Words of Low Kay Hwa

Hey, readers! Hey, hey reader!

I was inspired to start with this opening after becoming a fan of the Annoying Orange ( you can go to http://www.annoyingorange.com ). This is what creativity is all about: Thinking out of the box! Who would have thought an orange could be so cute?

Anyway, what I’m writing today should interest a number of my readers: My next book! I know some of you have already known that the next book will be out somewhere around this year. I hope it can be middle of this year, but somehow, a number of external factors are influencing this. I will try to get it published latest by September 2010; whatever is the case, please join our mailing list at http://www.goodybooks.com/mailinglist.htm for the latest updates!

The first question that most readers will ask is: What is the book about? That’s when I’ll get struck in my tongue. The thing is, the genre is somehow hard to describe: In fact, should I describe it, it will spoil the story altogether! It is going to be a dark love story: Think of I Believe You and To Forget You fusing with A Photogenic Life and Lilith. You’ll realize (if you have read all the mentioned books) that it does not fit into any genre.

It’s going to be a pretty cool story (yes, I’m confident of that). Readers will go “what the hell?” upon reading the story. They will flip the pages again and understood everything. In fact, I am thinking of using the word “intelligent” to describe the story!

If you’ve studied Literature before, then it will be nice as it uses a lot of literary devices. For other readers, do not fret: I’ve written it in a way that every single person can understand the story. It will not be as complicated as Lilith. Just be prepared for the unpredictable twist! (maybe I can reward anyone who managed to guess the ending?)

The story starts with a fatal hit-and-run accident. (in the preview section on our website, that scene may not be showcased). After that, the main character confessed to his ex-girlfriend about his involvement in a car accident. Readers will then be fed with information on why that car accident takes place. Why had the main character killed two people that he did not know? Was he being compromised by others, or he knew something that everyone did not know? During the process, the main character confessed his undying love to his ex-girlfriend as well. I’m going to stop here; if not I may just type out the entire summary without me knowing!

The scenes are structured in a chronological order (unlike To Forget You or Lilith), so it’s easier to understand. I’ve narrated in a way that it’s so fast-paced that readers will be surprised at how fast they read it.

The story is so surprising intelligent (okay, I am using the word now) that I am expecting a lot of feedback from this readers about it. So far, I have not feel this kind of confidence from a story that I have written, so I’m pretty sure this book will be the main talking point of many Singaporeans when it’s out.

So till the release of the book… do join the mailing list for the latest news! =)

I was having a conversation with my friend the other day when we touched on an issue: Ego. It was a good inspiring talk, because it really portrayed the ugly and good side of this simple yet power word.

It is so often that ego controlled us unknowingly. In a quarrel, we forget the resolution of the quarrel when egos come into play. We pay high prices for something we do not need to fulfill the egos in us. We stand proud in front of others, just so to satisfy the egos within us. Why are we trying to hard to portray this image to others?

Let’s quote from A Photogenic Life . In the story, Linda and Serene were going all out to impress their friends. They managed to satisfy the egos in them; but at what cost? Serene was never happy; Linda has to resort to leading a photogenic life. If we compare their lives with Chew Ling, who might not even know the meaning of ego, who is happier?

So is having ego is good thing or a bad thing? It depends. A person with high ego is full of confidence. And as we all know, a confident person is usually a winner. It motivates a person to achieve things beyond imagination. Yet ego itself can also kill. We often read news about people committing suicide due to ego issues.

What my friend and I concluded is this: Ego is a double-edged sword. It motivates us to achieve our goals, yet at the same time, it brings us to depression. That will mean one thing: Everything, even ego, can be good if it is brought in in moderation.

Hey readers, in one of the Goody Books Newsletter, I mentioned about Passion. If you have not read it before, you can read it here: http://www.goodybooks.com/newsletter/feb2/authorwords.html . I did say that passion is what drives the engine within us… however, in this blog post, I am going to talk about another motivator that can be created within us: Burning desire.

I’ve read (or heard) somewhere about this story: A commander loaded his soldiers into a boat and sailed them to the enemy’s territory. Upon that, the commander burnt the boat. The soldiers were all surprised: How are they going to retreat if they lose the battle? The commander then told them that either they win the battle or they perish. They won the battle (because they have no means to retreat!). I am not sure if I get the exact facts of the story right, but nevertheless, you get the idea.

