Imran Hashim's Blog

Hello everyone! Big news: my novel is now available as an e-book! Yaaassss! You can get your copy here: Annabelle-Thong
Being published in Singapore, distribution of physical copies of my novel has proven to be really challenging. I mean, you can get hard copies of the books in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, but nowhere else, really. Buying a hard copy online and getting it shipped is really expensive

“OH MY GOD.  I am so ridiculous,” says Imran Hashim’s heroine Annabelle Thong to herself at the end of her first class at the Sorbonne.  Belle is from Singapore, and brings some of the baggage of her upbringing with her to Paris, including an unfortunate combination of a Protestant work ethic and a Catholic sense of guilt.  Trying to reconcile what the Pope would say, what her mother tells her and what she feels is her duty as a patriotic Singaporean with the opportunities avai...

It's been an eventful couple of weeks for me. It all started with the Singapore Writers' Festival, where Annabelle Thong was officially launched together with Daryl Yam's Kappa Quartet. Despite Clara's (my lovely editor) valiant attempt to prep me, I still kind of blabbered incoherently at points. But it didn't seem to deter some people from buying my book, so... thank you Determined Readers! The good news is that I write better than I speak, so you guys are in for a pleasant surprise (I hope...

Annabelle Thong was featured in the Sunday Times. They called me sassy! No wait, they called the book sassy. I think I actually prefer that.

http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/culture-shock-in-paris

My book is in a bookshop. On a bookshelf. Sitting under a book by Dave Eggers. In the same neighbourhood as Dark Matter (8 books to the right, not in pic, you just have to believe me).

Mind. Blown. That's my face when crazy shit happens.

The book is out. The book is out, people!

I'm both jumping for joy and wringing my hands in anticipation. Alternately. It's hard to do both at the same time. I tried.

And Annabelle is Book of the Week at Epigram. Yay! It means 10% off for online purchases. But you'll need to follow these very specific instructions to get the discount: "Get the book at 10% off when you use the promo code BOTW-AT: https://shop.epigrambooks.sg/products/annabelle-thong".

We're entering the final stretch, and I'm so pleased to share that the book cover has gotten a makeover (click on the photo below for a full-sized version). Well, maybe not quite a makeover. More like the final touches I guess - a praise blurb here, a tilt of the panties there. You know, to get it ready to face the world. At the end of this month.

Oh. My. God. The cover may be ready but I don't think I am.

National Day is around the corner, and it reminds me that the very first passage I wrote for my novel was inspired by Mr Brown’s “I am Singaporean” meme in 2006. Singaporeans from all walks of life shared a slice of themselves, their hopes, their dreams – it was awesome.

Below is Annabelle’s response to that meme, way back in 2006.

“I share my first name with Singapore’s world-famous (and only) porn star and my Chinese surname with a piece of lingerie, but I’ve only been on five dates my entire...

.goodreadsGiveawayWidget { color: #555; font-family: georgia, serif; font-weight: normal; text-align: left; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; background: white; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidget p { margin: 0 0 .5em !important; padding: 0; } .goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink { display: inline-block; color: #181818; background-color: #F6F6EE; border: 1px solid #9D8A78; border-radius: 3px; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; outli...

Ok, I do realise that's a very exciting title for a blog post, but guys expecting visuals of a certain Annabelle in a thong about to achieve a state of ecstasy will be sorely disappointed.

Annabelle Thong is my novel and it is coming out in stores in Singapore next month! YESS! 
It's been a long process, to say the least. The moment I finished the first draft back in 2010, I knew I had to get it published somehow. I kept the faith, and it's a good thing I did because it took another five y...