Read more about the article Watching Novels: Thoughts on Book Adaptations
Personal Rants

Watching Novels: Thoughts on Book Adaptations

Sometimes, when you look at Hollywood’s movie repertoire, it seems they only release remakes and book adaptations. Some people cringe, hoping for more original content and fresh stories, and as much as I’d love to see more originality as well, I do have a soft spot for book adaptations. There’s something enchanting in seeing the story I loved (or at least enjoyed) envisioned by someone else. It’s almost like sharing thoughts on a book and learning someone else’s perspective. (more…)

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February 19, 2018
Read more about the article A Month in a Writer’s Life – January 2018
A Month in a Writer's Life

A Month in a Writer’s Life – January 2018

January meant entering the fourth year of the writing challenge, and I even though I have my routine sorted already, I couldn’t resist joining again. 365 Writing Club does miracles when it comes to accountability. This year’s theme is “The Daily Writer”, focusing back on building the habit to write every day, and even though last year I missed only 4 days, I decided I could do better. Did I manage? (more…)

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February 13, 2018
Read more about the article Being the Reader I Used to Be
Personal Rants

Being the Reader I Used to Be

I’m not the reader I used to be. Ever since I stopped being a student, I struggled with reading as many books as I did in my youth. Partially it was because of my limited time: I didn’t have gaps between lectures or workshops to fill with reading. Being employed full time meant 9 hours a day at my workplace. After that, I had to take care of my food and house chores. It was also the fear of losing sleep over a book – something I confessed to two years ago, and something I couldn’t afford being an employee. But lately, I realized the problem is more complex than just less time to read. (more…)

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October 16, 2017
Read more about the article Sex Scenes: How Did It Happen?
On Writing / Personal Rants

Sex Scenes: How Did It Happen?

I read sex scenes for the first time when I was about 11.

It came at me quite unexpected, in the Arabian Nights book which I bought for my own pocket money. The Polish title of the book that could be translated as “The Tales of One Thousand and One Night” promised me exotic fairy tales from the lands of sand and sun. I was prepared for them to be dark, maybe even cruel sometimes, as I was very familiar with Brothers Grimm tales and works of Hans Christian Andersen, but I wasn’t prepared for sex scenes. The description was very vague and brief, but for a girl who already knew what was what it seemed pretty obvious what the sentences were talking about. (more…)

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August 28, 2017
Read more about the article Reading Books: to Finish or Not to Finish?
Personal Rants

Reading Books: to Finish or Not to Finish?

For a while now, I’ve been struggling to read more. Part of the problem is what I’ve written about before: the fear of getting too immersed in the book which would result ditching everything else (books have kept me from sleep, eating, and many other things). At the same time, I found myself getting more and more picky about the books I read, so it’s getting harder to find a book that would actually enchant me enough for the first fear to be true. (more…)

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July 31, 2017
On Writing

Novels Aren’t Coloring Books

Novels Aren't Coloring BooksSome time ago, I read a book series. I think I was already reading a third or fourth book in the series, when I some point I fell the pace slowing down and losing my attention. I checked what page I was at, and I immediately thought: “Oh, it’s page X. It means that there will be the big reveal or the main battle in about ten pages.” That gave me a stumbling pause, killing all my reading pleasure as I realized all the author’s books are exactly the same in their structure, and therefore very predictable regardless of the story that author is telling. In the end, reading the series became boring and lost most of its appeal. (more…)

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July 3, 2017
On Writing

3 Reasons Why I Love Doing Research

In the past, I wrote on the importance of researching facts for your stories (if you missed it, you can read my Research Matters: Why I Don’t Read Novels Set in Ireland post), but the process itself can be time-consuming, tedious, and sometimes disheartening, if despite our efforts, we still can’t find the answers we need.

Research can also become a black hole of information, dragging the poor, unsuspecting writer deeper and deeper.

Sounds like a hassle, doesn’t it? Something to be put away until absolutely necessary or done as little as possible. But there’s also a lot of fun in doing research! Here are my three reasons. (more…)

6 Comments
June 26, 2017