Travelogue (7)—Latvian Song and Dance Festival

In 2013, I visited Riga for the Latvian Song and Dance Festival and became a big fan of this event. Every five years, Latvians all over the world come together for a weeklong celebration of their beloved folksongs and dances. The festival also embodies a spirit of solidarity among a people who survived a tumultuous and tragic history of foreign occupation.

 

My late father and his sister were Latvian WWII refugees who emigrated to California and Ontario, respectively. I never learned the Latvian language and am left to wonder what it would have been like to attend the festival with them, to benefit from their insights and translation. The Canadian version of the Latvian Song and Dance Festival is closer to home, so I made plans to attend.

My husband and I started our road trip to Toronto on July 4, making stops in Western New York on the way up and back. We had great accommodations, dining experiences, and sightseeing adventures. First stop, Keuka Lake. We stayed the night in this Airbnb cottage, clean and comfortable with beautiful surroundings. Our host was friendly and helpful.

 

Highlights: walks along the wooded lake’s edge, a visit to historic and beautiful Garrett Memorial Chapel, the best ice cream in New York at Seneca Farms in Penn Yan, and a perfect view of Independence Day fireworks all around the lake’s edge.

Garrett Memorial Chapel

 

Midday on the 5th, we left Keuka Lake and stopped in Naples, NY, for lunch at the Old School Café. Had a delicious meal, sitting outside under the trees with good shade from the hot day.

Then we hopped in the car for Toronto. Not much delay at the U.S./Canada border (Peace Bridge). On the Canada side, we zipped along for a while before the traffic on the QEW got horrendous. The last 50 miles to Toronto took forever. Friday rush hour? Or is it always like that? We got to our hotel at about 7 p.m. Hotel X.

A good choice. We explored two rooftop lounges with great views of the city and had a scrumptious dinner at the hotel restaurant, Roses Social. Our large, comfortable room presented only one challenge—how to work those strangely unique light switches? Took us a while to figure them out. The best feature was the high-impact water pressure in the shower.

Saturday, July 6, was a busy day. In the morning, I took Johanna Bergfelt’s contemporary dance class at the National Ballet of Canada. I’d “known” Johanna virtually for nearly four years, taking her online classes at home, so it was a delight to meet her in person and to dance her wonderful choreography in a huge studio.

Next, hubby and I had brunch at Fox on John. We bypassed the outdoor seating only because a flash rainstorm hit. Inside, we had mimosas, omelets, and fixings while watching a Euro 2024 soccer match between England and Switzerland. A lot of energy in the room!

Then, on to the Latvian Mass Choir Concert at Roy Thomson Hall.  The President of Latvia, Edgars Rinkēvičs, gave opening remarks. The stage was filled to capacity with singers, overflowing into the upper audience boxes on either side (this photo doesn’t quite capture all the singers on the sides). About 700 or 800, everyone in national costume. They performed dozens of folksongs in beautiful harmony, each with its own conductor.

 

My videos of the songs didn’t turn out so great, so here are links to a few good ones posted on YouTube by other attendees:  Lec Saulīte (Sun Rises) and Saule Pērkons Daugava (Sun, Thunder, Daugava [River]).

The concert ended with Pūt Vējiņi (Blow Winds), the song that closes every festival, with the audience singing and swaying along. Here is a video of Pūt Vējiņi at the 2023 Riga concert (40,000 singers in a huge amphitheater!)

Sunday morning the 7th we took the ferry to Toronto Islands, getting this view of the city skyline on the way there. A low flying airplane went directly overhead, coming in for a landing at the nearby Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport.

 

The several small islands are connected, making a large park with plenty of trees and white sand beaches on Lake Ontario. We started out on the westernmost island and walked for about an hour to the center island, where we caught the ferry back.

About halfway through our walk, a loud din caught our attention across an inlet to a small interior island. Hundreds of birds were circling or perched on denuded trees, squawking like crazy. Think Hitchcock’s The Birds. A man who had docked his boat nearby told us that the cormorant population is out-of-control, damaging the trees and environment. We were lucky the wind was blowing away from us, he said, because the noxious odor of their guano is overpowering.

