Blog – Page 7 – Joanna Maciejewska

Invisible Writing Progress – Q2 2020

Time is a peculiar thing. On one hand, it flies so fast that before you blink, you cross the midpoint of the year. On the other, when you look back at all that happened, it feels like it’s been ages since 2020 started. Of course, it doesn’t help that the year itself seems to be a story of a mad writer or a random plot generator… Yet, as we say in Polish, “one has to go on living” even if things didn’t exactly get back to normal during the second quarter of 2020. (more…)

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July 6, 2020

On Writing / Personal Rants

The Trouble with Writing Book 3

When I was first making plans for this year, I was hoping to finish book 3 of my epic fantasy by the end of April. Then, my laptop broke and with the delivery date of my new computer being three weeks later, I knew I’d had to adjust the plans. I hoped for the end of May, but realistically, I set myself to finish by the end of June.

It’s almost halfway through the month, and although it still could be possible for me get to the end before July, but even if I push really hard, it’s unlikely. There are several reasons. (more…)

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June 15, 2020

News

Scourges, Spells, and Serenades is now on Goodreads

My free fantasy stories collection, Scourges, Spells, and Serenades is now on Goodreads, which means you can add it to your shelves, and it will count toward your reading challenge if you’re taking part in it. And if you haven’t gotten the collection yet, you can receive the ebook by singing up to my monthly newsletter (you can unsubscribe any time!).

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June 1, 2020

Personal Rants

What Went Wrong With Netflix’s Altered Carbon

I’ve read Richard Morgan’s Takeshi Kovacs series in my early twenties, back when I lived in Poland. There was a bit of hype about it, and I decided to check it out. Needless to say, a book that started with the main character dying on the first two pages had to suck me in (and I missed my tram stop because of it). I devoured all three books as they became available in Polish, and then—since there were no more Takeshi Kovacs stories—I moved onto other exciting reads.

When Netflix released its series based on the books, I hardly remembered the stories, only the setting, so it took me a while to actually get around to watching it. That delay allowed me to watch season 1 and 2 of Netflix’s Altered Carbon almost back to back.

If you had not watched the series, be warned—some spoilers ahead. (more…)

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May 18, 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

Personal Rants

Why I Don’t Write About Self-Isolation

This post a bit more personal than my usual offerings, so if you’re here for fantasy and science fiction, feel free to skip it.

Every few weeks, my acquaintance messages me to ask, “how is it going?” We then proceed to have a short chat, sometimes about updates from his life, sometimes about movies or games. Then, the conversation is over, but he’ll ask again in less than a month. In a way, it amuses me, because my life rarely changes and events that others would consider “exciting” are a rarity, so even months would not be enough for an update.

You see, I’ve been pretty much self-isolating for the last years. (more…)

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March 30, 2020

Personal Rants

4 Years in the USA

Among the (not too) chilly aura of Virginia’s winter, among the business of my writing and freelancing, quietly passed four years since I moved to the United States and over twelve years since I immigrated from my own country. And nothing tells me clearer that I settled in my new home than the fact that I had to do math to figure out both numbers.

It’s hard to believe that 4 years ago I packed all the essential things (many of them being books, of course), gave or threw away over 8-years worth of living stuff, and embarked on a plane to carry me over the ocean to start a new life. (You can read more about it in my Of the Endings post.)

Now, after all that time, I can look back and see how that “starting went”.

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March 9, 2020

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

Personal Rants

Remembering Mike Resnick’s Books

Last year, I came across information that writer Mike Resnick was sick, but people get sick all the time, and then they get better… except for when it’s the sickness which gets the better of them as it was in his case.

To be honest, I didn’t know Mike Resnick as a person. I didn’t even know him as a writer. But I did know his books, so when the news of his recent death reached me, I immediately thought of his works. I don’t have those fancy memories of meeting him in person, but I have all the memories of reading his books and how formative some of them became. So today, to honor his memory and let him live on within his words and worlds, I’m sharing the ones I liked the most with you. Who knows, maybe you’ll feel tempted to pick one up?

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January 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