“On Fridays” published in Thema (USA) and translated into Bahasa Melayu

 

 

“On Fridays” was published as a reprint in the Summer 2025 issue of Thema.  This was the sixth time that Thema had published one of my Malaysian-set short stories, five from Lovers and Strangers Revisited.  Years ago, I pitched an idea to The Writer about the writing of “On Fridays” based on my Story Behind the Story series, and the editor agreed and requested I follow an established format:  The Work, The Problem, The Solution, Before and After.  It was put on hold for a couple of years (my last article took four years for them to publish).  Then a new editor took over and the project fell through the cracks.  It happens.  When Thema accepted the story last year, I updated what I wrote for The Writer and resubmitted it along with the previous editors acceptance and format suggestions.  Still waiting…

                                   

THE WORK: “On Fridays,” published in the Fall 2003 issue of The Literary Review (US) and Number 19 of Frank (France)—a joint venture on Expat Writing.  Published fourteen times in six countries, originally in Female (Singapore, March 1989), then later reprinted in Cha: An Asian Literary Review (Hong Kong, 2010) and Thema (summer 2025).

THE PROBLEM: The original idea for “On Fridays” came when I lived in Penang, Malaysia working part-time as an adviser for MACEE, Malaysian American Commission on Educational Exchange.  Every Friday I would take a sixteen-kilometer taxi ride into George Town—a shared taxi with other passengers getting on and off at various locations.

From the hundreds of taxi rides that I took, I chose to create one that was representative of all those rides.  By using the senses—see, hear, feel, taste and smell—I tried to make this one taxi ride as realistic as possible by putting the reader in that taxi with me.  If they believe in that taxi ride, then they’ll believe in the story.  That it’s the “truth;” that it “happened;” that there really was “a girl;” and that I’m still “searching” for her.... Invariably my students would ask, “Have you found her yet?”

I saw this taxi as a metaphor for multiracial Malaysia, where various races lived and worked together in relative harmony.  In the story, an expat, an unnamed Westerner, becomes interested in a Malay woman sitting beside him.  She is reading a letter and crying.  He wants to comfort her, but feels self-conscious because of the other two passengers and the Muslim taxi driver.

Normally I write in the past tense, third person but chose to write this story in the present tense to give the story an immediacy, and hopefully a timeless quality…and make it linger, especially the ending, so it would seem like it just happened.  I also wrote it the first person at the expense of people assuming it’s autobiographical.  Unlike the character, I don’t paint, and the character taught English years before I did.  The effect I was going for, I felt, would be better served because I wanted the reader to closely identify with the narrator, to see himself in this, or in a similar situation, and think about what he or she would do.  This was the one story from my collection Lovers and Strangers Revisited that people would mention and relate a similar experience of their own.

When I first wrote the story, I had a lot of details describing the Malaysian sights along the way.  An editor from the UK made the comment that it read too much like a travelogue.  An editor in the US suggested that I lop off the final paragraph.  I didn’t like his suggestion, yet I felt he had a point.  Also, readers unfamiliar with living in Malaysia, a Muslim country, may question the expat’s motives, so that would need to be addressed without intrusion from the author.  Then a few matters of truth were getting in the way of the story.  Already I can hear protests, “But that’s the way it happened!”  Yes, no doubt, but to get to the essential story, the “real” story, sometimes you need to take a step back from your truth and ask yourself, does your truth serve the story, or does it hamper it?  Truth often gets in the way of a good story.

THE SOLUTION:  I cut out most of the descriptions outside the taxi that weren’t essential to the story itself, just those that highlighted that it was miserable, raining day.  With that US editor, we agreed to compromise by rearranging a couple of paragraphs at the end, to make the story more effective, so the focus wasn’t on the man’s loneliness, but on his obsession in trying to find the girl.  It was also suggested that I make the expat character single.  Him being married (like me) raised some moral issues—is he cheating on his wife?  Good advice, which I took—an example of how “facts” or “truth” can have unforeseen consequences in your fiction.

A reader, unfamiliar with Malaysia, asked me what’s the big deal if he does touch the young Malay woman in the taxi, so I worked in the character’s concern about being arrested for “outraging her modesty” with three potential hostile witnesses.  As a writer, you can’t always assume that overseas readers will understand a local concern or what is at stake.

Then I got to thinking, why doesn't he get out of the taxi at the jetty and follow her after that yearning look that she gave him (I would), and if he does, I would need to make it clear why he has to return to the taxi, for fear of losing his job, something difficult for an expat to get without a work permit.  So, I added this new scene to the story.