Back in town, we found a great place for lunch a few blocks from the venue where the next festival event was to be held. We had delicious burgers and cold beer sitting in this outdoor patio at Pogue Mahone Pub & Kitchen.

Then it was on to the Latvian Folk Dance Spectacle at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, home of the Maple Leafs ice hockey team! No ice that day. 800 dancers of all ages filled the entire arena with joy and spirit, making intricate patterns with their dances. I made a short video from a few clips of different dances you can see here (Instagram).

Here’s a fuller recap on YouTube. At :45 seconds in, you will see a song near the end of the concert called Daugav’ Abas Malas (Both Sides of the Daugava River), where we all crossed our arms and held hands and sang along. (I’m in that audience somewhere!) Some of the lyrics translate as: “One language, one soul, one land that is ours.” And here is a video of the dance finale.

My favorite dance was by a group that won first place in the new choreography contest. I got most of it on my iPhone and posted it here, on YouTube. Really beautiful and fun!

The performance ended at about 6:30 p.m. and we headed back to New York. Again, the traffic was bad. The Google maps lady sent us to the Lewiston crossing, claimed to be “the best possible route.” We waited in line almost an hour before a customs agent waved us through. On the U.S. side, the highway is a lot prettier than the highway we took going north, through Buffalo.

We didn’t get to our hotel until about 11 p.m., a really nice place, the Chautauqua Harbor Hotel in Jamestown. It was built five years ago, everything spiffy clean and comfy.

In the morning, we visited with friends who took us on a tour of the Chautauqua Institution, a 750-acre community on Chautauqua Lake that hosts summer residence programs in music, dance, theater, and fine arts, among others, and holds events open to the public year round. You may recall that this is where author Salman Rushdie was attacked in 2022. After that, security was tightened and we needed a grounds access pass. There are many beautiful privately owned homes that can be rented, a historic hotel, studios, theaters, and so much more.

Of most interest to me would be to take the dance classes taught by visiting teachers, or to watch performances by notable dance companies. Alas, that will have to be another visit! We were tuckered out from all the excitement and long drive, so made our way back home.

Thanks for riding along! In other news, pick up my award-winning collection Your Pick: Selected Stories during my summer sale. A mere 99 cents in e-book for another week!

 

Celebration! Birthday thoughts, mystery & suspense stories, cover reveal

 

It’s my birthday! Thanks so much for joining me in the celebration.

Is this a milestone of sorts? I’m not allowing the number and its associated labels to mess with my head. Today is another day full of wonder, delight, and possibility.

A day for reflection, to be grateful for a loving family, close friends, sound health, and the good fortune to be living in a time and place that affords women the freedom to work in artistic and intellectually stimulating fields. For me, that means law, fiction writing, and dance. Not necessary in that order and sometimes simultaneously!

Today, I’ll write about writing. So far, 2019 is a banner year for short fiction, both solo works and collaborations with gifted writers and editors. If you’re more interested in novels, stick around until the end of this article for news about my next novel and a cover reveal!

mystery and suspense storiesDzintra’s Tale,” now in the July/August issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, was inspired by experiences of my late father and late aunt during their exodus from Latvia in 1944 and subsequent years as displaced persons. Click here to read more on the blog Something Is Going To Happen, where I give some of my family’s history and the way it triggered my imagination in writing the fictional story “Dzintra’s Tale.” To readers who have been moved by the story enough to contact me directly, I thank you for sharing your personal stories of friends and family from the Baltics and WWII DPs.

