Yang-May Ooi's Lit Blog

NEW HOME FOR YM'S LIT BLOG

2006-05-01T23:46:00.000+01:00

Yang-May Ooi's Lit Blog has now been officially christened Fusion View and has its own domain at www.fusionview.co.uk. Following overwhelmingly positive responses in the two weeks since I launched the blog, I decided to upgrade the site hosting ahead of schedule, with additional user-friendly features. As a subscriber, you don't have to do anything - you will be automatically

Power to the bloggers

2006-04-28T23:21:00.000+01:00

[Summary: Bloggers are increasingly influential as independent voices outside of conventional news media. How do they challenge the perceptions or worldview we sometimes take for granted?] An article in The Guardian (18 April 2006, Technology) reports on a finding in a technology study that bloggers are becoming a strong influence on society by dominating public conversations and creating

Trade you my paperclip for your house?

2006-04-27T23:50:00.000+01:00

With property prices shooting through the roof, you need to be creative these days if you want to own your own home. To give you an idea of the madness: a car parking space in London was going for over £30,000 a little while back - it's probably worth a lot more now. And it's not just in the UK - it's happening all over the world. Kyle Macdonald, a young Canadian, has found the answer.

Legal texts can be fun! The real life Da Vinci Code drama continues.

2006-04-27T14:05:00.000+01:00

[Summary: The judge in the Da Vinci Code plagiarism case has inserted a code into his judgement that has got the world reading legal texts for fun at last]The Guardian reported today (27 April 2006) that Mr Justice Peter Smith, the judge in the plagiarism case brought by the authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail (HBHG) against Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code, has

Simon World blog

2006-04-26T15:07:00.000+01:00

You may enjoy exploring the wide world of bloggers out there so from time to time, I will be sharing links to the blogs that I read.Simon World – A blog by an Australian living in Hong Kong. He catches curious news in Hong Kong, China and Asia – a good round-up of what’s happening down in the streets. ***********************************

We all look the same - no, really, we do

2006-04-26T07:08:00.000+01:00

[Summary: Are films and shows colour blind at last?] I was intrigued by the recent furore over the casting of Chinese actors in Memoirs of a Geisha. The argument went something like this: the story is about a geisha in Japan and a geisha is a particularly Japanese construct so the actors should be Japanese. Our very own Malaysian superstar, Michelle Yeoh was grilled in many interviews

What's up this month - April 2006

2006-04-16T08:40:00.000+01:00

Welcome I am very excited to launch my Lit Blog. Please do have a look around. What's all the fuss about? You've heard of fusion food, a blend of Far Eastern cooking and Modern British cuisine. Well, this is a fusion blog - a synthesis of my Malaysian-Chinese heritage and my British life today. You will find posts on writing and books, films, food, updates on how my next book(s) are

Coming Up Soon!

2006-04-15T09:55:00.000+01:00

Coming up soon on Yang-May Ooi's Lit Blog - >> An interview with Caro Fraser, novelist and author of the best-selling Caper Court legal series, plus the chance to win a copy of her latest book A World Apart >> The Malaysian blogs that inspired me to start my own blog - and to make the main character in my next book a blogger >> Curious Legacies: The Recipe for Hairdryer Duck >> and

Holy Smoke, what a relief!

2006-04-15T09:47:00.000+01:00

/Summary: Dan Brown wins the plagiarism case brought by some of the authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail (HBHG). The verdict: he did not steal their ideas. So what does this mean for me and for writers generally?/ Well, we all heave a huge sigh of relief. The HBHG authors bringing the case claimed that Dan Brown stole their core ideas for The Da Vinci Code. Dan Brown contended that he had

Win a copy of "The Flame Tree" - Closing date: 31 May 2006

2006-04-15T09:43:00.000+01:00

3 copies of The Flame Tree to be won! To get a chance to win a copy of The Flame Tree, all you have to do is subscribe to this blog. Subscribe now. Subscription is free and you will receive free email notifications whenever this blog is updated. You will automatically be entered into the prize draw to win a copy of The Flame Tree and also all future prize draws (unless otherwise stated).

The World's Best Restaurants - really?

