Cetak Ulang

Waduh, hari ini pusing deh gara2 pasang iklan di milis buat novel terbaru Memory & Destiny, jadi banyak banget yang MALAH nanya di mana bisa beli novel Sakura Bersemi di Yokohama (yang sudah ludes sejak 2006). Well, sabar deh, semoga salah satu penerbit mantap akan segera bertindak menyelamatkan nasib SBdY sehingga dapat dinikmati para penikmat roman di seluruh negeri.

Salam dari pengarang

Sekuel Sakura Bersemi di Yokohama

Just chatted with Suhu JC (Josh Chen, KoKi) and he commented (again, like the rest of the readers) that the ending of this novel is too rushed (for the sake of the number of pages). I should have written a sequel, sambungan cerita menjelaskan ending-nya...

Yes, indeed I have had the ideas (incl. the controversial love story of Keichi - Yukata, terus adegan di RS itu, adegan di kuburan, alasan kenapa si Takuya tidak cemburu sama Shinichi, mengapa dia cemburu sama Toru Toshiyuki, mengapa Yuki gak cerita ke Takuya soal Toru (yg rajin ngapel), kenapa bokap si Yuki OK-OK aja anaknya diapeli 3 cowok haha, sejak kapan Takuya sadar dia cinta si Yuki regardless her former status, hubungan orang tua Shinichi - orang tua Yuki - orang tua Takuya, plus nasib anak2 tokoh utama, sampai adegan di Narita -- proper stories of the ending in this novel). I have planned everything in my brain -- I just need a good time, good mood, and energy to pour it down into my laptop.

Promise you that I'll write this someday. Just wish me more energy and time!

Salam hormat,

Yunisa - the exhausted person

Spam Blog? An Update of Man Asian Literary & My Reasons

Sigh, someone made this blog be reported as spam blog, so now I needed to clarify with the blogger administrator before I can post this entry.

For Anonymous (previously someone from Pantene Shine Award and now, someone from Man Asian Literary -- are you Mary Lee?), whoever you are, thank you for leaving your comments in Sakura in English. Hehehe, I know you must be from the committee because I haven't given any access to the translated version to anyone but your committee.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GOLDEN RULE
Regarding this first novel of mine, yes, I did want to write something that can be commercialized (i.e. to be filmed) and not just merely a literary work. So I have to follow the golden rule of successful drama series / movies: love at the first sight. Please note that the romantic love stories I write never reflect my own personal experience / views on love itself.

Personal Confession

I have to admit that I am not a romantic person at all despite having so many romantic people around me (it's a blessing to have them in my life) and it is A HARD IMAGINATION I have to do everytime I need to create a romantic scene. (My youngest sis teaches me a lot on how to be romantic haha, shame on me!). Yes, I do receive quite handful romantic gestures from the guys *winked* but as a mathematician, I am trained to think -- not to feel. Therefore, in real life, I have been behaving very manly: independent, decisive, problem solver, very strong character -- somehow dominant. Personally I do crack my brain to day/nightdream and study all the romantic movies / drama series seriously -- and analyzed all aspects of how to describe best the emotional sides of the couples when they meet.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Application in Novel

• Yukata (actually means something like kimono -- I chose the name as the syllable is close to Takuya, her brother) -- she liked Heiji from the first sight -- but he turned to be the wrong man to fall in love with. Girls do fall for the wrong guys. At least that is my observation from reading all love consultations in the papers hahaha =D
• On the other hand, Rin was impressed by Heiji's good service on their first meeting. Here, I want to present the fact that first impression does matter.
• Yuki in this novel, she did not straight away fall for Shinichi but because of his persistent effort to court her... *you read it yourself, OK, many people hate spoilers* but men, in general, do get attracted to girls from the first sight. At least, that is what I read in the magazines. Whether it is lust at the first sight or it is true love? -- I decide to keep it open -- case by case basis, as I do believe anything is possible if God allows it to happen.

