Rewriting Lovers and Strangers Revisited

                                                     

Every few years I get this urge to rewrite the 17 stories from Lovers and Strangers Revisit­ed.  No doubt that seems silly and a waste of time for most writers since the book has already been published.  Had I not done so, it wouldn't been published a second or a third time!  Originally published in Singapore as Lovers and Strangers (Heinemann Asia,1993, Writ­ing in Asia Series), I revisited the stories in 2005 when a Malaysian lecturer requested to use the collec­tion for a course on Malaysia and Singapore literature.  The book—after consulting with an editor and going back to the original inspiration for each story, vis­it­­ing many of the ori­gin­al settings and over­hauling the stories, adding new scenes, back-stories, and endings—was repub­lish­ed as Lovers and Strangers Revisited (Silver­fish Books).

                                                   

In 2008, a third revised ver­sion with two additional stories was published by MPH, which I wrote about in a blog about publishing in Malaysia and Singapore, that later won the 2009 Popular-The Star Reader’s Choice Awards and was translated into French.  To complement the MPH edition, I wrote a blog series, The Story Behind the Story, about the devel­op­ment and the sig­nif­i­­cant changes of each story that led to their various mag­azine/lit­erary journal publica­tions—often used as writ­ing/teaching aids in schools, colleges, and uni­ver­sities.  The main char­acter from the story “Neigh­bors”  was featured by an expat teacher in the New Straits Times, “Are You Mrs. Koh?” 

So why revise the stories again?  I’ve always felt that Lovers and Strangers Revisited, based on its publishing track record, deserves a wider audience both inside and outside of Ma­lay­sia/Singapore.  For example, the collection is still available in French by Editions GOPE as Trois autres Malaisie.  In fact, the publisher will be exhibiting the collection along with his other Malaysian titles at a French book fair in Kuala Lumpur on 24 March 2024, which should translate into more sales!.

                                                          

So far, thanks to rewriting those published stories, the individual stories have been published 83 times in 12 coun­tries (12 stories in USA and UK); taught in Malaysian secondary school literature for six years (“Neigh­bors”), as well as in Cana­da and USA (Ohio University); and several stories have been taught for years in various Ma­lay­sian universities and private col­leges.  Film stu­dents at Ohio Univer­sity found the original collection in their library, came to Malay­sia, and filmed, “Home for Hari Raya.”  

Maybe because of this persistent belief that these stories (individually and as a col­lec­tion) are still relevant—they are still being taught in Malaysia as of May 2023 and are still being published in the USA (“The Stare” appeared in Thema, Spring 2021,and "On Fridays" will be out in 2025).  As I began editing again (clarifying details, cutting need­less words or phrases, tightening the writing), I could see significant improvements in each story.

Also, the process feels like a trip down memory lane, both as a writer and as an expatriate living in Malay­sia.  “Mat Salleh,” for example, was my first published story, a non­fiction short story, 28 January 1986 (New Straits Times) and my first published story in the UK (My Weekly).  "Teh-O in K.L." was my first published short story is USA (Aim). The other stories, all published but one, are all loosely based on my early ex­peri­ences or on my ob­­ser­va­tions of kam­pong and modern-day life in Malaysia.  Not all the memories are good—a failed mar­riage for me (“Dark Blue Threads”) and a neighbor com­mitting suicide (“Neighbors”); nevertheless, these stories are my Malaysian roots, so to speak, having lived in Penang as an expatriate for twen­ty-one years and taught creative writing at USM for ten years, before moving to Sarawak to grow new roots.

The real payoff, of course, is that these revised stories now have a chance for future publica­tions in the US or UK or Australia or elsewhere—the main reason I do it.  Or the collection, fingers crossed, is republish­ed to a wider audience.  Or the play that I added as a bonus, “One Drink Too Many,” a comedy adapted from the short story, “Neigh­bors,” is produced in Malaysia or Singapore.  Preferably, all three!

What helps me to keep the faith in Lovers and Strangers Revisited (and the individual stories) is rereading the MPH back-of-the-book reviews and other review snippets that I include while marketing the collection to agents and other publishers: 

MPH Publisher’s synopsis and reviews from the back of the book:

In this collection of 17 stories, Robert Raymer portrays the traditional in modernity, the unexpected in relationships both familiar and strange, the recurring theme of race even as contemporary Malaysia finds ways to understand its multicultural milieu.