In Singapore context, I will prefer to say that if we got no “kao shan” (loosely translated, it a cushion to fall on. It means something or someone to back-up in an event of failure), we will either win or perish. Recently (not too long ago), I have lunch with one of my friends near my office area. I am not against my friend, and I believe he can make it big because I know him. He is someone who will be driving a BMW within two years and I am sure about that. I am just using him as an example to portray my point.

Apparently, he has started a business with his friend. I wondered how much his office rental is, just so to compare the rental in my building. He told me that he was using his friend’s father office… And I asked him how much his friend’s father charged him. He told me that they will only need to pay after they have started earning money.

That was when I realized with a “kao shan”, the burning desire is gone. In my business (or I guess for most businesses), office rental is never the main killer in our expenses. Labour and operating cost are. If they cannot even sustain the rental of the office, there is no way they can sustain the expenses that will be coming in everyday.

As you can see, now with a “kao shan”, they will not worry about rental. Without that worry, they will not push themselves to the limit for their business… After all, if they fail, they will just treat it as an experience. For a business without a “kao shan”, monthly expenses are still coming in. Every month, if there is no sales, the loss will be dangerous. However, with NO expenses, they will just see a “$0 Sales, $0 Expenses”. The desire is not burning; in fact, is there a desire in the first place?

Therefore, I believe burning desire comes from two areas: Internal and external. Internally, we must REALLY want that single thing. When I was young, I was sure that I wanted to write stories that will make readers cry or laugh. I wrote and wrote, despite the fact that I have no readers. I borrowed books from library and read on how to write a page-turner. I kept on writing with no readers. It is demoralizing, but what kept me going was the fact that I know one day, I will have at least one reader who appreciate my writing. I sent my writing to my friends but no one took a second glance. The burning desire in me kept on pushing me. This is internal: regardless of what happens externally, I will keep on writing.

Externally, it materialized once I got my first reader. People requested to read my next book, and it fueled the burning desire. I quitted my part-time job when I was in polytechnic to focus on my writing. That meant I would not have a steady income. As I come from a low-income family (therefore I have to support myself financially), that was not just a normal risk: it meant either I succeed as a writer or I will have no bread in the table. I have no “kao shan”: Either I win or I perish. I will not say I have win now, but I guess I am much further from being perished.

This is the theory that kept me on the edge of my seat everyday. Without a “kao shan”, I have only two options: Win or perish. Last year, on September, I applied for two part-time degree courses in SIM (Singapore Institute of Management): Business Management at RMIT and Literature at UniSIM. In December last year, I was accepted into both courses: Business Management on January 2010 or Literature on July 2010. If I take Business Management, it will become my “kao shan” as it would meant that should my writing career fail, I can find a job with my business degree (as it is a general degree). However, I chose Literature: A specialized degree that is chartered more for teachers. Obviously, it is harder to find a job with a Literature Degree due to its specialization. But I know if I choose Business Management, I will have a “kao shan” for my writing career.

And so, between a “kao shan” and a fuel that will burn my burning desire… I chose the burning desire. I chose Literature (whoever is going for the course on July 2010, please tell me so that we can have dinner together before going for lessons!) Therefore, now, I have only one option for my writing career: Either I succeed or I perish. I took the more difficult and, like what my friends told me, the “illogical” course. Nevertheless, I know this internally: Success only come to those who have no option to fail.

So, to all my readers: Have you created the burning desire to achieve your goals, be it internally or externally? If not, go on: Make a choice that makes success as an option, and not failure. Sail to your goal, burn your boat and move towards your goal. If you have no other options, you will soon develop habits that you have never thought of!

Surprising, this post is a SLIGHT peek into my next book… you’ll come to understand when the book is out. Nevertheless, in this post, I am going to talk about dreams.

When we were young, we were always told that we must grow up to be a doctor or lawyer. We will earn big bucks from these jobs. We tried reasoning, telling everyone that we want to be a policeman (for the boys) or a hairdresser (for the girls). However, we were always mocked at, and the response was always this: “You’ll come to understand as you grow up”.