The July/August EQMM issue includes stories by these fine writers, with whom I’m proud to share the pages (click on any name to learn more): Vicki Weisfeld, Richard Helms, S.J. Rozan, Trey Dowell, Michael Bracken, Marilyn Todd, Aoife Clifford, Peter Turnbull, Chris Holm, Brendan DuBois, Twist Phelan, Steven Hockensmith, R.T. Raichev, Takemaru Abiko, Tara Laskowski, Tony Fisher, and James Hadley Griffin. Thank you to editor Janet Hutchings and associate editor Jackie Sherbow of EQMM.

mystery and suspense storiesReleased in June, the anthology The Best Laid Plans, 21 Stories of Mystery and Suspense, includes my story “Sucker Punch.” I’ve lightened up on this one—just have fun with it!  In this diverse collection, each writer offers a unique twist on the theme suggested by the anthology title. Here are a few that really grabbed me: P.A. DaVoe’s “Gambling Against Fate” features a 14th century murder investigation with fascinating details about the legal system of the Ming dynasty, and Edith Maxwell’s characters in “The Stonecutter” are so well drawn I was fully immersed in their tale.

They’re all great. For no-spoiler summaries of all 21 stories, click here to check out Kevin Tipple’s review. And click on any name to learn more about the authors in this anthology: Tom Barlow, Susan Daly, Lisa de Nikolits, Peter DiChellis, Lesley A. Diehl, Mary Dutta, C.C. Guthrie, William Kamowski, Lisa Lieberman, Edward Lodi, Rosemary McCracken, LD Masterson, KM Rockwood, Peggy Rothschild, Johanna Beate Stumpf, Vicki Weisfeld, and Chris Wheatley. A big thank you to Superior Shores Press and editor Judy Penz Sheluk, who also contributed a story.

mystery and suspense storiesComing in September from Level Best Books, the anthology Me Too Short Stories, Crimes Against Women, Tales of Retribution and Healing. In my story, “No Outlet,” a woman haunted by memories of a long-ago crime is spurred into action on behalf of a younger woman in trouble. Here is what editor Elizabeth Zelvin wrote in her announcement of the anthology:

“What do women want? A voice. To be heard. Respect. To be believed. Justice. To be both safe and free. The women and children in these stories use the means at hand to protect themselves and those they love… These women are neither femmes fatales nor throwaway victims, nor are they the tough-talking, gunslinging superheroines at the shallow end of crime fiction. These stories, written by women, are about women and girls as strong, as vulnerable, and as varied as their counterparts in real life… In this anthology, you will hear their voices.”

In addition to yours truly, here are the voices you will hear (click on names to learn more): Lynn Hesse, Rona Bell, Ana Brazil, Ann Rawson, C.C. Guthrie, Carole Sojka, Dayle A. Dermatis, Diana Catt, Eve Fisher, Ginn Gannon, Julia Buckley, Julia Pomeroy, Madeline McEwen, and editor Elizabeth Zelvin.

Save the date! The launch party happens on the evening of Tuesday, September 24, 2019, at The Mysterious Bookshop, 58 Warren Street, New York City. Even if you can’t make this date, New Yorkers, be sure to visit The Mysterious Bookshop when you get a chance. It’s an amazing store! [Dancer friends, the store is only a few blocks from Gibney Dance!]literary, mystery, and suspense stories

Now, here is a big thrill I got in May. My collection Your Pick: Selected Stories, won the Eric Hoffer Award for Best Short Story Collection, and was also a Finalist for the Montaigne Medal. Your Pick benefits from the input of my readers over the years. Your comments and reviews helped me select the most-loved stories from my previous collections.

 

Last but not least: A Cover Reveal!

Coming January 2020, Seven Shadows, the fifth Dana Hargrove novel.

Isn’t this cover riveting? Kudos to my cover artist, Roy Migabon.

 

mystery and suspense cover reveal

In Seven Shadows, former prosecutor Dana Hargrove, now a trial judge in Manhattan, is presiding over a high stakes media case when strange things start to happen. Is someone watching her? In the fifth standalone suspense novel of the series, Dana and her family scramble to find out who is lurking in the shadows—before it’s too late.

If you are a blogger or reviewer, please contact me to request an advance reader copy. ARCs will be available in October! Woohoo!

