Sea of Stars Publishing

I was quite quiet for the past few days because I was working with the printers on the print version. I spent several sleepless nights trying to catch every single typo, margin error and WTF mistake. I mean, I believe deeply in having the best product that can be made for the reader. I suppose, the people at Createspace must be smacking their head again. I have made countless revisions. I mean, I was trained by an old soldier who fought with the US army in Afghanistan and Iraq, that a book should be as perfect as you can make it. I would ask for his help because he is an eagle-eyed vet who spent his life catching terrorists and publishing warfare books. But he is on track to be a tenured prof at the local uni and his time is super expensive. I would only look for his expertise if I was doing another research work on strategic studies or terrorism studies. Yes, I have a book on guerilla warfare, written by me and edited by the prof and several experts, but I won’t put it here because it is a super expensive academic text that has nothing to do with the books I want to do now. To be quite frank, being accurate is important you do not want a dude with an assault rifle to come knocking at your residence cos either you misquoted him or did not give proper credit. I mean, being sued is small peas by comparison.

I am very satisfied with my work on guerilla warfare, it is flawless and no one has yet found a single typo or WTF error. This means all the experts and people who purchased it. They love the book because it looks professional and reads easily. Old vets hate wordy BS research that say nothing.

Yes, my certifiable, academic expertise is in guerilla warfare. (This means I went to school and got a cert for it.) How it got to be that way is a long story worthy of a novel. However, that area of my life is over and done with. I might go back and complete my doctorate should the requirement arise, but we’ll see.

As a person, I speak and read 5 languages (actually, I only read 4 languages, I can’t read Mandarin, although for purposes of communication  I speak it proficiently.), Mandarin, German, Spanish and Arabic, and of course whatever language I am typing in now. I kinda studied them because I thought I might need to talk to people who speak these languages. Well, life is funny isn’t it? I should have listened to my old lit teacher who told me long ago that I had to do novels and other creative writing. She was a very brilliant woman, but her life was fraught with tragedy. She loved and lost her beloved husband… as a friend, words cannot express my feeling at her loss. In this lifetime alone I knew a few women who lost their husband and lover to death. I was at a funeral where a widow fainted as I was talking to her. She had lost her friend and husband and I had a lost a wise and good friend who would not agree with my novels (he was a fundamentalist pastor) but who I think would understand. He was always a good person first before his faith.

Anyway, yes, with luck(cross fingers), the print version will sell soon. Proofing it has been hell. The people at Createspace must be cursing my name by now, I kept resubmitting new versions because proofing checks that caught WTF mistakes. Really next time I might devote a month to this business, but it has to come out now because of a promise I made to my grandma, whose story you will have the privilege to read, should you choose to do so.  I do not want to delay this cos I mean, you do not play the procrastination game with a woman who kept visiting me for years after she was buried. (Yes. it was so bad my sis swears she saw grandma sitting by my bed. Well, my ma said that on the 49th day after they buried her, the taps turned on on their own in her bathroom!)

Is the birthmark real? Yes, unfortunately, it is.  But it isn’t a flower. It is more prosaic than that. My grandma and I had it. And another one as well. on our arms. Many psychics said it was cos we were burned on the stake, because it looks like a burn mark. No, my grandma wasnt a witch but during the funeral, people said she caused some terrible storms. A cat jumped up and sat on her coffin, my relatives thought she would return. She did.

Its September again… I kinda remember some three years ago, I hired this tailor to make a suit. I mean I picked him on the basis of skill… he was very good… but sometime in September he kept falling sick and could not finish. I was so fed up that in September of that year I met him to issue an ultimatum. Either finish up or return the money…

Well, when I walked into his shop, he was so pale, it was clear he would not survive the year. He said that the docs had scheduled surgery… They did not really know what was wrong except that his kidneys were not working.

I sort of chatted with him and found out that he had a “golden child” in a shoebox on a shelf in his shop. Needless to say, I did not really want to open the box.

The “golden child” is a black magic item made by roasting baby fetuses to remove moisture… and then wrapping in gold leaf. Sometimes it is put into a jar with essential oils. Roasting is a method of preserving the body… sort of. the gold leaf is for presentation purposes. I suppose the essential oils will help with body preservation, but this is not always done.

