Writer in San Francisco, CA
from a deep dark slumber
mixing dreams and memories
together. I am beginning to forget
which is which and who I am.
Writer’s Life Update:
This has been my first post in over a week. I’ve been M.I.A. because I’m currently working on draft two of my supernatural thriller. It’s my first novel and kind of a pain but I am sticking with it. Thanks for sticking with me and my poems!
What I’m listening to:
What I’m reading:
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Thank you for reading!
-Alina
Every month I make a playlist on Spotify filled with songs I just discovered, I love, I can’t get out of my head but ultimately the songs that reflect my mood during the month. This is the first time I’ll be making a massive post on my blog featuring my monthly playlists of 2018. For some months I became really obsessive over my music, Discover Weekly playlist and I found a lot of great new music so there are “prt.2’s” for a few months in 2018.
The Spotify widgets just feature snippets, if you want to listen to my playlists in full click on the Spotify link to the playlists page.
January 2018: The beginning of my last semester of college
February 2018: just dawned on me it is my last semester, bizarre
March 2018: so close to graduation, don’t know what to do with myself
April 2018: finals, finals, finals
May 2018: Graduated finally, got my BA in English and feeling lucky, turned 25 and feeling useless
June 2018: Job hunting and not enjoying the weather, too hot, Poetry Reading at the Utah Arts Festival
July 2018: A month of sweating, scorching heat and irritation
August 2018: more irritation…the job market is looking daunting
September 2018: Hard at work looking for writing jobs and working on my blog, began crocheting a giant blanket…I still haven’t finished.
October 2018: Crazy about Halloween, spent the entire month watching horror films, reading scary stories and obsessing over Elvira. Created a Patreon page.
November 2018: Spent the entire month of November participating in NaNoWriMo
December 2018: Kind of in a daze, obsessed with my book and trying to work on draft #2 so far only half way through.
Thanks for poking around and taking a look at my music selection. I hope you find something new maybe even something you like.
-Alina
Since it’s the end of the year, I thought I would give a quick update on what I’m listening to and reading.
Spotify “Alina’s Top Songs of 2018”
Goodreads “Currently Reading” List
There are A LOT of books on my “Currently Reading” list and I am trying to widdle it down a bit before the New Year but I guess I’ll see how successful I am with that. One book that isn’t on this list that I’ve been reading every day now is Collected Sonnets by Edna St. Vincent Millay, my copy is really old and falling apart. I had to spend a good hour last week taping pages back together into the seam of the book. I’m about halfway through it and I love it, Millay is amazing with Sonnets and she makes it look so easy.
Highlight of my 2018:
Going to “An Evening with Neil Gaiman” last month was amazing. Gaiman had some great advice to give and thankfully many questions from the audience were geared towards writing and publishing. It was also so much fun to hear Gaiman read a little from some of his books.
Last Adventures: Discovering “Found Poetry”
Last week I sort of stumbled on “Found” poetry. It’s a form that I am sure I’ve come across before but up until now haven’t given a second thought too. Found Poetry is a form where people can find poetry in everyday life, like text, billboards, magazines etc. For instance, I was inspired to mess around and try “finding” some poetry in a local newspaper at work this week.
FOUND POETRY on my Instagram story highlights
I was pretty surprised at what I found and now I am hooked. My hands are stained from newspaper ink, markers, pens, and I have already begun putting my found poems together in one notebook making a sort of hand-made chapbook. (I will make an official post about my Found Poetry soon)
Conclusion:
I am stoked for the New Year and I am working hard to set up my work and myself for an even more successful year. What am I working on right now? Submitting my best-polished work to literary journals and magazines, putting together a small chapbook of my poems to self-publish (maybe) on Kindle, and finishing my book Ghost in the Woods so that I can start submitting it to literary agents/publishers.
What do I want to accomplish in 2019?
Honing this blog into a more coherent and substantial literary blog, maybe even monetizing it, providing more content to my followers/readers that can actually help them.
Sidenote:
A couple months ago I finally set up a Patreon Creator Page. My Patreon is different from this blog in that it provides “behind-the-scenes” access to my creative process, work (including rough drafts), and special updates. This is a more personal online venue where my followers can show their appreciation for my work by becoming Patrons and giving a little bit of $ to contribute to my writing.
Right now I am offering Help/Tutoring to those that donate $20/month to my Patreon.
It’s been a great year and I can’t wait for 2019!
I want to say Thank you to all of my Followers, subscribers, and to any readers that stumble on this post. Thank you for reading!
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
-Alina