ieva melgalve » Siren’s Song

first short story published

ieva — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:39:53 +0000

My short story, The Siren’s Song (complete with a Latvian translation for the mighty audience of Latvian readers) is now published in A Cappella Zoo Spring 2010 issue. It’s a magazine of magical realist & experimental writing. Go ahead and purchase it if you can afford it–judging by this review, the short stories and poems are quite diverse so there could be something for everyone. I haven’t read the magazine yet since it takes a loooong time for something to ship to Latvia, but I can say that at least one story in it is a proof that an ESL writer can, with a lot of help from her friends, actually publish something. Here, my biggest thanks go to critters for first-draft-critiques and to Russell Adams for very patient and thorough second-to-fifth draft critiques (I couldn’t have made it without you), as well as Vilis Kasims for Latvian version editing (milzīgs paldies).
For those who are not purchasing the magazine – both Latvian and English versions will be available online at some point.

A curious tidbit: the reviewer Vince Corvaia says that “Melgalve has a potential to be a playwright” which is quite accurate since I started writing by writing stage plays. I actually have no idea why Siren became a short story instead of a play; I think that it was mainly my insecurity about whether or not I’d be able to handle a stand-alone dialogue, without getting into anybody’s head. One thing I hate about plays is inserting all those remarks that should be obvious from the text spoken (like “sad” or “happy” or “extatic” or “smiles”), and, Siren being among the first stories I wrote in English, I was quite sure that I wouldn’t be able to deliver the emotions through text alone. Anyhow, if somebody wants to stage it, go ahead (and let me know if I can be of help with that).

An Update On Everything

ieva — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 10:04:16 +0000

I’ve been neglecting this blog for a while.
First, NaNoWriMo. Some days, I didn’t have enough words to write a letter, much less a blog entry. When I did, I rather wrote a letter. The good news is that I got my words done on a steady pace, and I’ll get the 50K by the end of November.
Then, some days, I thought that I was a non-writer who just can’t get her words straight or her thoughts across. That there was some trick to writing, something really obvious that everybody else knew and didn’t even think it would be worth saying, and I didn’t know it and because of that, I failed.
Just when I’d become convinced that was the case, I got my first acceptance for a story in English. The best part about that is that they want a Latvian version of the story too–for me, this means a lot, as I still think of myself as a Latvian writer who’s sidetracked by the bigger, bolder English-speaking market.
And a couple of days later, when I was obsessed by the thought that I won’t have an idea for anything new after I finish NaNo novel, I got struck by inspiration. But that’s a story for another post.

wrong turn detection

ieva — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 07:13:32 +0000

Yesterday, I scrapped all Chapter 11 words (not that there were many) on a premise that “that was just too boring”.
The realization that it’s dead boring kicked in when I started procrastinating by making edits to Siren’s Song.

I mean HELLO, me and editing out of free will?

what St.Petersburg did

ieva — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:02:04 +0000

So.
At the first glance, St.Petersburg really screwed my writing because for the whole 3 days I wrote nothing useful and Monday wasn’t better. I sincerely hope that I’ll recover today (but don’t count on it).
But it was the first time I used metro.
I also spent several hours scribbling unrelated notes in my notebook. (I decided to describe things I liked instead of photographing them.)
I also discovered some things about myself. And people. Some good, some bad, but mostly good.
I spent 1300+ rubles on books I wouldn’t be able to buy in Riga and decided on bying two books over here.

I also realized that this is a good scenario. No sense beating myself up for not writing serious stuff.
Since I’m having a trip to Eastern Latvia this weekend (most likely one spent drinking, socializing and, oh, participating in cultural event), I don’t count on myself doing much this week.
So I’m hereby officially decreasing my Vega wordcount to 80 K for the first draft.
10 000 gained by a couple of clicks. Yay me.
Oh, and I also figured out a possible improvement for Siren’s Song.

battle actions

ieva — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 05:30:00 +0000

Vega got 697 words with a lead for today, so it’s fine. I’m trying not to dwell on how far behind on my weekly goal I was: today, a new week starts, and I hope it’ll be a productive one. Even with the things I must do to keep my RL moving forward… I need to find a way to steel myself against those snide remarks that have been pushing me over the edge recently; I don’t remember being this frustrated, this vulnerable since forever. I don’t deserve this kind of treatment, nobody would. And my husband certainly doesn’t have to suffer the consequences of somebody else hurting me.
So, screw it. Until some point, I can justify this, I can see my own faults, I can try to do my best, I can try to avoid making these little mistakes that somehow all end up being targets of future attacks, I can use it all to be a better person. That point has long been passed, and I’m currently in a place where every little step I take to live up to his expectations is making me a worse person, a stressed-out overachieving bitch with no sense of perspective.
Well, not any more.

