January 8, 2016

Excerpt from TUBE, Draft 3

I'm writing again, at last, and many things are new. The calm is new. The lack of anxiety is new. It's weird. I don't know where it's coming from. I no longer force myself to produce 2K words a day, though I count daily words still, as a way of giving myself an idea of how much I wrote. I write about 5 hours a day, roughly from 9AM till 2 PM, and for the first time I'm writing into a new clean file, occasionally glancing at the old file for Draft 2. It's curiously liberating. I don't have to adhere to the old structure nor do I have to write over old stuff and fix it. I can write fresh.

This is something, I tell you. I'm loving it. At the pace I'm going, this draft should be done in about 2 months, and it will need one more draft (to polish it) before publishing. I'm cutting out A LOT and simplifying A LOT. So far 89 pages are gone, and I'm only on page 31.

If you want to read my daily writing, pledge $1 per month on Patreon, and voila! YOU WILL BE PLAGUED BY NIGHTMARES. So here it is for you, the opening.

July 20, 2015

TUBE excerpt. Draft 2. Chapter 1. Red Shoes

by Ksenia Anske

I have completely forgotten about my tradition to post the first chapter of a new draft here. It tells you how much this book has pulled me away from reality. This, and the fact that I haven't blogged in a week. That's unheard of.

Like I mentioned already, something new is happening. My process is changing. Also, my daily routine is changing. Now in the mornings, before I start writing, I go over the list of new words that have accumulated from yesterday's reading, and look up their meanings in Russian, English, their etymology and, if applicable, images. As a result my ability to absorb new vocabulary has accelerated. I have also created 24 little files for every character, and am populating each with specific speech inflections to keep track of (and translating tons of idioms from Russian to English). This is also new and takes up time.

March 14, 2015

Final draft of THE BADLINGS is done!!! 1st chapter for you.

by Ksenia Anske

As per my tradition, of course, I am posting here the first chapter of my 6th (!!!) book. Crazy. Can you believe it? And on Monday I'm starting my 7th. This one was a fun one. It turned out better than I thought it would. Because of the copyright issues I almost scrapped it, but then didn't. Because I'm not a quitter. Enjoy! (Oh, and here is the link to the final draft).

THE BADLINGS

A novel by Ksenia Anske, Draft 4

Chapter 1. The Duck Pond

February 18, 2015

I started Draft 4 of THE BADLINGS! 1st chapter, just for you.

by Ksenia Anske

It's my tradition to post the first chapters of drafts here. My current book, The Badlings, has given me surprisingly a lot of grief. It started out as an innocent wish to revisit the books I grew up on, and ended up being something completely different, partly because due to copyright issues I had to cut down the number of books mentioned in it from 30 to 10, and partly because I tried writing parody and concluded that it's not mine. Nope. Don't feel it. Can't do it!

So. Here is the chapter I banged out today. Let me know what you think. My biggest fear with this book is that I'm not growing, that somehow Rosehead or Irkadura are better than this (I'm supposed to be improving!). Whatever. That's my self-doubt talking. If you want to read a chapter every day, cough up a 1$ a month and you can read them on Patreon as I post them. Also, if you want to read more of my blogging but in shorter form, hop over to Ello, I do shorter posts there. And the ultrashort shit goes on Twitter. Yes, that's my reduced social media presence, Twitter (ultra short) + Ello (short) + Blog (long). I also post a picture or two on Instagram, which I sometimes share on Facebook, but that's about it. Okay, why am I telling you all this? I don't know. I'm ranting. Here is the chapter.

November 26, 2014

CORNERS excerpt, Draft 2

by Ksenia Anske

And...I have started. On Draft 2. I took a 1.5 month break between drafts this time, a bit too long. Maybe it's a good thing? We shall see. So far I'm having so much fun writing this, I find myself feeling guilty sometimes. I think this book will be glorious. I'm laughing almost on every page, writing it. I hope you will laugh too. Here is the excerpt for you, THE WHOLE FIRST CHAPTER.

CORNERS

A novel by Ksenia Anske, Draft 2

Chapter 1. The First Corner

It was a dangerous business, turning corners, especially corners with numbers. In exactly twelve minutes Bells would find a paper corner sticking out of the dirt by the old duck pond. In another minute she’d see number sixty-eight printed on it, lift it and get sucked into a book, together with her unsuspecting friends Peacock, Grand, and Rusty. The only things left behind them would be their four bikes, a gum wrapper, and a couple backpacks.