Showing all posts tagged writing community

Anthy Ramblings – Personal Space

Author AnthezarPosted on 4 Comments

So, I was in Walmart the other day.

There was a whole lot going on, but let’s just say I was standing in line for about 30mins for various reasons beyond my control. It was long and I was tired. I’m proud of myself. I was about 65% of maintaining my control, without completely devolving into internal hemorrhaging.

Then, finally, I’m getting through the checkout. My wilted lettuce is getting bagged. We’re making progress. But then—

The unthinkable happened.

The girl behind me thought it was a fantastic idea to stand about ONE inch beside me. (I’m seriously not exaggerating here, either!) She’s completely unaware, glued to the screen of her phone. I understand. I don’t wanna interact with strangers, too.

BUT!

She’s standing right in front of the machine where I’m going to have to pay from in about three minutes. You know what this means, right?

I have to actually say ‘excuse me’ and get her to move aside.

G A S P.

Do you have any idea how horrible this is?! How dare anyone make me have to do this? It’s like: “Gurl, why you an inch beside me? Back da frick off! What, you think I’m paying in cash?”

-claps- Can we please get some self awareness here?

Don’t be that guy/girl!

Even my own characters value and respect this sacred perimeter!​ To quote Kei: “Personal space: learn it, use it, stay out of mine.”

Honestly, this could’ve all been avoided if I hadn’t taken out both my pairs of earbuds out of my purse.

Anthy

Hey, hey, psst.

Looking for extra content? Check out my Patreon! Want to read a fantastic, awesome, amazing (okay, okay, I know I’m pushing it) fantasy novel? Check out Beyond the Alluring Sky!

Anthy Ramblings – Mysteries of the Universe

Author AnthezarPosted on Leave a comment

Remember when I said I might be a bit neurotic? Yeah, I wasn’t joking about that, my dear reader.

Oh, boy…

I had a really hard time getting any work done after posting this last Tuesday. Maybe I was worried about the furry assistants (took ’em to the vet; apparently they got allergies; go figure). Maybe I was tired after posting to my 6 billion different platforms. Kidding. But whatever it was, it was bad. Finally, 4pm rolls around and – you guess it – I had still gotten nothing done! ACK!

As a last resort, I eject myself out of the house into the wild world, all alone – much to my furry assistants’ disappointment. I go to my new favorite spot to write: a Walmart parking lot. On my way, I stopped by Taco Bell.

Because nothing says progress like food. -rolls eyes at self-

I get two Spicy Tostadas. I park and look at my food. The dude who worked at Taco Bell put 6 mild sauce in my bag and I think:

“This guy gets it. 3 mild sauce per tostada. It’s a miracle.”

Everything makes sense now. Life is good. So, yeah. There’s a guy working at Taco Bell who understands the mysteries of the universe. Bless his soul.

And I even got some work done. Great day.

Anthy

Hey, hey, psst.

Looking for extra content? Check out my Patreon! Want to read a fantastic, awesome, amazing (okay, okay, I know I’m pushing it) fantasy novel? Check out Beyond the Alluring Sky!

Anthy Ramblings – Tuesdays

Author AnthezarPosted on Leave a comment

So, I officially have a love/hate relationship with Tuesdays.

Hang on, don’t get me wrong. I’m excited for them. I truly do love them. I can’t wait to post and see what my readers think. I can’t wait to see new readers, new views, new votes, new anything.

But, my dear reader, therein lies the problem.

You see, Anthy becomes more neurotic than she already has been programmed to be. Extremely so. I kid you not. If someone so much as breathes in the direction of my story, it’s like:

Let us not forget that I post on six different platforms – heaven help me – so, this insanity is quantified by six. (I really must be crazy because I’m even considering expanding platforms. Someone send halp.)

So, you can imagine how this goes down, can’t you? I can’t stop checking to see if there are new people reading, discovering, falling in love with my story.

I mean, if someone votes on my story, it’s like:

Oh, and comments. –breathes deeply– Comments are the BEST. I have lots of wonderful Wattpad people reading my other works and, really, they are amazingly funny with their comments. I adore them.

Seriously, it’s like: 

Posting your work for others to see, to consume, and to critique can be a frightening experience for many people. Still, I highly recommend it. For some reason, we keep coming back for more. It must be the good feedback that keeps us alive.

It’s just the beginning of this journey, but I’m thrilled to embark upon it.

Anthy

 

Hey, hey, psst.

Looking for extra content? Check out my Patreon! Want to read a fantastic, awesome, amazing (okay, okay, I know I’m pushing it) fantasy novel? Check out Beyond the Alluring Sky!

How to Break Through Writer’s Block – (Hint: I have NO fricking idea)

Author AnthezarPosted on Leave a comment

The title says all: I have no idea how to break through writer’s block.

