A Month in a Writer's Life / On Writing

A Month in a Writer’s Life – February 2017

After a very bumpy January, I was hoping for a much better February. I planned on catching up with everything that fell behind, and was quite optimistic about it. I don’t know whether it was the winter aura lowering my mood or the stress of the previous month still lingering, but the start of the month was quite slow. I didn’t get sick, but my health definitely seemed a little bit worse (with some random pains disturbing me), and on many days I’ve found myself tired or sleepy which wasn’t helping my motivation. (more…)

5 Comments
March 13, 2017
Personal Rants

Melfka’s Birthday Week: The Dancing Klutz

Welcome to my Birthday Week during which I post random, interesting or embarrassing facts about myself. If you missed the yesterday’s introductory post, you can find it here. Today, though running a bit late, I’m going to tell you about the less glorious side of being Melfka: being a Klutz. (more…)

10 Comments
March 4, 2017
Personal Rants

Melfka’s Birthday Week

My birthdays have always been the “me” time. I can count on the fingers of one hand the few events I could consider my “birthday parties”, but I never really minded it. Each year I’ve tried to schedule time off school (which also meant skipping the lectures of university when I could) or off work, and did whatever sparked my fancy. Which, mostly, mean doing nothing, playing video games, or trying that weird cake recipe. My birthday was always the day I celebrated surviving yet another year, and becoming if not smarter, then at least more experienced when it comes to mistakes being made.

Yet, my friends still manage to make my birthday special in one way or the other. (more…)

13 Comments
February 28, 2017
Personal Rants

My First Year in the USA

It’s almost a year since I closed the door of my Irish apartment for the very last time. I didn’t feel ready, with so many things in mind I still wanted or should do, but I also knew I’d never feel ready, so it didn’t really matter that much. I still remember the mix of tiredness (since I foolishly didn’t sleep for my two last nights back there), excitement, and stress.

Moving from one continent to another have something of finality like diving head first from a cliff: you don’t get to go back. (more…)

16 Comments
February 20, 2017
On Writing

Never Press DELETE

I was born in a communistic country which lacked the necessary resources, let alone fancy things, so from my early childhood I developed a specific perspective towards everyday objects. When an adult is allowed only 1kg (half a pound) of sugar per month, the queues for toilet paper weave longer than those for the ticket of a famous band, and the shop shelves are as empty as they would be after zombie apocalypse, anything you come across might become your next treasure. (more…)

17 Comments
January 23, 2017
On Writing / Personal Rants

Music Inspirations – part 5

Music InspirationsIt’s been quite a while since I’ve last posted my music inspirations, even though my Spotify writing playlist now boasts an awesome 15 hours worth of music. Mostly, because I rarely search for songs that would reflect specific scenes. Instead, I either listen to my playlist in a shuffle mode or pick a song that keeps me focused and motivated.
Still, some songs come up and seem to be fitting perfectly to scenes or plots I’m writing and I tend to put those songs in a loop until I’m done, and these four songs stuck with me. (more…)

6 Comments
December 5, 2016
On Writing

All the Novels I Write

all-the-novels-i-writeEven though I usually end up focused on one project at the time, it’s never the only one that is brewing in my head. I’ve mentioned before I usually have several projects going, in different stages of (de)composition, as this is my way of escaping the dreaded writer’s block. If one project feels tiresome or boring at the time, I can always jump into another one and get my writing momentum back. (more…)

7 Comments
November 21, 2016
On Writing / Personal Rants

NaNoDoubts

nanodoubtsThe other day we’ve met our neighbor heading out with his dog and his camera. “It’s this time of the year,” he said with a smile. I also watch the growing display of Halloween decorations in stores (many more than what I was used to in Ireland) and the biggest pumpkins I’ve ever seen (which in a way proves the cliche saying that “everything is bigger in America”). Because, yeah, it’s this time of the year too.

And then, of course, almost every writer out there will recognize it’s this time of the year. Frantic plotting, digging out prehistoric projects for inspiration, desperately stocking on notebooks, caffeine-products, and snacks. As NaNoWriMo approaches, the writers’ universe on the Internet polarizes: from all decked-up to panic-stricken, authors share their preparation progress, exchange their NaNoWriMo usernames, and join the fantastic community that grows bigger and bigger each year. (more…)

15 Comments
October 27, 2016
A Month of Writing / On Writing

A Month of Writing – September 2016

MoW-ENSomehow September had played a time warp on me: it hardly started, and then instantly jumped to the end of the month without any prior notice, and with the days (if not weeks) lost in my memory, I had a fuzzy image of once more having fallen behind with my 365k Club challenge, but apparently the soon-to-be-autumn aura had a beneficial influence on me, since I did better than expected. (more…)

9 Comments
October 10, 2016