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WORD on Victoria Melekian, Leader of the Brown Bagging North County Writing Addicts

Sweet-faced Victoria Melekian could easily tempt any writer (has-been, wannabe or practicing) to sit down with her. And when she casually begins the North County Brown Bag group in Del Mar I was disarmed fairly easily. Thanks to her gentle nudges I wrote some little tidbits and have been looking at my schedule to wrangle an hour or so out of every 2nd and 4th Friday to join her and the other Brown Baggers. I asked her a few questions to better understand this writer who was enticing me to get chummy again with fresh ideas.

K - What inspired you to bring the Brown Bag to Del Mar? Were you involved in the downtown version?

V - I've long wanted to bring a SDWI presence to North County since most of our events are Downtown, South Park, or Hillcrest, etc. Creating a North County Brown Bag is something I actually had the time and the ability to do.

K - Does anyone take the prompts further and continue until they have written a larger body, such as a true short story or novel?

V - I don't know what happens to the writings created by the prompts although I thought I'd heard that a portion of Amy Wallen's book was written during Brown Bag sessions. (We are following up on that tidbit.)

K - Where do you gather the prompts from?

V - The prompts come from all over -- something I may have read or heard or thought about.

K - What are your goals and dreams as a writer? Do you feel better inspired to reach those through your association with Ink?

V - Writerly goals and dreams, hmmm.  I get excited when I have an idea, when I'm on a roll, when I'm writing well.  It's very exciting to be part of SDWI and help it grow and become such a vibrant presence in the writing community.

K - What did you want to be when you grew up? What do you want to be now?

V - I wanted to be a librarian.  In a way, I am because I have so many books.  I'd love to be a philanthropist, but that would require money.  What do I want to be now?  A trust fund baby?  Retired?

K - What advice would you give aspiring writers in San Diego?

V - Write. Gotta do that, and the rest falls into place.

K - Do you collect anything? Why?

V - That's funny.  My kids say once I get two or three of anything, I've begun a collection.  Let's just say I have stuff.  Glass doorknobs, old kitchen tins, antique sewing machines, shells, rocks, books, birds' nests.  Why?  Because it looks cool all amassed together.

K - How did it feel to win the San Diego Book Award for your unpublished short story?

V - It was fun to win the San Diego Book Award.  It felt affirming and validating and very rewarding all in one shiny moment.

K - What did you do with "Looking for Stars" after winning the award? What are you future plans for it or anything you may be working on at present?

V - I've done absolutely nothing with "Looking for Stars" or anything else I've written for that matter.  I need to start submitting to literary magazines.  I'm not afraid of rejection, obviously, since I've sent off poetry and that particular story to contests, so I don't know why I haven't done it yet.

K - What are your favorite San Diego writers hang-outs? Favorite on-line writing sites?

V - Well, I love the Inkspot.  I met my husband there.  And we got married there.  I like going to the Grove on the first Friday every month for Dime Stories.  On-line, I like the Writer's Almanac, McSweeneys, and there's a whole bunch of flash fiction web sites I like to read.  And, of course, WordSD. (We don't mind shameless plugs, especially from former WORD volunteers.)

K - You met your husband at Inkspot. Is he a writer? How does that work - having two writers in one household?

V - Yes, my husband is a writer.  We met at Amy Wallen's publication party last January of '07.  There was an empty chair next to me, and John sat down.  I like having another writer in the house, somebody to bounce stuff off of, share something in a book I'm reading, stuff like that.  We've taken a class together and we like to go to the same kinds of events like Dime Stories or readings.

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