Elyse Sewell ([info]elysesewell) wrote,
2005-12-26 00:29:00
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protection from every direction

Hey, Hong Kongers, guess what's being made into a book? No, not the millions of tiny pieces of skin I've been picking off my cuticles and saving in a jar. That's going to be more of a "vellumlike scroll," I'd say.



My blog! I've been working since August with SCMP Book Publishing to edit the crappy writing, eliminate the profanity and Americanisms, write some supplementary stuff, and select 200 never-before-blogged pictures! It's coming out on January 19th, and I'll be doing signings and readings around Hong Kong, so if you ever wanted to meet my skinny ass, now's your chance!

It's going to be cool- I'm pretty excited to see the finished product. Golly, working for a real live publisher sure is different from Livejournaling, y'all, but it was awesome getting to learn about how a book is made. I had an editor who confirmed my deepest fear a couple of times ("Elyse, that sentence doesn't make sense to anyone but you!"), and translated the whole thing into British English, the extraneous "l"s and "u"s rendering the manuscript all but incomprehensible to American old me. Remember that LJ entry where I saw the invigilator from my Maths exam standing on the kerb, wearing a poloneck and eating a mollusc? Yeah, that part reads completely differently in the book version.

Right now, my manuscript is in the hands of a designer who's preparing the final layout. Almost all of the decisions about the books appearance were up to her. We disagreed a few times about the first couple of page layouts she created (fuchsia drawings of fish and television sets splattered all over the text? I vetoed), but the cover design and the packaging are dope and I get to approve the page layouts next week. Then printing! Then bookstores! Then the eventual replacement of the Gideon Bible in hotel rooms worldwide with copies of Beauty and the Biz: The International Adventures of America's Third-to-Next Top Model.

So save your red pocket money- if you decide to take the plunge, this bad boy will cost you HK$143.

Sorry, non-Hong Kongers who might be interested, but the book will only be sold in HK.



Belatedly, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!










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[info]zetai

December 25 2005, 16:43:29 UTC 6 years ago

So that's what's been keeping you busy

Some might have guessed an orgy of sherm consumption instead.

Eliminate the profanity? That must have taken weeks and half broken your heart in the process, not to mention halving the length of the text. But at least your book tour won't be all that fatiguing, and you must be chuffed to reach a whole new audience.

[info]spin_the_blade

December 25 2005, 17:15:06 UTC 6 years ago

Re: So that's what's been keeping you busy

HAHAHAHAHA

...sherm

[info]zetai

6 years ago

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[info]stevejosephson

6 years ago

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[info]zetai

6 years ago

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[info]stevejosephson

6 years ago

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[info]astred

6 years ago

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[info]stevejosephson

6 years ago

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[info]elysesewell

6 years ago

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[info]zetai

6 years ago

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[info]stevejosephson

6 years ago

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...and 2 more comments... from Anonymous, [info]wabbit Expand

[info]nicnuxx

December 25 2005, 16:47:58 UTC 6 years ago

O RLY?

merry xmas elyse!
congrats on your book deal... i think that is every lj-ers fantasy...being paid to blog! good on you. you are one of my favorite lj users.
the only thing you need is an elyse santa hat icon saying ORLY.

[info]spin_dizzy_r0ck

December 25 2005, 16:48:40 UTC 6 years ago

That's pretty amazing, what brought up the idea?

[info]the_ma

December 25 2005, 16:51:32 UTC 6 years ago

Merry Christmas, lovely. Missing you today.

Anonymous

December 31 2005, 22:26:05 UTC 6 years ago

Your family?

You rock Elyse! Can you tell us something anything about your family and your upbringing?

[info]ponyboy

December 25 2005, 16:57:41 UTC 6 years ago

I actually mentioned to a friend that I thought your blog would make a great magazine or publication of some sort! This is a great idea, and I will certainly buy a copy! :)

[info]point5

December 25 2005, 17:03:12 UTC 6 years ago

oh thats great! you write exactly the way i want to read. too bad its hong kong only. seems like it could be enlightening to people outside of hong kong.

[info]daysgososlow

December 25 2005, 17:03:40 UTC 6 years ago

that's really awesome! congrats!
did someone approach you or was this your idea?

[info]elysesewell

December 25 2005, 17:30:43 UTC 6 years ago

They approached me, citing the number of comments on each LJ entry as a reason the book would sell.

[info]elysesewell

6 years ago

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[info]buwuzhengye

December 25 2005, 17:05:42 UTC 6 years ago

But it will be available in KL no?

[info]elysesewell

December 25 2005, 17:26:15 UTC 6 years ago

Ah, I meant Kowloon, not Kuala Lumpur.

Anonymous

6 years ago

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[info]scottbateman

December 25 2005, 17:10:07 UTC 6 years ago

Oooh, congrats on the book! Wish we could see it here in New York!

