July 20, 2015

TUBE excerpt. Draft 2. Chapter 1. Red Shoes

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.

July 9, 2015

My 4th story is born! THE BADLINGS is published.

by Ksenia Anske

This was quite a journey. What was born out of an innocent wish to revisit the books of my childhood grew into its own book. Grew fast. And went through all kinds of adventures just like Bells and her friends in The Badlings did. I wrote the first draft in 2 weeks. "Woot!" I thought. "New frontier conquered!" Yeah, right. It was too fast. And it featured too many books, over 30. And then I lost Colleen, my editor. And then I found Sarah, my new editor. And then Sarah said, "What about copyright?" So I had to rehack the whole thing. I tried making it into a parody and go around copyright issues. Didn't help. So I rewrote it again and cut out 10 books, then I rewrote it yet again and cut out 10 more books. Then I had to break to go on the Amtrak residency trip. Then I came back and realized the story is not done and went through yet another set of revisions. And finally it's here. It's done. I can move on to writing 2nd draft of TUBE!!!

May 6, 2015

TUBE, Draft 1 is done. Here is an excerpt.

by Ksenia Anske

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 I thought. 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 taking a couple weeks or more off to dive into prepping for publishing The Badlings and Blue Sparrow 2. I know you're been patiently waiting. Thank you! Soon, soon. May should be it. I don't think it will stretch into June.

And here is the excerpt.

TUBE: Trans-Urban Blitz-Express

A novel by Ksenia Anske, Draft 1

Chapter 1. The Red Shoe

Olesya heard the train breathe in. A deep slow inhale and a shudder. A tremor. A rumble of living fabric under her feet. A dragging laborious stretch, confined, alive and—

In pain. It’s in pain.

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.