BEFORE AND AFTER:  Although this story had already been published in five countries and included in a collection of short stories, this revised version was accepted by Frank, a literary magazine in France, whose editor, incidentally, was a guest editor for The Literary Review for a joint venture on Expat Writing.  For me, a double surprise.  As an American living in Malaysia, I submit a story to France and it gets published in the US and France!  Later, Lovers and Strangers Revisited was also translated into French.

Speaking of translation, I recently discovered by chance that “On Fridays,” had been translated in Bahasa Melayu and uploaded a year ago for a Universiti Teknologi Mara course, from College Sidekick, which, I gather, gathers material.  They claim that they are not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university.  Did they ask me or my previous publisher for permission to translate that story?  Did they even attempt to contact me?

Makes me wonder what other stories from that collection have been translated in Bahasa Melayu?  Or even the whole book.  At one time, I thought that would happen.  Maybe it has, and I’m just unaware.  Maybe it’s time I investigate, even look at the possibility of having the collection officially published into Bahasa Melayu.

            —Borneo Expat Writer

Power of Five Your Way to Success with Passion, Patience, Perseverance

The Writer, after accepting my “Power of Five” article in Quill, asked me to cut down the original from 1100 words to 700 words so it'd fit on one page, initially a chore but once I started chopping, the article vastly improved.  It’s punchier, to the point and a timely “action” reminder for Leap Year.  This idea came out of another Quill article "Small Increments, Big Results" that I wrote back in 2009, a good example of how one article can lead to another and then lead to another.

More importantly, the moment I sent this revised article off, I sent out five other articles/ideas to other editors and I plan to submit five more today after this blog.  As I wrote in the article “Enthusiasm . . . breeds discipline, and discipline—results.”   For me, as a writer, results are publications and paychecks.  But even a non-writer can benefit from the advice.  Just apply it to your own needs.  Good luck.   

Power of Five Your Way to Success with Passion, Patience, Perseverance  

 

"I'd rather be a failure at something I enjoy,” George Burns once said, “than be a success at something I hate."  This most definitely applies to writing.  To increase my chances of success, I’ve been putting into practice what I call The Power of Five, adapted from Jack Canfield’s Rule of Five, whereby each workday, I try to send out at least five submissions—short stories, articles, or query letters to editors and agents.

I’m creating a new habit of marketing what I’ve written on a consistent, persistent basis.  Five is all I ask.  By thinking small, those Power of Five submis­sions have been adding up to 100 per month (or 40 if you work weekends).  This is a far cry from my previous marketing habit of “whenever I get around to it”, whereby months, years would go by and hardly anything would be sent out.  Now I’m excited about the Power of Five, excited by the possibilities.

Enthusiasm, by the way, breeds discipline, and discipline—results.  What you sow, you reap.  I try to squeeze in a few before breaking for lunch . . . or before calling it a day, especially at the end of the month.  When I’m on a roll those numbers escalate.  Other days can be a struggle.

Once I made the Power of Five a habit, I committed myself to doing a daily double, by also advancing a major backburner project, even if only for an hour before going to bed.  By doing this day in, day out, for an entire month, every month, those months will add up to a highly produc­tive year.  That’s the goal.

The real reason I’m doing this is to face my fears (of writing and marketing) so I can tame it.  You can never truly eliminate fear, but you can keep it under control (a whip and chair also helps).  There’s a fine line between success and failure and that difference is often fear.  We fear, on a subconscious level, both success (all that hard work to get there and the pressure to stay there) and failure (being called a loser or a washed up writer).  That explains why we sometimes “drop the ball”.  Why we suddenly misplace important information that’s critical to our success (a document, an email contact), or procrastinate until the last moment, thus guaran­teeing a rush job, assuming we even complete it.  Or we make our­selves “too busy” to get around to the important career-defining stuff.

“Look at all that work piling up—I’m way too busy to write a book!”

Busy doing what?

These are self-sabotaging actions caused by our unconscious belief system that we “don’t deserve success”, or “that we’re not good enough” or we’re afraid we’ll be “exposed as a fraud”.  Who me?  A best-selling, award willing writer?  Ha! 

 

Writing can be scary, but the only way to overcome fear is to face it, acknowledge it, and do what you fear—write that book, contact that agent, market your work—and have faith in your own ability.

It all begins with passion!  If you don't have passion in what you do, you won't have the patience to complete it, nor the perseverance to see it through to its ultimate success.  This stuff is not easy, but it is doable.  For many writers it's routine.  It's all about your attitude, isn't it?

Besides, on the other side of that fear, on the other side of that self-imposed brick wall, is what you really want, right?  Fear never gets you anywhere.  It merely holds you back, paralyzes you into inaction.  So now I focus on what I want to achieve and give myself deadlines to accom­plish it.  I have faith that my passion, my patience, and my perseverance will see me through.

