“On Fridays” to be published in Thema (USA)

As I wrote in a recent blog, every few years I get this urge to rewrite the 17 stories from Lovers and Strangers Revisit­ed.  The first story, “On Fridays” has just been accepted by Thema as a reprint in their A New Routine issue (summer 2025).

After submitting another story, I thought, why not try “On Fridays” as a reprint since it fit the theme?  I didn’t know if they accepted reprints—it was previously published in The Literary Review in 2003, which I acknowledged in the cover letter.  Figured I had nothing to lose.

When I received an email from Thema, the subject line stated, “Acceptance,” so I knew that it contained good news.  I forgot which story I had sent them.  I was even more surprised when it was “On Fridays.”  I had completely forgotten I had sent it as a reprint.  I double checked to make sure that I had in­formed them.  As a reprint, the story will earn less than it would have as an original story, but I’m not com­plaining.

So now the stories from Lovers and Strangers Revisit­ed have been (or will be) published 83 times in 12 coun­tries (12 stories in USA and UK).  Not bad, which is exactly why I get this urge every few years to rewrite these stories, because you just never know when another one will be published.

This is also the reason I spent two years rewriting six novels (and two collections of stories and a play), because you just never know.  You must trust the writing process and keep submitting your work and keep your fingers crossed that an agent or an editor will say, hey, this is not bad…in fact, it is quite suitable for our present needs…

            —Borneo Expat Writer

Being Seen on TV by a Friend

“You’re on TV!” my wife told me over the phone, calling from a Toyota dealership where she was having her car serviced.  A friend of hers had texted that she was watching me on TV.   I soon realized that it was a repeat of the Past Present Future Episode 5: Writing Natives episode on TV Sarawak that featured Golda Mowe, author of such novels as Iban Dream, Iban Journey and Iban Women that I had blogged about.

                                     

                                                                                

After interviewing Golda a few years ago, I had been asked to take part in a docu­men­tary about her writing life.  The filming for my part was done at my house, which made it convenient.  Unfortunately, I missed the actual program but I was glad that at least someone I knew watched it (or a at least a repeat version of it).

                                           

I told my wife to let her friend know that I would be available for autographs.  I’m still waiting…

      —Borneo Expat Writer

My other Interviews with First Novelists:  

Ivy Ngeow author of Cry of the Flying Rhino, winner of the 2016 Proverse Prize.
Preeta Samarasan, author of Evening is the Whole Day, finalist for the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2009.
Chuah Guat Eng, author of Echoes of Silence and Days of Change. 

Also, Malachi Edwin Vethamani, author of Complicated Lives and Life Happens.

Five part Maugham and Me series

Trust the Novel Writing (and rewriting)Process. 

“Dark Blue Thread” published in Westerly 56:2

Westerly 56:2, a literary journal in Australia, with the tagline “the best in writing from the West” arrived in the mail yesterday.  It was a special issue of Westerly, “South/East Asia”, and it contained my Malaysia-set short story “Dark Blue Thread” from Lovers and StrangersRevisited.

It’s always exciting for the author to get their hands on that first copy, a validation.  For years I believed in the story, which had a lot of early success as noted in The Story Behind the Story, but then I kept changing the characters' names and finally overhauled the story, adding more backstory and a whole new ending that doubled the length of the story.  This was the version I had believed in and frustrated me that it wasn’t getting out of Malaysia.

Persistence does pay off, so does rewriting.  The final rewrite came earlier this year, when I went through all of the stories in Lovers and Strangers Revisited again before passing them to Editions GOPE for the French translation, Trois autres Malaisie. I wanted the best version out there both in English and in French.  Ironically, “Dark Blue Thread” was one of three stories left out of Trois autres Malaisie (since the theme was similar to another story, “Only in Malaysia” that was added to the MPH version of the collection).  Editions GOPE wanted to keep the length of the collection down—seems translating into French adds about 20% more words. 

Then Westerly, after accepting it, gave me another chance to revise it, so I went through the story again, tweaking it here and there, and now I have this latest testimony to the endurance of those short stories from Lovers and Strangers Revisited that I first wrote over 20 years ago that are still being read today.

*Update, the 20th anniversary of Lovers and Strangers Revisited

Here are links to some of my author-to-author interviews of first novelists:

Ivy Ngeow author of Cry of the Flying Rhino, winner of the 2016 Proverse Prize.

Golda Mowe author of Iban Dream and Iban Journey.

Preeta Samarasan author of Evening is the Whole Day. 

Chuah Guat Eng,  author of Echoes of Silence and Days of Change. 

Plus:

Five part Maugham and Me series

Beheaded on Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed—Part I 

Here are the Ten Non-Fiction Nominees for 2010 Popular-The Star Readers Choice Awards

Here are links to some of my author-to-author interviews of first novelists:

Ivy Ngeow author of Cry of the Flying Rhino, winner of the 2016 Proverse Prize.

Golda Mowe author of Iban Dream and Iban Journey.

Preeta Samarasan author of Evening is the Whole Day. 

Chuah Guat Eng,  author of Echoes of Silence and Days of Change. 

Plus:

Five part Maugham and Me series

Beheaded on Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed—Part I