Disappointing ending?
For the ending, actually the ending in this novel IS NOT THE ORIGINAL ENDING. (Readers, you are allowed to cheer and scream at me at the same time). The original was proper and longer (oh yeah, it's going to be very thick, actually) and definitely predictable. I like unpredictable endings to remind the readers that I am still the author, I have the absolute discretion of any fate of the characters I make (this is the personal satisfaction of crafting the characters)-- please do forgive me! (You will find that my next books will sometimes have happy endings, and sometimes "subjective" happy endings -- it depends on the way you look at it).

Anyway, I decided to scrap that ending (although I can always rewrite it) because I know for a first timer like me, publishers in Indonesia would think thousand times before accepting this novel if my manuscript is too thick.

I promise that I would rewrite the ending if Sakura Blossoms in Yokohama is filmed! Many novels do that! Different ending to please the audience *_*

Off to Korea for spring holiday,
Yunisa the Game Theory lover

Surgery, question by Andriani

Hehehe, I was very happy to know that my bestfriend in Batam has finished reading my book in 2 days! And she said it's impressive and giving lessons to her :) --"mengesankan & memberi pelajaran..."

She has one question that I think, most readers would also ask, esp if you seldom liaise with doctor(s). Not everyone can freely ask your doctor ;) There is a character who had a surgery. The surgery was successful, but at the end, it is said that he's died due to complication of the surgery. If the surgery was successful, then why he's still dead at the end?

If you don't operate, he had 0 (zero) chance of living. But we never know how much the result of the surgery will help a patient to prolong his life. It's case by case basis. This is a bitter and painful fact of a doctor's life. He has to explain to the patient's family (and the concerned patient sometimes) that we have to operate, but we don't know how long it will last...

Interferer

Today I had lunch with Mr Harry, and he has finished reading my book. Komentarnya rahasia hehehe... But one thing for sure, I know that I enjoy trapping the readers to a certain mindset (purposely mislead them) hahahha :D

In life, we have to be guarded and flexible at the same time. There are many people (interferer), who were not of any significance before, but suddenly they mess up with our life by their interference in our life. That interference can be both positive or negative. Complicated? OK, ganti ke Bahasa Indonesia. Dalam hidup tuh tiba2 sering ada perubahan drastis karena perbuatan seseorang (sebelumnya kita gak kenal, or kenal tapi gak kita anggap penting). Tapi begitu mereka berbuat sesuatu, rusak semua rencana kita atau malah semua yang ruwet jadi lancar.

So, Yunisa's message is: Always expect for the best coz God will always give you the best thing, you never know when that interferer comes to color your life! *God never tells you when*

Q&A

Mengapa harus beli dan baca buku ini?
Karena jawaban saya tidak lulus sensor, Mayrinna, my sis is answering on behalf of me.

Kalau mau mengalami berbagai emosi -- marah, sedih / nangis2, ketawa2, benci, cinta -- bacalah buku ini. Terus baca ulang. Soalnya 1st time read bakal beda sama 2nd time. Ada tokoh yang pertama bisa membuat Anda cinta, eh begitu baca ulang, Anda jadi benci. Ada juga yg pertama biasa2, eh baca ulang jadi suka... Ada juga yang jadi tambah benci, ada juga yang tambah suka... Jadi jangan menilai satu karakter dari sekilas. Kesan Anda bisa berubah-ubah dalam membaca buku ini. Banyak nilai2 yang Anda dapatkan dari buku ini -- jauh daripada chicklit or teenlit buatan Indo. Ini sekelas sama buatan penulis luar...

Rephrase by Jemmy Soenjaya (one of my first reviewers -- he spotted my silly mistake hehe) :

Basically deep characterization :p Jadi bisa ikutin pertumbuhan karakter dari awal sampai akhir, alur cerita yang tidak mudah ditebak :p

Adegan yang disukai?
Takuya di perahu menangkap belut, soalnya waktu itu saya lagi ingin banget makan sushi unagi hahaha :-D

Bagaimana perasaan Anda tentang penerbitan buku perdana?
Biasa aja, soalnya *sensor*. Feel surprised to know that guys actually buy my books, read it and enjoy it! Well, Dr Dede is no wrong in telling me that if I didn't give him his share of my author's copies, he'll also still buy to read :P

Is the story taken from your personal life? (almost everyone asked me this!)
No!!! This is a made-up imagination! Daya khayal tinggi hehehe...
The story starts form the birth to the life story's ending of Yuki.