So now, when we’ve grown up, we all gave up our childhood dreams. The boy who wanted to be a policeman is now a Property Agent, earning thousands of dollars every month. The girl who wanted to be a hairdresser became an Executive in a MNC, earning a fixed three thousand dollars a month. Their dreams linger on, but this time round, they’ve come to understand why they should not be following their dreams anymore.

When I was young, I wanted to be a fireman and a writer. I told everyone I will be a fireman who writes when there is no fire. Guess what everyone told me? “Study and work in an office. You’ll come to understand as you grow up.” They were right.

Seriously, I came to understand as I grew up. I applied to be a regular with the Singapore Civil Defence Force when I was 16 or 17, and I was rejected (due to my high short-sightedness). I wrote my first novel, Destiny’s Cries, and no one bought (not to mention READ!) the book. I’ve come to understand what is the difference between a dream and reality: Dream are created by our mind, reality are created by millions of external factors. We are always being socially engineered to do things against our will.

However, one interesting thing to note is that I persisted with my interest. With the failure of Destiny’s Cries, I wrote I Believe You, and changed my tactic to attract readers. Instead of publishing the book, I posted the entire story online. Since then, I’ve grow my base of readers and managed to fulfill my dream of being a published novelist.

Now, I truly believe that although DREAMS are created by our mind and REALITY is created by external factors, we can change still fulfill our dreams by changing reality. There are millions of external factors that threaten to destroy your dreams; but you are the only one who can make the final decision. We are the destiny of our own lives. External factors change the reality, but they don’t change you. If you follow the path of reality, you are BEING controlled. If you ignore the path of reality, you are IN control.

In my new book, readers will get to know more about how we are always been socially engineered by others to do things against our will, values and principals. We are always being controlled by others. Do you know that the advertisements we see in TV are trying to control us? Do you know your parents are always trying to control you? Do you even know that Microsoft, Google and Apple… they are all trying to control you? Ten years ago, will you spend $200 to buy a CD with a window logo? What changes your mindset now?

So readers, think. Don’t get compromised. If you’ve been waiting something, don’t let external factors control you. You hold the power to control your own life!

How do you define success? Is a thirty-year-old married man with two kids, driving a Mercedes and living in a bungalow considered successful? Or a thirty-year-old carefree man living taking the public transport considered successful?

So many times, we fought with the word “success”: Some people who have achieved a lot claimed that they are not successful enough, yet some people who achieved practically nothing consider themselves as successful. In this post, guess I’ll write something about success: After all, it is an interesting topic that we often have in the coffeeshop.

A reader who has never seen me before but read my books before will consider me “successful”. That is because she spent $15.90 or RM 22.90 to buy one of my books, and she must thought that there are thousands of people like her. She believes that a person who has written seven books must be considered successful.

My personal friends will consider me as a “failure” (I’m using stronger words to portray the gravity of this issue!). They thought that just because my books are not consigned to bookstores (even after telling them that ANYONE can consign their books to bookstores), or that I am not driving a Mercedes, I must be living on the edge. In fact, up to maybe 90% of my friends think of it this way. They kept on asking me when I will find a “decent” job. In fact, in a casual conversation with one of my friends, I told her jokingly that “yeah, I’m going to find a job tomorrow” and she recommended a few jobs to me! As of today, I’ve brushed my ego aside and tell every of my friends that “yeah, I’ll look for a full-time job next month”. I guess that’s what most starting entrepreneur face (even I’m five years into this writing career, they’re still asking me the same question!).

From the examples above, you can see how subjective “success” is. It is impossible to impress everyone (try reading A Photogenic Life!). Everyone carries their mindset and definition of success is based solely on the external factors that influenced them.

If we try too hard to appear successful, we’re just lying to ourselves (unless it is a need in your job to do so). We will stop the quest for our own definition of success, and be complacent in our work. We will stop the learning process and lavished on the “success”… which is, well, defined by yourself. Actually, it is not too bad; some people will “act” till they reach the point whereby there are really successful. Self-fulfilling prophecy eh.

I personally think that if we THINK we have succeeded, it’s worst. Not only will complacency set in, we’ll savour in what we have achieved, and not go on to achieve more. Like what many said, “if you don’t grow, you die”. Guess there’s some truth in there, because I’ve seen it before.

