Spin City and money off writing

Okay, I'm doing the back cover and first few pages thing already. So far, I've accumulated these for the 2nd edition of printing. Some of these are already up in the posters you might see in bookstores like MPH 1 Utama and Midvalley.


"...Scratches the soft underbelly of Malaysian life to reveal a seething mass of barely concealed dread....Each (story) contains a twist....a couple are utterly shocking. My favourite is 'The Resistance'...This remarkable story has all the elements of a suspense thriller.....The secret weapon revelation in the end (though it is not explicitly stated) is, pardon the pun, a real killer....This is the KL you fear to imagine." The Sun


"Why you should read this book: It's really good, that's why. Xeus has tapped into urban paranoia and everyday life in KL to produce situations that will leave you uneasy, yet are not too fantastic to be brushed aside as merely unrealistic. What is amazing is that the author has managed to slip in subtly sly comments on social issues alongside observations that will make any Malaysian nod... Particularly poignant and haunting is Trashcan Child, which looks at a current disturbing trend and fuses it with a heart as big as the Twin Towers. We won’t spoil it for you; but one read of this, and you’ll be bound to shed a tear or two."

The Malay Mail


“…An entertaining and creditable collection.....All 12 tales harbour suspense and surprises along the way and a particularly vicious twist at the end. See if you can spot it coming.”

The Star


“My favourite stories from Dark City are The Scarlet Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, and Coup of the Century. They had especially ironic twists in them that I enjoyed immensely…..detailed writing is obviously Xeus’s forte.”

The New Straits Times


Hope to collect a lot more, esp from foreign press!


Anyhow, I was reading something interesting over at Sharon's blog. In my 11 year writing sub-career (I call it sub-career because I have a full day time job and writing is only a hobby, not what I do for a living), I think I have made over RM 300,000.

This is MOSTly made from writing for newspapers and magazines. Some of them pay fairly well, especially for columns. I run 3 columns now...just dropped 1 last year because I got too busy. And columns are extremely easy to write.

Can one sustain a living by writing? I don't know. I wouldn't recommend it, especially if you have expensive tastes, like me. Treat it as a supplementary hobby and don't do it for the money, and you'll be OK.