My first reaction to his story was “FUCK!” and then I asked him how he got it. Turns out, one of his “friends” gave it to him to help in business.

But you know he was the artistic sort, his workspace was rather messy and I had asked him for months to try and rearrange things because it would help.

I had the diagnosis to his problem.

Folks who keep this sort of thing usually have to follow a strict schedule. Offerings of milk and sweets , with toys and marbles. On the 15th, an offering of blood must be made. Otherwise, the rule is, the golden child will suck the owner’s life force.Disorganized folks who are lazy cannot keep this thing. Also depending on the magic used, special prayers and mantras have to be said at specific times, the schedule is important, and cannot be broken. Keeping this thing has helped many dishonest people in business, but I am normal and prefer to pray to gods and my dead ancestors.I mean, my grandma is unlikely to murder me since she gets offerings from me. I mean, I am not that crazy. You cannot reason with the “golden child”, but you can reason with your relatives, probably.

I scolded him and said, “Life is more important than money!” Also pointed out that he was super skilled, so he had no need of stupid hoodoo to help him out.

We only know this thing exists because, in 2014, some stupid girl offered to give me her golden child. My reaction was the same and told her to look after it well and bring it back to the seller and ask for a refund, if possible.

Well, the tailor is alive today cos I got him to bring the thing to a temple for the monks to dispose of it. I said to him that if they asked for monies for funeral expenses, to just give them what they ask and give the child a decent funeral. He did exactly as per my demand (yes, it was so bad that I literally stood over him and shouted.) and he never went for surgery. The docs said his recovery was “a miracle”.

I mean, I know what it means to be so poor and desperate, but, I’m not crazy.

Also, the local cops sometimes catch people trying to smuggle these things.No matter what they say, every cop in these parts has a weird occult story to tell. My old schoolmate had a couple… he was terribly frightened of certain places because of the area’s reputation for deadly witchdoctors and what not.

The point of this is to give readers interested in the background of the area I live in some idea. Also, do not support this trade.. yes, it is a trade. IF you visit Bangkok, do not buy these things, do not encourage the providers. I mean, some really WTF individuals actually buy live infants to kill them or aborted babies!

Local belief does not support this. The belief is that these children are “enslaved”  by black magic and cannot reincarnate. Buying them supports the “trade”. If you want to acquire them for research purposes, contact the Thai police for legit victims. MOST normal, hardworking Asians reject this. I mean, there is a special mini altar at my place during the Hungry Ghost Season to “appease” these children which might be mistreated by their owners. I do not know who in my block owns them, but if the neighbours know who it is, they will get together and force the person to give up this thing. My neighbours are all ex-farmers who gave up their land to the Singapore government, and they do not support this thing.

I mean Asians believe:
1.  the child cannot reincarnate because he is trapped by the spells and thus cannot either become Enlightened or fulfill his destiny (yes, most of these babies are male) . As a pagan who believes in the Egyptian idea of “Ma’at”(Truth. Justice, Life Purpose, Destiny) I do think we should do all we can to not hinder a person from fulfilling his/her purpose.
2. the owner gets huge bad karma for buying and owning  magical servant/slave created by this means.
3. Only criminals and bad people own this stuff. Most regular people spit on assholes who own this thing. It was true in my grandma’s day. It is sadly not so true today. Money is more important than life now for some unscrupulous people. I mean as educated people, we should value life above other things. IF  you are Singaporean, you are not being a good Singaporean if you engage in this sort of thing. It is illegal and god damn gross. The reaction is the same in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. People will beware these individuals.(I cite a Balinese farmer who avoided his neighbour because every year, one person who works for him dies under mysterious circumstances. Hey man, some assholes don’t mind offering live people just to benefit themselves. I am guessing he probably has one of these ghost children. I mean if you don’t want the kid to kill you, you gotta offer someone else. They died unjustly and want revenge.)

