Write an article about An ‘Adorable’ collection of fantastical short stories from Penang .Organize the content with appropriate headings and subheadings (h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6), Retain any existing tags from Many of author Wan Phing Lim’s stories are inspired by places and people of her home state of Penang. (Naraphat Sakarthornsap pic)
PETALING JAYA: For some, abandoned houses stir feelings of fear; for others, they present opportunities for profit. But for Penang-born author Wan Phing Lim, they are a flowing fount of ideas.
This probably explains why deserted dwellings make numerous appearances in her second short story collection, “Adorable”.
“I think there are a lot of abandoned houses in Penang, and somehow, they give me inspiration! Many of them are demolished now though. I feel like I’m framing them in fiction now. I’m keeping their memory alive!” Lim, 39, told FMT Lifestyle with a laugh.
“Adorable” is a collection of eleven short stories from Lim, most of which were written in 2023.
Set in Penang, Malaysia, the stories describe how the island makes its people do crazy things: its characters navigate a world of social tension and moral panic, while trying to find peace for themselves.
In one story, a roast pig at a Taoist funeral becomes a symbol of rebellion.
Another introduces the reader to a family of monsters living on Mount Pleasure, disguising themselves with anagrams.
In a third, a woman inherits a dilapidated house and encounters problems with creepy crawling plants in her garden.
‘Adorable’ is the second collection of short stories from Lim. (Penguin Random House Southeast Asia pic)
Butterworth-born Lim is an established freelance writer whose stories and essays have appeared in Catapult, Ricepaper Magazine, This is Southeast Asia, Sine Theta Magazine, Portside Review, Kyoto Journal and more.
She is also the editor of the Nut Mag zine, and is the author of two short story anthologies both published by Penguin Random House Southeast Asia.
According to her, in contrast to the realistic feel of her previous book, 2021’s “Two Figures In A Car”, the stories in “Adorable” have more of a fantasy or magical realism feel.
Many of the stories here were based on places she knew in Penang, or people she was acquainted with. The title story, for example, is about a boy striking a strange friendship with a girl from a haunted house named “Adorable”.
Lim’s first book, ‘Two Figures In A Car’. (Penguin Random House Southeast Asia pic)
According to Lim, “Adorable” was the name of an actual seaside villa she used to pass as a child.
“I was inspired by stories my dad used to tell us. Supposedly, if you cycle past it, your bike will be very heavy because of a ghost girl sitting behind you,” Lim told FMT Lifestyle.
“Actually, if you think about it, that house is on a slope, so your bike will feel heavier because you’re going uphill! But that explanation is not as interesting or fun to tell!”
Many of the stories in “Adorable” deal with unusual cultural practices: “The Doll”, for example, was inspired by a tradition practiced by Penangite visitors to Haatyai, Thailand.
“There was this trend where people started bringing around dolls for good luck. They were usually Victorian-style child dolls. They believed they were like child angels, and you were supposed to feed them and bring them out,” Lim said.
“So I wrote a story about a man who worked hard and whose daughter was sick, so he bought a doll to hopefully gain some blessings.”
The story ‘The Doll’ is based on the tradition of ‘luuk thep’ from Thailand. (AFP pic)
Another story, “Lets Go And Sit By The Pool” is based on a scandal which occurred when Lim was still in school.
Rumours had been spread that children in Kedah and Penang were being corrupted by black metal music: Muslim students in schools there were strip-searched to ensure they did not bear any anti-religious marks or deviant tattoos.
This incident stayed with Lim until today, inspiring her to write a story about an inter-racial couple whose after-school hangout at Gurney Plaza is affected by this strange turn of events.
According to the author, she enjoyed writing short stories because of their power to enchant readers, by creating entire worlds in just several thousand words.
Her advice to aspiring short fiction authors? Start with a line, mood, phrase or character thought, and let things develop from there.
“I’m a discovery writer, so I let the story write itself. Focus on the storytelling and not so much on the technical bits. That comes later at the editing stage.
“All good short stories must have an ending: they can be open-ended, but the story must feel complete in itself.”
Follow Wan Phing Lim on Instagram.
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