Selected questions from Illydea
Masa terpentingnya?
From the first time she knew love and to choose whom to marry among the choices.
Tell me more about the choices
1. Shinichi Serizawa, her first love, but he left her to save his company
2. Childhood friend, Takuya Tosha who had been in love with her for so long. (He came from a rich, notable strict family)
3. Dr Toru Toshiyuki -- this is nothing to do with Dr Dede!!! Dr Toshiyuki's a playboy who also fell for Yuki. Plus many fans.
(After some probing, I admitted that: Yeah, I also have many fans, but I dare not choose hahaha)

Why Japan, old time?
I was reading manga titled Yokohama -- inspired by the beautiful drawings of the scenery... It was in year 1700-1800s. Then, I found a history book on Meiji Restoration.

Why romance? Why romance on that era, why not "now"?
Everybody needs love. Readers are attracted to love :P And I feel that old people (orang zaman dulu) had a different way of thinking from us. They have many considerations and constraints. Unlike now, high school students (anak SMP-SMA) are easily going into any relationship... What if teenager that time (in Meiji's time) were dating? (Of course they had to think about marriage!!!)

Your sisters surely have a lot to say on your novel.
Oh yeah, they keep suggesting this and that. They don't like my storyline. They helped me naming the characters. Family project :-D
I told them, this is my writing, it's up to me. But my little sister, Martha Rinna's suggestion is the most romantic scene, other sisters said. Adegan toko roti Enoki.

How come a little girl can suggest such romance?
In 2004, all other sisters were staying in Singapore. So my mother always had Martha Rinna to accompany her watching sinetron (Indonesian soap opera). So she has so many ideas about romance!!!

Who inspires you on writing this book?
My little sister, Martha Rinna and Dr Dede :)

Lesson from writing this book?
Don't give up! Be patient in waiting for ideas.

Creative Process

This was asked by Illydea, RSI.

First written in June 1999 (liburan dari NUS). Bored with Math major. Then, I remembered that during high school I wanted to beat Chiung Yao (read Strategic Positioning point 3), but I was too focus on Math & Science -- Physics, Biology, Chemistry, so I had no intention to write any novel during high school.

Oops forget to tell Illydea that I experienced "file corrupted" coz I saved it in floopy disk in December 1999... and I had to retype the whole lot... *what a bad luck!*
And I forgot all about this manuscript due to my golden age in NUS (I got my Dean's List, i.e. top 5% students haha). And graduated, and started working in 2001. I wrote few chapters, and stopped again. Really had no time. Next, MBA.

And in 2004 I met Dr Dede. A lot of e-mail and sms correspondence, many topics from health to life philosophy. One fine day, he casually commented, "Really think you have a word for prose..." *I wonder how can he deduce such conclusion? Cuma dari baca e-mails???*

Anyway, his casual comment awoke me. Hey, he's a very fine doctor, you know. He won't say things that he can't justify. And I recalled, he's not the first person who said so: Yunisa, you can write very well if you want to! Kamu berbakat menulis. Ayo kembangkan! (guru SD, SMP, SMA, NUS, esp guru Bahasa Indonesia and English teachers, thank you!)

Logical consideration to finish Sakura Bersemi di Yokohama, the long abandoned project
If it's only the teachers who said so, I might have my doubt: Maybe my writing style is suitable for the teachers. But Dr Dede is not my teacher (I don't need him to give me grade / score hehehe). And the fact that he has a completely different academic background, and yet still arrives at the same conclusion as my language teachers?? Hence, it implies that the statement must be valid!

*Semangat!!! Ganbatte!!!*

So I started to read up my draft, performed some major surgery here and there, and finished it by end of April 2005 when I was back in Jogja. Sent it to my selected reviewers in Singapore, waiting for their correction...