Now, back to “work.” Even on my birthday. “Imagination is my refuge, conception and creation my delights.”

Thanks for reading.

[Attaching here #64Selfie. Didn’t get around to taking the #65Selfie yet.]

The Contest: Book Review and Conversation with Kate Robinson

I recently made an exciting discovery I’d like to share with you, a story collection by authors new to me, Joe DiBuduo and Kate Robinson.

 

The Contest and Other Stories is exceptional in every respect: concept, writing quality, and pure entertainment value. The nineteen stories in this volume could stand alone as an exquisite collection of short fiction, but the authors have added so much more, framing them, uniquely and imaginatively, in the context of an engaging novella about a struggling art magazine in the 1960s. The magazine holds a monthly short fiction contest, challenging writers to submit tales inspired by classic oil paintings. The nineteen winners of the contest, with the artworks that inspired them, alternate with chapters of the novella.

The short stories run the spectrum from the delightful and fanciful to the macabre and horrific. A few of my favorites: A bone-chilling alternate history of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo’s demise while exploring Santa Catalina Island in 1542. A look inside the mind of a hallucinating, mad artist, Vincent Van Gogh, negotiating with his muse. A seemingly sweet, romantic nineteenth century tale aboard a passenger ship that surprisingly creeps into a nightmare on the power of memory. A slowly unfolding mystery about the significance of an artifact from the time of Napoleon. A heartwarming paranormal story of reincarnation and transformation, from dead-of-winter tragedy to a sunny future of hope and life.

After each story, I thoroughly enjoyed the ensuing chapter of the novella, eager to learn what would befall the art magazine and its engaging cast of characters, eager to learn, after that, which artwork the editors would choose for the contest and to read the next “contest winner,” assured that it would be something entirely new and outstanding. The novella itself ends in a surprising twist. In short, this was a page-turner, and even better than that, a testament to the value and necessity of art and creativity.

The Contest is for anyone who loves great storytelling, a unique and different reading experience, and thought-provoking themes that honor your intelligence and spur your imagination. I’m thrilled that Kate Robinson, one half of the writing team, has graciously agreed to answer my burning questions about this unique, creative project.

Welcome to VBlog, Kate! Tell us a little about your background and that of your co-author Joe DiBuduo.

We like to say that Joe has the vivid imagination and I have the word-whacking toolbox, as stated in the book bio. Of course, in reality we both have the imaginative and editorial sides of author mind, though we often see things differently. That presents some challenges in collaboration, but it also brings many strengths—the ability to see characters and plots from various angles is helpful.

Joe and Kate

I began writing poetry in childhood and didn’t become interested in writing fiction until my forties, and my initial immersion in poetry fostered a lyrical aspect to my prose, or so I’m told. Joe began writing fiction in his sixties and later adopted poetry into his daily writing routine after he had a good feel for the mechanics of story. He’s developed a style he calls “poetic flash fiction”—he’s partial to telling stories within the confines of many of his poems.

I’m more an anything goes type of writer—I’m game for whatever my subconscious channels at any particular time, and my body of work is smaller than Joe’s but more diverse in that I experiment with many different styles.

How did you and Joe develop the concept for The Contest?

Joe is an artist who works in many media—glasswork, sculpture, and painting. So he has a natural bent for art and a strong interest in art history. He has a great love of coffee table art books and visiting art galleries and museums, and his walls at home are filled with paintings and his front yard is filled with his massive sculptures.

As Joe was learning to write fiction, he chose to use artwork as story prompts. While he worked with these stories inspired by paintings, he envisioned a connected collection of historical stories linked with a more contemporary story about a young man struggling to find his way in the world. And so, The Contest and Other Stories was born.

When I began crafting story, I used my dream journal entries rather than visual art as prompts.

I’m also a museum aficionado, but I lean more toward appreciation of the historical and anthropological aspects of museum collections. I have a BA in Anthropology with emphasis in Museum Studies and a big interest in indigenous peoples’ cultural stories and in their modern fiction.

