Ksenia Anske's Blog, page 37

How I find new books to read and choose what to read next

Art by Mark Ryden

Lucia asked: "How do you find new books to read?How do you choose what to read next? And how do you select the books worthy-of-your-time?"

I have developed quite a method, Lucia, for finding new books and choosing them and reading them in the order that suits me. There are several parts to it, and they keep fluctuating and mutating according to what I learn as I read every day and begin to understand what books are worth my time and what books aren't. I'm fooling myself, o...

Don't focus on money, focus on writing

Illustration by Roman Muradov

"Hi Ksenia! I am enjoying reading through your website. I need to reorganize mine. I am a relatively new author. I put Parenting . . . A Work in Progress on Amazon, KDP, Smashwords, Ingram Spark, and use a local printer. The next book, The Adventures of Charlie Chameleon is with the formatter and is awaiting illustrations. I am considering doing what you have done for the Charlie eBooks. I believe you have hit upon an excellent method and would like to try it....

Abuse destructs creativity and delays your development as an artist

Art by Matteo Arfanotti

I don't talk about this anymore, or not as often, as the hotness of it, the sting, the pain and the anger are behind me, but there is not a day that goes by when I don't feel the effect the abuse I have endured as a child has had on my life. It delayed my blooming, my physical, emotional,and intellectual development. But sometimes something would jar me, poke me, and remind me of it. This time what poked me was Americanah, the book by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie that I...

How do you find out about new writing?

Illustration by Daniel Stolle

For the longest time I had trouble finding out what was happening in the literary world. It seemed everyone knew about some new book or some new author or some new prize winner before me. Not that it bothered me much—I have such a long lists of classics to chew through that I didn't really care. But I'm now going through that list at a fair lick, reading about 100-110 books a year, and it's gotten to the point where:

I got tired of the oldish-sounding English a...

The consistency of your voice

Photo by Tom Kondrat

You know that feeling you get when you read a fantastic book and it gives you shivers? When every page you turn makes you want to read more and more, and every sentence is so bloody good you want to read it twice and when you get to the end you're devastated the book is over? I have been pondering about this lately, having recently read three books that took my breath away, THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA by Ernest Hemingway and THE RITUAL by Adam Nevill and CRUDDY by Lynda Ba...

Finding an editor

Illustration by Ken Wong

"My name is Piotr. I'm one of your "friends" on Ello. I really like your posts, especially your "pathologically immature" label in your bio... I feel that describes me perfectly.I am also a writer, but behind you in the amount of stuff I've written. Currently, I work for a website creating content. It's silly and forgotten as soon as you read it, but it allows me creativity, lets me be funny (a must), and gives me a paycheck.Anyway, long story short, I'm writing a...

Do book reviews influence your reading choices?

Illustration by Yelena Bryksenova

I got done reading Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea and, giddy (loved it, loved it, loved it, so much love in it and so much life and beauty), went to grab the book next on my reading list, Natalie Young's Season to Taste which I found through an article, can't remember which now,but as I clicked on it on my Goodreads to-read list to mark it as currently-reading,I couldn't help but to see the overall rating of 2.54 stars, and right away I felt my...

Writing after depression

Illustration by Lili des Bellons

Mike Verbickas asked: "I wanted to reach out to you considering the hell of a year I have had thus far.I was hospitalized for depression a few months back, real mind altering stuff. I haven't been able to write since. I am still experiencing considerable problems writing. I don't have any ideas currently and need help with creative stimulation. Do you have any thoughts/suggestions?Can you describe your creative process? How do take an idea or two and flesh t...

My inspiration comes from my weirdness

Art by Lola

Francesco Bosland asked:

"Curiosity kills the cat...Seriously...Foremost your postings here and on Ello are a true inspiration for me!I am a writer as well although I have not published anything yet. Just waiting what's the right moment for me...So what I am curious about?About inspiration. Where do you get it from? Books and your own life experiences I presume?"

My inspiration comes from my weirdness.

And my weirdness comes from a dark place, from a place where I think I'm not g...

My 4-draft writing process

The more I write, the more I seem to understand the process of writing and drafting and the less fear I have when approaching a new book or a particular draft. All that angst and anxiety and uncertainty and doubt is mostly gone and now it's just work, hard work that pays off and that sometimes gives me a glimpse of what I could be as a writer in the future as I'm still searching for my identity and I suspect it will take me many more books to find it.

I tweeted this understanding one night an...