Movies/ Entertainment, Time Heals What Love And Reason Cannot, writing

Letters to Juliet

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Cleffairy needs a little bit of a breather, and so, nothing serious from me today, folks. But instead, I want to share a movie trailer with all of you. I’ve watched this trailer more than 10 times, and definitely anticipating this summer romance movie, starring Amanda Seyfield. Yes, she’s the same actress who played Sophie in Mama Mia.

Letters to Juliet will be in Cinema in May 2010. So don’t go around looking for the movie just yet.

Letters to Juliet is about a young American, Sophie who travels to Verona, Italy – the city of love and home of star-crossed lovers Romeo & Juliet. There, she meets a group of volunteers who responds to letters written to Juliet seeking advice about love. After answering one lost, 50-year-old letter, she inspires its author to travel to Italy and embark on a journey to search for her long-lost love.

This sets off a chain of events that brings a love into both their lives unlike anything they ever imagined, and gives Sophie the courage to discover herself and follow her heart.

I was really impressed with the trailer, though I felt that they revealed too much in the trailer and the trailer itself tells the entire story. However,being a hopeless romantic with a mush for brain, I anticipate this movie nevertheless. Have a look at the trailer while I goes *poof* and starts writing on my script again for Script Frenzy 2010.


Cleffairy: Some movies will inspire you, while a great others will bore you. This one definitely inspire me. It tells me to appreciate what I have around me and live life to the fullest. It also taught me how important it is to do what your heart tells you to do.

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A Penny For Your Thoughts, Down The Memory Lane, Time Heals What Love And Reason Cannot, writing

Do you remember who was your first?

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Do you remember who was your first? I am not sure if any of you out remembered who was your first. But I do. I remembered the first few people who dropped by my blog and gave me comments when I just started blogging.

When I first started, I never did expect anyone to even read my ranting and raving about Malaysian politic back then in Pak Lah’s not so glorious and sleepy era. I never did intend anyone to read my writing even, but people did, and back then, I was really, really surprised that they actually stumbled upon my blog and were actually hooked on it.

My first commenter was Warrior…the second one was Malaysianjoe, the third was Calvin of Calvinsoo Photography, a blogger turned photographer. Most of them are not active bloggers anymore, and somehow, I missed the good old times with them where we could discuss and debate about the happenings in Malaysia. I enjoyed their presence in my blog so much, as they made my brain twist and turn, and despite of being obscene and disgusting and plain chauvinistic at times, I enjoyed the intellectual discussion that I shared with them back then.

More often than not, we were hardly in agreement with each other on certain issues, but at the end of the day, it was pretty satisfying, because they gave honest opinion and never did hold grudge against each other, and keeps coming back for more. It was pretty refreshing. And they were never the ‘touch and go kind’.

There  were loads of comments from them for just one article every day. Such thing hardly happen anymore. These days, some people just leave their comments just so that their existence is known in hope that they will get traffic from there. Such thing doesn’t happen only in my blog I believe. It happens to almost everyone out there.

And then Pete came along.. Yes… Pete, the foodie blogger who is the only one who is still active among the four, and he introduced to me to the world of food blogging, and there starts my nightmare.

I have come to learn not to blog hop with empty stomach ever again since he came into my life. He never failed to tempt me with his home-cook dishes and made me laugh at his ‘American Friend’ jokes. That was when I was introduced to the fun side of blogging. I never did actually hang out in blogs that revolves around family, food or even diary-like blogs until Pete came along. In truth, I never really did knew that they even exists in the first place. I used to think that blogging is about expressing opinion on current issues not diaries or something of that sort.

As time goes by, more and more people came to my blog and left their trace in my blog, and the conversation in my comment box were not as intense. They are much more lighter, not serious, and perhaps it’s because I’ve really tone down a lot; for I no longer write about politics and current issues on daily basis.

Sometimes, what I wrote was merely for the reading pleasures of my readers, and I came to wonder if toning down is really worth it? Cuz somehow…intellectual discussion became very rare, and some readers could not really stomach honest opinion and gets sensitive rather easily, and some only likes beautiful things instead of ugly truth.

Things really do change, I guess. I’ve come a long way in blogging that sometimes, I am forced to reflect, and sometimes, laugh over certain matters that makes me a wiser person in whole.

Cleffairy: It is interesting to note that my first few readers were all man, and they came here, completely armed with opinions and suggestions.

