Serein Choo's Blog

“I no longer know If I wish to drown myself in love, vodka or the sea.”

Franz Kaftka (Author)

Maybe all three. It’s Monday and I wish to be drown in love and/or the sea (no alcohol, since I can’t drink), rather than going to work.

#MondayMotivation

Disclaimer: Quote doesn’t belong to me.

“Writing is utter solitude, the descent into the cold abyss of oneself.”

Franz Kaftka (Popular works includes The Metamorphosis, a novella, and The Trial and The Castle)

So true. It’s like a lone fight with yourself, in a good way. I can’t help remembering all the dialogues I’ve had with myself (for the sake of my writing). It’s writing two characters talking, but if you really think about it, you’re talking to yourself, since there’s only one person who is, and always will be, writing the story.

It’s the same with the characters’ personalities—you are the hero as well as the villain.

#MondayMotivation

Disclaimer: Quote doesn’t belong to me.

First Draft (Slice of Life?) by Serein Choo.

This is my side side project, literally cause I got too distracted with my two mains and one story that I was rushing for ONC (a collective writing competition on Wattpad), so this project was stalled and for now, waiting to be completed.

Storyboard/Theme for, The Kopitiam at the End.

The title has already grown for me. So I will be using this but the storyline, plot might still be changing as I go along (I tend to change as I go even though I have written down points for the story) (guilty pantser here!).

This will be a story set in Malaysia, of closure, and letting go. Husband/Wife (one of them is gonna be a ghost) going through the process of grief and with lots of coffee, teh c and cham involved (and a little dash of magical realism).

My first attempt to focus on a couple, love, grief and closure.

First Draft (Magical Realism) by Serein Choo.

A moment of distraction, I got caught up in a writing spree (ONC, Wattpad 2026) to write 20k words in a month although, I didn’t qualify since I was late for the attendance but I continue to write according to the timeline provided. It was great to squeeze out words Haha, was it hard? Yes, definitely but at the same time it was fun.

Based on a writing prompt No. 42 : One morning, time simply refuses to move forward and you are the only one who can still move while the rest of the world stands frozen.

Storyboard/Theme for, Frozen in Time.

When everything is stopped with a big old full stop.

What would life be?

Where there is no birth nor death, simple because everything seemed to be frozen in time.

You wake up one day, and this is the reality you face; everything around you is frozen in time. The clouds hang motionless in the sky. Cars are suspended mid-crawl. Birds remain trapped in the air. The world has stopped but you haven’t.

Or have you?

Are you truly the only one still moving… or is your mind playing tricks on you?

This is what happens to Penny Chan, an ordinary office worker living an unremarkable life until one she woke up one seemingly normal morning, only to find that time itself has abandoned everyone but her.

She was scared, lonely. And most of the time, confused.

But as Penny struggles to make sense of her strange new reality, a deeper truth begins to surface: the world hasn’t simply stopped, it’s waiting. Waiting for her.

Because if Penny Chan can’t figure out who she truly is, or what it really means to live, the world will never move forward again. With everything hanging in quiet limbo, Penny must confront herself in a way she never has before. Because this motionless world depended on her, Penny must face the one thing that she had been avoiding her whole life:

Herself.

All rights reserved.

At the end of the month, I got down 15k words which was great, although I bit sad that I didn’t manage to reach the finish line. But I will continue to finish it on my sweet time (since I want to end it around 20k+ words as well). I didn’t want to drag out the story so maybe another 5/6 chapters to completion.

Good luck to me!

“Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable.”

Franz Kaftka (Popular works includes The Metamorphosis, a novella, and The Trial and The Castle)

We should also do what is right instead of what is acceptable.

#MondayMotivation

Disclaimer: Quote doesn’t belong to me.

First Draft by Serein Choo.

Other than The Retelling of Night (Chinese Fantasy), this is the second main writing project I am working on. This one requires much more brainpower than the others, but I really hope to finish writing it. Love exploring new waters with imagination and creativity.

Listening to this song, Past Lives by Sapiendream while I write. It matches the mood and vibe of the story so much.

Storyboard/Theme for, In the City of the Blind.

It’s the story of Ah Loong and Sarah who were both struggling in the world where people are blind at birth. The challenges they faced and the decisions they had to make to continue living in such a world. What choices they will make?

Quote for the story: ‘We are together in loneliness… until I found you.‘

I truly love this story from the bottom of my heart. I’ve been writing it every other night, though progress has been slow, and I’m only around Chapter 10. I’m also challenging myself to write in dual points of view (POV). It’s difficult, but I think the challenge is worth it.

First Draft (Chinese Fantasy) by Serein Choo.

A little update on my writing. If you has seen my social media, I have posted these projects that I have been working on but silly me but I have forgotten to update it in my blog as well. So here we are.

