(for previous self-obsessed trivia pasal buku lain, sila click on the label "The Self-Obsessed Trivia" di bawah entry)
1. I wrote #KATERERCINTA in 2014 as part of another trio project with Liza Nur and Zara Amani. It was supposed to be three interconnected stories surrounding one wedding between a man called Annas and a woman named Aireen. Liza was to write about the bridesmaid, I was to write about the caterer, and Zara Amani was to write about the wedding planner. However, due to some unforeseen issues which I can no longer remember what (haha), we ended up not going through with the project, but Liza Nur extended her manuscript into #BRIDESMAID and mine... well, as it is...
2. The book was supposed to be criticism about the topic of arranged marriage. Supposed to be, when it was only 250 pages. Whatever happened in the process of extending it is subject to the readers' views. I will use the concept of "Death of the Author" in this case rather than "Authorial Intent".
3. I usually pick protagonist's name based on famous women in history (Zulaikha, Khadijah, Safiah, etc) for my full novel, but as this novel was originally a part of a novella, I didn't use this rule (like 3 HATI, in which I chose the name Wulan). I asked my friends to pick a name, and Nad chose Maira, which sounded similar to Munira, who is my former caterer friend whose demeanor I based this character on.
4. In the process of writing this as an original trio project, we discussed locations, food, etc for the wedding. So the food that Maira prepared for the bride was based on Liza's choice for her part of the story.
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| Is where I imagined the first time Annas and Maira saw each other after several years |
5. I was sick one day, and while waiting for my actual doctor (who I have been going to since I was a kid) to call me, I noticed the nameplate on his door and the words Dip. in Dermatology written across it... which is how Sol ended up becoming a dermatologist.
6. The original manuscript has only 250 pages, and the parts between Maira and Annas were not as long as they are in the published version. There was also no Kifli plot.
7. Since I usually put a character from my previous novels in my new book, this time I gave a shout out to Safiah from AKU KAN NOVELIS, who is not exactly in KC, but has her baby shower done by Maira.
8. I originally didn't plan to submit this particular manuscript to the publisher. I intended to keep it locked as those abandoned projects because I wrote it in a mindset of a novella, not a full novel. But I realised that I haven't released any new book for three years, and that's just bad, and the editor was like, "Are you going to just stop becoming a novelist now or what?" So I sent it. It's a "hi readers I am still alive" kinda book.
9. When I was writing Sol, aku banyak tengok filem lakonan Jason Segel. It was 2014 after all. Ahahahahahahaha. I do question my obsession with Jason Segel that year.
10.Dua pekerja Maira bernama Amin dan Hani. My friend Munira (the actual former caterer) ada adik bernama Amin dan Hani. But I didn't purposely put the characters' name Amin dan Hani sebab diorang adik Mun. I think it was a subconscious thing. Because it was not until the book was published that I realised, Oh, they were named Amin dan Hani????? Another was also named Aiman, which is also the name of my other best friend Nad's youngest brother. I guess my mind just went autopilot in picking names.
11. Here's the funny thing about the name Hafsa Catering. I learned that one of the Prophet Muhammad's wives was very good at cooking. And for the longest time, I thought it was Hafsah, the daughter of Umar. But it turns out to be Safiyah binti Huyay. I kinda found out I made the mistake more than a hundred pages into the book. And so I was like, mehhh... I will just scrap that part where Maira explained about Hafsah being the best cook among Prophet Muhammad's wives because clearly, I was wrong!! :P
12.The book ada macam deskripsi yg mungkin org piker "penting ke untuk aku tau?" tentang adik pengantin yg bernama Aisyah dan wedding planner yg bernama Zareeda. Itu disebabkan both were protagonists of Liza Nur dan Zara Amani's part in the previous project. I gave Zareeda some space in hopes of Zara Amani will finally write her part..... entah bila la agaknya tu.
13.Lagu "Baby It's Cold Outside" yang berkumandang kali pertama Maira jumpa Neal di Eden's Cafe sebenarnya ada maksudnya sendiri. The 1944 song itself, if you ever heard it, sounds very cute and catchy in the first listening, about two people being flirtatious with each other. Tapi bila dibaca liriknya, the lyrics itself is problematic, as the guy in the song keeps trying to get the gal to stay with him, and at one point probably "spiking" her drinks. Which is why nowadays it is called a "date rape" song.... that is until John Legend rewrote the lyrics to make it less creepy. The thing I was trying to do was,... the song represents Maira and Annas' relationship. On the surface, it looks like she is marrying a guy of whom she had been in love with for the longest time. On the surface, it seemed to be a cute romantic story. But then she "reads the lyrics" of her life, and realised that it was not as it seems.
14. Oh, and the tajuk didn't come from me. The editor decided it for me. The manuscript didn't have actual tajuk kecuali the original tajuk for the Liza Zara Shai project, which is "Resepsi". Among cadangan tajuk I gave the editor include "Apples and Oranges".... yes, I am THAT bad at naming things.
15. I originally wanted the cover to have a silhouette of a woman's head, to signify Maira's state of mind. It turned into a cake instead. But then I saw the other book yang published pada waktu yang sama with KC dapat cover silhouette kepala tu and I was like, "Hey!!!" ahahahahahaha.
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| I wanted something like this initially. |
Untuk dapatkan, sila
1. whatsapp Abang Long Mohamad Feroz Zaini at www.wasap.my/60192254910
Atau
2. whatsapp Smzpurple Bookstores at wasap.my/601121226461/unclebosmama
Atau through Karangkraf Mall at https://www.karangkrafmall.com/uncle-boss-mama