So what five submissions can you make today (or this weekend) that will take you a step closer to achieving your goals?  Write it down and take immediate action.  The longer you delay, the more you guarantee it won’t get done.  Again, it’s that underlying fear of success/failure that’s holding you back.  Do it now while the thought is there and Power of Five your way to success.

      —Borneo Expat Writer 

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 

Blog to Paying Article—Twice

I love getting good news early in the morning, which is how I usually get them since in Borneo we’re a half day ahead of the West.  One of my blogs just sold for the second time!  This is one of the reasons I blog, so I can get some stuff written, posted, and then the marketable ones that can be reshaped into articles, I send them out to a paying market, over here in Malaysia for starters, and then I’ll either expand or compress it for the overseas market.  

I blogged about The Power of Five back in September, which ran for 771 words, then I rewrote it and expanded it for Quill for their January-March 2011 issue, about 1050 words. Now The Writer wants me to compress it 700 words to make it fit onto one page to be published sometime in the future.  It could be a while before it actually comes out. 

Still it’s a nice feeling, and a nice reminder that my ideas not only works for me, which I practice in my own writing life (or at least try too, the very reason I post them so they’ll also benefit others and remind me to continue to do this since it works!), but also for editors in Malaysia and in the United States who feel that those ideas will work for their readers, too.   

This has happened several times now, a double publication from a single blog posting.  Sometimes the order is reversed.  First it appear in the US, again The Writer, like “Getting Started with Pre-writing Techniques” in their May 2010 issue, and then reprinted for Quill Annual 2011, both of which I then post as a blog.  This particular article began when I created my teaching units for my creative writing class, and then made its way to my website, if I’m not mistaken, and both of these have been popular among writers and even cited by other writers.

Again, this is why I blog.  There are other reasons, too, but I’ll save those for future blogs.  

Here are links to some of my author-to-author interviews of first novelists, blogged and then published:

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 

Getting Started with Pre-Writing Techniques - Quill Annual 2011

This is a revised, expanded version of last year's article in The Writer.
Note for Illustration 1, circles should be used, not squares.

****Announcement latest workshop:  Writing Your Life Stories Workshop—Kuching! 28 April 2012 (with links to other workshops and writing tips!) 

If you are interested to bring one of my writing workshops to your organizations or association in Sabah/Sarawak/West Malaysia/Singapore/Brunei please contact me at robert@borneoexpatwriter.com  Thank you.

*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

Lovers and Strangers Revisited, off to a good start for 2011

Lovers and Strangers Revisited is off to a good start for 2011. The French publisher that’s interested in translating the collection into French just contacted me after reading all seventeen stories and now they are about to undergo negotiations with MPH, the Malaysian publisher.  They are also interested in using the same cover, if they are able, too.  Since the French translation will make the book fatter by 10-20%, they may need to cut a story or two to keep it in the range of 220-240 pages.  My fingers are crossed!

Then last week, two days before the end of the year, The Writer (US) expressed an interest in publishing “On Friday: The Story Behind the Story” for their Writers at Work series for a two-page spread when an opening comes up.  I’ll need to expand the original blog by adding some stuff that I left out, like how it was translated into Japanese by Plaza back in 1992, and how it’s going to be translated into French (assuming everything goes according to plan), plus I need to tailor it more toward their Writers at Work series.  They sent me a sample.

*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 

Validation from Readers

As a writer—especially on those days when the writing is not going so well—we seek validation that what we do has a positive impact on others. We may think we do, but do we really? How do we know unless someone tells us? Even when we get our work published, we wonder, is anyone reading this? Has it made a difference in their day, and hopefully their life by at least entertaining them or nudging them in the right direction?

Today I got an unexpected validation from someone I don’t know half a world away from where I live here in Borneo, when a reader wrote in the letters section of the September issue of The Writer about my article in their May issue

"Thanks to Robert Raymer for his informative article 'Get started with prewriting techniques' [May]. It’s a keeper. I intend to use this technique to brainstorm for my next project. I’ve been reading The Writer since I was in fifth grade, and I always find something useful in it." Margaret Carroll, via e-mail

There it is validation! How nice! The article, by the way, was adapted from the teaching units that I created for a creative writing course that I set up at USM in Malaysia and also taught at UNIMAS.

* * *

Then a Google search turned up the following, where I’m quoted in a Suite101.com blog post by Catia Trookin, “How to Overcome and Cure Writer's Block” ), where she wrote:

"In a May 2010 article in The Writer magazine entitled Get Started with Pre-Writing Techniques Robert Raymer suggests that 'When you have no suitable ideas for a topic, the fastest way to get one is to free write.' Raymer suggests free writing any thought that appears for a minute non-stop. Once an idea is generated 'clustering' can be used to expand upon the idea."