In the title story, a selfish writer gets more than he bargained for when two former lovers haunt him in more ways than one. In another story, a man's loneliness turns into obses­sion when he shares a taxi ride with a Malay woman. A Clark Gable lookalike is a bar­rister wannabe with a shocking secret and gossipy neighbours reveal more about them­selves than the man who commits suicide. Elsewhere, expats cross the border to Had Yai to experience a good bargain in the Thai flesh trade before going home to their wives in America.

In this republished edition of Lovers and Strangers Revisited, Raymer's snapshots of scenes from various walks of life provide an insider-outsider view on love, family and culture, and urges a second look at ourselves in the mirror of self-awareness.

Praise for Lovers and Strangers Revisited

'Raymer not only writes from his own viewpoint as a foreigner and observer, but also delves into the minds of desperate Malay woman, a young Indian girl, an adulterous Chinese couple, and an old Chinese man who survived the Japanese occupation... He has an uncanny ability to hold a mirror up to the people of his adopted country, not as a for­eigner but as one of us. His stories are full of personalities that you know, you work with them, or live next door to them, or eavesdrop on them at the kopi tiam.' The Borneo Post

'This account ("On Fridays") of a crammed ride with strangers in a taxi may well stand as a metaphor of Raymer's own experience of living among Malaysians... He imbues each of the characters in his stories with a realistic, genuinely believable voice even as he tempers it with the valuable perspective of an observer.' New Straits Times

'Raymer gives a lushly and rich and multi-layered rendition of the Malaysian way of life as colored and influenced by his own experiences from his twenty years as an expat here... These stories are some of the few authentic portrayals of the inner workings and inner plays of the average Malaysian's life in all of its robustness and unique cultural settings.' The Expat

A little ego boost for sure, something all writers need now and then.  Also, it’s good to touch base, like stretching before exercising.  Awfully glad I rewrote those stories.  Now that 2023 is over (having rewritten eight books—six novels and two collections of stories—in two years), I’m ready to embark on new writing projects for 2024 and beyond... 

—Borneo Expat Writer

 My interviews with other Malaysian writers:

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, finalist for the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2009. 

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

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

 

My Being Interviewed on Short Stories by Terence Toh

Here is the full interview on crafting, writing and selling short stories that I recently did for Terence Toh for his article “The Long and Short of it” in The Star.  Some of the best stuff was left out since it featured several other writers and readers. 

1. Why do you enjoy writing short stories?

When I first began to write, I would spend 15 minutes every day randomly describing something by carefully observing my surroundings, whether I was at home, eating outside, waiting at a bus stop or inside a bank.  Most of the short stories that I wrote for my Popular Readers Choice Award winning collection Lovers and Strangers Revisited began that way.  I didn’t set out to write a short story, yet by merely observing my surroundings, an idea would take hold and I would stay with it for as long as it took to rough out a first draft.  What an unexpected joy — turning an exer­cise into a short story in a couple of hours.  Now that you have a new story, you got something to work with…which is a whole lot more enjoyable than staring at a blank page.

2.  How is the process of writing and editing a short story different from other forms of writing, eg. novels?

A short story, like a good poem, has a singular effect, a singular voice.  Novels can by rangy and loose.  Short stories are taut, no wasted words are allowed, no digressions.  Being short, about 8-25 pages, it can be roughed out and polished in a matter of days, weeks, whereas a novel takes months, years.  It takes a lot of patience.  Sometimes it feels like you’re digging a ditch, day after day, week after week, month after month, but you just got to keep on digging until you reach the end of that novel, then you got to revise and edit it, draft after draft.  Far too many writers give up after the initial inspiration dries up.  God, this is taking forever!

3. In your opinion, what elements should a great short story have?

A well-crafted short story has it all:  tight writing, great imagery, apt descrip­tions, resonating mood, controlling theme, memorable characters, plus a logical, well-thought out, plausible story even if its fantasy or science fiction.  It has a singular effect driven to an inevitable conclusion even if we never saw it coming, leaving the reader feeling utterly satisfied.