End post.

Okay, not really. It’s not the end of the post, but I still have no idea how to break through my own block. In fact, I am forcing myself to post this. That same stupid, blasted crippling fear – weird as it is – is still there, begging me to go MIA again, and I’m about ready to punt it all the way to Timbuktu. (Fun fact: I had no idea how to spell that. Google was kind enough to understand Tim Buck Two)

Writer’s Block. Creative Frustration.

It sucks.

There’s honestly no other way to describe that. It does. I hate it. And because I have never really struggled with it so much, I’m not properly equipped to combat it. Lately, my block was I didn’t feel like writing. I didn’t want to write. Now I want it, but there’s a ten foot blockade in my mind.

Grrrr

Let me tell ya about my futile attempts yesterday to scale that darn wall.

  • Screamed in frustration – didn’t work, but it made me mad happy
  • Paced
  • Caffeine – in pill format
  • Got pissed off
  • Screamed some more – both puppers got really excited
  • Played tug a war with said puppers
  • Took some vitamins
  • Opened the blinds
  • Played rock music at maximum volume
  • Bought a new music CD
  • Ate food
  • Took multiple breaks
  • Exercised
  • Had 8 drops of 3 different Bach Flowers

Nothing. Worked. I was going OUT OF MY MIND yesterday. I kept slamming my head against that wall in my head, determined to break through. I ended up writing 300 words. 300 stupid, teeth pulling words. And 200 of those words happened at 8pm, after spending the entire day (12 blasted hours) trying to write.

By the end of the day, I was emotionally drained from my efforts. I just wanted to write. I wanted it so much, but nothing would come. Why did it have to be so difficult? For crying out loud, it was just writing!

I don’t know why. Today. Tomorrow, I might know.

Today, I’ve had some green tea. –thumbs up-

In the past, I didn’t experience this because I would write all over the place. One chapter not working? Screw that, bounce to another chapter. Maybe that’s my problem now. I don’t have much space to bounce around in with Beyond 2. In reality, it’s almost done. 10,000 words left, is all. On good days, I could have that done in 3 to 2 days – I’m not kidding. So, I look back in the past and wish I could be that again. Where are those days of being able to write 4,000 to 6,000 words?

They gone. I hope with all my heart that they’re not gone forever. But yesterday wasn’t a 4k word day.

Do you, dear reader, experience this, too? Do you have creative blocks that you want to tear down? I know they happen in all aspects of art and work. I know sometimes you sit in front of your creative medium and wonder why nothing is coming. Perhaps you’re like me and are wondering what happened to your strong creativity in the past.

Breathe.

Take a deep breath.

I’m sure I could whip out a list and read a bunch of crap that may or may not work for you. I read all the lists yesterday. All of em. In the end, only YOU know what is blocking your creativity. My only advice to help it along is to breathe, be calm, and keep trying. Getting pissed off didn’t do much for me yesterday. It just made me tired. I wouldn’t really advise it.

Today is a new day.

Tomorrow is a new day.

It will pass.

Anthy

Fear

Author AnthezarPosted on Leave a comment

Oh, look, it’s been ten months since I last posted.

Whoops.

I always do this to myself. I did it again. The very thing I said that I wouldn’t do, I DID. I said that I would just be myself. SCREW IT ALL, I said. And yet, I looked at my post and felt that I had started a theme/trend, one that I had to continue or ELSE.

Else what?

Beats me.

I guess I could throw out some other excuses. After all, I did clear out a borderline hoarder house, filling 8 dumpsters over the course of 6 to 8 months. (16 tons worth of crap. I’m legit not exaggerating here.). Then, I moved from NJ to Utah. Yay me.

-passes out-

Good grief, I always bury my head in the sand. My dear reader, do you do this to yourself, too? Surely, I’m not the only one. It’s taken me awhile to figure it out what’s going on with myself. I think I uncovered a tiny clue for myself.

Fear.

I honestly didn’t think I had it. I wasn’t afraid of much in life. Except losing my Mom. Oh, look. Been there, done that.

I FEAR NOTHING.

Joking aside, it’s true in many ways. I’m not afraid of the usual things anymore. I refuse, to be honest. I’ve been there once; I will not let myself be there again. But I have had fearful moments, like Zelda or Luna (new pup) getting loose and not obeying me. But I don’t live in fear.

Or, at least, I thought.

But when I can’t seem to function or when the highlight of my day is simply doing a load of dishes, it’s hard to be something. I worry that if I post something online I won’t be able to keep up a momentum. Like my FF readers… They’re still waiting on chapters for stories. Beyond 2 still isn’t done and yet I have anxious readers who want more. I have a number of readers who have expressed interest in my other series, the one that has been evolved from my TT fanfiction, Warped Identity.