Also, I submitted The Final Turn yesterday and I licked Siren up to a point where it’s ready for beta-reading. That’s the good stuff, that’s what I should be proud of and that’s where I should seek and find my self-assurance, not in the eyes of somebody who doesn’t know me, doesn’t respect me and doesn’t give a damn about my feelings (except the obvious “haha, here’s how I can piss her off” attention).

the day of the siren

ieva — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:39:52 +0000

I spent most of my day editing The Mermaid (who is siren now). How comes I always have to make a violent cut? In this case, the ending was cut altogether and replaced with something very different.
Oh well. (I’m too exhausted to think right now.) I guess I’ll still tweak something when I pick on the details. I’ll have a very frantic day tomorrow though, so probably in the weekend.

I did 300+ words on Vega, just to keep myself thinking of her (it’s always much harder to pick up after a zero word day).

hit the brakes, hit the brakes!

ieva — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:40:27 +0000

I’m at some breathtaking point in my writing where I feel my head spinning and for the third day in a row, I’m promising myself not to write today and give myself a break. Yea right.
Well, zero words written this far.
However what I promised myself was doing some outlining and some rounding-up of the magic system.
I rounded up the magic in 30 minutes while going to work and while I did it, headlights kicked in and now I know
- the problem for the next chapter (I’ll have to tweak my yesterday’s writing to do this, but it’s OK, it was weak anyways), and the problem is, well, not bigger than all the rest of them but this time, it has an opportunity to hit Vega where it really hurts and unexpectedly so,
- the setting of the next chapter (yea, I had a vague idea that they could sit around at the library, figuring out what’s happening. The *library*. Not gonna happen, no-no-no),
- the emotional strife for Vega (and that’s a bad one too),
- (and while Vega and Daar are out of sight, there will be things for both of my charming villains to do. I’m still trying to figure out whether I need their viewpoint or not.)
So what to do about these throbbing fingers?

I can sorta edit the Mermaid. I think that the most crits are in and I have a pretty clear image of what I want to accomplish.
Perhaps some brainstorming of the upcoming NaNo.
Or (ohcrap) that review I promised to write. Yea. That’s what I have to do.

Is she gonna die?

ieva — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:22:59 +0000

Today I finally called one of my old friends. Here’s a snippet:
- Listen, you’d know… can somebody die of epilepsy, and can her doctor be sure she’ll die in given amount of time?
- Ummm, I don’t think so. You don’t die from epileptic fits unless it’s an accident.
- No? But I found these “prolonged seizures” in wikipedia…
- It’s extremely rare and I don’t think it can be predicted.
- Come on. But there has to be a reason why people avoid seizures then.
- Well, if one has enough seizures, dementia kicks in. With every seizure, a part of brain dies…
- So basically, if the seizures can’t be helped, you *can* turn in a vegetable in a year or two.
- It is possible.
- Wow GOOD! Thank you bunches, this is *exactly* what I needed!
[dumbfounded pause] – May I know why you’re asking?

But I ended up with my protagonist having a brain tumor instead as I figured later that she needed to have her life at stake, not only her brain. However, the idea to have dementia looming over a protagonist is delicious; I know that I’d be more scared of eternal drooling and crapping in my bed than I am scared of death.

As far as progress is concerned, I barely did 200+ words today and I don’t know when I’ll be able to do more (I’ll try to sneak out tonight).
On the other hand, I can spend the time I’m fighting the kids by figuring out why did I get stuck (well I know why; I don’t know what happens in this scene and where the real conflict is) and eating ice-cream.

Also, I polished The Final Turn and submitted it. Keeping my fingers crossed.

motivation

ieva — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 06:47:30 +0000

Being loved is all right as a motivation to succeed; but well, let’s face it, people who love me will not change their feelings just because I succeed (or fail). Besides, success is a big scary thing and not every big scary thing does you good.
Being hated is way more powerful; people expecting (and hoping for) me to fail make me push forward while leaving no room for mistakes (they squeeze in nevertheless, but that’s beside the point). Not that they’d start loving me if I succeed. Not that I’d want them to.
So, for today: edit the rest of Mermaid’s Song (and fast!) (DONE) and work either on Vega or that story. (It’s 800 words now, the beginning re-written, and I’m sorta happy with it now.)

wordl-edit it

ieva — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:22:13 +0000

This is how the Wordle for my story-in-editing, Mermaid’s Song (yea, the title will most likely get edited too), looks from wordle point of view.
I’m just going to edit half of the just‘s out and see if I can find better words for those nondescript ones that keep repeating. No thesaurus-bonking, just a little bit of awareness.