Some of you close to me may have heard that I'm writing a book. Yup, I'm finally doing it!
I've always enjoyed writing & sharing my life. I remember being an undergraduate during my Seattle University days (way back in 1999 - 2003) where I created a mailing list which consisted of close family & friends and would write monthly emails to you guys with updates about my shenanigans of moving away from home & living abroad for the first time in my life.
I remember there was a time where I experienced my very first earthquake in 2000 in Seattle. What I wrote in my email updates was that I was upset that my kitchen got messed up and that I lost a lot of food, spices and snacks from home. I remember going home for the summer & getting teased about getting upset that my FOOD got messed up above anything else.
Till today, some of you STILL talk about those emails and how you enjoyed reading them. So in a way, I always knew that I had the gift of telling a good story. Unfortunately most of those stories happen to be about me and my comedic misfortunes!
In 2011, before I moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil for work, my buddy Marvin suggested I start a blog to document my life there. "One day you can use all that material for a book", he said. I never really thought too much about it, but decided to do it anyway, because I always enjoyed writing, telling a good story & laughing about my random life.
So most of you know my story:
Girl does her MBA & gets sent to Brazil to do research for her final thesis.
Girl falls in love with Brazil and decides to move there for work after graduation.
Girl chases her dream and ends up landing her dream job in her dream country.
Girl falls in love with a Brazilian boy, in a relationship that was doomed from the start, but was blinded by love and pursued it anyway.
Girl's father passes away.
Girl decides to move back to Malaysia to be close to grieving mother.
Girl also decides to start a business selling Brazilian Bikinis in a conservative Muslim country such as Malaysia in honor of her father, who was so supportive of the idea before he passed away tragically.
Girl's Brazilian boyfriend proposes. Girl accepts.
One year later, the Brazilian fiancee calls of the wedding.
Girl is crushed.
Girl starts drinking & partying every night to numb the pain.
Eventually, girl hits rock bottom and decides that enough is enough.
Girl started exercising everyday as part of the healing process.
Girl is healed.
Girl realizes that everybody goes through shitty times and that dealing with shitty times in a positive way (such as exercise) as oppose to dealing with it in a negative way makes all the difference in the world.
Girl gets inspired to create a line of leggings, to be known as 'the world's most beautiful leggings' to encourage women to exercise more often.
Girl runs a crowd funding campaign on Indiegogo.
Girl received enough funds to produce her first collection.
Girl launched first collection in August 2016 and receives positive reviews from friends, family and media alike.
Well, so that's the gist of it.
Ever since I moved back from Brazil to Malaysia and whenever people asked me why I decided to get into this business, I would tell them this story. By the end of my story, every single one of them looked at me with wide eyes and go like, "Wow. You should write a book". Every. Single. Person!
It just so happened that an editor from MPH Publishing came across this very blog and offered to publish my book if I was interested in writing one.
Call it fate.
Call it karma.
I just knew that this was something that I had to see through.
I'm expecting to complete the first draft by the end of this week.
It's gonna be totally raw, totally me, and I hope that the editors don't edit my draft to the point where I lose my voice and my personality and what makes me, me. Otherwise the magic is gone.
Before I started writing, I thought long and hard about the WHY.
Why do I want to do this.
What is the purpose.
If it's just about money or bragging rights, then it's pointless.
I've come to realize a while back that "It's not about me".
Personally, what makes me happy these days and gives meaning to me and my work is in knowing that I've made a positive impact in someone's life.
Even for a day. Even for just a moment.
So the purpose of me writing my book is to uplift, entertain and encourage everyone to embrace life and all it's possibilities.
To listen to your hearts and follow your dreams.
And most importantly to be guided by a purpose that it bigger than yourself & to be motivated by love and not fear :)
Below is a teaser of my book. Page 1 out of 250 pages. This is a rough draft & the final copy may turn out to be significantly different. That remains to be seen.
Enjoy!
I've always enjoyed writing & sharing my life. I remember being an undergraduate during my Seattle University days (way back in 1999 - 2003) where I created a mailing list which consisted of close family & friends and would write monthly emails to you guys with updates about my shenanigans of moving away from home & living abroad for the first time in my life.
I remember there was a time where I experienced my very first earthquake in 2000 in Seattle. What I wrote in my email updates was that I was upset that my kitchen got messed up and that I lost a lot of food, spices and snacks from home. I remember going home for the summer & getting teased about getting upset that my FOOD got messed up above anything else.
Till today, some of you STILL talk about those emails and how you enjoyed reading them. So in a way, I always knew that I had the gift of telling a good story. Unfortunately most of those stories happen to be about me and my comedic misfortunes!
