Sirenita Lake is new to me but after reading her links and her responses to this interview, I felt like I got to meet and get to know a smart, funny, interesting woman with a moral compass that has a very strong “true north” (you’ll understand this if you follow directions and read the links) for a moral compass.  Engaging and bright, Sirenita’s mind works from an angle that can only have her heart as a starting point. Sit back and relax and meet Sirenita.   

HOW DID YOU COME TO OPEN SALON?

I was dragged. My husband made me an account and posted something I dashed off for a friend’s blog. It’s like finding yourself on a stage, the curtain goes up, the audience is sitting there, and you just have to start dancing.  

WHICH POST ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF AS A WRITER AND WHY? (PROVIDE A LINK, PLEASE)

Here’s where I prove what a lightweight I am as a writer. My favorite piece was written for Catster from my cat Milagrito’s point of view. I enjoyed creating the Milagrito character and this piece required a tweak to the voice, making it breezier to write about a topic I know very slightly: sports. It’s a short story a clef. For those who didn’t follow this controversy, Sirenita (the cat--she and I have the same name) represents Barry Bonds. It remains my favorite humor piece.

http://www.catster.com/cats/238861/diary/The_miracle_review/344069 

Cartouche interjects:  This is s a great read from a cat’s point of view.  Very clever! 

WHICH POST DO YOU THINK WAS MAYBE OVERLOOKED THAT YOU WISH MORE PEOPLE HAD READ? EXPLAIN WHY. (AGAIN, PLEASE PROVIDE A LINK).

I like the one I wrote before I got noticed, “Moral Character,” because it’s funny and the pace is good. It’s also a true story, and illustrates the kind of thing about which we say, “that could only happen to Sirenita.” I wouldn’t call it overlooked. It got at least 10 readers, which is fine with me.

http://open.salon.com/blog/sirenitalake/2009/03/03/moral_character 

Cartouche adds: This story has more meat than bones and no fat.  It will keep you engaged and tell you a lot about Sirenita. 

WHAT AUTHOR, PERSON OR EVENT HAS MOST INSPIRED YOUR WRITING (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE STYLE), AND THE SUBJECT MATTER YOU WRITE ABOUT?

I’m not sure that I can pick out specific influences but writers whose work is very clean, uncluttered and unmannered. There are non-fiction books that I remember as being unique and particularly well written. One of my favorites is “Shot in the Heart,” by Mikal Gilmore, the younger brother of Gary Gilmore, the man who volunteered to be executed, thereby restarting the era of executions in the U.S. I still love fiction, especially mystery fiction. I love the flamboyant writers like Chandler but I don’t want to write like that. Now that I’m old (but good-looking!) and settled, I don’t read much fiction about love, ambition, search for identity and that sort of thing. I don’t do a lot of sentiment or angst in my writing, either.  

COLUMN A: It’s about the writing 

1. What post by another OS writer made you go “Wow” and why? Please provide a link. (I think this is a wonderful way to “pay it forward” and give kudos to a fellow OS member.)Here’s a link to someone who doesn’t need any help from me, Steven Axelrod:

http://open.salon.com/blog/steven_axelrod/2009/03/25/aesthetic_anomie_why_good_books_dont_get_published

(Cartouche concurs.  If you haven’t met or read any of Steven Axelrod’s writing, you have been living in a cave and missing out on some wonderful writing.  I think he cold write the phone book and make you want to read it from cover to cover.) 

My husband went through the rejection experience recently, which Steven illustrates with the statement of the editor who says, “I love this but I can’t sell it.” I also love this post because he crafts a new concept, “aesthetic anomie,” the loss of aesthetic bearings by those who control what we are offered to read.  

2. Is OS about the writing and the art of it or just throwing yourself out there in the wind?

Kinda both, as far as I can tell. I’m a neurotic editor, so, yes, to the extent that I can recognize the good parts and shave away the bad parts, it’s about art. I also see OS as a place for experimentation, some of it personal, and throwing myself out there in the wind is probably good therapy for a control freak like me. I keep saying outrageous things like some four-year-old with her first dirty word, just to see how far I can go.

 3. Ideally, what would you like to see happen with your writing?

I want it to come more easily. I’d like to be able to imagine things and write fiction, but I doubt I’ll ever achieve that. An OS friend said that my pieces are about more than one thing, and I said to myself, she’s right; I tend to see the relatedness of things, and things spring to mind in clusters. I want to keep doing that.  

4. You are writing your autobiography. Tell us what the title would be?

You’ve Got to be Kidding 

5. What are your writing pet peeves? Please expand.

I don’t see a lot of things that annoy me on OS. Perhaps we all have a tendency to write like we speak, which often involves unnecessary words or mysterious ellipses, and editing may be required. On the other hand, I prefer to read someone’s free association than imperfectly mastered formal prose. Once in a while, I’ll notice a word error, like “phase” instead of “faze” but I’m fairly tolerant. I keep reminding myself that the worst sin is not to finish, to be so compulsive that you don’t hit “publish.” I had to teach myself to wear an outfit with a tiny spot rather than be late trying to find a replacement. I have a sneaking admiration for people who go out with spots on their clothes.  

COLUMN B:  MORE ABOUT YOU.  

1. What time of day are we most likely to find you lurking around OS?

Any time, including really late. I’m in California, and I’m sometimes horrified to see I’ve posted a comment at 5:00 am OS time. I never wanted to be someone who is on the net all night long, but I’m one of those people who, if you put them in a cave, naturally have a 28-hour day. I’ll stay up late and not even notice, because I don’t get sleepy. 

2. For women: Thongs or briefs?

What are briefs? Those things that come up to your waist with the tight leg holes? I have two kinds of underwear: French cut and bikini. I guess those are briefs, because they are not thongs. If I want something in my butt, it won’t be underwear.  

3. How much of what and how you write or respond in comments is reflective of the person you are in “real life”?

What an intriguing question. A lot of what I write reflects the person I am, but online, I’m definitely a character I’ve created. My posts and comments tend to distill an element of me--the comic, the bawdy or the intellectual. Oddly, in real life I am sort of a character created by other people’s perceptions of me as fierce, transgressive, sexy and strong. I never thought of myself that way; I had to be told. I kind of believe in that personality now and retail it on OS.  

4. If there was an OS meet up weekend and money or geography was not an issue, would you attend?

With trepidation. My body is a real issue. I’m a government-certified gimp. I hate having people fuss about getting me a chair and I’m just learning to say, “I have a bad back, I can’t stand for a long time, shall we go sit and talk over there?” If there were no physical obstacles, then yeah, sure. I love the idea of a dinner party with a dozen or so OSers. I suppose others are more literary than me and I might be the dumb one at the table, but I don’t have such a weak ego that I would forgo that opportunity for fear I wouldn’t measure up. Or I could just join up with the rude kids and feel right at home.  

5. Describe a typical day in your life in five words.

Cook, play, cats, love, pain. And write. I stole a word