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Advertorial, Event coverage, Giveaways/freebies, IT/ Computing, writing

Staying connected is just clicks away with iTalk Whoa

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Remember my previous entry where I mentioned I had a blast in iTalk Whoa launching party? Some of you asked me what is iTalk Whoa.

So what’s iTalk Whoa? Elementary my dear readers, iTalk Whoa is a Unified Messaging and Convergence platform providing single-point-access to Messaging & Collaboration systems.

In other words, iTalk Whoa provides a service that would enables you to synchronize your numerous email accounts as well as social networking sites to enable it to connect, communicate and collaborate with your families and friends in just one web portal.

WHOA! That would mean by using iTalk whoa, you get to do many things in just one web portal. It’s great isn’t it? Talk about Internet revolution. By using iTalk Whoa, you can email, SMS, make calls, connect with instant messaging and even read your favorite news through just one portal. Yes, JUST ONE PORTAL.

Sounds too good to be true? Well, believe it, because it’s true and made possible by iTalk Whoa. Staying connected with the world is just clicks away with iTalk Whoa. Efficiency at it’s best, and this product is suitable for those who are always on the go as well as lovebirds who are kept apart geographically.

Basically, iTalk Whoa! is made of:

♥Webmail

♥Push eMail

♥Calendar & Task Organizer

♥Instant Messaging (IM)

♥Voice Call

♥Web SMS

♥Synchronization

♥Social Networking Streams

♥Security

As of late, I’ve been given an opportunity to test the product before it’s launching. I’ve been given an iTalk card and so, I went ahead to their website and use the prepaid card to test the functions, etc. And  must say that it’s quite convenient to use. Please allow me to elaborate.

Webmail

Their webmail is a standards-based webmail server which enable different emails accounts to be viewed in one portal. To make long story short, iTalk Whoa is integrates with major webmail services such as MSN, Yahoo! as well as Gmail. It is also integrated with standard compliant corporate email servers. Sounds complicated? Well, it’s not. Actually, iTalk Whoa email service is some sort of email client software, like Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird. It it is capable of fetching your emails from your Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Live/Hotmail and other email services so that you can read your emails from different accounts from iTalk Whoa email.

It also provide real-time true push of emails & attachments, so you don’t have to worry about your emails being delayed or bounced back. It also works with IMAP, POP3, Exchange Servers and other standard protocols. Their RSS allows  the users to have a quick update on current news and entertainments as well.

Push Email

Another convenient thing about iTalk Whoa is that it enables enable emails to be pushed to your mobile. Everything is a real-time true push of emails & attachments, and the great thing about this that it works well with any mobile device without the need of a local client.

Calender and Task Organizer.

For those who are familiar with Google calendar will definitely be pleased to find that iTalk Whoa also enables you to organize your dates, appointments and whatnot. So… for those forgetful and empty headed men and women out there, go ahead and organize yourself with iTalk Whoa Calender and Task Organizer. With iTalk Calender and task Organizer, one should have no fear of being late for an appointment, a romantic date or even your own wedding anymore. Brides rejoice, no more late grooms making you stand at the altar, and you can now take your vows on time.

Instant Messaging (IM)

I have loads of IM accounts. I’ve been using Yahoo Messenger, Gtalk, as well as MSN Messenger, and I found that it’s annoying to login all of these accounts altogether to chat with my buddies online, as login in too many messenger all at once would make my PC lag. 🙁 So all these while, I’ve been using Pidgin to login all of my account and just use Pidgin to chat with my buddies who are using different kind of messenger.

iTalk Whoa IM is something like Pidgin messenger. All you need to do is just insert the login info of your various messenger and whoa, you get to just login one messenger to chat and yak non-stop with your buddies on different messengers. This is definitely better than logging into all of your messenger simultaneously. Admit it… it can get kinda confusing when you attempt to chat on your MSN, YM or even Gtalk simultaneously. With iTalk Whoa, you never have to fear sending wrong, embarrassing message to people whom you don’t intend to send the message to. Gosh, imagine sending “My boss is a complete bimbotic fool! I wish I can slap his face” to your boss when the message is originally intended to be sent to your BFF! Say no to those awkward situation anymore. Use iTalk Whoa instead!