So what is the conclusion of this post? It’s actually very simple. Why read “how to be successful”? Why not go and read “how to make one million in a year” or such? Yeah, once again, a millionaire won’t think you’re successful if you earn your first million. But I will be impressed =) And I guess many others will be, too.

If you read the previous paragraph, you should grasp the meaning of what I’m trying to say. There are not successful people: There are only people who have achieved their goals!

Oh, writing this blog post has motivated me.

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone! And to those who are attached, hope you’ll have a romantic Valentine’s Day!

For last two years, from September 2007 to September 2009, I was stuck in the Army camp doing routine work. And of course the occasional outfield trainings. For Malaysians who are reading this, you might not know that every male Singaporean, upon completing their pre-university studies (in our case, is either Junior College, Polytechnic or ITE), are conscripted to do National Service for two years. Either they serve as a soldier, a policeman or a fireman.

Many people, after ORDing (that is, completion of National Service),  realized something: reality is stepping in harshly and swiftly. No longer will anyone be responsible for your life: You’re responsible for your own life. Either you drift to be the lazy bum who watches television every day from 11am to 10pm or you become the successful man who achieves your goals everyday. No longer can you use “school” or “National Service” to shift the responsibility.

Now, at the age of 25 (technically is 24 as my birthday is in June… but why must I convince myself that I am one year younger?), I am seeing all sorts of people who are not taking responsibility of their own life. I see people complaining about what is happening around them, and not making the effort to change anything. They expect change to happen just by crying out loud. I know I am not in the position to comment on them, but I do understand the fact that if you don’t take responsibility for the environment, there will be no change. Either you cry and do nothing, or you cry and then do something.

When I was younger, I used to just do nothing and complain to the world about how unfair this world is. I will sit on one corner and tell my friends if only I have this, if only I have that… but why can’t I just tell my friends HOW I can have this, and HOW I can have that?

When I was thirteen years old, I was rejected by almost all publishers. They said that due to the economic crisis, they are unable to publish my stories. I know it is just a kinder sentence to “your story sucks”. And what did I do? I blame the economic crisis. I told my friends I was not published because of the crisis; not because of my writing. I blamed everyone except me. Guess where that landed me to? Nowhere.

When I was seventeen with my first book, Destiny’s Cries, out, no one bought the book. I blame everyone for not appreciating my book. I thought the Singapore market is not fair to me: Why is no one even giving me a chance?

Of course, everything changed when I wrote I Believe You. How I got started with I Believe You is a long story; nevertheless, it sparked everything.

It was only after reading Brian Tracy’s self-help books that I realized how important it is to really take responsibility for my own life. Why blame everyone when you can blame yourself? Is ego is the blockade to success? To be frank, Brian Tracy really made a difference in my life. Without his self-help books, I believe now I am still blaming everyone for not buying my books. Now, I want to emphasize that if you think my story sucks, I will never blame you for not appreciating my writing. I will ask you why it sucks, and I will improve with your suggestion (if it is constructive!)

When I was featured negatively in the Newpaper for my poor English on February 2009, the first thing I did was to tell my friend who was in charge of the Sales Rep Program to transfer all complains to me (luckily there were none). Then I reflected, and take responsibility for everything: now, I try to get everything edited before posting on the internet. As for the books, they will be edited by 8 different people and then another two times by professional proofreading companies, before I myself edit it one last time.

Ironically, Lilith, my latest book, has a theme of what I have written so far. A girl who was born HIV-positive, she blamed the world for being unfair to her. Then she developed so much anger that she started to do something: She started to spread the virus by seducing men. Okay, not exactly the best example (in fact, a bad example), but you get the idea…

So, my readers, if you’ve been trying to find reasons for the results that you have not achieve, why not start trying to find ways to achieve the results that you desire?

I hope this post has somehow motivated you. It has motivated me; let’s work towards our goals now!

We are going to have a fortnightly newsletter soon! In the newsletter which will be sent to everyone in Goody Books’ mailing list on 3rd February 2010, there will be a few sections. Let me give you a brief idea of what it contains now.

Firstly, there will be a section for me. I will be writing whatever I feel like writing: Be it about my next book, my previous books or even something that I have learnt. There is no restriction on what I am going to write… in fact it could even be a short story, if I want to! So, just look forward to it; guess it’ll be pretty cool since I won’t compromise on what I am writing!

