Archives: Authors

L. Frank Baum was born in New York in 1856. The Wizard of Oz, published in 1900, was based on a story he used to tell his own children. It became an international bestseller and was subsequently adapted into a stage play (1902) and a film starring Judy Garland (1939). Baum wrote thirteen further Oz books, alongside numerous other novels, short stories, scripts and poems. After his death in 1919, his publishers carried on producing Oz stories and didn’t stop until 1963.

Dr. Cassandra Aasmundsen-Fry, Psy.D is a Clinical Psychologist, with a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, whose career has been based in Boston, Massachusetts and is now practicing in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She founded MindWell: Modern Psychology and Therapy, a mental health practice in bustling Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and is a practicing Psychologist who works with couples and individuals of all ages.
Dr. Aasmundsen-Fry specialises in working with trauma, complicated families and relationships and psychological issues that hold individuals back from experiencing purpose and contentment in their lives. She is a mixed race of European and Punjabi origin, dual citizen of the USA and Norway, with experience working with diverse individuals from Expats to Refugees. She is passionate about equal rights, diversity of thought, race and culture. Her approach to therapy and writing reflect the belief that we bury the best and worst parts of ourselves, but that embracing both allow ourselves to grow and realise our full potential.

Jonathan Swift was an Irish writer and clergyman best known for his satirical works, including Gulliver’s Travels, A Modest Proposal and A Tale of a Tub. He was born on November 30 1667 in Dublin, Ireland. His father, Jonathan Swift Sr, was a lawyer and his mother, Abigail Erick was the daughter of a clergyman. His mother moved back to England when he was just a year old leaving him in the care of his father’s family in Ireland. His father died when he was only seven years old. Swift had a difficult childhood as he was often sick and suffered from bouts of dizziness and vertigo. Despite this, he was a bright student and was eventually sent to Trinity College in Dublin to study. After graduating, Swift worked as a secretary for Sir William Temple, a statesman and writer. It was during this time that Swift developed his literary talents, and he began to write satirical essays and poems.

Jerome K Jerome was an English author and humourist, best known for his novel Three Men in a Boat. He was born on May 2 1859 in Walsall, Staffordshire, England. His father, a railway clerk, passed away when Jerome was only thirteen years old, which had a significant impact on his life. He started working as a railway clerk like his father but found the job unfulfilling and left after a few years to pursue a career in theatre. He joined a repertory company, travelling around England and honed his writing and acting skills. In 1885, Jerome moved to London and began working as a freelance journalist, writing articles for various newspapers and magazines. Jerome’s breakthrough came in 1889 with the publication of his novel Three Men in a Boat. The book was an instant success and quickly became a bestseller, making Jerome a household name.

Herman Melville was an American novelist, poet and a short story writer, best known for his novel, Moby Dick which is considered one of the greatest works of American literature. Herman Melville was born in New York City on August 1, 1819. Herman’s father had a successful import business which allowed the family to live in a fashionable part of New York City. In 1826, Herman’s father died leaving the family in financial turmoil. Despite him being good in academia, Herman’s family could not afford to send him to college. Instead at the age of eighteen, Herman signed up to work on a merchant ship bound for Liverpool, England. He spent many years at sea, travelling to far-off places like the South-Pacific and the Galapagos islands. This experience would inspire his later writing about the sea and the whaling industry.

Gustave Flaubert (1821–80). French novelist and man of letters who is now regarded as one of the great literary artists of the nine-teenth century.

Born in Rouen in 1821, Flaubert was the son of a highly successful provincial doctor. While training somewhat reluctantly to become a lawyer, he experienced the first of a number of nervous attacks that left him exhausted and forced him to abandon his studies. He returned to live at home where he was able to concentrate fully on his writing. Flaubert was so devoted to the perfection of his art that he renounced everything that interfered with his writing, including his love for Mme Louise Colet. After the tragic deaths of his father in late 1845 and his adored younger sister, Caroline, only a few weeks later, Flaubert found himself the head of the family.