Voice Call

Cyber lovers, and those who are in long distance relationship, iTalk Whoa is definitely for you. If you’re feeling lovesick and miss your darling who is oceans away, those sweet nothings and sexy whispers is just a few clicks away with iTalk Whoa. I did mentioned in my previous entries that I’m not quite a believer of a long distance relationship, right? Well, I still don’t believe it. Because I like physical affection. But with iTalk Whoa, perhaps long distance relationship might just work, as iTalk Whoa enables the users to communicate from PC to phone like Skype. You may ask me why use iTalk Whoa when you can use Skype. Well… iTalk Whoa gives you a lower rate. That’s why. That’s reason enough to use iTalk Whoa.

Web SMS

It is also interesting to note that iTalk also enables the users to send sms from it’s web portal. Convenient, isn’t it? Instead of typing on your mobile phone’s small keypad, you can just type your SMS directly from your keyboard and send your message to the number of your choice. It can be a local mobile, international mobile or even fixed line mobile.

Synchronization

iTalk Whoa also provides synchronization of data between desktop applications, mobile devices and vice-versa. The synchronization includes emails, contacts, calendar, notes, to-do lists as well as messages.

Social Networking Streams

Have no fear, facebook and twitter lovers. iTalk Whoa never forgets you. iTalk Whoa is integrated with most famous business and social networking services. You can point your various social networking site by using iTalk Whoa interface.

Security

Kindly note that iTalk Whoa is aimed for Windows users. I’ve tried to use other Operating System with other browsers besides Internet Explorer to test iTalk Whoa, but to no avail. It doesn’t work with browsers other than Internet Explorer, I’m afraid. I’m not quite sure why, cuz this stuff is supposed to be portal based and all web browsers should be able to access the iTalk website.  Couldn’t access the website with MAC OS either.

Anyway, my PC is a dual-boot PC, so when I couldn’t access the iTalk website from my Ubuntu by using my Mozilla Firefox, I booted up my Windows to test it with Internet Explorer, and it seems to be fine. I have fear for viruses and trojans. Paranoid of them, actually, but security wise, iTalk is safe. It provides:

* Digital Certificates for establishing Network connection using Secure Sockets

* Layer (SSL) Protocol with end-point security management

* Stored data accessible by all users within or across security domains

* Full anti-virus, anti-spam controls

iTalk Whoa also supports:

* AES encryption

* Application Certificates

* Active Directory & Group Policy with role-based administration

* Secure / Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) encryption

Whoa… iTalk Whoa certainly have a lot of things to offer, isn’t it? I’ve tried it, and it made me say ‘Whoa’, all because of their all in one communication concept. With iTalk Whoa, staying connected is just clicks away, so what are you waiting for? CLICK HERE to go to the iTalk Whoa website and I believe you’ll say WHOA too!

Cleffairy: Please note that to use iTalk Whoa… you’ll need IE6. It doesn’t work with other browser.

ITalk Whoa is a Unified Messaging and Convergence platform providing single-point-access to Messaging & Collaboration systems. iTalk Whoa provides and interface that enables users to synchronize all the email accounts, social networking sites to enable them to connect, communicate and collaborate with their families and friends.

You can email, SMS, make calls, connect with instant messaging and even read your favorite news through just one portal.

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A Penny For Your Thoughts, Fairy's Tale, writing

My publishing misery: Royal Masquerade

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Those who have been reading my blog would notice that as of late, I’ve been using the word ‘Masquerade’ terribly a lot in my blog. One might wonder what has gotten into Cleffairy that it made her somewhat masquerade fetish.

The truth is that Cleffairy didn’t contract a fetish for masquerade parties, but that is the title of Cleffairy’s latest book, entitled ‘Royal Masquerade’.

You may realized that as of late, I’ve been rather occupied and did not blog hop as often as before. Not so disturbing and not as noisy as before. All for a reason. It was because I’ve been terribly busy with the publishing process of my novel, Royal Masquerade. I’m telling you, publishing business is dirty, and damn tiring. It’s amazing that I could even take a breather out of it.

And after a long while, I finally received my proof copy of the book for my final inspection before publication. I might release it for publication somewhere in May 2010, and would be available in US and internationally. However, I have chosen not to make it available in Malaysian bookstores for various reasons. Privacy and a low profile life is one of the reason. :D  Plus, Malaysian publishers and agents are just soooooooooo cocky. 🙁 Got so fed up, and they give me a real headache and high blood pressure. I’m afraid I don’t have much patience with them anymore.