4. What is the greatest challenge of creating a memorable short story?

The biggest challenge is creating an effective story with a unified theme that holds it all together, something that resonates deeply with the reader.  We have to show this (as if we’re watching a play or a movie unfold), not tell, and the reader doesn’t often see this over-arching theme until the final resolution, something else they didn’t see coming, despite it being a logical cul­min­­a­tion based on what came before….Too many begin­ning writers try to trick the reader to show how “clever” they are; but in fact they’ve cheated the reader by creating an im­plausible ending that leaves the reader scratching his head and thinking, “Huh?”  Whereas, a memorable short story is based on logic, even if the ending is unexpected, yet the clues, the inner workings of the story, the cause and effects of the characters’ actions, were all in place.  We’re left thinking, “Wow, great story!”

5. How is the reception like for short stories in Malaysia? (compared to other parts of the world, if you are familiar with them?)

I think it’s wonderful what Amir Muhammad is doing with Fixi Novo, creating outlets for local writers.  It’s one thing to be published online, another to hold a book with your story in it.  On-line publishers, however, often have a greater reach….Markets in Malaysia (and around the world) have always come and gone.  Back in the late 80’s/early 90’s many of my short stories were published in Her World and Female and other local magazines here and in Singapore that published short stories every month; but then they dried up.  Others would appear and disappear.  Recently Esquire Malaysia published fiction, but then stopped.  I used to go to newsstands and scour local magazines to see if any new markets have appeared; now writers can do that by Googling….It was great when Raman Krish­nan came out with his Silverfish anthologies and then began publishing short story collections by Malaysian writers.  MPH has also been very successful.  The markets and publish­ers are there; they may come and go, but the writer has to look for them, just like writers do all over the world.  Malay­sian writers can even submit their stories overseas online.  I’ve had Malaysian-set short stories published in twelve countries. 

            —Borneo Expat Writer

My interviews with other writers on their first novels:

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, finalist for the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2009. 

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

Five part Maugham and Me series

Trust the Novel Writing (and rewriting) Process. 

Writer Finds Inspiration during Writer’s Workshop and Turns it into a Book!

In April Dr. Gan Siew Hua, recently featured in The Star with her first book Given Another Chance and one of my editing clients, happened to be in Kuching for a research-related workshop, so I had the chance to catch up with her.  I first met Dr. Gan at last year’s Popular Bookfest Writing Workshop in Kuala Lumpur.  

During my presentation, I gave participants a series of starter ideas to get them thinking about their own stories; then later, in the afternoon session, I made every­one write for about forty-five minutes (and went around the room to make sure they got their money’s worth!)  Dr. Gan wrote a first person narrative about a near-drowning-out-of-body experience titled “Given Another Chance.” 

After the workshop she approached me about editing her work.  For the next several months, as she wrote story after story, I helped her with the editing and the crafting of her insightful first-person experiences, many inspiring and very courageous, to make them more effective.  I knew she was onto something special and that this could lead to a book.  I was hoping she would wait and add more stories to make the book longer, but like a lot of writers, she was in too much of a hurry (we’ve all been there), so I was doubly impressed that before the year was even out she had found a publisher!

For writers who are inspired by her story (from workshop to published book in ten months!), a word of caution.  Please don’t rush to the first publisher that catches your attention or who approaches you via the internet – calling all writers!  Sometimes writers are in for a rude awakening when they discover there are hidden costs that they hadn’t bargained on.  Some publishers are traditional publishers and are more discerning about the quality of the books they publish, others are solely for self-publishing, often called vanity presses, whereby they publish anything (with little or no editing) since you’re paying for it and then you’re on your own!  Others are hybrid and give you a range of options depending on your budget and includes distribution to leading book­stores where readers can find them.

Do take time to read the fine print and don’t be rushed into signing a contract without checking the publisher out, which is easy to do these days via the internet or looking at their final products in bookstores or even con­tacting some of their authors to see how satisfied they are.  Make your first publishing experience a rewarding one!

One smart thing that Dr. Gan did, as many writers have done before her including those who had already published a book, she sought out a capable editor, one that she trusted, and it was an honor for me to work with her.  I do know she has a lot more books inside of her!  And, yes, she is coming back to this year’s Popular Bookfest Children’s Book Writing Workshop 4-5 July along with one of her daughters.  I’ll be there, too, to help others to write and hopefully publish their book.  

So if you think that someday you or someone you know wants to write, a good place to start is by attending a writing workshop – it’s not all work, plus you’ll pick up creative tips on getting started and inspiration from other writers.

—Borneo Expat Writer

—Here’s a link to a blog that I wrote about publishing in Malaysia/Singapore nearly a decade ago, with some updates and tips about promoting your book!

Trust the Novel Writing (and rewriting) Process.