* * *

There, not one, but two validations from the same article in one day!

Now and then I'll come across a blog where one of my books is being commented on, or recommended to others; last month, in the blog "...Still crazy after all these years!" both were:

"My sister-in-law is a kiwi, a New Zealander…and she was here [Sarawak] on a visit the other day and she picked up a book at the Popular Book Store at the Delta Mall here–Robert Raymer‘s Tropical Affairs. She was enthralled by all the Malaysian culture depicted in that book and when I told her that I had his other book, Lovers and Strangers Revisited, she was really keen on getting her hands on it and reading it too. Well, I lent it to her and she thoroughly enjoyed it as well."

Then Philip added this comment: "I have Lovers and Strangers [Revisited]. It’s a great book. I love the story about the taxicab encounter ['On Fridays']. Just wish more local authors would jump in and share their fantasies with the rest of us too..."

And the blogger replied: "Ah! You like the book too. I like 'Neighbors' – very typically Malaysian. My daughter loves the book too.”

* * *

Wow, that really made my day!

Then as a bonus, Adeline, a newly-added friend just contacted me via Facebook:

"Although I have not met you before, I'm already so in love with your book, Lovers and Strangers Revisited. For your info, I would not call myself an avid reader, especially when it comes to literature. But after being recommended by a friend, I started reading your stories and I just couldn't put the book down before I finished all your stories!

“I really love the way you write them and I could actually relate to the stories quite well. By the way, I'm from Kuching too. Hope to attend one of your creative writing workshops in near future. All the best and I'm looking forward to getting a copy of your Tropical Affairs!"

* * *

This is exactly what every writer needs, some validation that they're on the right track! Awards are nice, but when a stranger praises your article in a letter to an editor, or references your work and quotes you, or recommends your book on their blogs, or tells you that they couldn’t put your book down on Facebook, now that's really cool!

So the next time you have one of those days when you’re in doubt about your writing, try Google, and even if you only find one solitary reference about your writing, you’re on the right track, so get back to writing!

*Update, the 20^th 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 

Get Started with Prewriting Techniques -The Writer - May 2010

*Update, the 20^th 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 

The Writer – Four Years to Publication!

Funny how these publishing things turn out. Nearly five years ago, 27 January 2006 according to my records I received the good news that The Writer has accepted by article “How to Overcome the Fear of Writing through Pre-Writing.” Originally they weren’t sure if they’ll be using the piece in their magazine or on their website. Then they decided in the magazine and even paid $350 for the article on 26 May 2006, bless their hearts.

I told my writing friends to look out for it, but it never came out. Maybe they decided to use it on their website, but I got caught up in more important things, like this massive move from Penang (Peninsular Malaysia) to Kuching (Borneo) in October, a new teaching job at Unimas in December, and a new baby in January 2007 and never checked, after cashing the check. If I wasn’t paid, I would have been checking it constantly!

Month after month, year after year, I did check each issue of The Writer. During that time they also changed editors, and I’ve experienced being lost in the shuffle before when a new editor takes over. It happens. Sometimes I’ve even benefited when a new editor takes over and they discover me! Eventually, I just gave up on it – after all, I did get paid!

Two days before Christmas I got an email from one of their editors informing me that they’ll be using my article in their May 2010 issue! Nearly four and a half years after they first accepted it! Of course I’m bowled over. Great news! The original article, adapted from my creative writing units, was about 2500 words, which I had cut down from about 4000 words) and then they’ll be cutting that down to 1695 words to make it fit on two pages, which is fine since it serves their needs.

Two days ago I got my first look at how they edited it, now titled, “How to Use Pre-Writing Techniques to Get Started”. I didn’t compare it the original because that's always a painful process. So I read it as it’ll appear in The Writer. Naturally I recognized my own writing (but had forgotten what I had written!). I know of at least one section that got lopped off at the end, an essay sample on how to overcome the fear of writing written within the article. I did recommend a couple of changes because of repetition, which may have been in the original version, and they suggested another change, too. Later I’ll get to see the galleys before it goes into print, glad for this second chance, glad to have another look at it.

In the brief bio at the need of the article they’ll be naming my two MPH books and my website, and no doubt I’ll attract something good out of that. Already I’ve mentioned three other articles that I’m planning to send them, two of which began in this blog and a third, from The Quill, linked here, too.

So now I’m telling my writing friends all over again to check out their May 2010 issue! I definitely will! It feels like a whole new article sale. What are the chances that they'll pay me again? Hey, you never know. It's a New Year!