And yet, here I am with nothing in my hands. I have nothing.

I feel like I have to be complete before I show my face. Maybe it’s like a makeup thing. For many women, they won’t leave the house without it. If I’m not completely together, then why try? (I can’t be bothered with makeup, so I rarely use it anyway – but you get my point.)

And in the end, this feeling rooted a hidden fear in me – one I had no idea existed. How could that happen? How could I let that happen to myself? I think that when we’re all coping with our own issues, it’s easy to let hidden fears become rooted in our hearts.

What fears are weighing you down? Maybe you haven’t noticed them, like I hadn’t. I hope you can find them and pull them out, one by one.

Too bad there isn’t a weed killer for the heart.

Anthy

Let’s Talk about Advice – (Hint: there’s too much of it)

Author AnthezarPosted on 2 Comments

So, let’s talk, my dear reader.

I am a published author. I thought of an idea. I wrote the idea down. I wrote words. I deleted those words and replaced them with words that made sense. I added words in between those words. I saved – A LOT. I read my words. A lot, a lot. I read my words again. And AGAIN. I listened to a British fake voice who read my words out loud to me. (Much love to you, Peter. – thumps chest with her fist-)

And that was just the first draft!

Kidding. I think it’s safe to say that I’m a writer. I’m an artist. A lot of work goes into creating something like a book – especially when you do everything yourself. But the focus of this introduction post isn’t about my first book and why you should read it – go buy my book – no, I want to talk about all the advice, research, and information I’ve gathered over the years about self publishing.

-soft sob-

So much advice…

ADVICE DUMP!

Write lots of books. Write an endless series. Don’t write outside your genre. Write short books. Write long books. Get a mailing list. Get a website. Get a youtube. Get a blog. Don’t get a blog. Have a web presence without the spiders. How to sell books without sounding like a sleazy salesman. Go buy my book. Earn 3k in a month. In a week. IN A DAY. How to sell your soul without sounding like a desperate devil. Someone save this poor confused shnook. How to be professional. You need something of value: give something away, like your first born child or your paperclip. You only need one book to be successful. You only need five trillion, six hundred and seventy-two billion, three hundred and twenty-four million, eight hundred and ninety-nine thousand, and one books to be successful.

“Like me!” says some random dude. “If I can write that absurd amount of books in three days, then SO CAN YOU! Just get my training videos! And if you buy within this superficial deadline that I made up for no reason, then you get the VIP price of $895! But act now, before it goes back to $900! This special offer that is not really special at all since I cycle through it four times a year isn’t going to last long!”

-sighs deeply-

As a new published author, I want to be successful, of course. I want readers to find my work and enjoy what I’ve created. I think any artist, whatever medium they use, want others to get enjoyment out of what they’ve created – like an innocent child showing a parent their drawing. Finding my readers or readers finding me – I figure there’s a process to that and the more I put off doing certain things, then the longer they can’t see my work.

But GOOD GRIEF, how 2 dew all dat. I can’t even. Wut?

I don’t know. All that advice is downright scary! And so confusing. Where to start? How to start? I’m the type to get overwhelmed pretty quickly. I can’t process all that nonsense.  I can barely write the blasted book! My poor Fanfiction readers know this! (Hi, guys! -waves-) I want to do all that. I want to be all that.

But trying to be perfect and professional… That seemed to put the brakes on my website. I buried my head in the sand and ended up doing nothing at all. I didn’t work on this website for months because I felt paralyzed. I had to do it ALL before it was of any value whatsoever.

Well, that’s no good either! I feel like to start a blog, an author website, I have to have this fancy professional web presence that’s all smiles and cookie cutter expressions. My original idea for a website was more professional with tutorials on writing because I had to ‘offer something of substance’ for people to stick around.

But…

SCREW IT ALL!

I have a beautiful picture. It will be replaced with a far more derpiful (yes, new word) one. Probably me in PJs.

I am done trying to hide my imperfections, like I’m sure EVERYONE does on social media. But no matter how much I wish it, I am not a perfect specimen. If I have to live with it, then so do you! I’m not going to aim to be a high and mighty professional here. I don’t even know what it is anymore. It’s constantly changing.

I can promise that I’m gonna be real – real sarcastic and cynical, too.

I don’t have a free book to give you if you sign up for my mailing list. Hopefully someday. I don’t have any tutorials on here. Maybe someday. BUT! I think you should subscribe anyway. Why? Because I’m gonna be real. I have some real stupid awesome stuff to say. And I have some real serious deep stuff to say, too.

I write fantasy. I write fanfiction. I write supernatural. I write romance. I write me.

Hopefully, you’ll enjoy getting to know to me. Or in the very least get a good chuckle out of your day.

Anthy