On the first issue, I am touching on how to write effective goals. Do you know what you write can determine what you are going to do? Just like a story: what I write can arouse different emotions in you.

Next, there is a section for Goody Books. Treat it like a corporate blog, whereby we will update you of what we are going to do, or what we are doing now. You will be interested to see what we are doing… because it always involves you! Remember, Goody Books’ values are about the customers. Without the customers, we cannot survive! So read on to see what we’re up to, and how you are going to benefit.

On the first issue, we will be introducing ourselves to all readers. After all, we’ve been quite secretive for the last five years, and it’s about time to tell you more about us!

Then there are two sections for the readers: One is just a simple cBox (for blogshop owners, they should be very familiar with this!) for readers to declare anything, or just to voice out whatever they want to say. Readers can type anything as long as they are not offensive… try declaring your love here and see if your loved one sees it!

The other section for readers is what I call the “Readers’ Area”. We’ve noticed that people are doing things related to my books… For example, there are videos made by readers about the books. I’ve also heard from one secondary school that they are going to create a video based on A Photogenic Life for their project (which seems to be quite massive as the teacher personally called me). We thought we should reward these people… therefore, in this section, if you have just written a book review, drawn something related to the stories that I have written or even just taken a picture of  you with my books, send it to us! We’ll showcase it on the next issue, and you’ll get $50 voucher + 7 free books!

So, that sums up everything in the newsletter. We are constantly trying to improvise it, so if you have any better suggestions, do inform us!

Now, next is going to be interesting: In every issue of the newsletter, you’ll see some changes to the tagline of the next book. For your info, in the first issue, the tagline is “Is your life in control, or being controlled?”. All these taglines are apparently hints to what the whole story is all about. But with every new issue, you’ll come to realize it doesn’t make sense… they don’t link. You’ll ask yourself what is the story about. I’m not trying to pique your curiosity… seriously you’ll understand when you read the book!

Remember, the newsletter will be up on 3rd February 2010. In order not to miss it, I would suggest you to go to http://www.goodybooks.com/mailinglist.htm and join our mailing list. It is free… in fact, we’re thinking of giving free things to readers who joined the mailing list!

Till then, have a great Chinese New Year soon!

Hey all,

     I really have to apologize for the lack of updates! Have been focusing so much on the business development of Goody Books that I have forgotten all about this inactive blog. From now on, I’ll try my best to be as active as possible over here.

     As many of you know, since finishing my NS in September 2009 (to my Malaysian readers: In Singapore, all Singapore males have to do a compulsory two years National Service), I have taken up a role as a Business Development Executive in Goody Books. My responsibilities are to seek out new channels for the business, and also improvising or creating the business model. Basically I am in charge of the growth of Goody Books; No doubt it is a challenging role, but I enjoy taking up this challenge since it’s related to my passion. Hope this will be my career for the rest of my life! Of course, above all, I am a novelist; more on that later!

     Just a series of things we’ve done for Goody Books: We’ve expanded our sales to Malaysia after some publicity being created there. In the month of February, more funds will be used for creating publicity in Malaysia; so Goody Books is no longer going to be just operating in Singapore, but up North too!

     We now have an office in Selangor, Malaysia. For the Malaysian readers, the exact address is: No. 8, 2nd Floor, Jalan Putra Mahkota 7/8A, Pusat Bandar Putra Point, Putra Heights, 47650 Subang Jaya, Selangor. Our Malaysia office number is (603) 2035 5915. Malaysian customers who reside near the area can walk in to the office to purchase our books directly during office hours. If you want to buy the books from the office after office hours, please contact Maryline at 6 012 226 2274 .

     So far, sales in Malaysia has been very encouraging. If you’re a Malaysian, please feel free to go to http://www.my.goodybooksonlinestore.com to place your order now, as we’re having a Malaysia Crazy Sale! And if you or your parents are working in Shah Alam, you can get them to purchase the books directly from our Sales Rep in Shah Alam. Just contact her at 6 017 660 7339 , or email her at wong.munyee@goodybooks.com .

