inspiration – Page 2 – Joanna Maciejewska

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

As a Side Note

Melfka’s Best of 2019

Do end-of-year lists have a point? 355 days is enough time to both get acquainted with massive amounts of creations and… forget about a lot of them, no matter how good they were. Yet, those subjective “the best of” lists do have an appeal of discovery of another person’s favorites that in the next year might become mine.

Nowadays I’m more focused on creating rather than consuming, so I don’t have dozens of books or tv shows to pick from, but I still can point toward my favorites, so here’s a meager Melfka’s Best of 2019 list. (more…)

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January 6, 2020

Gaming Writer's Saturday

Gaming Writer’s Saturday: Greedfall

I don’t game as much as I used to, with writing greedily taking over every available moment, but after I won NaNoWriMo a few days early, I gave myself a weekend of video gaming in reward. That meant finally getting to the end of Greedfall: a game that I came across by chance and that surprised me in many positive ways. (more…)

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December 21, 2019

A Month in a Writer's Life

A Month in a Writer’s Life – August 2019

I could swear yesterday was the end of May, but instead September got a jump on me before I could even wonder where did August go. This year feels like I’m constantly playing catch-up, and I still stay behind with everything, and the last month was no different… or was it? (more…)

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September 9, 2019

Personal Rants

Friends Do Lie: Normalization of Lies in Fiction

After three and a half seasons of screaming at my tv, I finally gave up on Supernatural. The show had a lot of potential: good acting, interesting lore, and that speculative element I always welcome in my entertainment, so I was willing to give it a go, despite it being a little too close to horror for my liking. And yet, here I was, finally giving up after over three seasons of being less and less entertained. At the same time, I had similar experience with Stranger Things 3. I’ve been so hopeful for it, only to be met with disappointment. While I appreciate some aspects of these two and many other shows, they all seem to suffer from a fatal storytelling flaw. (more…)

8 Comments

August 19, 2019

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

A to Z Challenge

A to Z Challenge 2019: V is for Veranesh

Welcome to my A to Z Challenge 2019 posts. This year I’ll be writing about the world of Kinyal which is the setting of my epic fantasy novels and short stories. These posts offer insights into the world’s history, locations, and factions, but do not spoil any of the events or secrets from the novel.

You don’t need to read them in order, and as the challenge progresses, I’ll do my best to add links to related topics for each post. (more…)

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April 27, 2019

A to Z Challenge

A to Z Challenge 2019: U is for Unclaimed Lands

Welcome to my A to Z Challenge 2019 posts. This year I’ll be writing about the world of Kinyal which is the setting of my epic fantasy novels and short stories. These posts offer insights into the world’s history, locations, and factions, but do not spoil any of the events or secrets from the novel.

You don’t need to read them in order, and as the challenge progresses, I’ll do my best to add links to related topics for each post. (more…)

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April 26, 2019

A to Z Challenge

A to Z Challenge 2019: T is for Tivarashan

Welcome to my A to Z Challenge 2019 posts. This year I’ll be writing about the world of Kinyal which is the setting of my epic fantasy novels and short stories. These posts offer insights into the world’s history, locations, and factions, but do not spoil any of the events or secrets from the novel.

You don’t need to read them in order, and as the challenge progresses, I’ll do my best to add links to related topics for each post. (more…)

0 Comments

April 24, 2019

A to Z Challenge

A to Z Challenge 2019: S is for Suzhaul

Welcome to my A to Z Challenge 2019 posts. This year I’ll be writing about the world of Kinyal which is the setting of my epic fantasy novels and short stories. These posts offer insights into the world’s history, locations, and factions, but do not spoil any of the events or secrets from the novel.

You don’t need to read them in order, and as the challenge progresses, I’ll do my best to add links to related topics for each post. (more…)

0 Comments

April 23, 2019