So we each brought our unique interests and talents into this quirky collection of stories.

Tell us a little about how your collaboration worked.

Joe began presenting the artwork prompted stories to the critique group we both belonged to in the early ‘00s. I felt these stories were his best work at the time (and I still feel that’s true today). I was thoroughly intrigued with the stories and greatly enjoyed critiquing them. Eventually, Joe had a rough draft consisting of the connecting novella and nearly three dozen stories in various stages of completion. He felt bogged down with the enormity of fleshing out the incomplete stories and paring the collection down to a manageable size, and knowing I loved the stories, he invited me to share his vision as a co-editor and co-author. By this time (early 2011), he still lived in north-central Arizona and I had landed in California after a year of working on a Master’s degree in Wales. So the collaboration became one done via lots and lots of emails forwarded back and forth over the next several years.

In retrospect, Joe had the initial vision and the initial go at writing the collection draft, and I followed up with my two cents. In some cases, I simply line edited nearly finished stories, and in other cases, I did substantial research and writing to complete them. I also designed the book interior and did some marketing in the form of submitting stories to journals and anthologies to drum up interest in the collection. We had a half-dozen stories published in advance of the book.

Each story in this collection is unique. Do you have particular favorites?

I’m partial to the stories in which the artists appear, especially those in the context of magical realism or alternate history—or both. “Night Café” is my personal favorite. “Masterpiece” and “A Life in Flowers” are two others I enjoy reading time and time again.

Joe is also particularly proud of “Night Café” because he’s particularly fond of the work of Vincent van Gogh, and because the story won a quarterly New Short Fiction Award at a music website, Jerry Jazz Musician, in 2012.

Kate, thank you for this insight into your collaboration!

Dear Short Story Lovers,

I highly recommend The Contest! Get it here.

Stay tuned for more short story news, coming your way soon! I have three new stories, to be published this year in a magazine and anthologies. And…wish me luck. My latest collection, Your Pick: Selected Stories, is currently a finalist for the 2019 Montaigne Medal. The award, named for French philosopher Michel de Montaigne, is for “the most thought-provoking books. . .that either illuminate, progress, or redirect thought.”

Your Pick is a 5-star Readers’ Favorite and “recommended without reservation” by Book Viral.

Proclamation Day of the Republic of Latvia

Latvian Flag

Today, November 18, 2018, Latvia celebrates the 100-year anniversary of its proclamation of independence. This does not mean that Latvia has enjoyed 100 years of freedom. Far from it. The story of Latvia is riddled with long periods of German and Soviet occupation. Freedom from Soviet rule was restored in 1991.

On Proclamation Day, and as we look forward this week to Thanksgiving, I am grateful for the freedom we have in the United States and am reminded that it should never be taken for granted. My late father, as a teenager, was a displaced person during World War II, when Nazi and Soviet troops clashed, literally in his backyard. My father, his sister, and their parents joined the thousands of Latvians who fled. I can hardly imagine the trauma of being ripped from your country, your home, and everything you know, to be a refugee, to make your way in another country, not able to go back. My experience of these events has been secondhand, through the stories of my late father and late aunt. I wish I had asked them more when they were still on this earth!

As I so frequently experience, my imagination takes hold of bits of fact, and expands and embellishes them until they explode into story. My story collection Your Pick, comprised of reader favorites from previous collections, opens with a reprint of “My Latvian Aunt,” a story that won an award and has garnered much interest over the years. I think this story is compelling because my late aunt’s voice can be heard in its pages. I incorporated bits of our conversations and wove historical facts about Latvia and WWII into the story. I did some of the same in a murder mystery with a Latvian protagonist that takes place during the Cold War. “Dzintra’s Tale” has been accepted for publication by Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, and I’ll be sure to let you know when it appears in print!

Your Pick: Selected Stories, launches on November 23. Click here if you’d like to enter a giveaway on Goodreads for a free copy of Your Pick in e-book!