It’s a print on demand book. 😀 And since I have been torturing people with the word lately, I might as well let you folks have a glimpse on my latest novel. Do note that this is not a final product. The novel in the picture below is my own personal copy, and it is definitely not for sale. Feedbacks are most welcome and needed.

I received this a couple of days ago. It’s something that I have been waiting for since last month.

The parcel contains this…my novel… Royal Masquerade.

Nope… it’s not a hoax. The novel is real. Yes, that would mean those characters are real. They’re alive, inside my book. Astrea and Narcissus…they are both my creation.

😛 Check it out, check it out.

Anyway, this is just a short entry. I want to thank everyone who makes this happen. Thank you God, and those who encouraged me from beginning til the very end. Thank you so much. I feel so blessed.

Cleffairy: I’m now working on another novel. 😛

Quote from Royal Masquerade: Beyond lovers, they were rulers, born to protect their kingdoms. How to protect it from so far away? How to sleep with that knowledge?

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Fairy's Tale, Giveaways/freebies, writing

Masquerade@Irenelim Fashion ep.2

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This is the continuation of the previous story. Click HERE to read it.

And so, with the help of Astrea’s guardian cat and the beautiful good witch, the fairy princess finally made up her mind to choose the Rosette Neckline Silky Dress With Waist Tie from Irenelim Fashion online boutique after pondering on which dress she should wear to the masquerade.

Earlier on, she didn’t really know which dress she should choose, but in the end, a sense of deja vu washed through her when she saw that dress. It’s actually the same dress she wore back then when she was in her own realm. It was not sexy…it’s just plain and demure, almost fairy-like.

The dress she chose features an organza overlay embellished with an exquisite neckline topped with rosettes. Romantic and innocent. It was just like the dress that she have worn when she first met the devil king in the times before her memories were erased by the evil sorceress. Something just tugged to her heart to get that dress, despite the fact that other dresser are much more sexier would get more attention from the crowds.

The dress was delivered to her just before the masquerade, and without further ado, she puts on the dress that came from Irenelim Fashion, and rushed to the masquerade.

Unlike Cinderella, Astrea were not late to the masquerade. In fact, she was punctual, and there was a crowd of horny ladies with sexy, revealing dresses who lusts after Narcissus, the one whose heart actually belongs to her.

After five minutes being in the masquerade, Astrea felt uncomfortable with the snickering around her. The people who were attending the masquerade said she was too plain, and a girl like her shouldn’t be attending such a posh event hosted by one of the town’s most eligible bachelor.

Narcissus who was in his human form, on the other hand, were completely bored with the mortals’ antics and wondered to himself why humans are so lusty and vain. For a the briefest moment, he contemplate on destroying the humans who attended the masquerade. It was completely an eyesore for him to see the mortals antics.

Then he caught a glimpse of something familiar. A petite figure that stood in front of a door, contemplating to leave and she resembles his fairy princess. His heart skipped a few beat before restarting with a resounding thud. That’s her! That’s Astrea, the love of his life, his Queen, the one who vowed to love him til her soul is no more and she was about to walk away from him before he could even have the chance to get close to her. He couldn’t be wrong. He could recognize her anywhere, despite the fact that she hid her face beneath the masquerade mask.

Alarmed, Narcissus made way towards her in order to stop her from leaving the mansion, but much to his chagrin, the mortals who were attending the masquerade began to flock him, thinking that they will have a chance with him as long as they danced with him.

Feeling insufficient and self conscious, Astrea turn around to leave, but the good witch appeared out of nowhere and stopped her from leaving. The good witch told her that she would regret if she leave, and that the love that she craved for all this while is just a few steps away.

Astrea laughed, almost mirthlessly at the witch’s words. She told the witch bitterly that nobody would ever want a plain girl like her. Finally escaping the mortals, Narcissus finally managed to get to where she was standing, just in time to hear the conversation between Astrea and the beautiful witch.

“You could never be plain, princess…” Narcissus said as he held a single stalk of rose in his hands and offered it to her.

“Would you honour me with a dance?” he then asked her, bewitching her completely. Absent- mindedly, as if under an enchantment, she agreed, earning gasps of disbelief from the people around her. Envious whispers were on air, but both of them take no heed of it.

They dance the night away in each other’s arms, never wanting the night to be over and wishing that time could just stop for both of them.

The witch who was present at all time watched thoughtfully, hoping hard that they would end up together.

