Tuti And I - Part 2: 'Tuti and I' is real!

9 January 2010, my book 'Tuti and I' began to take shape. Myself as the writer, Iman my illustrator and my husband the facilitator of the entire 'mission' had by then come a long way. Prior to our long-awaited contract signing with my KL publisher Al-Ameen, hubby and I had made quite a number of trips up to KL to meet with Iman for neverending discussions about the mock-up copy of 'Tuti and I'.



Finally set foot at KL's train station after a sleepless night!



On that fateful 9 January 2010, we were to meet with Haji Mazlan and show him our final mock-up and he would give us his final word on whether he wanted to work with me on publishing 'Tuti and I' and distribute it into the market. One could only imagine the anticipation. It did not help when my husband and I only managed to get the sitting carriage in the train from Singapore all the way to KL. There was no way we could get a good rest! The lights in the carriage were left on throughout the entire journey so I had to cover my eyes with my husband's bandana in order to get a shut-eye. But shut my eye I DID NOT! There was no way my body was to give in to a sitting position to sleep! So dearest hubby slept on the floor and gave me his seat so that I could curl up like a prawn and try my very best to sleep. Which, like I said, I did not. It was a terrible journey. It was a torturous journey. It was...very very very torturous. But of course, we reached our destination after what seemed like forever. It was amazing that I could still spare a smile for my husband's camera.

At Al-Ameen

So we reached KL train station at about 6a.m. in the morning. We thought there was no need to get lodging since it was only a day trip. We could not afford to stay even for a night because both hubby and I were working the next day. It was unfortunate that that was the only day Haji Mazlan could afford to look at the mock-up and talk about the contract. But things never always did work our way and it was a date with the publisher we COULD NOT MISS. It would decide whether 'Tuti and I' was going to be real. Like...R.E.A.L real!

We were starving and had breakfast at McDonald's while waiting for Iman. My eyes were betraying me as the minutes ticked by. I thought I was going to fall asleep on my pancakes that were starting to look like mini pillows, when Iman finally arrived! We had a date with Luqman, Haji Mazlan's son at Al-Ameen in a couple of hours and Iman drove us there.

Al-Ameen

Located about 45 minutes away from the train station, Al-Ameen sits humbly on the 2nd storey of a row of shophouses. Over there we caught up with Luqman and got to work almost immediately. There were still lots to be done and completed before we went to meet Haji Mazlan at a book seminar in the afternoon. Iman did quite a lot of touch-ups to his illustrations and lay-out of the pages. As wacky as he is, Iman as I had discovered, is extremely meticulous in his work. Of course I was more than ecstatic to have found an individual who takes pride in his work, what more, being a part of my project. Needless to say, always being one who makes sure that things get done way before deadlines, I was extremely anxious while watching Iman at work. Surprisingly, Iman was extremely calm while I swear he could hear my heart beating like a drum while I stood beside him. 

Iman doing some touch-ups at Al-Ameen

Last-minute discussion

Looking through the printouts of the first mock-up.

I let out a huge sigh of relief when Iman announced that he was done. We printed out the first mock-up and I went through every page thoroughly. But I had to admit that I was blown away by the outcome of the entire piece. The colours of every page was vibrant and the illustrations on every page clearly depicted my story in its entirety. I secretly smiled to myself as I looked through the printouts and the questions that repeatedly screamed in my head were,"Is this real? Is this really happening? Am I really going to see my story in a book???" All this time, a children's books collector, admiring the works of others, I could not believe that soon, someone else was going to hold my book, read my book and hopefully God-willing, enjoy my work. Wow! It was only too good to be true. Intermittenly, I would snap myself out of my silent conversation with myself and continued to study the printouts. There was work to be done before I could really 'count my chickens'.

Still hard at work.

Finally! The final mock-up of
'Tuti and I'. 

There were a few changes to be made here and there so we had to do quite a number of printouts before the final mock-up. But soon, it was done. The final mock-up was settled and confirmed among Luqman, Iman, my husband and myself. 'Tuti and I' was on its way. Haji Mazlan's decision would change the fate of 'Tuti and I' forever.

The Boss!

At noon, we sped to our meeting place with Haji Mazlan. My head was spinning from the mad rush and I thought I was going to throw up with anxiety and it was not only until we had settled in the meeting room that I realized that Iman was looking nervous too (check out the picture above...Iman and I are spotting the same posture!) That was it. All the months of our hard work layed in the hands of the man who would determine the fate of 'Tuti and I'.

Haji Mazlan adding his two cents worth on 'Tuti and I'.

After much talk about his view about the potential sale of the might-be book, Haji Mazlan called in his editor, highlighting to us that his editor would take a final look at the mock-up and make some minor changes (only if necessary) before publishing it. Upon hearing that, I was left in limbo for a while. Did that mean that 'Tuti and I' was going to be published? Was I going to sign a contract with Al-Ameen? Answers! I needed answers!!!!!

The editor from Al-Ameen. 

And finally, I think God could no longer stand my endless bugging and finally through Haji Mazlan, handed Iman and I the contract and THANK YOU GOD, Al-Ameen had decided to publish 'Tuti and I' !!! Alhamdulillah!!!

The contract was finally in my hands!!!

Haji Mazlan went through the contract briefly with me. I was quite familiar with the contents of the contract by then because Luqman had showed it to me at the office in the morning. While I endured the continuous chatter of Haji Mazlan, I treid my very best to exert the very last bit of patience that was left of me to sign the contract. Albeit the quite successful decorum that I could summon then, I could not wait to get my signature on the contract. It was the only way to confirm that my first book was going to be well on its way to reality, well, for me at least.

Signing the contract!

Look at Iman. Who wouldn't be happy!!

And by God, I did it! Haji Mazlan said 'Yes' and I signed the contract!!! 'Tuti and I' was going to be published and would make its debut at the Kuala Lumpur International Book Fest in March!!! Ok, I realise that at this point now, most of my sentences have ended with multiple exclamation marks. Well do excuse my enthusiasm and excitement dear reader for I cannot contain my obvious happiness even as I recount that pivotal moment of my life. I mean, I was going to produce my first piece of work. I was on my way to achieving my dream of being a children's book writer! So please, do give me some space for the exaggerated excitement. :)

Heading home in the train. 


As we sat at our bunks in the train heading home, I could only dream about the moment I were to hold my first book in my hands. I could only dream about bringing my book to Lombok Indonesia and show it to Tuti! I could only dream that I would be sharing my story of a boy and his mountain in Lombok Indonesia with everyone out there.
At that time, I could only dream...until...
The Beginning.

I thank Allah first and last for without His Mercy, nothing is Possible, nothing is Blessed. 
All praise and thanks be to Allah, My Lord - Jaslina