Joined Jul 2018 All over the world!
SupportHi, I'm Olivia. Growing up, I was a big anime fan and lover of Japanese culture and now I'm finally writing a Young Adult book set there.
Outside of anime, I love to read, to travel, and learn about history and religion. Any time I can learn something new is a good day.
I also write wonderfully dark fantasy as Olivia Helling.
She/her pronouns. Demisexual.
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Inksgiving is almost here, and I have a little something scheduled to release later today.
(It's a new Sun Prince instalment.)
(It's a new Sun Prince instalment.)
Inksgiving is coming! I'm working hard to have an extra special surprise, so keep an eye out.
I know, I know. I've been silent for months! I just wanted to drop by to say that
YES I am currently writing The Sun Prince Season 2 Episode 2 (I'm several scenes in, just need to find time to edit!) and
YES I'm going to have an Inksgiving special for those who support me with ink!
YES I am currently writing The Sun Prince Season 2 Episode 2 (I'm several scenes in, just need to find time to edit!) and
YES I'm going to have an Inksgiving special for those who support me with ink!
The Sun Prince was chosen as a Staff Pick for novels this past week, and I'm so, so, so very grateful.
THANK YOU everyone who have read and loved the Sun Prince :)
And THANK YOU new readers for giving the Sun Prince a chance.
And THANK YOU Tapas Editors for featuring The Sun Prince.
Having written for so long, I'm well aware that writing a good story is only the prerequisite for success as an author. The rest is partially trying to get your story in front of as many people as possible -- but mostly the luck of having lovely readers who fall in love with your story and choose to share it with others. And getting lucky promotional breaks.
So thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Happy reading! Olivia
THANK YOU everyone who have read and loved the Sun Prince :)
And THANK YOU new readers for giving the Sun Prince a chance.
And THANK YOU Tapas Editors for featuring The Sun Prince.
Having written for so long, I'm well aware that writing a good story is only the prerequisite for success as an author. The rest is partially trying to get your story in front of as many people as possible -- but mostly the luck of having lovely readers who fall in love with your story and choose to share it with others. And getting lucky promotional breaks.
So thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Happy reading! Olivia
THANK YOU!!!! Blood Oath has reached 100 subscribers this week! Thank you so much, and I hope that you continue to enjoy Blood Oath! (And all my other works.)
Everyone... I just uploaded the next installment of The Sun Prince.
***GASP***
So clear your schedule this Saturday.
***GASP***
So clear your schedule this Saturday.
I missed it completely!! Was completely away from Tapas for awhile, now to actually clear my schedule, for a quiet afternoon reading your novel :o
;D <3 We haven't gotten too far into the new Sun Prince material, yet, so it'll be easy to catch up.
I've done it, I've done it! I finished the first round of edits for the next round of Sun Prince!
Oooo I can't wait!
Nice! But first round? Does that mean you have a second!?
Yes. I usually do two rounds of big edits. The first round is the big round, massive rewriting (at least in this case), and getting the story into shape. The second round is the clean up round. Less intensive than the first, but lets me clean up things like continuity errors, and lets me double check my editing work and that I hadn't missed anything in my first round (which is a huge relief, not having to worry that I got everything fixed in the first round).
Then, before I post, I do line editing rounds, where I try to make the words mean what I want them to say, make it clear and grammatically correct.
Then, before I post, I do line editing rounds, where I try to make the words mean what I want them to say, make it clear and grammatically correct.
I have a paid project that I'm copy editing while I take a break to clear my mind from the first round, and then I'll be back on the Sun Prince. The first part of the Sun Prince was written as one big book. This second part (or season), I'm writing as shorter arcs, to make it easier and faster to write, edit and get it out to you all. I don't have a date yet for when the Sun Prince will start again, but it'll be soonish. Especially if I keep up with this fabulous habit of getting out of bed and actually writing ;)
Sorry about the missing Blood Oath update last Friday! I'd planned on editing and uploading the next episode first thing in the week... And then I got sick. My week basically consisted of staring at the TV and falling asleep, I was so exhausted. Oh, and lots of coughing. (Even now, I'm shaking as I sit at my desk. Yikes. But I did sun salutation yoga today, so it's not all bad.) Needless to say, I did not get anything done.