Photos from RSI + personal note

These are photos taken today @ RSI, Mediacorps
You know which one is Mr Harry Suhartanto, Ms Illydea Ishak, and which one is me, don't you? hehehehe... *I won't put any photo caption*

And I hope Ms Illydea will edit my spoiler of the story hehehe... But one thing for sure: PLEASE DO READ THE PAGES IN ORDER or YOU WILL GET CONFUSED!
(see, I use CAPS and bold the message!)

I am myself a naughty reader. I'll skip pages and look at the last chapters, ensuring that my guess is correct. Hence, when writing this book, I was devising a plot to prevent such thing, i.e. you are forced to follow through chapter by chapter so that you can understand the plot. There are too many things and too many possibilities of story alternatives, I can assure you!

Every chapter has many problems, and the problems are solved part by part in random chapter (making use of Chaos Theory in maths hahahha). And once the problem solved, other will arise. The climax is not reached yet. Well, that is just the way I use Game Theory in playing the "emotion game of the story"... Pardon my maths background :P

Inside, you will also find that I insert school lessons on: history (sejarah) -- I use surnames (nama keluarga) involved in Meiji Restoration to name the characters, economy & finance (ekonomi & keuangan), lingustic game (permainan bahasa), Catholic / Christian religion education (agama Katolik / Kristen) and the Eastern moral values... Happy reading! Selamat membaca!

Strategic Positioning

Sorry again for irregular update. Been busy @ work and researching materials for my upcoming series (as a Strategic-Maximizer-Relator-Achiever-Self Assurance person hahaha :D)

There are lots of young-and-famous Indonesian writers in Indonesia, and I am fully aware that my style is totally "unique". Why?

1. I am writing with missions. I put good moral values inside, should you notice it or not. As for Sakura Bersemi di Yokohama, one of them is filial piety -- responsibility to live up for parents' sake :) Berbakti demi nama baik orang tua...
2. I use proper (read: formal) Indonesian language, i.e. literature-type piece of writing. I refuse to use "bahasa gaul" (conversational style that is used by youngsters, e.g. gue-elu) because I want my writings to stay across the generations (hahaha), just like classics of all times... and because I want people of all ages to enjoy my writings! (nggak cuma anak muda, tetapi orang tua juga...) No generation gap, please. So you can lend this novel to your parents, and they won't disappove you of "wasting your time" to read rubbish... Trust me! Percayalah (hehe, kayak iklan aja). I prove this statement when my father read this SBdY. All change for the better @ home after that!
3. I don't write for money, fame, or what... The royalty for writers in Indonesia is very small sum (apalagi kalau dibandingkan gaji pekerjaan-pekerjaanku yang lain). I write for pleasure, to express what I want to pass down to generations. I don't want to be just a pop writer. I want to be someone like Tolkien or Lewis (or Rowling...) with productivity like Meg Cabot and surpass Chiung Yao hehehhehe... For SBdY, I was really disappointed with Chiung Yao in some of her films and novels, therefore I wanted to show her: "This is the correct background" for this kind of romance story, jangan asal main comot latar religi...

"Thanks again to koko Dede for always saying the right words at the right times." I might not have realized my potential until he said his "expectation" -- although it was merely a casual comment, right? ;)

Menjawab Papa soal Reinkarnasi

Sungguh tidak dinyana, ayah saya, Mr Edy Gunawan, juga membaca author's copy yang dikirim ke Jogja, dan berkata bahwa ceritanya seru... cuma ada satu yang tidak bermutu: kalau latarnya Kristiani, kenapa ada reinkarnasi?

Jawab: baca kalimat terakhir dari novel dong, Pa... "hanyalah Tuhan yang tahu" :P

Memang konsep Kristiani tidak percaya pada adanya reinkarnasi (terlahir kembali di kehidupan lain). "Hidup hanya sekali, dan harus dipertanggungjawabkan pada saat Penghakiman Terakhir (dunia kiamat)"... Tapi dengan latar belakang negara Asia (terutama Jepang, Korea, Cina, India) yang percaya adanya reinkarnasi, mau tidak mau, tokoh-tokoh dalam cerita SBdY ini sedikit banyak dipengaruhi oleh pola pikir budaya itu, apalagi dalam kondisi putus asa (baca: putus cinta) hahahah... --> Mereka saking desperate nya berpikir, "Yah, siapa tahu di kehidupan lain..."