A Retelling of Night is a Chinese Fantasy story, I have been working on since last year.

Storyboard/Theme for, The Retelling of Night.

It all begins with ZhuRong (Deity) defeating XiangLiu (Yao) and sealing him. Giving the seal to the humans thus, birthing the role of Holy Maiden and the State of Zhu. Yet Yaos are always trying to find ways to break in to the Capital and release XiangLiu from captivity. With Royal Guards like DuCheng and the current Holy Maiden, Shi YiGuang.

Will they succeed in protecting peace? You got to read it, to know the rest (You can check out the first few chapters posted on Wattpad).

At this point, I have already finished the 1st part of the story and I am currently having a friend beta reading this for me and editing the feedback I have gotten. However, this is still unfinished since I am planning it to be a 2 part story. So, I will be writing the 2nd part soon.

By Grace Chan.

Okay, truth be told, I bought this because I am a sucker when sci-fi and Malaysia are involved. I was like, “Oh, this is interesting”, a digital world/utopia (since nowadays, you see AI and new tech popping up every other day), and yes, the word Malaysia, as Tao-Yi is from Malaysia. I bought it without a second thought (which is true but just a little bit).

Here’s a little blurb of the book:

“In the late 21st century Australia, Tao Yi and her partner Navin spend most of their time inside an immersive, consumerist virtual reality called Gaia. They log on, go to work, socialize and even eat in this digital utopia. Meanwhile, their aging bodies lie suspended in pods inside cramped apartments.”

Reading this, everything feels so real, like I think not far in the future, this is world we are heading. It’s a dystopia world (with everything going worse in the real world, climate) hidden within an utopia. The world building was pretty great, very detailed and I really like the interaction of all the characters, Tao-Yi with Navin, Zach and Evelyn. And complicated relationship Tao-Yi had with her mother.

Very sci-fi but easy to understand.

I also like the fact that they could revisit their memories at any given point, the world seems so much better but its facing a whole different kind of problem, with real food becoming more expensive, everyone is consuming pack meals (meals rehydrate with water/simple meals); more people spending most of their time online, and others.

I really like the idea of an Immy/Immersive. It would feels like a drug but in a good way, like how you appreciate art in a museum but this is like a 5D version of it. Neupods, ReVision, zing, words used in the world, making everything seemed more real.

Some parts that stood out to me:

“In Gaia, food fills your mouth rapidly with pleasure, like a piece of chocolate. But her mother’s soup holds different flavors and textures, distinct and separate, with unpleasant bits like the flaky peanuts skins and stringy parts of pork.”

“You haven’t decided on your method of disposal… water cremation, sky burial, green curial, scientific research, or recomposing into biofuel…? Where is the grief, the release? Something momentous has happened here. A death and a rebirth.”

Every Version of You (2022)

It’s a 5/5 for me. I really don’t have much to nit-pick with this book. I love every inch of it. The story, the setting, the characters all fit together really well.

*Spoiler Alert (Turn Back)

I understand the reason why Navin chose to Upload while Tao-Yi didn’t. If I were dying (or almost dying), without a doubt, I would have chosen to upload myself as well. Whether it’s hell or heaven, it would be better than dying.

But just as it was unmistakable why Navin made his decision, I also understand Tao-Yi’s point of view of wanting to remain herself. I like that Navin still cared, but it was just impossible for them to be together or remain on the same path, where the gap between reality and the digital world is just far too wide.

Seeing the world of Gaia, it felt like an unreal world. Just as Navin’s body/his corpse was disposed of, you are dead unless you believe that your soul remains, now in Gaia, in a digital world, or as the books put it’s, your soul/being reduced to pixels , “where her neural patterns would be tweaked and refined.”

Living in a digital world—an immortal afterlife—are we truly alive, or are we dead?

Does a pattern of thoughts equate to a soul?

Is this merely a place where our souls remain until even the machinery breaks down and we finally meet true death?

(As Tao-Yi puts it, she love both versions of Navin, the one in real life and the digital Navin. They are both him but different versions of him). Their date was cute, I like how they were able to meet up one last time before going their separate ways.

To the people in Gaia, it’s real. A really good point of how the author first set the story in half digital world and then slowly moved towards being fully immersed into a digital world. And maybe one day, they will forget about the real world and think that Gaia is the real world. These questions etched deeply in my mind after I read this book. It’s really eye-opening or more accurately mind-opening.

By Park Seolyeon.

The book was really up in my alley as I grew u with magical cartons/animation (Sailormoon). When I saw it was on sale (cheaper since I took the nomad/smaller version)I picked it up immediately. And began binge on the book.

Here’s a little blurb of the book:

“Me? A magical girl?”

“A millennial turned magical girl must combat climate change and credit card debt in this whimsical and wildly imaginative ode to magical girl manga.