Although I haven't been getting much done for a long time, so it's not much of a difference. I actually had the terrible revelation that the way that I know that I'm recovering from my illness is that I'm feeling worse about myself. (On the plus side, I was pretty content while sick, so a nice break from the depression.)
But, I am starting to get my life back together, starting very easy by getting simple tasks done. Showering. Yoga (even if it's mostly me rolling around on pillows. Actually, that's one of the best kinds of yoga. Nevermind.). Posting an update so you all know what's what.
And realising that NaNoWriMo is just around the corner. I haven't done NaNoWriMo in ages, ever since I quit my job to become an author. Getting new first drafts just usually isn't the problem. (Editing and finishing is.) But I've been having a hard time getting myself to this desk to write for a couple months now. I need to do something.
So I thought -- why not do NaNo this year? Why not start something half-assed -- and why not post it on Tapas as I finish the new chapters? (Instead of waiting to edit, and procrastinate, like I'm doing with the Sun Prince.) 1 NaNo day is about the length of a Tapas chapter. I think Tapas had a NaNo challenge last year.
(And yeah, abbreviating NaNo because too shakey to keep writing out NaNoWriMo. Maybe I should have just copied and pasted?)
What do you think? Is this something you'd like to see?
Although I haven't been getting much done for a long time, so it's not much of a difference. I actually had the terrible revelation that the way that I know that I'm recovering from my illness is that I'm feeling worse about myself. (On the plus side, I was pretty content while sick, so a nice break from the depression.)
But, I am starting to get my life back together, starting very easy by getting simple tasks done. Showering. Yoga (even if it's mostly me rolling around on pillows. Actually, that's one of the best kinds of yoga. Nevermind.). Posting an update so you all know what's what.
And realising that NaNoWriMo is just around the corner. I haven't done NaNoWriMo in ages, ever since I quit my job to become an author. Getting new first drafts just usually isn't the problem. (Editing and finishing is.) But I've been having a hard time getting myself to this desk to write for a couple months now. I need to do something.
So I thought -- why not do NaNo this year? Why not start something half-assed -- and why not post it on Tapas as I finish the new chapters? (Instead of waiting to edit, and procrastinate, like I'm doing with the Sun Prince.) 1 NaNo day is about the length of a Tapas chapter. I think Tapas had a NaNo challenge last year.
(And yeah, abbreviating NaNo because too shakey to keep writing out NaNoWriMo. Maybe I should have just copied and pasted?)
What do you think? Is this something you'd like to see?
Bwahaha, hit the length cap. I didn't even know walls had one! Anyway, I wanted to add that Blood Oath will be posted as usual, starting this Friday. That's my current "I am a superhero for achieving" goal. And I'm thinking this challenge will kick my butt into getting the Sun Prince going too.
Although, maybe an actual comfy desk chair instead of his foldable blue plastic chair might help as well.
Although, maybe an actual comfy desk chair instead of his foldable blue plastic chair might help as well.
Had to look up what NaNoWriMo is...
Anyway, that sounds pretty good! Feel free to put it up on here and definitely note it as "not so good but helped me start again" if you have to. Doing something is a lot better than, as you said it, procastinating on edits (because it's too hard to make it good).
Also, it's difficult to keep a consistently high effort everyday, and any career or art (essentially anything worth putting effort into) is a long term game - a marathon, not a sprint. Make a very doable, yet daily goal, maybe a small paragraph or two around 100 words as your minimum (I write web page code, so I just force myself to write/fix atleast one function, change how something looks, or stare at errors as I flail around for atleast 20 minutes daily), a little more if you're feeling like it - but no need to force yourself to do more than the minimum! Feel free to raise it over time, though.
It's terrifyingly easy to get rusty on something if you don't do it for even two weeks, so I find making a terribly small amount of progress everyday a lot better than trying to motivate myself all the time, everyday, and then a few months later come back to my game project and find out I have no idea how to finish coding it! I still don't...
To contrast from that overly long paragraph, if you're not getting a good chair anytime soon, consider furnishing it with a mattress,towel, or a pillow! Hard plastic is agonizing especially if you spend long amounts of time on it daily.