So… ladies and gentlemen… did they end up together? Did Astrea’s memories return to her and did Narcissus managed to win her heart all over again? Only time will tell, but for what it’s worth, thanks to the efficiency of Irenelim Fashion online boutique’s crew, the fairy princess managed to go to the masquerade without hassle. You might want to check them out… who knows you’ll get yourself a magical time of your life with a little bit of their help?

Cleffairy: This is just a teaser. In the real Royal Masquerade, Narcissus never did pursue Astrea that way; by hosting a masquerade. He hired her as a live in nurse instead, and they were already in a relationship when they attended a masquerade. Do note that this is not a paid post, but rather a creative review of Irenelim Fashion products and service. Kindly head over to their webbie to find out more about them.

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Fairy's Tale, Giveaways/freebies, writing

Masquerade@Irenelim Fashion

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Not so long ago, in a place not so far away, there lived a fairy princess. Her name was Astrea. She fell in love with someone she’s not supposed to…A Devil King by the name of Narcissus. Their love was forbidden, and they were not supposed to be together. Yet, they went against the law of their kingdoms and gets married anyway.

The evil sorceress who was supposed to be Narcissus’s betrothed was infuriated, and she casts a spell on the beautiful fairy princess on their wedding night. She was condemned to forget him for all eternity and she was sent to Earth to live the life of a mortal young woman.

Unwilling to let go of her, Narcissus swore to break the spell and followed her to Earth to reclaim her all over again. Years pass by, and try as he might, he couldn’t find her, and so, he decided to host a masquerade and invite every single ladies to it, hoping that his beloved would somehow appear in the masquerade.

The fairy princess happened to find out about the masquerade that the Devil King was hosting, and she was completely intrigue by it, and so, she wander the street, slightly lost, as she doesn’t have anything suitable to wear.

And as Astrea absent-mindedly walk on the street, she bumped into a witch. This witch is a modern witch who happens to work for an online boutique known as Irenelim Fashion. Seeing the princess’s troubled expression, the witch asked the princess what’s bothering her, and so, the princess told the kind witch that she wanted to attend the masquerade that will be held soon, but she have nothing suitable to wear, and it’s unlikely that she’ll be able to attend it as she’s completely broke.

The witch then cackled with joyful laughter and told the princess that she bumped into the right person, cuz Irenelim Fashion is having a campaign that’s known as the Witch Project, and if goes to the witch’s website, she’ll get further instruction from there on how to get a free dress from Irenelim Fashion.

And so, the princess went to check out Irenelim Fashion’s website as advised by the kind, beautiful witch, and she was completely in awe that the online boutique spoils the buyers with choice. Irenelim is an online boutique that sells many beautiful clothing fit for a princess.

The princess didn’t know which dress to choose for herself to attend the masquerade. Should she choose this?

This

Or

This?

The princess didn’t know, as all of the dresses are beautiful, and she’s completely amazed that they’re all at an affordable price as well.

Ah, yes… ladies and gentlemen, the princess did not know which dress should she choose for herself. Should she choose something sexy? Or something sweet? Will she get the perfect dress for the masquerade? Will her beloved recognize her in her dazzling dress as she hid her face beneath a mask? Will they be reunited again?

Stay tune to find out which dress the princess will choose and if she finally gets her happily ever after in the next installment of Masquerade@Irenelim Fashion.

Cleffairy: The teaser above is loosely based on my latest novel, A Royal Masquerade that will be available for purchase soon in the US. I’ll be blogging about it soon, but for now, kindly check out Irenelim Fashion, and find your own little magic over there. 😀

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A Penny For Your Thoughts, Cleffy's Pillow Talk, Down The Memory Lane, Fairy's Tale, Time Heals What Love And Reason Cannot, writing

Someone bought me a thong!

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I don’t intend to write something like this. No…never. It’s not like me to write something like this. But I can no longer keep it a secret. What secret? Well, someone bought me a thong!

Very cute dangling thing with thin brown straps and angel and birds on it. Gosh…  I simply love it. I’m gonna use it over, and over again. It is just, so, so sexy. My very first thong. I never had any thongs before. This is the first time I laid my eyes on a thong. Just looking at my new thong makes me feel so loved and appreciated. It makes me feel like a very sexy woman.

I’m not gonna tell you who bought me the thong. That particular someone wants to be anonymous. After all, thongs are very personal gifts, are they not? Gosh… I never expected anyone to give me a thong as a gift. This is a first for me. My very first time ever receiving such a personal gift, and I am so happy.

