Read more about the article Invisible Writing Progress – Q1 2020
On Writing / Personal Rants

Invisible Writing Progress – Q1 2020

So far, 2020 has been an odd year for me. I might not be a person to make New Year resolutions, but I had plans, solid and detailed, and I was ready to see them through. Yet, as always in life, unexpected things happen, and my plans got derailed, so the first quarter of the year for me, although somewhat productive, has been affected by a sudden loss of direction and then need to rearrange my goals.

And although writing isn’t necessarily as lonely endeavor as some people might paint it, the writing progress remains invisible until a novel or a story is done and published. That’s why I thought I’d share how my writing life has been so far this year, and what else I’ve been busy with. (more…)

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April 13, 2020
Read more about the article Splitting a Novel
On Writing

Splitting a Novel

It’s been at least three years since I finished my epic fantasy novel, By the Pact. It was all revised, edited, and “ready to go”. But I wasn’t entirely happy with the compromises I had to make between the story, beta readers’ expectations, and the word count. But to address it, I would have to set myself back, adding a significant amount of work to my already-full schedule. And in the end, I did it. (more…)

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January 27, 2020
Read more about the article A Month in a Writer’s Life – September, October, November 2019
A Month in a Writer's Life

A Month in a Writer’s Life – September, October, November 2019

It’s been a while since I updated this blog. It’s been mostly due to my freelance workload and the determination to finish my writing project, but I also realized that the monthly update on my life has become slightly repetitive: focused on my writing, I do very little outside of it that would justify monthly reports. Therefore, I bulked the last three months together in a larger post. Next year, I might switch to quarterly updates or find another formula. Until then, here’s what has been going on in my life while I was quiet. (more…)

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December 2, 2019
Read more about the article A Month in a Writer’s Life – July 2019
A Month in a Writer's Life

A Month in a Writer’s Life – July 2019

Another month went by, and it’s been quite different from what I thought it would be. Since in summer time businesses slow down, I expected some downtime in my freelancing business. It meant that I would have time to participate in Camp NaNoWriMo to which I promptly signed up at the end of June. Of course, life decided to prove me wrong, and July turned out to be a whirlwind. (more…)

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August 5, 2019
Read more about the article Mr. Roache’s Drummer: the Origin of a Story
The Origin of a Story

Mr. Roache’s Drummer: the Origin of a Story

In the Origin of the Story series I’ll be sharing insights of how some of my stories came to be. What inspired them, and what kind of process followed it. All of that spoiler-free, so you can still enjoy the story if you didn’t have a chance to read it yet.

Today, I’m going to share a story of the piece that I’m particularly happy with, the quasi-steampunk (or magical realism, if you prefer) short story, Mr. Roache’s Drummer (Polish: Bębniarz pana Roache). It was first published, long with its counterpart story, Seven Percent Chance (Siedem procent szans) in a Polish anthology by RW2010. Its English version is available as a part of my collection, Scourges, Spells, and Serenades, and you can get it for free. (more…)

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July 8, 2019
Read more about the article A Month in a Writer’s Life – May & June 2019
A Month in a Writer's Life

A Month in a Writer’s Life – May & June 2019

It’s been a while since I posted regularly. After nearly finishing the A to Z Challenge, I needed time to recuperate from intensive blogging, and I had to catch up with my writing. On top of that, the last two months were quite intensive work-wise, demanding my attention and time. So, with heavy heart, I decided to “disappear” for a while, including less presence on social media for the much-needed catching up with my priorities. (more…)

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July 2, 2019
Read more about the article A Month in a Writer’s Life – March 2019
A Month in a Writer's Life

A Month in a Writer’s Life – March 2019

This month’s report is a little bit earlier as April will be full of A to Z challenge posts (I’ll be talking about the setting of my fantasy world – come back to check them out). If February was an earthquake when it comes to my plans, March could be called aftershocks. Even though work-wise it was a quieter month, I was in a constant catch-up mode, trying to meet my self-imposed deadlines. (more…)

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March 31, 2019
Read more about the article A Month in a Writer’s Life – February 2019
A Month in a Writer's Life

A Month in a Writer’s Life – February 2019

February flew by, as it could be expected from the shortest month in the year, and it was filled with planned and unplanned things, and it left me stumbling into March like an exhausted witch who has no idea what she should do next and what to catch up with. At the same time, it did feel like I was slowly gaining my momentum, not only putting routines in place, but also adjusting them to accommodate for my irregular and at times routine-disrupting freelance work. (more…)

2 Comments
March 6, 2019