     And other then being busy with Goody Books, I’ve been keeping myself occupied with my next book. As time goes by, you’ll see bits and bits of marketing tools from this story; but somehow, this story is so different that I cannot explain what “genre” it belongs to. Trust me, you’ll understand what I mean once it is out =) As for the date… well, I do understand the importance of deadline, but to me, anything related to creativity will never be compromised by anything, even deadline. So I’m going to say mid-2010; no guarantee through. What if a good literacy device idea pops up in my mind when I was going to publish the book? I’ll just delay the whole process. In fact, do you know Lilith was pushed back by a few months just because I got a new idea? We wasted over a thousand dollars on printing of flyers and other marketing materials. Now, that is what I mean by “I will not let anything compromise my creativity”!

     Anyway, please go to http://www.goodybooks.com/mailinglist.htm to join the mailing list. We are going to launch our first Goody Books Newsletter on 3rd February 2010; there, you’ll see a SLIGHT hint of the next book. If you really want to play the guessing game, then start to take note of how I am marketing the next book. You’ll go “oh, that explains!” when you read the story!

     Okay, till then, happy Chinese New Year!

Short story I have written: Emotions Engineer.

     As of 25 November 2007, I have a total of 89 different name cards. They were all printed with different names and positions. I was once a doctor, a graphic designer, a photographer and ironically, the CEO of a big company.

 
     My real name is Joe Tay, and I have been an “Emotion Engineer” for twenty years.

 
     My annual income is about twenty million dollars a year. I don’t need to pay tax, and all the cars that I had bought for were paid with full cash. My clients include bosses of listed companies and occasionally expatriates. Last year alone, I had twenty-seven clients, and the profit I had was an overwhelming twenty-two million dollars.

 
     The next client that I had to work with is a director of a public-listed company. He, a sixty-one-year old married guy, was dumped by a twenty-three-year old mistress. I could almost feel for him: A mistress dumping her lover? Isn’t it always the other way round?

 
     “I want you to make her cry. Hard.” He said. After he had briefed me on that girl, I mentally crafted a movie in my mind. “I want to see her cry very, very hard. Hey, you listening to me?”

 
     I nodded. Sometimes, in my line of work, I don’t just create emotions. I remember things. “When is the deadline?”

 
     “Three months from now. Can you do it?”

 
     “Two months” I said, reached for that expensive cup of coffee on his table and continued: “Two months, and prepare your one million dollars for me.”

 
     Step one completed: Getting a “client”.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Anyone who has been through a relationship will understand this: Love is the source of all emotions. It can make you happy, it can make you sad. And in order to engineer an emotion, you first create love.

 
     I know she cycles around East Coast Park every Saturday morning alone. When I saw her, I peddled harder behind her. As we were about two metres apart, I let go of both my hands on the handles and my bicycle skidded to the side. I jumped off the bicycle and rolled towards her direction.

 
     “Oh, gosh, are you okay?” She had stopped her cycling and was kneeling next to me. “You’re bleeding.”

 
     I nodded, and then shook my head. Girls like a wounded yet strong guy. “Are you alone?” I asked, looked at my wounds again and shook my head once more. “Shit. I feel giddy. I didn’t bring my handphone out. You know any clinic around here?”

 
     “Clinic…”

 
     She lives at Bedok, which is a bus ride away from East Coast Park. She would know where the nearest clinic is.

 
     “Can you bring me there…? I’m feeling a bit giddy…”

 
     She stared at me, looked around herself and muttered, “Okay, let’s go to my car.”

 
     Step two done: Knowing her.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

She is an accountant. She will leave her house at eight every morning, work from nine to six in the evening, and then have dinner with either friends or family. She likes money a lot; that’s why she had gotten into a relationship with my client. Currently, she drives a Toyota Rush, a small car which suits lady like her.

 
     My name is Chew Chee Yong, and I am a Business Development Director at a barter exchange company. My monthly salary is twenty thousand dollars, and for this project, I will drive my babe-magnet Mercedes SLK around.

 
     Step three done: Understanding and creating characters.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It had been just one month: but one month was all I needed.

 
     “I love you.” I said. “Seriously, from the deep of my heart, I love you since the first day I saw you. You can’t tell, can you?”

 
     We were in a restaurant at Tanjong Pagar. I had asked around and realized this could be the most remote restaurant in the whole of Singapore, and it is already a miracle that it has yet to close down.