2006-04-15T09:38:00.000+01:00

/Summary: Are the world's best restaurants really those that are fancy, famous and expensive? I don't think so. What do you think?/ The Evening Standard, a daily paper in London, reported on a list, just published, of the world's best restaurants. The top 50 show a strong European and American bias, with a couple of entries from antipodean Australia and South Africa. There was only one

How doth your garden grow?

2006-04-15T09:35:00.000+01:00

/Summary: there's nothing like a pretty garden - whether in the UK or Malaysia - to get us talking. Add your comment and tell us about gardens you love./ It's a peculiarly English thing: making a special trip to go and wander round someone else's garden - and paying good money for it. To be fair, the gardens are usually several hundred years old, run to many, many acres and owned by a duke

Site Policies

2006-04-13T18:11:00.000+01:00

/Summary: Site policies re: subscription and privacy, third party services linked to this site, your comments; copyright and using my content/ What is your privacy policy if I subscribe to this blog? By subscribing, you will only be asked for your email address and no other personal details. I will not use your email address for any other purpose than notifying you of blog updates nor

Site Navigation

2006-04-11T10:02:00.000+01:00

Welcome to my blog. To help you with Site Navigation, here is a brief look at all the different sections that make up this blog.The main page/ HomeThe main page you come to at www.yangmayooi.blogspot.com presents you with the latest post. This page can be reached again by clicking "Home" or the title "Yang-May Ooi's Lit Blog" in the red autumn leaves banner at the top of the page.The sidebar on

Reflections on: "Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus"

2006-04-11T09:26:00.000+01:00

Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus: A documentary that is "a spiritual journey (which) explores the "Soul of the South" and a world of marginalised white people and their unique and intense home-grown culture" (BBC Four summary).The landscape of Louisiana in this film is a desolate junkyard of swamps and trailer parks, truck stops on empty roads and burnt out cars left to rust. It's the flip side

Curious Legacies - My Grandmother's Recipe for Soy Sauce Chicken

2006-04-10T12:32:00.000+01:00

I've been collecting notes for a memoir of my childhood growing up in Malaysia and my coming of age in England. I got to thinking about all the people who have been in my life. Some of them, like my family, are a part of me and others, like friends and my partner, have become an important part of my life. Others have come and gone or just passed through. But many have left something behind -

It's all happening in 2006!

2006-04-08T14:32:00.000+01:00

April 2006 announcements: The second edition of THE FLAME TREE is published; YM lauches new-look books website; YM creates a new Lit BlogSecond edition of THE FLAME TREETHE FLAME TREE sold out of its first print run to rave reviews in Malaysia and the UK. It is now also a core text on the South East Asian Literature Course at Nanyang Technical University, Singapore. The second edition of THE

Contact me

2006-04-08T13:49:00.000+01:00

How to contact me You can contact me - By email: ym@yangmayooi.co.uk By post: Yang-May Ooi c/o Rogers Coleridge and White 20 Powis Mews London W11 1JN Interviews and talks etc I am available to give interviews or talks and workshops, where appropriate. Please contact me for more details.

About this Blog

2006-04-08T13:37:00.001+01:00

FAQ about this blog and bloggingGENERALWhat is a Lit Blog?A blog is short for "weblog", which is an online journal. (As in Star Trek, when William Shatner says "Captain's Log, star date XXXX....")Lit is short for "literary" and "lit blog" or "litblog" is the term used for writer's blogs where we talk about literary things. I'm also going to be talking about films and TV and food etc but "lit

About Yang-May Ooi, writing & publishing

2006-04-08T13:37:00.000+01:00

FAQs about Yang-May Ooi, writing & publishing ABOUT YMWhat is the Malaysian-British connection?I was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I now live in London, England. There is more biographical information on my books website at http://www.yangmayooi.co.uk/aboutym.html.I miss Malaysia the most for the food, the wonderful weather and the friendly people. I go back every so often to visit my parents

Subscribing to this Blog

2006-04-08T11:38:00.000+01:00

What are the benefits of subscribing to this blog?When you subscribe to this blog, you will receive free email notification whenever I update the blog with new articles, reviews and announcements. Subscription is free.As a subscriber, you will also be entered automatically - and for free - into any prize draws and get the chance to win books and other prizes. If you prefer to subscribe