This special someone is just like the angel on my thong. Knew exactly what I’ll appreciate and treasure. Knew my desire, and my needs, and therefore, gave me a thong with thin straps for me to use to my heart content. The fact that the thong is handmade makes this present more special.

Do you guys wanna see the thong I mention? Scroll down to have a look at it. It is just sexy!

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Here it is…

LOL…

No.. it is not undies… lol…it’s a thong… a book thong. Do you know what a book thong is? LOL… I didn’t at first. I thought it’s some sort of undies to be worn to cover your ahemm… private parts to seduce someone or to make yourself feel arousingly sexy.

A book thong is a piece of beautifully crafted bookmark used to mark your book page with style. It’s just like a piece of jewelry for books. Book Thongs never scar the page, never fall out, and snugly hold your last line. They make a stack of books sparkle with beauty. Isn’t it just sexy? LOL…I think it’s sexy. It takes my breath away. And I love it! LOL…

The thong is a perfect gift for an avid reader like me. Thank you very, very much O my darling angel. I really feel sexy and appreciated. 😀 I’ll be sure to use this dangling sexy thing whenever I read my sexy books. I’m sure it’ll bring a new height to my reading. LMAO…


Cleffairy: Naughty fairy is back. 😛

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A Penny For Your Thoughts, Down The Memory Lane, E-books giveaways, Giveaways/freebies, Movies/ Entertainment, writing

Cecilia Ahern Books Review & Ebooks Giveaways

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As of late, smallkucing and Manglish have been taunting me to the max. One keep tempting me to go to Book Access and get some books for myself to read while another keep tempting me to indulge myself with some ‘ficathon’.

I didn’t go to Book Access to get some books for myself of course, as I’ve been rather busy lately. Even taking a breather seems to be a luxury these days, especially when I am in a frenzy as well.

However, I did manage to find time to go into some ficathon, despite of struggling to write scripts for Script Frenzy so I guess, Manglish’s little campaign is accomplished, after all. 😀 He managed to get me reading some Chic Lit by Cecelia Ahern.

Sounds familiar? Cecelia Ahern is the author of P.S I Love you and many more worth reading books. Most of her books are touching, and she’s one author that I’d love to hate. Her books are very touching, and never fails to make people cry and appreciate life.

Here, I’d like to share her books in ebooks form with all of you. Kindly email  at  admin@cleff.bia.garf.us to request for it. I would try to send to you as soon as I can get back to you. 😀

P.S I Love You

Holly and Gerry had the perfect life. Happily married, living in Dublin close to their friends and family, and with a brilliant social life, they had the world at their feet. Or so they thought. When Gerry dies, Holly is devastated. On the eve of her 30th birthday, the man who was her lover, her best friend, her rock, has left her. But Gerry promised he’d always be there for Holly. And he is: his last bequest to her is The List, a bundle of notes which form a monthly mission for Holly to get her life back on track.

As the notes are gradually opened, and as the year unfolds, Holly is both cheered up and challenged. The man who knows Holly better than anyone sets out to teach her that life goes on. With some help from her friends, and her noisy and loving family, Holly finds herself laughing, crying, singing, dancing — and being braver than ever before. Life is for living, she realizes — but it always helps if there’s an angel watching over you. Charming, heartfelt and funny, this debut novel celebrates life, love and friendship and proves that true love never dies.

Where Rainbows End

From naughty children to rebellious teenagers and mixed-up twenty- and thirty-somethings, Rosie and Alex have stuck by each other through thick and thin, even when Alex moved across the Atlantic to Boston and Rosie fell pregnant as a teenager. Alex supports Rosie through one of the most difficult times of her life — a time when she should be out partying and going to university but is instead changing nappies and coping with a screaming baby.

In return, Rosie is there for Alex when he struggles through his medical internship and copes with a messy divorce. Throughout the ups and downs of each other’s lives, they have remained a constant, a shoulder to cry on, someone to laugh and share their innermost feelings with.But can their friendship survive the years and the miles and, more critically, when they each marry someone else?

If You Could See Me Now ( A Silver Lining)

Elizabeth’s life is an organized mess. The organized part is all due to her own efforts. The mess is entirely due to her sister,Saoirse, whose personal problems leave Elizabeth scrambling to pick up the pieces. One of these pieces is Saoirse’s six-year-old son, Luke. Luke is quiet and contemplative, until the arrival of a new friend, Ivan, turns him into an outgoing, lively kid. And Elizabeth’s life is about to change in wonderful ways she has only dreamed of.

