My Hiking Trip

Having been away hiking for 6 days, I’m glad to be reunited with the comforts of home and family.

I’m safely back and only nursing a slight cold and aching feet. It was wonderful memorable trip. It’s fabulous to be out in nature, listening to birds chirping, the babbling brooks, the glimmering surfaces of the vast lakes, the mountains towering majestically. There was the fantastic view from Mount Ossa (the highest mountain in Tasmania) on a clear blue-sky day and, of course, the exhilaration of having climbed it!

There was lots of walking. One the day we climbed Mt Ossa, we walked for 9 hours. I had a couple of very cold swims in a highland lake and in a stream beside a waterfall. I didn’t think about writing. And the best thing was that this wilderness was well out of range of any mobile phone – peace at last!

We were fortunate to have stayed in comfortable huts through out the trip with warm showers and cooked meals. We had fun! There were 5 other Malaysians, including my brother. We all agreed it was hard work but deeply satisfying.

Here are some photos . . .

Magnificient views!

King of the Mountain!

Wish you were here!

Like my designer boots?

Interview with the Queen of Darkness

Riding upon the blood soaked success of Dark City, Xeus, our Malaysian femme fatale, has just released Dark City 2 – a collection of ‘twisted’ stories, this time by guest authors including myself, Lydia Teh, John Ling, Bissme S, Jennifer Wan, Chua Kok Yee and a host of others.

I thought it’s an apt time for us to now delve into Xeus’s brain, to see how it ticks and what worms we might uncover!

Here’s the interview…

When did you first start writing short stories?

In 2005 actually, when I wrote Dark City. Previously, I had only written non-fiction articles for newspapers and magazines. I decided to try my hand at a new genre.

How long did it take you to write Dark City?

Surprisingly fast. 2 months for the first draft and 2 more months to rewrite it. I did 11 rewrites, each progressively faster than the previous one.

Is there any particular reason why you’ve chosen to write in this genre?

None other than the fact it’s quicker to finish a short story than a complete novel. I’m still in the second rewrite of a children’s book I completed and it has taken me a year and a half! Short stories are so rewarding in that you can finish each one and feel a profound sense of accomplishment.

Is it hard coming up with a twist for each story?

Not that difficult once I got the hang of it. I studied short stories extensively before I started out — the literary ones from Fitzgerald and Faulkner, the tongue-in-cheek ones from Roald Dahl and Jeffrey Archer. Then I would write a brief treatment for each idea, something that would go: “Girl works for a bar. TV is on. Newflash about a serial killer on the prowl. Girl walks home and is stalked by a serial rapist/killer. Write in POV of girl as a victim. REVEAL: Girl is actually the serial killer.”

I filed a lot of ‘treatments’ this way, and as I wrote, I kept getting more ideas for stories.

What advise have you for budding writers?

Read as much as you can. Learn from the writers you like. But there’s a difference between reading for pleasure and reading as a writer. When you read as a professional writer, you’re consciously looking out for plot points, twists, the way a certain sentence is phrased. For example, Jeffrey Deaver goes for the classic ‘misdirect’ in his short stories. However, Stephen King writes his short stories straight – there’s usually no twist in them. Jeffrey Archer condenses character backstory extremely well.

I would also advise a budding writer to watch as many movies and TV shows as possible, because they’re also all about storytelling. For sheer audacity of plotting, twists, classic ‘misdirect’ and cliffhanger writing, every writer must watch ‘Prison Break’. And more importantly, learn from it.

And there you have it. I’m sure there’s more to uncover. But for the moment you can visit Xeus’s blog to find out more about the author, her writing and her dark tales!

Don’t Quit Your Day Job Lah!

In Malaysia, where reading is not a big priority with the general hooked-on-Astro population, first print runs usually vary from 2,000 to 5,000 books. In Australia, a nation that’s so proud of its writers, initial print runs are at a meagre 10,000, and usually only 5,000 for literary fiction.

Last weekend I read an article by Rosemary Sorensen. She says this:

“… when even the best known [Australian] writers . . . are much less well known than your average sitcom actor, anyone who wants to write their way to fame is naive . . . If its not the fame that draws them, are they driven by a love of literature?”

Perhaps.

Internationally, there are two tiers of published writers. The top tier writers are able to live off their royalties and write full time. The remaining authors have to carry on with their day jobs. I don’t know the percentages off-hand but I’d guess that only 10% of writers fall into the top tier.

