Ksenia Anske's Blog, page 42
May 14, 2015
Depression, suicide, and writing yourself out of it
I received this message from a fellow writer:
"I have 10-15 story/book/series ideas in partial development.Every time I have/find/make/steal time to write, my energy drops and I get sleepy/hungry/stop caring/can't think/can't focus.I know I can be motivated. I have a part time job and I show up on time, I manage my tasks, I can do the slog as well as the fun parts of my job.I just don't know how to find motivation or discipline. I don't know how to kick depression and apa...
May 10, 2015
I love you, mom
I called my mom and told her that in US today everyone celebrates their mothers. She laughed. She was pleased there is such a day, because there isn't one in Russia. Before I could say anything else, she told me, "I understand what you wanted from me now, when you were little." I said, "What's that?" She said, "I'm reading this book about the dissociative behavior and where it comes from...I understand you now." I said, "Thank you." This floored me. And something else, too. I realized it was...
May 8, 2015
In search of a little white dress
What could an innocent wish to buya little white dress have hidden behind it? Some ugly horrors, as it turns out. I'm sure you have seen my posts on the internets yesterday about taking a day off to do nothing, to decompressafter finishing the first draft of TUBE. I walkedout of the house blank, with nothing in mind, got on the bus, and ended up downtown looking for a little white dress I so wanted for the summer. Nothing bad about it, right? Why can't a girl look for a dress? It's perfectly...
May 6, 2015
A sense of belonging
This has been happening to me lately. An overwhelming sense of belonging to some palpable nebula that exists in the world of stories. Those voices of other writers there, and mine. It's a curious sensation of knowing that what I do has value. It's important. It adds to that pool and keeps it fresh, forever callow-green andsucculent and spicy like honeyed grasses at the break of summer. It's like a nest of ideas that spawns same lines of thought in different parts of t...
TUBE, Draft 1 is done. Here is an excerpt.
Wow. What a ride. This story started when I won the Amtrak Residency and carelessly decided I would write a book about a train. A train that kills ballerinas. For no reasons. Or so Ithought. Turns out, this book has uncovered some deep shit and shaken me up pretty well. Oy. I finished the first draft today, and per my tradition here is the first chapter for you. If you want to beta read the whole thing, here is the PDF file, or email me for the Word file.
I'm ta...
May 1, 2015
Why Ello is a great place for writers
Briana Morgan said: "You should do another post about how Ello can help writers. I'd like to get back into it."
Ello, Ello, Ello. The new sprig on the social media field. The splash of news, the initial stampede of everyone running and signing up and trying itabout 5-6 months ago (I wrote a post back then), andthen the waininginterest, the dwindling participation, and now forgotten by manywho tried it but cherished by those few who stayed and growing with the help of a new crowd that has join...
April 25, 2015
Expanding your vocabulary
I have a particular challenge of writing in a language that Ilearned about 16 years ago, and expanding my vocabulary is on the forefront of it, painfully so. I would love to hear your ideas and tricks on growing it faster, especially those of you who write multilingually.Over the 3 years that I've been writing full-time, I have devised system after system after system to help me. They all collapsed shortly after I started them, but this one stuck and I wanted to share it...
April 21, 2015
Why you should put your book on Wattpad ASAP
How do you like the idea of sharing your ebooks for free? If you don't like it, if it doesn't sit well with you, then this blog post is not for you. There are as many ways to get the word out about your book as there are writers. What I'm doing with my books is not considered a traditional way of marketing them. It works for me, it might not work for you.
However, if you're an indie like me who has started with nothing, may I put a bug in your ear and give you an idea that might propel your r...
April 15, 2015
My novel schedule for the next 2-3 years
My father used to have this perpetual calendar above his writing desk, so maybe there is a symbolism in this image for me. I found it and had to use it. Photo by H is for Home.
Yes, yes, yes!ROSEHEAD sequel is coming! It will be called DOGWOOD. And maybe there will be even more than one, I don't know. I'll see how that one goes, but I know you have been clamoring for more Lilith and Panther adventures, and I shall oblige.
You have been asking me now for a while about all those upcoming books...
April 11, 2015
Maybe one day I'll write a memoir
TRIGGER WARNING: EXPLICIT AND BRUTAL PERSONAL STUFF.
I'm reading Elena Gorokhova's beautiful memoir A Mountain of Crumbsand realizing that even by Soviet standards my childhood was outright bizarre, chaotic, and violent. But maybe it wasn't. Maybe there were tons of children like me who grew up abused in every variety of waysand they simply don't talk about it. Especially women. Maybe it is my duty to talk about it, to open up people's eyes on the atrocities hidden in the closets and swept un...