 
     “Please, just give me a chance. Give me a chance to hold your hand.” I reached for her hand. She did not resist. “What I want is just a chance to hold your hand. Because after that… after that, I’m sure you’ll love me deeply as well. My love for you is too deep. Ignore how the world sees us.”

 
     And when she nodded twenty seconds later, step four was done: Creating love, the source of all emotions.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“I love you, Chee Yong.” She said. “Please, don’t do this to me…”

 
     We had just been together for two weeks, and when I initiated the break-up, her tears were flowed down immediately. I had made sure that the video camera hidden behind the painting was recording.

 
     “Please, Chee Yong…”

 
     “Go back to him!” I said. “Go!”

 
     “I can’t live without you…”

 
     “Go away, get out from my house now.” I said, and was on the verge of pushing her. Would my pay be increased if I did that?

 
     “I-”

 
     “Go!”

 
     Step five: Emotion engineered.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Two months later, when I went to my client’s house and told him that I had succeeded in my job, he showed me the widest smirk I had ever seen and got his maid to brew me the best coffee. I had brought along a DVD which was filmed when Cecilia was crying hard: The client’s requirement.

 
     “Here you go, Joe. Very expensive coffee, you know.” he pushed the cup towards me. “You’re a real smartass, you know? A genius indeed. You can make someone laugh or cry for you. They call you the emotion engineer. Pretty fanciful name. David’s recommendation was so right.”

 
     I wanted to get straight to the point, so I took a slip of the coffee and went towards the DVD player.
     “I’m going enjoy it.” The client said. “Do you know who Kenneth Lee is?”

 
     I remember every client I had worked with, and every victim that I had preyed. After putting the DVD into the player, I strolled towards my client and nodded. Two years ago, I had managed to make Kenneth so depressed that he was on the verge of suicide. My client was then a managing director of a computer firm who was dumped by him.

 
     “He’s my cousin.”

 
     I darted my eyes deep into my client’s eyes and relaxed my chest muscles. My client’s smile turned into a laugh. “You think you’re smart, Joe? Do you think I’m going to pay you for making that girl cry? Come on. You are smart, but so am I.” He stood up and stepped right in front of me. Behind me, the DVD had started playing. “That girl that I asked you to work on: She’s just a receptionist in my office, and I don’t even know her name. You messed with the wrong guy, smart Joe. Our conversation is recorded, and I’m going to show Kenneth how pathetic you look now. You’re smart, but you’re not smart enough.”

 
     I could almost smell his breath. As his laugh faded into a wicked smile, I ambled towards the sofa, rested one of my feet on my thigh and said, “Do you have popcorn? Your wife is on the TV.”

 
     Step six done and project completed: “Client” deceived.

 
     Who says I work only for money?

Well, if you like this kind of stunning twist in a story, be sure to check out Lilith at http://www.goodybooks.com/books_l.htm . You’ll definitely go “what the heck?” when you read the ending!

Dear All,

     Tomorrow ( 21 September 2009 ) will be the last day of the Lilith promotion. So far, I have got a number of encouraging reviews from my readers:

“Reading the book is like fixing a jigsaw puzzle: Confusing at the beginning, intensifying at midpoint and satisfying at the end. The best part is: The final image of the completed puzzle is completely different from the picture on the box of the jigsaw puzzle! I was totally “wowed” by the twist of the story!”
- Clara Ong, 16, Student (Nan Hua High School)

“Wow… Lilith is a book that is deliciously plotted with a twist of surprise in your views of religion, psychological aspect and moral values. A mind-blowing book worth the read!”
- Joy Chiang, 17, Student (Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Diploma In Business & Social Enterprise)

“A very clever and intelligent novel that brings out the essence of unfairness in this world. I enjoyed the suspense and revelations at the end. Amazingly that it is written by a young local writer. Highly recommended!”
- Amy Pang, 23, Undergraduate (NTU, Bachelor of English)

     So if you haven’t purchase Lilith we urge you to do it tomorrow, because it will be the last day of the promotion.

     There is something even more important: What if, during lesson or work on Tuesday, you overheard the twist of the story by your schoolmates or colleagues?

www.goodybooks.com/lilith.htm

     For more info, please go to
http://www.goodybooks.com/lilithpromotion.htm