Corat-coret Pesta Buku: Meet-the-writers session

I went to the KL International Book Fair 2010 twice - on Saturday, March 27 for a mother-son date with Huzaifah and then made a solo trip on the last day of the fair.

Alhamdulillah, managed to meet some writers while I was there.

1. Zakaria Sungib
I've been a big fan of Chicken Soup for the Soul series. So, when I heard passed by Galeri Ilmu's stall and heard the promotion about a new "100 kisah kehidupan", I grabbed a copy of "Secubit Halwa Penawar Jiwa". A quick glance through the book confirmed my hunch that, like Chicken Soup of the Soul, it's a collection of stories by ordinary people, but with an Islamic breath.

I asked for an autograph by the writer. Zakaria Sungib may not be as well known as Ustaz Hasrizal or Pahrol Mohd Juoi, (I also bought books by both of them) but he's a distant relative of mine, on Mak's side. He didn't recognize me when he asked me for my name before signing the book. I didn't actually expect him to anyway, since our meeting was very brief - he and his family were about to leave Mak's place when my family and I arrived in Kampung Tunku during Raya. Upon noticing the many kids (almost 10?), I asked Mak if she had given them any 'duit raya', and Mak replied that she had ran out of small changes, so I offered to give them some. Rushed upstairs to get the duit raya but by the time I alighted the stairs, the MPV they were in had already went out of Mak's gate. I had to run and knocked on it to make them stop. "Ni, ada duit raya sikit..." I smilingly handed over the green packet to one of his girls.
I remember that vividly because it is very rare for me (or anybody else, I think) to chase after someone to hand over some 'duit raya'. Usually, it's the kids who wouldn't leave the house until after they were given some 'duit raya', kan?

Anyway, I digressed. When I thanked Zakaria for the autograph, I mentioned Mak's name and his face immediately lighted up. Murmured something about reading Mak's blog and that he would like to discuss it further with Mak. Hah - and Mak didn't know that he, an editor for a publication company, actually reads Mak's blog and probably sees a future blook out of Mak's entries so far...

2. Sis Zabrina a.k.a Zabrina A. Bakar
When "Life is an Open Secret" was first published, I was still in Tokyo and asked Kit to get one for me. She bought two - one as a gift for me, another for herself and asked me to inform her of more such books should I come across them. Kit loves it. I do too, to my delight, since at first I only wanted to have a copy of the first book because I know Sis Zabrina (or Kak Bina as we, her juniors in school call her) personally.

I knew that she already had a meet-the-fans session during KLIBF 2010 earlier, on March 21 , and I was not aware that she was going to have a second similar session on March 27. So I was pleasantly suprised to see her at Pustaka Yamien's stall. Went to her booth. She took a look at me and confirmed that she knows me, but could not recall from where or which era of her life...

"I'm your junior from Smap Labu lah" and I told her my name.
"Oh ya!! Now, I remember... Masya Allah, when did you grow to be so tall?"
"Alah Kak Bina, I've been this tall since I was 18 - but you've last seen me when I was 14, so I supposed I had grown since then..." (both vertically and horizontally, but I digressed)

The first meeting was kept short because Huzaifah was agitated, and I had to follow after him in his quest to find "Thomas" (the Tank Engine) book. I returned to see her with a calmed down Huzaifah who by then had already gotten a sword-shaped balloon courtesy of Grolier.

Chatted for a while hah, who would have thought that I would end up having someone from her batch as my SIL and bought her second book, "Life is an Open Secret - You, Me and We" and asked for her autograph.

Her autograph include a line that said "Stay cute & cun forever"
"Only for my juniors," she almost winked as she handed the book to me.
"And do poke me on FB, okay, so that we can keep in touch..."
Ha ha ha. Yes, my senior in school can be cute like that...

3. Nazri M Annuar
I first learned about "Karipap-Karipap Cinta" from one of Nisah's entries on KLIBF 2010. Bloghopped to Dunia Vovinska and found myself attracted to sample this particular "karipap". I didn't manage to get any PTS book during my first trip to KLIBF with Huzaifah so I made it up on Sunday. My haul at PTS alone would've totaled up to more than RM200 if not for the 30% discount (I got two "PTS 10 Tahun" woven bags and two gift wrapping papers as gifts for my purchases)

As I browsed through the Novel section of the PTS booth, I saw a copy of "Karipap-Karipap Cinta" so I casually picked it up. Little did I know that it was the last copy available in the booth until I heard the announcement, "Buku "Karipap-Karipap Cinta" yang terakhir telahpun dibeli! Sudah HABIS DIJUAL!" followed by a hullabaloo of clappings and whistling and what-nots. One of the two girls near me who earlier on picked up the novel and put it back on the table asked "Eh, buku tu dah habis ke?," to which a guy in PTS uniform replied, "Dah habis lah. Hah, kan dah menyesal letak balik buku tu...". I grinned at them, mumbling "Sorry ye" to which the girls quickly replied, "Eh, takpe..."

A guy in PTS red uniform came up to me, informing me that the writer was around should I wish to have the book autographed. I nodded, walked up to the writer and asked if it would be okay with him to wait a little while until after I paid for the book(s). He nodded, almost shyly.

Turned out the writer had another 'last copy' with him - so mine was not exactly the 'last copy' of the day, still, I think the hullabaloo is kind of a good promotion for both the book and the writer. A sign of "good job!" to the writer, to keep the writer's spirit up as well as to make others who haven't gotten a copy to wonder what was all the excitement about and might motivate them to get a copy available elsewhere.

That Sunday, I wore a black 'muslimah' t-shirt with red sleeves with a pair of jeans and a matching red tudung. Having learned about Nazri's fondness for 'amoi' from his blog, I teased him about it - which resulted in me getting the word 'amoi' as part of the autograph. One day, should he become a bestseller writer like many believe he would, the book may fetch a high bid for it when it goes for auction on E-bay...

"Nanti dah habis baca, tinggalkanlah komen dekat blog..."
"Insya Allah"
Heh, I might even post an entry on the book itself...