THE TRUE STORY BEHIND MIST-BOUND

In 2009 — shortly before the birth of Daryl’s only child, Alexis — Daryl’s father was felled by two strokes, which also caused vascular dementia. The strokes took away his dad’s mobility and independence, whilst dementia robbed him of many of his memories and much of his personality.

Deeply affected by his dad’s illness, Daryl was equally moved by his mother’s otherworldly love, superhuman strength and unswerving devotion to her husband, as his primary (and often only) caregiver. All this, combined with guilt and an immense regret that Alexis and her Grandpa never got to truly “meet” each other before the mists moved into his mind, rekindled Daryl’s long-buried itch to put pen to paper. Well over a decade prior, the author had been a prolific creator as a student: composing songs, poems, plays and even a kung-fu musical! But his creative side was left behind at the start line once he joined the rat race, as corporate emails became his sole literary output.

This was how his debut “family novel”, Mist-Bound: How to Glue Back Grandpa, was born. The story was Daryl’s way of “introducing” Alexis to her pre-dementia grandfather, as well as a chance for her to have an adventure with her grandmother, since they live in different countries and rarely see each other.

Sadly, the real “Grandpa” passed away from the disease, before the book could be completed and read to him. For the author, each time that the story is read, is a chance anew for Grandpa to be “saved”, over and over, and over again.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Daryl is a regional broadcast media veteran who makes a living selling other people’s stories, and who’s also now telling his own.

He is the author of a sci-fi short story “The Wake-Up Call” published by HarperCollins Children’s India, as well as the award-winning family fantasy bestseller “Mist-Bound: How to Glue Back Grandpa” first published by Penguin Random House Southeast Asia. Inspired by his father’s affliction with and eventual passing from dementia, Mist-Bound swept all major literary awards for kids and youth in Singapore. This includes the 2022 Hedwig Anuar Children’s Book Award given biennially to Singapore’s most outstanding children’s middle-grade book, and the 2022 Singapore Book Award for Best Young Persons Title (ages 7-18 years). Mist-bound was also a finalist for the 2022 Book of the Year Award and was voted by the public into the Top Ten Reader’s Choice at the Singapore Book Awards.

Local-language publications of Mist-Bound are being translated for China, Indonesia, Korea and Vietnam, with more in the works. The Korean edition is being translated by the International Booker Prize 2022 and (American) National Book Award 2023 finalist Bora Chung of “Cursed Bunny” fame.

Mist-Bound has already been adapted into a game (an escape-room-like immersive in-person puzzle experience) launched by the Singapore Book Council and designed by Curious Chimeras. In addition, a movie development deal for Mist-Bound has been signed with B&C Content, a Seoul and LA-based production & management company with a diverse roster of best-in-class global talent, like powerhouse actor and producer Don Lee (TRAIN TO BUSAN, Marvel’s ETERNALS, THE ROUNDUP Franchise), Jun Kunimura (Kill Bill, Naked Director), director/showrunner JQ Lee (ALL OF US ARE DEAD), Anupam Tripathi (SQUID GAME), Kim Yunjee (LIFT) and many others.

Mist-Bound is now internationally represented by prominent American literary agency BookEnds, which rosters authors of numerous books on New York Times, USA Today and Publisher Weekly best-seller lists. Authors of Asian descent in BookEnds’ stable include Xiran Jay Zhou (Iron Widow), Su Lynn Tan (Daughter of the Moon Goddess), Helen Hoang (Heart Principle) and Kia Abdullah (Take It Back).  The book’s unorthodox journey from Singapore & Malaysia out into the world was featured in Nikkei Asia.

As Mist-Bound is one of the rare works of children’s fiction featuring the topic of dementia to be published in this region,  nonprofit and corporate organizations such as Dementia Singapore, the Alzheimer’s Disease Foundation of Malaysia, TOUCH Community Services Singapore, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Singapore & Malaysia, and more have partnered with Mist-Bound for outreach activities such as fundraising, awareness campaigns and media talks. A recent campaign in partnership with The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf® Malaysia helped to raise signficant funds towards dementia caregiver training. Mist-Bound branded planners were sold at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf outlets around Malaysia, with all proceeds going to the worthy cause. The author also regularly speaks in schools, at events, and on mass media.

Inspired by his family’s experience, through Mist-Bound the author hopes to increase appreciation for the elderly, raise dementia awareness and highlight the importance of familial love in keeping one glued together.  He also aspires to grow appreciation for the power of stories, especially the tales found within our elders’ minds and from around our own backyards.

Through his career stints at Viacom, NBC-Universal and Banijay/ Endemol Shine, Daryl was instrumental to the launches in Asia of numerous channels, mobile apps and content from MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, Paramount and CNBC, as well as reality television formats such as MasterChef, Big Brother and LEGO Masters, and dramas adaptations such as The Bridge Malaysia (from the Nordic noir series Bron) on HBO and Viu.

More about the author and Mist-Bound can be found at http://darylkho.com and @darylkho on Instagram.

(Family Photos taken in 2015)