I like that the story is about a twenty-nine-year-old millennial woman drowning in debt, whose life is in shambles, only to discover that she has magical girl powers. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what her powers are, which adds to the intrigue of the plot. The story is fast-paced, and there were a few funny moments that I really enjoyed (I found myself grinning on the train).

The story explores themes of climate change, and I found it interesting how the author weaves magical girls into such a real-world issue. It also touches on mental health, domestic abuse, credit card debt (like it can really cause real damage and make your life miserable), and loneliness.

The contrast between the ordinary (everyday life, or in this case, the struggle of everyday life) and the extraordinary (being a magical girl or having powers) is well done. The light world-building such as the Magical Girl Union, which was pretty cool (you will need them) and the way the author explains that some of the girls have powers to resolve real-life issues were pretty nice add-ons.

Love the illustration (manga style) in the book. So cute.

The growing friendship between Roa and the main character (I don’t think her name was mentioned throughout the story, but correct me if I’m wrong) was pretty nice too. From stopping her suicide attempt to helping her out (those training chants—aww, so cute, just like I imagined would happen in a magical girl story!) and eventually becoming friends, their relationship was one of my favorite parts.

Some parts that also stood out to me:

“All I did was live my life and debt accumulated.” [This hit so hard]

“Way to tell the world world that a corner of my mind is forever colonized by though of my credit card debt.”

“You are someone I need to protect. You’re not the most important magical girl in the world, you are the most important magical girl in the world—to me.”

A Magical Girl Retires (2022) Translated (2024)

The story ends abruptly but for me, I really do like the premise and how the author explains the magical system and wraps up everything. It’s a 4.5/5 stars for me since, I really enjoyed. It’s memorable and one of a kind.

Although, I really wish there was more to the story/ending.

Good light reading to get out a reading slump.

*Spoiler Alert (Turn back)

Why does she have to retire? I really want to see the ways she might use her powers to get better (although it also seems kind of silly that she was able to defeat the Magical Girl of Time by sacrificing the other girls’ powers, yet she still had her own). But, I do kinda understand like how the author want the MC’s powers to reflect what ordinary people do everyday (just a bit more magical), where the water appeared immediately but she still has to pay for it, one way or another.

Love: How her magical talisman is a credit card.

Her adversary believes the only solution to climate change is to eliminate its primary cause: humanity itself (extreme), but seriously, climate change is really due to human actions.

I feel like there’s a lot of hidden potential in the book.

I really wish there were a sequel or even a side story set in the same world.

By Mai Mochizuki.

Truthfully, I was interested after reading the blurb and there was cats and a coffeeshop. The premise was up in my lane. However, once I was really in the book, everything seems kinda flat for me.

Here’s a little blurb of the book:

“Under a glittering full moon, a Kyoto coffee shop with no fixed location appears only when it’s needed. It is entirely run by talking cats..”

The food and drinks served in the shop were pretty interesting, but the story explained many of the characters’ struggles through astrology, which I didn’t quite understand and couldn’t really relate to.

It also felt like the story downplayed the characters’ intelligence and skills. It was almost as if it was saying that you’re not successful because you’re in the wrong industry or at the wrong point in time (Age of Pieces to Age of Aquarius) (Age of Spirituality to the internet). Suddenly it all makes sense and the character reposition their thinking and got better after that. And they also became like a cult, suddenly believing in astrology (or becomes interested in it).

I understand that it’s like magical (hey, there’s talking cats in the story) but feels like to good to be true kind of way. My logical mind just doesn’t accept it, maybe it needs like more hardship or trials for character growth that’s the reason this book is not working for me.

I have read the same healing Japan/Korea Lit. They posses the same plot, grieving someone and then a meal helps resolve the regrets ectara, or characters finding solace in friends/neighbours but this magical cats and coffeeshop is not working for me.

However, the scenes or the dessert seems really magical though, it reads deliciously in my mind.

Some parts that stood out to me:

“Those things you were saying abut the Moon, and Mercury, and Venus… Maybe that’s a bit like this tea.”

“It is?”

“Yes. The cold water becomes hot water— and the leaves turn into tea. Then the milk turns it into something completely different again. It goes through all these phases…” I said, in a quiet voice.

…

“But what you say does make a lot of sense. The tea starts out as water, but experience transforms it entirely.”

The Full Moon Coffee Shop (2024)

It might appeal to people who has a stronger astrology understanding but personally this book, overall, it was like a 3/5 stars for me since, I didn’t enjoy it as much. It’s somewhat memorable but there wasn’t like a great wow factor for me. Although, I really like how the story wraps up at the end.

Second books is out, Best Wishes from the Full Moon Coffee Shop but I am thinking whether I would want to continue reading this.