Archive | February, 2014

The Brick Wall of Doom – Need a break from writing?

21 Feb

Hit a brick wall on that short story or novel you are working on?  Try this:

Take a break and read a book instead of focusing so much on writing.  It is like brain candy and you can go back to the grind once you are riding the sugar-high.

  • BookBub is a free newsletter that sends free/discounted ebook deals to your email.  I’m pretty addicted to be honest.

Try some of these Daily Writing prompts by Justin McLachlan.  They come once a day to your email and stick mostly to scifi and fantasy.  A couple recent favorites:

  • Slowly, a man comes to the realization that his world and everything he knows is just…
  • On a long flight home, you sit next to a woman who says she can tell you your future but…

If all else fails, give up and make your cat write it for you.

DreampunkGeek (Anna Van Skike) Barrons the cat

DreampunkGeek (Anna Van Skike) Barrons the cat hard at work

Tags: , , , , , ,

Wonderful Webcomics

20 Feb

I would just like to note that webcomics can be surprisingly wonderful.

Strays Online: Is a story I’ve followed for about a year.  The art is stunning.  The story is compelling and keeps me on the edge.  The best part is the characters.  (<3 Holland)  They are dynamic, motivated, and quirky.  I can’t help but love and root for them.

Here is a very short summary of the comic from the about page: Meela is a young, orphaned lupian (a race of people with wolf-like features) who is struggling to survive on her own. A chance encounter on less than pleasant terms teams her up with Feral, another lupian who happens to be a mute as well as one of the best mercenaries in the land, and who is not quite so welcoming of her forced company as she would like to believe.

Strays Online Webcomic

A Redtail’s Dream: Is a new discovery that I’m currently in the process of reading.  Seriously loving the light hearted feel and dreamy atmosphere.

The story so far is about a magical fox who accidentally gets a man and his dog stuck inside the aurora borealis.  The fox sends the pair into the dream realm to rescue their friends and villagers who are stuck in a land of dreams.  (Ok, my description is lacking.  Check out the comic.  It is a lot cooler than I make it sound.  I promise!)

A Redtail's Dream webcomic

Tags: , , , , , ,

Yoda Only One for Me – Star Wars Valentine’s Day

13 Feb

There are some years when Valentine’s Day is sweet, filled with flowers, chocolate, and a kiss from your love.  There are other years when Valentine’s Day beings something a little different… like a lightsaber.

Wishing you all a lovely and happy Valentine’s Day!

This is so perfect

valentines-cards-awesome-16

.

Free printable Valentine’s cards from The Dating Divas:
Becca-ManApprovedValentines-StarWars

 

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

Creative Vampires and How to Kill Them

10 Feb

I’m not sure if this is inspiring or just a happy 5 minute distraction.  Either way it is worth listening to this song about creative vampires and how to kill them.

 

Long time no see

9 Feb

Everything I read about blogging says that a post about your ‘apologies for absence’ is a death post because it shows you are flaky.  Truth be told, I am flaky.  Life happens, stress kicks in, and even sometimes depression.

Who knows what will happen with this blog.  I make no promises or apologies.

I don’t care about stats or readership (although it does make me happy and comments always make me stupidly happy.)  Ultimately this is a sort of public story of me and what I love.  Sometimes those things wane in interest and the focus of this blog needs to shift with it.  (This is probably another reason DreampunkGeek will never be a top blog because it lacks consistency and a singular focus.)  But that really isn’t me, and there isn’t much I can do about it.

Currently I’m less focused on steampunk things, although it does hold a special place in my heart.  The writing bug has hit me again as well as the drawing and painting bugs.   I just bought Coral Painter X3 (a digital drawing program if you aren’t familiar) and am fighting my way through the learning curve to master this amazing product.  Eventually, although this might be some crazy pipe dream, I want to combine my love of storytelling and art into a webcomic.  Queue an increased interest in comics and manga.  Toss in some anime for fun, and thats me in a nutshell right now.  I doubt this is why anyone reads this blog, but it is why I write it and will continue to blog (perhaps sporadically, who knows?)

XOXO –
Anna (Dreampunk Geek)
nna - DreampunkGeek

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started