Why, with the Santa decorations, are there always two symmetrically-placed Santa heads?

[info]elysesewell

December 25 2005, 17:25:23 UTC 6 years ago

Scroll to the end of this entry for more on the Santa heads. Santa symmetry has a certain appeal, doesn't it?

[info]scottbateman

6 years ago

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[info]btexpress

6 years ago

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Anonymous

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[info]elysesewell

6 years ago

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[info]ccheung5

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[info]sixyearholiday

December 25 2005, 17:25:40 UTC 6 years ago

Merry Christmas Elyse,
Your blog is one of the funniest things on the internet. I hope your book deal does well, it's too bad it won't be sold here in the U.S. I'd buy one in an instnat.

Happy New Year
-Alicia

[info]rhiahnnon

December 25 2005, 17:43:24 UTC 6 years ago

Now that is awesome!!

Except for the fact that there's no way that I'll be in HK any time soon.. *sigh :(

Well maybe someday it'll come out on this side of the pond (hopefully)..I'd love to see it

[info]binah1013

December 25 2005, 17:43:27 UTC 6 years ago

Congratulations, Elyse! I'd buy a copy if I could.

Anonymous

December 25 2005, 17:56:11 UTC 6 years ago

i must buy it

hi elyse.I promise i must buy that bk.
u know i live in HK too but sadly i hvnt met u before...>.

[info]nonsensical_fae

December 25 2005, 17:51:39 UTC 6 years ago

cool! i wish i was in hk so i could meet you.

[info]cycchow

December 25 2005, 17:57:18 UTC 6 years ago

hope to see your work soon! Moreover, I saw your poster all over the china! It's great!

[info]uspinmeround

December 25 2005, 18:03:46 UTC 6 years ago

Finally! Everyone and their brother and sister on LJ always says they're gonna do it, but you actually ARE - yay!

[info]kikirica

December 25 2005, 18:17:19 UTC 6 years ago

questions questions

i know that all of your work is pretty much done in HK, but i don't know why? is that where you get more job offers? and how much is that in U.S. money?

Anonymous

December 28 2005, 03:13:36 UTC 6 years ago

Re: questions questions

that's about 20$US i think

[info]puredawn

December 25 2005, 18:20:08 UTC 6 years ago

That's amazing, Elyse! Congrats!

That's my ultimate dream, actually. To be a published author. Though I have been published three times (for winning poetry competitions) it's nowhere near my dream of having a novel out. So again, all my best and congrats to you!

[info]come__closer

December 25 2005, 18:22:17 UTC 6 years ago

That's so awesome!
Merry Christmas!

Anonymous

December 25 2005, 18:23:23 UTC 6 years ago

British and American English?

Some of that proofreading must have rubbed off on you - I see it's now Maths, and not Math?

[info]elysesewell

December 26 2005, 08:22:03 UTC 6 years ago

Re: British and American English?

All of the words in that sentence are British; Americans would say proctor, Math, curb, turtleneck, and mollusk. It was a joke.

[info]zetai

6 years ago

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[info]boggybri

6 years ago

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[info]zerographic

December 25 2005, 18:26:41 UTC 6 years ago

Not available in the US? :( *woe* Maybe some nice HKers will Ebay it ;)

[info]chairmanchico

December 25 2005, 18:27:30 UTC 6 years ago

No offense, Elyse, but I might as well just wait until it hits eBay.

[info]onthebandwagon

December 25 2005, 18:34:18 UTC 6 years ago

i'd pay someone in hong kong to send me a copy!

Anonymous

December 27 2005, 18:55:36 UTC 6 years ago

I'd like a copy

Seriously - if there's someone on here from HK willing to ship it out, I'll cough up the cash.

[info]save

December 25 2005, 18:49:33 UTC 6 years ago

Girl, is it held together with your spit and blood? Because I am not shelling out 143 units of any currency for a book.

[info]zetai

December 25 2005, 20:13:45 UTC 6 years ago

I would

I'd gladly pay 143 Italian or Turkish lira or Mexican old pesos for such a fascinating tome. I might even pay as much as 150 for an autographed copy.

[info]elysesewell

6 years ago

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[info]jinra

6 years ago

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[info]moroccomole

December 25 2005, 18:50:15 UTC 6 years ago

At our big Christmas party last night, people kept picking up the box of Feel Envy and saying, "Ooo, is this the Elyse chocolate?" Merry Happy.

Anonymous

January 5 2006, 23:34:31 UTC 6 years ago

I masturbated to pictures of Elyse last night.

Anonymous

December 25 2005, 18:57:59 UTC 6 years ago

your book- Enterprising HK-ers

congrats Elyse. In this age of ebay and Amazon, I am sure that your fans all over the world will be able to buy it. Enterprising HK-ers -here's a good business opportunity!
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