Practical Reasoning
1. this is an evil trade where some truly unscrupulous idiots steal lives to get rich. What do I mean, I mean I do not know if they perform an autopsy, but some of the kids are killed on purpose. I mean, it is local gossip that a certain casino owner in Southeast Asia actually got 12 pregnant women to stay at the resort while it was being built. When they left, they had no kids and were not pregnant anymore. Gamblers say that the ghost children haunt the gambling halls to tilt the scales in the favour of the House.
2. Do not buy, trade or attend an auction for this thing. Do not support it. It’s worse than a puppy/kitty mill.
3.You are being a gawd damn “vampire” if you own this thing. I mean, work hard, make right choices to get rich. Good hard labour hurt no one.

check out this news clip.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2146396/British-man-arrested-Thailand-suitcase-dead-babies-used-religious-ritual.html 

Came home today (Actually 31 Aug.) to house windows all closed… The burning area is unfortunately directly under my living room window… The huge stack of paper is Chinese paper money folded into the shape of ancient Chinese taels… Hell economy must be in inflation mode… all the ancestor worshipping Chinese burnt like loads of these “paper money” for the ancestors…

Its the last day of the Hungry Ghost month… so they are doing big send off…. The gates of ” Hell”(read: the afterlife) closing today… stragglers will be picked up by the “Hell police”…. cos ancestors can’t sit around in the world of the living on a regular day…. its just not done.

Sorry folks for the blur pics.. I had to take photos when no one was looking. I do not have a hidden cam unfortunately. Sort of makes me wish I had Google glass.

Continue reading “Hungry Ghost Festival Ended!” →

 have  an FB page at: My official FB webpage.

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“Untold millennia ago, the gods abandoned humanity and the sun turned from a hot, life-giving yellow to a cold blue-white. The warm land of Ekdu transformed from a lush paradise into a cold wasteland where humanity has to scratch out a meagre living from the flinty, constantly frozen soil.

This website is the official website of Sea of Stars Publishing, a publishing company located in the North- Western part of Singapore.

You can visit the official FB page and PM me by clicking HERE. Of course you will need to have an FB account.

As of this date, the following is a bestseller based on number of copies purchased by people in Singapore (direct sales) and  on Amazon:

I have updated the book recently and you can  get it at War of Nerves

Over the years, I have heard journalists and gangsters use the term “guerrilla warfare” in the wrong context or to refer to something not guerrilla warfare related. The term refers to a specific style of warfighting pioneered by the Chinese communists and which later spread over the entire world. This book is particularly recommended for professionals in the field,  and poor career soldiers who took a university module in “guerrilla warfare” thinking it would be an easy subject. They were all wrong and ended  up  borrowing this book from the Safti military library to assist them in reading their assigned readings… (the library does not have my updated 2nd ed. version, only the thesis written for the masters degree I earned in 2014.)

Written in a simple-to-understand style catered specially to people who are not into heavy reading, it was a favourite of students from the military who wanted something that could explain the topic to them without having through plough through 10 books on the topic. Every guerrilla leader who is well-known enough to be quoted, have their face printed on T-shirts and have their own book on the topic is featured in this work.

I have currently 9 books selling on Amazon. here they are. I have also changed my pseudonym to my real name, as there is now no reason to maintain the psaudonym:

                
Of course I also have them in my home office. If you are interested in seeing or purchasing  them, message me on my FB page. To arrange a time and place for viewing or PM me on FB. I am the owner, writer and publisher at Sea of Stars Publishing. This is a properly registered company in Singapore and I have run it for over 10 years. I first sold handmade jewellery and mineral specimens, but then decided to change the company purpose at ACRA into a publishing company.

I have experience in the publishing industry in Singapore. In fact, my first job was at SNP (Singapore National Printers) Multimedia. They are linked to EPH that publishes all the assessment books sold at Popular. Yes, all the revision books students buy every year from Primary to Secondary levels. SNP Multimedia was a software development arm they started in 1997/8 to expend into the software market. But I think it is now closed down because of failure to cheaply manufacture a product that could sell as well as their assessment books. I can of course give you all the reasons why the venture failed, having worked in IT (even some game development start-ups) for many years after that. But I will not unless you meet me personally.

My books on Amazon are as follows:

Grey Necromancer Trilogy.

Lord of Life Quartet

*Obviously all the fantasy and sci-fi novels  contain adult material and should not be read by people under 18 in Singapore and the US and under 14 in some parts of Japan. I realize I have to state this because my printer, yes the gal who prints the books, was not aware of this fact.