Hi Peeps,

In this post I would like to talk a bit about my book series: Xar & Vichattan.

Xar & Vichattan started out as a small project… Well, I wouldn’t even call it a project back then… It was more like something I did to kill time between classes during college, starting from 2003 or 2004. Whenever I had some free time, I would pick up a pen and my notebook, to scribble about this world that existed only in my imagination. 

I don’t exactly remember what had made me want to write Xar & Vichattan, or the exact date I started writing it. What I can specifically remember, however, is that I wrote some of Xar & Vichattan’s earlier chapters during NaNoWriMo in November 2004. For those of you who do not know what NaNoWriMo ( http://nanowrimo.org/ ) is, it is a writing event held in November, inviting people to commit to writing, or at least try to write, 50,000 words in 30 days. This is actually a really good method to force us writers (or wannabe writers such as myself back then :)) to write down our thoughts and ideas. With Xar & Vichattan, I didn’t actually reach NaNoWriMo’s target of 50,000 words. I think I only got something like 30,000 words. But, it was good enough as a basis to start Xar & Vichattan with.

Unfortunately that small project was left behind and forgotten until around 2009. On that year I was switching jobs, moving from one employer to the next, and I had a lot of free time on my hand. During that period, I was able to finish the first book, Takhta Cahaya (The Throne of Light in English), and thanks be to God, it got published. 

At that time I’d finished writing most of Takhta Cahaya. So the remaining work mostly consisted of editing. But then I was asked to write the second and third books. Glad though I was, the actual task was terrifying. I had ideas in my mind about what I wanted to write, but nothing was set on stone just yet. As I started writing down the ideas, every plot twist, every aspect of the stories changed. My original plans for the story meandered in every direction as I tried to finish the second book. This was even more the case with the third book–which I completed as I was recovering from meningitis. It was great that I managed to finish writing all three books. And, having read the reviews (thanks to my readers who have taken the time to provide reviews), I can say I am really pleased with the result.

Now that all three Xar & Vichattan books have been published, where should we go next on this journey? Well, to be honest, I’ve been occupied with work and other things after finishing the third book. Not to mention the effort to improve my health, which was severely damaged after I was stricken with meningitis. But even during those times I couldn’t help but think of how to expand this world of Xar & Vichattan. There are still too many stories to tell. I am currently working on a story involving the fays, which tells of some of the history behind the stories narrated in the Heirs to Light series. In the meantime…

I plan for Xar & Vichattan to reach a wider audience through Amazon Kindle. The Heirs to Light series, and yes, the English version of Ahli Waris Cahaya, will soon be available through Amazon Kindle. This is made possible with the help of my lovely translator: Eve Shi. If you would like to get in touch with her, you can contact her via Twitter at @Eve_Shi.

Unfortunately, due to some constraints in the way Amazon sells their books, people who live and register their Amazon Kindle in Indonesia, Singapore, Turkey, and Egypt will have difficulties in obtaining the books. This is really upsetting, but there are ways to work around it, which I will explain in more detail in a future post.

Finally, I would like to invite you all to join my mailing list. Through it, I will announce updates, and also promotions. Please click Here to join my mailing list.