Thanks For The Memories

Joyce Conway leaves hospital after recovering from a terrible accident. Having faced a near-death experience, she is suddenly awakened to the stark reality of her futile marriage, and vows to start afresh — separating from husband Conor and moving back in with her dad. Justin Hitchcock arrives in Dublin to give a guest lecture. Recently divorced and living near his daughter Bea, but far from his Chicago home, he’s lonely and restless. When beautiful doctor Sarah persuades him to give blood, he nonchalantly accepts, hoping he’ll at least get a date with her. Then one rainy evening, Joyce and Justin cross paths in the strangest of circumstances.

The Gift

Everyday Lou Suffern battled with the clock. He always had two places to be at the same time. He always had two things to do at once. When asleep he dreamed. In between dreams, he ran through the events of the day while making plans for the next. When at home with his wife and family, his mind was always someplace else.

On his way into work one early winter morning, Lou meets Gabe, a homeless man sitting outside the office building. Intrigued by him and on discovering that he could also be very useful to have around, Lou gets Gabe a job in the post room.

But soon Lou begins to regret helping Gabe. His very presence unsettles Lou and how does Gabe appear to be in two places at the same time? As Christmas draws closer, Lou starts to understand the value of time. He sees what is truly important in life yet at the same time he learns the harshest lesson of all.

This is a story about people who not unlike parcels, hide secrets. They cover themselves in layers until the right person unwraps them and discovers what’s inside.Sometimes you have to be unraveled in order to find out who you really are. For LouSuffern, that took time

The Book of Tomorrow

Tamara Goodwin has always got everything she’s ever wanted. Born into a family of wealth, she grew up in a mansion with its own private beach, a wardrobe full of designer clothes, a large four poster bed complete with a luxurious bathroom en-suite. She’s always lived in the here and now, never giving a second thought to tomorrow. But then suddenly her dad is gone and life for Tamara and her mother changes forever. Left with a mountain of debt, they have no choice but to sell everything they own and move to the country to live with Tamara’s Uncle and Aunt.

Nestled next to Kilsaney Castle, their gatehouse is a world away from Tamara’s childhood. With her mother shut away with grief, and her aunt busy tending to her, Tamara is lonely and bored and longs to return to Dublin. When a travelling library passes throughKilsaney Demesne, Tamara is intrigued. She needs a distraction. Her eyes rest on a mysterious large leather bound tome locked with a gold clasp and padlock. With some help, Tamara finally manages to open the book. What she discovers within the pages takes her breath away and shakes her world to its core.


Cleffairy: Reading is an adventure. 😀

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A Penny For Your Thoughts, writing

Malaysian Men=Virile?

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If you’ve been reading enough Harlequin Presents as well as Mills& Boon romance craps lately, you would realize that people in the West actually thought that our men… Malaysian men are virile and romantic, oozing with sex appeal, and Malaysia is an ideal place for an exotic, sexy getaway where passion and romance is absolutely guaranteed.

You know, kisses under the sun. Seduction on a secluded private beach and bittersweet reunion in KLIA and whatnot.

Most of you may not know this, but apart from Italy, Middle East,Greek and Sicily, Malaysia have been quite a favourite setting for many romance books and e-books alike.

I am not quite sure why people in the West thought that Malaysia is an ideal place for a romantic seduction and a place for those who covet happily ever after and passion in and outside of their bedroom, because in truth…Malaysia is quite a conservative country to even begin with.

You kiss on the street, and you’ll either find yourself for  charged for committing a close proximity or you’d be fined for it.

I also don’t understand why they filled their heads with the illusion that Malaysian men are romantic to the max as well. As far as I’m concern… men, Malaysian men in general are not romantic. They have… ahemm… difficulties expressing themselves, and most… are very chauvinistic. Don’t you agree with me, ladies? Malaysian men are like that, are they not?

They’re very reserved in comparison of their Western counterparts, and they tend to take things for granted too. Seduction only came during the courting stage, and not after marriage. They forget birthdays, anniversaries, and cares for nothing but themselves…especially those who came from a very typical Asian family.

More often than not, they claim that action speaks louder than words. I wonder if these men knows that sometimes, the ladies wants to be assured verbally and physically as well?