Madame Bovary is generally recognized as Flaubert’s masterpiece and was supremely influential on later realist fiction, being a forerunner in some ways for the works of Zola, Chekhov, Joyce, Camus and Sartre.

Daniel Defoe was an English writer who is best known for his novel Robinson Crusoe, which was published in 1719 and is considered one of the earliest examples of the modern novel. It is believed that Defoe was educated at a dissenting academy in Newington Green, London, known for its liberal and nonconformist views. However, there are no official records of his attendance. At fourteen years old, he was sent to work as an apprentice to a merchant to learn the trade of commerce. After a few years, Defoe became involved in politics and journalism. He wrote political pamphlets and satirical essays, often under a pseudonym and was known for his plain and direct writing style. Defoe’s early experiences in trade and commerce would later influence his writing. His work has had a lasting influence on the development of the English novel, and he is considered one of the founders of the genre.

Charlotte Bronte was a British novelist and poet. Bronte was born in a small town in Yorkshire, England, and was the third of six children. Her mother died of cancer when she was only five years old. Despite their loss, the children were encouraged to pursue their education and were taught by their father. In 1846, Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte published a collection of their poems under the pseudonyms— Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell. The following year, Charlotte published Jane Eyre which was an immediate success and brought her literary fame.

Veronica Llorca-Smith is a public speaker and author. After two decades in senior leadership positions leading large teams in Asia Pacific for world brands such as Apple and Estée Lauder, she founded her own business. Originally from Spain, Veronica has lived in nine countries across Europe, South America, Asia, and the Pacific and speaks six languages fluently, including Chinese. She’s also an amateur triathlete and has completed over 100 races, including the World Championships of Half Ironman in Vegas and an Ironman in Western Australia.

Veronica uses her professional experience leading and motivating multicultural teams, as well as her passion for cultures, traveling, and sports, to empower others to unlock their potential in life. Her writing and public speaking gravitate around a growth mindset, self-improvement, and personal development, and her positivity shines through all her work. She’s a strong diversity and inclusion advocate and leverages her social media channels to raise awareness and inspire inclusion in organizations and society. In 2023, she was a finalist for the Diversity Lead of The Year Award by Women in IT Asia. She also spoke in the 12th Asian Women in Leadership Summit in Singapore in 2023.

She previously published The Lemon Tree Mindset, Conquering Your Burnout and The Flight Home, winner of the Literary Titan award. Veronica is a mom of two daughters and lives with her family in Hong Kong.

Edmund Terence Gomez is former Professor of Political Economy at the Faculty of Economics & Administration, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. He specialises in state-market relations and the linkages between politics, policies, and business development. He has also held appointments at the University of Leeds (England) and Murdoch University (Australia) and served as Visiting Professor at Kobe University (Japan) and at the Universities of Michigan (Ann Arbor) and California (San Diego) (United States). Between 2005 and 2008, he served as Research Coordinator at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), in Geneva, Switzerland. Other academic appointments include Visiting Fellowships at the Australian National University, Canberra and at the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, Denmark.

His publications include Malaysia’s Political Economy: Politics, Patronage and Profits (Cambridge University Press, 1997), Chinese Business in Malaysia: Accumulation, Ascendance, Accommodation (University of Hawaii Press, 1999), Political Business in East Asia (Routledge, 2002), The State of Malaysia: Ethnicity, Equity and Reform (Routledge, 2004), The State, Development and Identity in Multi-ethnic Countries: Ethnicity, Equity and the Nation (Routledge, 2008), The Politics of Resource Extraction: Indigenous Peoples, Multinational Corporations and the State (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2012), Affirmative Action, Ethnicity and Conflict (Routledge, 2013), Government-Linked Companies and Sustainable, Equitable Development (Routledge, 2014), Minister of Finance Incorporated: Ownership and Control of Corporate Malaysia (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2017), Malaysia’s 14th General Election and UMNO’s Fall: Intra-Elite Feuding and the Pursuit of Power (Routledge, 2019) and China in Malaysia: State-Business Relations and the New Order of Investment Flows