Somehow 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…)
Guild of Dungeoneering was one of those indie games I’ve never heard about until it popped in my GOG suggestions, and I always hesitated to get it. The sketch-like graphics had their unique appeal, but the game play itself didn’t seem to offer enough engaging. As you can guess, I got it during one of the sales, when I accidentally watched a trailer video for the game which featured a fun song to match the not-so-serious interface. The game promised building my own dungeon and letting an adventurer in on what seemed like a digitalized version of early Dungeons&Dragons dungeon crawls. (more…)
When over eight years ago I boarded the plane for the first time ever, I couldn’t help wondering whether I’d like flying. I still remember the first step I made on the steps leading up and the moment my other foot left the ground… My last step on the Polish ground for who knew how long: I was just about to immigrate to Ireland—excited, anticipating, maybe a bit worried—but I still couldn’t resist thinking of flying. After all, it’s the dreamer’s ultimate dream, isn’t it? (more…)
It’s been half a month already, and I’m only now getting to write the August edition of my A Month of Writing series that chronicles my adventure in the 365k Club. As always, I had plans of catching up with everything, but it seems that summer still held its spell over me, so I didn’t do quite as much as I planned. (more…)
They say that writing is a lonely business, and in a way it’s true: when you sit down to write, the whole world ceases to exist as you traverse to another one, to the one in your head. Someone might be sitting beside you, figuratively holding your hand, but you’re still somewhat on your own with the text you’re writing.
But as a writer, you are not alone unless you want to be. (more…)
Yesterday Szortal had published my new drabbles in Polish, "Tryptyk Cisza-Szept-Krzyk" ("Triptych Silence-A Whisper-A Scream").
Almost every advice out there tell aspiring writers they should read a lot. But the key is not really devouring as many books as possible, but making the reading into a lesson: studying plots, characterization, even the style. There’s much more to reading as a writer than it is to reading as a book lover, and even though writers mostly enjoy reading as much as any other bookworm, aside from entertainment, good story, and food for thought, we have other reasons to read too. (more…)
Another short story is now available in the Read Online section. Set in a postapocalyptic world, “To Conquer the Sea” (available both in English and Polish) tells a story of a young man who sets out on a journey to the mysterious Sea-the worship around had killed his mother, and he’s trying to understand it. He doesn’t suspect that meeting a mysterious man in the wasteland will not only change his life, but also the world.
“To Conquer the Sea” is also available on Wattpad if you prefer to read on this platform. (more…)
There’s a moment in a gaming writer’s life when she doesn’t want complex storyline, character depth or non-linear game play. Instead, she wants the sheer joy of mowing through the endless hordes of monsters to remind her of the misspent youth when she lost days and night playing Diablo and Diablo 2. At such moment she thinks of Diablo 3 buried somewhere at the bottom of the box with her game discs and before she even considers digging it out, she remembers that the third installment of the third series failed at the most important aspect: being addictive. (more…)
Here I was, thinking my transition period after moving continents had finally come to an end and I’d be able to get back to building my routine, especially with the monsoon season starting in Arizona which would bring relief after the June’s heat I wasn’t used to anymore. Oh little I knew! (more…)