Saya pribadi sih berpikir kalau mungkin di kehidupan sekarang tidak berjodoh,ya tidak berjodoh. Mungkin tuh keturunannya yang berjodoh, atau malah nenek moyangnya sudah berjodoh :)

Menjawab Pak Harry Suhartanto, RSI

The following is my answer to Mr Harry Suhartanto, Radio Singapura Indonesia during our initial discussion on my novel...

Dear Yuni,

Boleh aku mengemukakan pendapat kan Yun? Maybe ini belum "fair" karena aku belum baca novelnya secara lengkap.

1. I am just wondering kenapa harus berlatar Restorasi Meiji?
What is so special about it? Kenapa misalnya nggak jaman sekarang aja?
Apalagi konsep playboy dalam diri Dr Toru kan baru muncul jauh setelah jaman Meiji..!!

Jawab: Waktu awal nulis, saya lagi tergila-gila sama komik Jepang yang latarnya zaman Jepang mulai dimasuki orang2 Barat (jadi bajunya mulai ada yang gak pakai kimono gitu)... Terus saat yang sama, I found this old history book in my cupboard (I think it belonged to my aunt) --> pas buka, wah ada Restorasi Meiji (pas SMP-SMA, saya tidak pernah belajar itu, jadi merasa tertarik sekali hehehe).

I think karakter playboy itu ada sejak zaman dulu, e.g. raja2 (baik kerajaan Hindu, Budha, Islam, kekaisaran Cina, raja2 Perancis) pasti punya istri banyaaakkkk (resmi dan tidak resmi). So I felt like putting one playboy character inside :P Kayaknya kalau bikin cerita, kurang afdol tanpa tokoh playboy hahhaha...

Terlalu banyak tokoh?
2. Kehadiran tokoh sentralnya, Yuki, agak kurang menonjol karena "banyaknya" tokoh-tokoh lain di sekitar dia.
Maybe pambaca awam akan merasa kehilangan fokus - kepada siapa sebenarnya perhatian harus diberikan.
Pembaca "awam" Indonesia tentu nggak terbiasa dengan nama-nama Jepang sebanyak itu. Maybe!

Sekali lagi mungkin aku perlu baca novelnya secara keseluruhan. So pendapatku nanti akan lebih komprehensif dan adil.

Jawab: Memang kebanyakan tokoh sih, kan gayanya drama -- telenovela (satu cewek diperebutkan banyak cowok) hahaha. Tapi gak sepanjang Tersanjung kok :P Kayaknya kalau difilmkan, ibu2 pasti inget wajahnya pemain rather than inget nama tokohnya yah?? hehehhe Mmm, mungkin buat pembaca yang tidak biasa sama nama Jepang, agak susah juga... Tapi kalau anak muda pecandu manga, pasti no problem hehehhe :D (di Bandung ada majalah Animonster?? khusus pecinta manga, wah kaget banget pas pulang kemarin... ternyata Indo lebih maju soal ginian dibanding Spore).

Saran
3. Kalo kamu memang senang dengan suasana Jepang, kenapa nggak nyoba nulis novel dengan background di
sekitar Pangkalan Militer Amerika di Pulau Okinawa. Cuma usul, siapa tau bisa dipertimbangkan.

Kamu hebat, aku aja yang lulusan Fak Sastra Inggris UI malah nggak minat nulis novel. He...he..!!

Jawab: Minat orang kan lain-lain, Pak... Kalau emang tidak minat, ya jangan dipaksa nulis novel hehehe...
Saya blm pernah ke Jepang, jadi benernya nekad banget nulis tempat yang belum pernah dikunjungi hahhaha... Pangkalan Militer Amerika di P. Okinawa, boleh dikunjungi publik??
Anyway, saya lagi plan to finish my trilogy of teen-lit, cuma belum sreg ending buku ke-3 nya, jadi sekarang lagi gathering ideas dulu... (I always change my mind about how the story should end hiks hiks).