In Malaysia, unfortunately, there is only one tier for fiction writers. Not one of us (even with a dozen books published) can live off our royalties. So why do we write?

Because, even though we may not be fully conscious of it, the act of writing allows us to create and to accomplish. It’s that simple. And how lucky we writers really are. No other equipment is needed other than pen and paper and a bit of space and time to ourselves.

Of course, to be published is the ultimate goal. To live off our published books is the ultimate dream.

So why do you write?

Bob Dylan and I and I

A couple of months back I went to see Dylan in concert in Melbourne. (Well, I also saw him in Adelaide but I’m not going to admit that I indulged and saw him twice, am I?)

I’ve been a fan since my school days. A friend played me his Budokan album and that year I bought (yes, I’ll admit it) a pirate cassette from Ampang Park or Pertama Complex, I think. I heard songs that got my mind spinning, my head questioning and my heart wondering.

His songs lay phrases we often use. For you know the times are changing, for strange things are blowing in the wind and pretty soon when we’re knockin’ on heaven’s door, our memories will be going, going, gone. I’m a poet I know it, I hope I don’t blow it. Something like that, anyway.

Dylan in concert. The banner is unfurled revealing the crown and eye logo for “Thunder on the Mountain”

Dylan stands as one of the greatest song writers and literary figures of the 20th century. That’s a big claim. But I’m willing to say it. His songs are poems filled with sarcasm, humour, subversion, love and provide a different, sharper, edgier way of looking at life.

There are ’stories’ (Spanish Boots, Hurricane, Jack of Hearts). There are tales of places so real we can smell the air (Desolation Row, Empty Mining Towns, Hibbing). He creates characters (Hobo Sailors, Persian drunkards, Mr Jones) we don’t dare meet. He gives us fantastic images like Ezra Pound and T.S.Elliot fighting in the captain’s tower or such memorable phrases like “The ghost of ‘lectricity howl in the bones of her face”.

But it’s his latest trilogy of albums Time Out of Mind (1997), Love and Theft (2001), and Modern Times(2006), stands as some of his best works. He’s about 65 now, so I take heart from this. Age should not limit creativity. It’s not too late to start. And those who have begun or established themselves can carry on with hope knowing we ply our trade for many more years.

Sure there will be low periods, like in the 80s for Dylan which he readily discusses in his autobiography Chronicles Volume I (2004). He felt alienated from his earlier work. He couldn’t make them breath.

But he’s back with us, creating stuff that’ll make you want to turn the volume up. For no real reason, his trilogy brings these random quotes to mind:

“Have you ever seen a ghost? No. But you have heard about them.”
“Don’t know how it looked to others, but I never slept with her, not even once.”
“For in a the human heart, an evil spirit dwells.”
“I’ve sucked up milk from a thousand cows.”
“In every beautiful thing, there’s been some kind of pain.”
” ‘You don’t read women authors do you?’ ‘Read Erica Jong’ “
“Everyday your memory goes dimmer. You don’t haunt me like you did before.”
“I’m staying with Aunty Sally. But you know she’s not really my aunt.”
“I’m stranded in the city that never sleeps. Some of these women here they give me the creeps.”
“I’ve been in trouble ever since I set my suitcase down.”

(I really have to stop myself here!)

Bob Dylan is trouble. He’ll engage your brain, set your mind reeling, your heart aflame. No bad thing for writers.

In Adelaide, his ultimate song was ‘Blowing in the Wind’. It was so deconstructed that I only recognised it half way through! The opening number in Melbourne was that great karaoke song Rainy Day Women Nos 12 & 35. (I wonder if he’ll be banned in Malaysia?) He hardly repeated any tunes in the 2 concerts. He played some obscure ones that a lot of people, including myself, didn’t know. Or perhaps he had just deconstructed them out of recognition. There was an anti-war flavour too with “Masters of War” and “John Brown”.

But Dylan is Dylan. And he didn’t say “Hello” to the audience either. No, not even once.

Dylan’s not here to be polite. He’s also got “a voice like sand and glue” says a particular rock star in “Song for Bob Dylan”.

I find Dylan’s got a voice full of depth and character. But it’s not to everybody’s taste. Dylan never has been. And never will be.