#aelenko

i’m settling in to the less pleasant part of accepting a creative drought and hunkering down to wait it out. maybe i’ll try some new things in the meantime. the publishing industry is pretty brutal and i am learning that patience is not my strong suit, nevertheless—there will be something new and cool just around the corner even if i can’t see it yet. i hope you’re having a lovely weekend and that your creative juices are flowing!

Oh I’m sorry, being in a creative drought is the worst!

(I’ve been referring to it as creative constipation tbh, and drought is a much nicer choice of word)

I can’t imagine how taxing the publishing process must be, but I’m sure it’ll all be worth it once you can weather the storm.

It seems like you’ve been working really hard for a while, why don’t you take this opportunity to take a break and recharge? One of my favorite ways to water a drought (or get past the block that is creative constipation) is to dive into other media and wait for inspiration to strike again. Sometimes running into a wall is a form of burnout, and it could be a sign that you just need to take it easy for a while and replenish your creative energies.

I hope that your weekend was great too, I’m super excited to see what happens next for you!!

So I was minding my own business and enjoying a good book, snuggled into my usual corner of the couch, when Abby pops in through the window and pelts me with legs. Crocheted legs. “They are missing a few things, don’t you think?” Ah yes. Abby very observant can we talk about how this room is on the second floor and you’re just waltzing in through the window? No?

Okay, so I catch these legs that I’m sure probably just walked off because they weren’t ready to be part of something bigger yet and Lin walks in (already in my house??) and asks me why I have so many things unfinished. Uh, ouch?

Before I can answer, Abby throws every unfinished thing I have ever not finished into a pile at my feet and looks kind of sad. “I guess you’ll be too busy to join us.” Join what?? I don’t know.

Lin calls from the kitchen “I ate the rest of your tacos, you’re going to have to buy more.”

“Mr. Kiraly!”

As per usual after a performance, Andras was utterly exhausted, and so it took some seconds to realize he was being spoken to. When he did come to his senses, he found himself looking down at a short, thin adolescent boy who gazed up at Andras with what could only be termed awe.

“Mr. Kiraly, that was the most brilliant violin concert I’ve ever seen,” the boy gushed. “You make music look so...effortless.”

Andras resisted the urge to give a witty reply, and instead simply nodded. “Kind of you to say so. What’s your name?”

“Cristian Popescu,” the boy said eagerly. “I’m studying music at the Academy--it’s my first year. Vienna is extraordinary, isn’t it?”

“It certainly is,” Andras agreed. “Where are you from originally?”

“Timișoara. I’d never left Romania before coming here, and I was a bit nervous,” Cristian admitted, “but my parents saved for years to send me here so there wasn’t much choice. It was worth it, though, absolutely.” He looked up at Andras unblinkingly. “If I can learn to be a quarter as skilled as you are I’ll never ask for anything again.”

Andras swallowed, feeling slightly choked with emotion. Two years ago he had barely known where his next meal was coming from, and now...

to Abby @aelenko​ for finishing Sound Carries!!!!!!!!!! I can’t wait to read it!!! Waiting excitedly for Monday~

rules: bold what applies

hardcover or paperback / rent or buy / reads in silence or reads with music / standalone or series / annotations or pristine pages / ebook or physical copy / dog ears or bookmarks / mismatched series or complete set / cover matters or you don’t judge / lend books or keep them to yourself / enjoys lit classes or despises them / browses shops or orders online / reads reviews or goes in blind / unreturned books (whoops) or clean library record / rereads or once was enough (it has to be really worthwhile for me to read it again) / fanfic enthusiast or a stickler for canon / deep reader or easily distracted / must read the book before seeing the movie or order doesn’t matter / neat bookshelves or messy bookshelves / skips ahead or resists temptation / reads aloud or in your head / guesses plot twists or never sees them coming

Trigger Warning: Bad-mouthing an ex because I have an excuse to.

Apologies to the new person who will probably never send me an ask again.

I am just feeling the emotions right now.

Over a year ago, my ex-girlfriend (my hubby and I are poly, for all those who know about him and wonder how quickly I had that girlfriend and now a husband) came up with this idea for us to make an online story based off of a story we had created over a few years of interacting with our OCs online together. She was trying to make money off each chapter but our Patreon had like 3 people so I convinced her to make it free and work on tips. I just thought it was really fun to help. Once I started writing chapters, it was a wonderful part of my life.

Then she started this stupid, unecessary, non-writing fight which rushed towards asking for permission to use all my characters and ideas pretty damn quickly. Of course, when someone is treating me like shit and blaming me for it at the same time, uh no you cannot use my shit. Then Twitter hears, “I’m so hurt. My ex won’t let me use her characters.” And there’s people crying for the person who kicked the other person out of the project then got pissed off when they didn’t get their characters.

I know people hear, “Oh my ex was a crazy bitch” all the time but…. “My ex is a crazy bitch.”

Anyway, I just wanted to share that one of my two WIPs only exists because my ex spent months basically telling the internet that I’m a terrible person who has been holding her back in her career (which so far consists of the book I half wrote that she is self publishing…) and I thought, fuck this, I can have my own healthy and fun online environment without forcing people to pay for a story no one cares about and lying to Twitter. So, after getting permission, I decided to see what I could do with the lore and characters that a friend and I worked on online for over thirteen years. I could make a nice story out of it just like what she did.

I am not sure if this WIP will ever be something besides a fun little idea just used to fuel my creativity and make me write again but I believe that there is more heart in it than the idea I admittedly initially piggy-backed on, with none of the same story btw.

TLDR: What sparked the idea for my vampire story that is a million times more “me” than the crappy one I used to write for?

SPITE!

Seriously though, this story is probably not that great though I think the world that my friend and I dreamt up together while I was dealing with a breakup and the characters we have worked with for over 13 years are really unique and interesting. Either way, it doesn’t matter because this community that I swear I only seriously joined at the beginning of this quarantine has already been wonderful to me and I really needed it. I am feeling more confident these days and it’s all because of you sweet people.

P.S. I am not stalking her twitter anymore. I swear. I learned my lesson last time I peeked and hated life for the rest of the day. Depression problems, am I right? 😋

Thank you for the ask, @aelenko and again, sorry.

🖤 I love you already @rainy-rose @raevenlywrites @hannahs-creations @writingamongthecoloredroses @catharticallysarcastic and others I swear I appreciate too.

hii thanks for the ask!! :)

so nepenthe was inspired by the book ‘we contain multitudes’ which ended up being shit, but i loved the concept of a story told via letters so much that i decided to just write my own. i sat down and just started writing letters between these two characters without stopping to think about any details first. all i knew was that they were 17 and 18 respectively, they lived in england, and they went to sixth forms on opposite sides of the country. the rest sorta just spilled out from there.

the idea has changed quite a lot since i started writing it. only the beginning is written via letters now, although originally i intended the majority of it to be. if there’s a way to write a good book only using letters then i do not know what it is, but i’m having more fun writing it this way for sure.

thank you abby!!

“He’s been in a mood all week.” I spoke around the bitter taste in my mouth. It tasted a little like guilt, and burned like a drink