It is very rare to find men who are passionate and romantic in Malaysia. Gifts and token of appreciation are hard to come by. Unless they want something from the ladies… romance is as good as dead.

I am not quite sure why foreign authors painted Malaysian men as virile as well. In Harlequin Presents, especially, Malaysian men are painted as dark, brooding, handsome and a bomb in bed. Their erections are often described as long, and hard as well as thick, and they put their ladies’ pleasure before theirs when they performed in bed. And I find it rather hilarious that these authors thought that it is all right for PDA in Malaysia.

Some are authors are worst off…they thought Malaysian men, are somewhat orgasm machine. Sometimes, I really do have to laugh at these foreign author’s writing. Pretty exaggerating and far-fetch if you ask me. I wonder if they ever came to Malaysia in the first place, as for what it’s worth, in their mind, Malaysian national food is some exotic satay and kebabs. Don’t they do their homework? Geez! 🙁

Most foreign authors thought that Malaysia itself is an exotic place, full of exotic and erotic people. Full or romantic men, and beautiful, passionate women who are submissive and willing to surrender their heart, body and soul between the sheets.

Harlequin books got me speechless, sometimes. They painted Malaysia so beautiful and liberated. Too beautiful that I feel ashamed that as Malaysian, I did nothing to promote my own country.

Perhaps I should do something about it and start writing some romance crap with Malaysian setting as well? I think at least I would be able to describe things better. Way better…. if I lie to myself and pretend that I am a foreigner, that is.

Cleffairy: Malaysia is beautiful. But the people who makes it goes is not.

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A Penny For Your Thoughts, Current Issue, IT/ Computing, writing

Protect yourself with…

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Not condoms, but Creative Commons.

Protect yourself, or rather, your work with Creative Commons. This is not a paid posting, but this is something I’d like to share with all of you out there. Originally, I intend to write about something else, but after reading Eric’s most recent blog entry, I can’t help but post up this one first. LOL…

No, Eric didn’t plagiarize my work or anything close to that, but his funny statement on he dare not a title that I used for my blog entry cuz he’s afraid that he might ended up selling his ass on the street because he thought that I might charged him royalty for using a sentence from my blog made me giggle non-stop, and it got me thinking about copyright.

Eric was joking, of course, but his little joke got me thinking and wonder. How many of you are concern about copyright and Fair Use when you are writing your entries? And how many of you knows that you could actually copyright your blog?

As a writer, I’ve always been concern about copyright and royalty. More often than not, I try not to use excerpts or pictures from the net, as it doesn’t belong to me, and for what it’s worth, it’s licensed and not royalty free. In other words, you cannot use it without paying or without permission, and if you did, you can be subjected to lawsuit.

I told Eric that he may use whatever he can find in my blog as long as he give credit to me as my blog is protected or rather, licensed under Creative Commons.

All right, ladies and gentlemen, what is Creative Commons? Allow me to elaborate. Creative Commons is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright.

They provide free licenses and other legal tools to mark creative work with the freedom the creator wants it to carry, so others can share, remix, use commercially, or any combination thereof.

Creative Commons defines the spectrum of possibilities between full copyright and the public domain. From all rights reserved to no rights reserved.

Creative Commons licenses help you keep your copyright while allowing certain uses of your work — a “some rights reserved” copyright.

If you scroll down, you’d notice that on the bottom right of my blog, there’s this logo:

My blog, Over A Cuppa Tea is is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Malaysia License. And permissions beyond the scope of this license is available at cleffairy@gmail.com.

That would mean, you are free to copy and share my work with others, as long as you give the credits to me and not making money out of it.

In other words, you are not allowed to use plagiarize my article and claim it as yours and make money out of it. You are also not allowed to use my work for commercial use. You are also not allowed to modify or change my articles and claim it as yours, unless you’re using it for Fair Use.

So, to put it simply…I don’t allow the plagiarism of my work, and the use of my work without permission and if I found out you’ve been doing hanky panky stuff with my articles, your ass might be screwed.

So, my dear precious ones… if you are concern about people copying your work and making money out of it, or using your masterpiece without your permission to taint your good name, head over to Creative Commons and protect your blog, your images as well as your media under it.

For those who already knew about Creative Commons, thank you very much for bearing with me. 😀

Cleffairy: I hate plagiarism… that’s why I protect my blog under Creative Commons.

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