Full plate

When it comes to writing and editing, I practically have my plate full, so to speak.

I am currently editing a compilation of articles written by my former boss, Professor Dato' Dr Ismail Haji Ibrahim. This, I believe, will be his fourth book which compiled articles that he has written. I had the opportunity to edit his very first compilation of articles way back in 1999, entitled Isu-isu Semasa dari Perspektif Islam: Koleksi Tulisan Dr Ismail Haji Ibrahim. And I am particularly happy that he has once again entrusted me to edit his latest endeavour. If everything goes well, this new compilation (of which the title has yet to be finalised) would be out by the end of the year.

Another priority for me is to fast-track the writing of Fikri's memoir, Echoes of My Heart. I hope to be able to sit down with Fikri and his mother some time next week so that we could expedite the publication of this important memoir. Any book tackling the issue of organ donation should be seen as an important addition to the library of knowledge in our society.

Of course, aside from this work-related writing and editing tasks, I also have my PhD thesis to write. I will be submitting the first chapter to my supervisor this Friday. After which I will start with the second chapter. As I have most of the materials required for the thesis in hand already, I plan to speed up the writing process. My intention is to have the draft for the whole thesis done by May 2009. Ambitious, I know but I have to set my targets and datelines, lest I procrastinate.

And in between all of these, I am writing the sequel to Transgenesis: Bisikan Rimba. The basic plot is basically set in stone. But my only worry is that it will be too long. Frankly, after a number of rewriting exercises, I find that I can actually break that one story into three parts. Arghhh! I wish I have clones to write these novels for me. Anyway, in all seriousness, I am reassessing and relooking at what I have plotted and what I have written in order to rationalise on what to do. Some plot points may not see the light of day in the final version of the sequel. Some may have to be shifted to the third part of the trilogy. While others may (and this is "a big may") just end up in a spin-off of sorts. This, of course, could only be done if I have the energy to write.

There are several other tasks in the pipeline. I have one thick book to edit, two monographs to consider for publication, and a number of articles and working papers to write. But these are all for next week...