, I was linked up with a book agent whom I had reservations about because she was rude and abrasive. Later, I heard that she treats books purely as a commodity and found some of her sales tactics questionable. I saw her once at a school book sale and was rather put off by her behaviour.

I couldn't imagine partnering with someone like that, let alone entrust my precious Danger Dan to her. Thankfully, I think God must have been looking out for me because before any arrangements were made, my book agent was changed to Denise of Closetful of Books instead and it has been such a blessing. Even though Denise is less established in the business, she is a fellow book lover and only recommends books that she has read and loves. We hit it off almost immediately and I knew Danger Dan was in good hands.

On Lesley-Anne's birthday, Denise surprised her with a gift - a visual art book of writer Neil Gaiman's speech "Make Good Art". All because she heard Lesley-Anne mention once that she loves Neil Gaiman. Such a sweet and thoughtful gesture. (Incidentally, that keynote speech for Philadelphia's University of the Arts is inspirational - it encapsulates so much of my own philosophy of life. You can read it here.)

For all my naivete, I've been incredibly fortunate. Epigram Books has been a godsend. So has Denise. I don't know how well Danger Dan will do and whether it will take off, but if it does, I'm glad that I will be sharing Danger Dan's success with people who have their hearts in the right place.

For the love of ballet

Lesley-Anne started ballet classes when she was in p2 and over the next 9 years, the once-a-week lessons became a familiar and much loved routine.

In a ballet class, the kids move up the grades as a group so the parents saw the girls grow up together, at least those who stayed with the centre. It's really great to see these cutie pies blossom into young ladies.

Earlier in March this year, Lesley-Anne took her Grade 8 ballet exam. The usual pre-exam ritual - hair done by her wonderful teacher, Ms Chew:

Stretches and last minute practising before the exam:

Since Lesley-Anne began JC this year, her schedule has been jam-packed and I'd suggested that she stopped her ballet lessons after Grade 8 exam, especially since she was already in the modern dance CCA in school. However, she was adamant about continuing - that's how much she loves ballet.

It seems like God had other plans though because right after the exam, her beloved ballet teacher announced that she was moving the classes to the other end of the island. That put an end to the discussion right there and even Lesley-Anne had to admit, "Ok, I think God is telling me to stop."

It's bittersweet for her but the timing was practically perfect. And as a very nice round-up, Lesley-Anne ended up earning a Distinction for her exam.

I wouldn't say that dance or ballet is for everyone but in Lesley-Anne's case, it was truly a blessing. It gave her, a very shy girl, a physical outlet of expression and through dance, she could come out of her shell.

This was her at her very first ballet exam:

And at her last one:

She couldn't have asked for better dance mates or better teachers. What a glorious 9 years.

Mars and Venus

The other day, I asked Andre what topic he was studying in school for science. He told me human reproduction and then followed it up with "it's the most horrible topic ever".

I thought oh, it's probably because he doesn't like to hear the gory details about the birds and the bees, or maybe it's the pictures that embarrass him. Here's a boy who can't hear the word "boob" without covering his ears and emitting a squeal.

Instead, he looked at me accusingly and said, "Your menu-station cycle lah! So complicated! So many different days to remember! And all those words to spell! Like ovulation and o-estrogen!" (He pronounced the 'o').

I almost felt obliged to apologise on behalf of all womankind.

Recently, I was looking at photos of our past holidays and realised how much Andre had grown from his relative height and size with Lesley-Anne.

This was June 2012:

June 2013:

And June 2014:

The funny thing is now that Andre's taller and larger than Lesley-Anne, he's passing her sports t-shirts that he has outgrown. Lesley-Anne accepts them with grace but muses that there's something very unglam about wearing hand-me-downs from one's YOUNGER brother.

However, despite his physical growth over the past two years, Andre is still very much a child at heart. He has given me advanced notice that he intends to be a bachelor forever because a girlfriend or wife would just take up his time and spend his money. "How am I going to have cute grandchildren, then?" I pouted. "Go ask jie jie," he replied adamantly.

I've not given up hope yet. Maybe once the hormones hit him full swing, hearts will start swimming in front of his eyes. While he's no heart throb, I think he's shaping up to be quite a pleasant looking chap (ok, mother's bias) so maybe a couple of girls will start looking his way sometime in the future. They'll probably need to be a lot more obvious than flutter their eyelashes though. And if they're smart, they won't use the word "boob".

Bringing Danger Dan to schools

During the June holidays, we had a break from school talks but once Term 3 began, our school talk circuit kick-started once again.

Lesley-Anne and I were very privileged to have been invited to speak at and conduct a workshop for the inaugural Writer's Congress, organised by the East Zone Centre of Excellence for English Language (Primary).

Some 43 students from various primary schools in the East Zone attended the workshop which focused on creative writing. The kids were very engaged and participative, especially during the game segments.

There was a period when the kids had to wait to leave the classroom and they all whipped out Danger Dan without prompting!

Queuing up for autographs.

After the workshop, the students had to fill in a feedback form and we were sent the results last week. About 80% gave us an 'Excellent' rating and more than 95% gave us an 'Excellent' or 'Very good' rating! Yay! Some of the written comments mentioned that the sharing session was really inspiring and this was one of the best programmes they've attended. Such encouraging feedback - we feel very blessed indeed.

If you're a teacher and would like us to speak at your school, you may contact our book agent, Denise at denise@closetfulofbooks.com or 9146 5522. We have a half-hour talk ideal for morning assembly where Lesley-Anne shares how she grew her love of reading and writing, and how she overcame obstacles to become a published author. We also conduct a 1.5-hour creative writing workshop, similar to the one mentioned above. Target age for both the talk and workshop is p3-6.

Here's a picture of a school talk I did a couple of weeks ago at Corporation Primary School. I did this one solo as Lesley-Anne had lessons in school.

Incidentally, we received this book review from an eight-year-old boy named AJ. We're so thrilled by the effort he put into both the writing and drawing. We think he's enormously talented and we love how he calls Danny's ears "extremely, extremely, extremely, extremely ginormous"! Thank you, AJ, you made our day! 

Increasingly, we've been hearing how kids enjoy our books and that makes us really, really happy. A mum told me that her son has been finding school stressful ever since they returned to Singapore and she's glad to see him chuckle to himself when he reads Danger Dan. Many Singaporean kids are far too serious and have little leisure time, so to know that our books make them laugh is the greatest feeling ever.

So here's a call to action: if your kids are between the ages of 8 and 12 and have enjoyed reading Danger Dan, why don't you drop us a line? We're looking to print readers' reviews in our upcoming Book 4 - Danger Dan Traces the Perilous Poison. Get them to pen a couple of sentences telling us why they like Danger Dan and send us a message on the Danger Dan Facebook page.
 
You can see samples of students' reviews in Danger Dan book 2 & 3 (page 1). Deadline: National Day, 9 August 2014.