In 2011, before I moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil for work, my buddy Marvin suggested I start a blog to document my life there. "One day you can use all that material for a book", he said. I never really thought too much about it, but decided to do it anyway, because I always enjoyed writing, telling a good story & laughing about my random life.
So most of you know my story:
Girl does her MBA & gets sent to Brazil to do research for her final thesis.
Girl falls in love with Brazil and decides to move there for work after graduation.
Girl chases her dream and ends up landing her dream job in her dream country.
Girl falls in love with a Brazilian boy, in a relationship that was doomed from the start, but was blinded by love and pursued it anyway.
Girl's father passes away.
Girl decides to move back to Malaysia to be close to grieving mother.
Girl also decides to start a business selling Brazilian Bikinis in a conservative Muslim country such as Malaysia in honor of her father, who was so supportive of the idea before he passed away tragically.
Girl's Brazilian boyfriend proposes. Girl accepts.
One year later, the Brazilian fiancee calls of the wedding.
Girl is crushed.
Girl starts drinking & partying every night to numb the pain.
Eventually, girl hits rock bottom and decides that enough is enough.
Girl started exercising everyday as part of the healing process.
Girl is healed.
Girl realizes that everybody goes through shitty times and that dealing with shitty times in a positive way (such as exercise) as oppose to dealing with it in a negative way makes all the difference in the world.
Girl gets inspired to create a line of leggings, to be known as 'the world's most beautiful leggings' to encourage women to exercise more often.
Girl runs a crowd funding campaign on Indiegogo.
Girl received enough funds to produce her first collection.
Girl launched first collection in August 2016 and receives positive reviews from friends, family and media alike.
Well, so that's the gist of it.
Ever since I moved back from Brazil to Malaysia and whenever people asked me why I decided to get into this business, I would tell them this story. By the end of my story, every single one of them looked at me with wide eyes and go like, "Wow. You should write a book". Every. Single. Person!
It just so happened that an editor from MPH Publishing came across this very blog and offered to publish my book if I was interested in writing one.
Call it fate.
Call it karma.
I just knew that this was something that I had to see through.
I'm expecting to complete the first draft by the end of this week.
It's gonna be totally raw, totally me, and I hope that the editors don't edit my draft to the point where I lose my voice and my personality and what makes me, me. Otherwise the magic is gone.
Before I started writing, I thought long and hard about the WHY.
Why do I want to do this.
What is the purpose.
If it's just about money or bragging rights, then it's pointless.
I've come to realize a while back that "It's not about me".
Personally, what makes me happy these days and gives meaning to me and my work is in knowing that I've made a positive impact in someone's life.
Even for a day. Even for just a moment.
So the purpose of me writing my book is to uplift, entertain and encourage everyone to embrace life and all it's possibilities.
To listen to your hearts and follow your dreams.
And most importantly to be guided by a purpose that it bigger than yourself & to be motivated by love and not fear :)
Below is a teaser of my book. Page 1 out of 250 pages. This is a rough draft & the final copy may turn out to be significantly different. That remains to be seen.
Enjoy!
Chapter 1
Growing up
I always knew that I was different.
Not the ‘I am special’, or ‘I am gifted’ kinda different. But just different. For one, I looked and spoke different from everybody else.
I am a mixed kid. My father is Malay (a descendant of Acehnese people from Aceh, a region of Indonesia located at the northern end of Sumatra). My mom is Chinese.
Growing up, I was kinda the in-between kid. I looked mix.I was not quite Malay and not quite Chinese. I have big brown eyes and a flat nose. Still do.
To add even more confusion into the mix, I spoke with a slight Indian accent. A south Indian accent, to be exact. The root cause of this could be traced to childhood, as we had an Indian housekeeper who has been with the family since I was born. (She’s still with us, by the way!)
So yeah, I was this mixed kid that looked neither Malay nor Chinese and spoke with an Indian accent. Meeting new people is always an interesting affair, as they would give me curious glances and after a couple of minutes, most people can hardly contain themselves and blurt out the question I’ve become so accustomed to hear “So what are you???”. There is always a part of me that wishes I could just say, “Human” and leave it at that, leaving them in their agony of not knowing.
But I’m 34, and at 34 years of age, I suppose nice girls are not suppose to do silly things like these anymore, so I what I typically do these days is to answer a question with another question and ask them to guess. Almost 80% would guess that I am part Indian just based on how I speak.
- END OF TEASER -
If you like what you just read, the book is scheduled to be released in 1Q 2017 by MPH.
I'm also curious to hear your thoughts & opinions about this little teaser that I just shared. Do drop me a message on Facebook or down below!
Much love,
Nadia
xoxo!
Much love,
Nadia
xoxo!