Anyway, that sounds pretty good! Feel free to put it up on here and definitely note it as "not so good but helped me start again" if you have to. Doing something is a lot better than, as you said it, procastinating on edits (because it's too hard to make it good).
Also, it's difficult to keep a consistently high effort everyday, and any career or art (essentially anything worth putting effort into) is a long term game - a marathon, not a sprint. Make a very doable, yet daily goal, maybe a small paragraph or two around 100 words as your minimum (I write web page code, so I just force myself to write/fix atleast one function, change how something looks, or stare at errors as I flail around for atleast 20 minutes daily), a little more if you're feeling like it - but no need to force yourself to do more than the minimum! Feel free to raise it over time, though.
It's terrifyingly easy to get rusty on something if you don't do it for even two weeks, so I find making a terribly small amount of progress everyday a lot better than trying to motivate myself all the time, everyday, and then a few months later come back to my game project and find out I have no idea how to finish coding it! I still don't...
To contrast from that overly long paragraph, if you're not getting a good chair anytime soon, consider furnishing it with a mattress,towel, or a pillow! Hard plastic is agonizing especially if you spend long amounts of time on it daily.
Yes, minimum daily goals! I think someone branded those as mini habits. And yeah, the longer I go, the harder it is to just jump back into my usual routine (plus things like headaches and illness and trips keep interfering). So for now, my daily goal is to basically get out of bed to do yoga. Other stuff generally follows. Although I have a bit more prep to do before this convention I'm going to next week that I kind of procrastinated on...
I do actually have a pillow for the backrest, which helps a bit. But really, a good chair is next on the must-have furnishings list, so I might as well get it sooner rather than later.
I do actually have a pillow for the backrest, which helps a bit. But really, a good chair is next on the must-have furnishings list, so I might as well get it sooner rather than later.
Back to working on the Sun Prince, but I reached a part that I'm completely flabbergasted with. I don't know what happens next.
What if you looked into a mirror that promised to show you your true self, expecting something monstrous, and all you saw was you? No more, no less. Just you.
How would you feel?
What if you looked into a mirror that promised to show you your true self, expecting something monstrous, and all you saw was you? No more, no less. Just you.
How would you feel?
Haven't checked Tapas in ages! Hope I'm not too late, also this is going to get a bit long and personal...
It would differ on how difficult getting to the mirror was. Assuming it wasn't some goal I was sacrificed a lot for or something, I'd be disappointed in the mirror!
Then maybe a step back to observe myself, question if the mirror actually did something subtle, and when I catch myself staring at my own curves(a good thing in this case), I breathe in the amount of work, the control and effort I put over my life to achieve that, and a lot of things in my life I couldn't get before because I didn't even know I had control over my life (school among other things made that presumption).
The road ahead is still long and really really confusing, so I thank the mirror for the reflection - both ways. It honestly sounds just like a normal mirror, but the description made me forget what I knew about mirrors and really observe.
Was that the magic?
Might've gotten too personal here, but I hope it helps!
It would differ on how difficult getting to the mirror was. Assuming it wasn't some goal I was sacrificed a lot for or something, I'd be disappointed in the mirror!
Then maybe a step back to observe myself, question if the mirror actually did something subtle, and when I catch myself staring at my own curves(a good thing in this case), I breathe in the amount of work, the control and effort I put over my life to achieve that, and a lot of things in my life I couldn't get before because I didn't even know I had control over my life (school among other things made that presumption).
The road ahead is still long and really really confusing, so I thank the mirror for the reflection - both ways. It honestly sounds just like a normal mirror, but the description made me forget what I knew about mirrors and really observe.
Was that the magic?
Might've gotten too personal here, but I hope it helps!
This is awesome, Adrian! So well thought through and self-compassionate. I hope that's what I'd do. Thanks :)
Hey everyone! I am back in Canada, and guess what? I just finished the first draft of the Sun Prince, Season 2, Episode 1! Woohoo!
I don't have an ETA on posting for you yet, as I will need to let it sit, then do a dev edit and line edit on it first (while also working on Episode 2). But I shall keep you informed.
I don't have an ETA on posting for you yet, as I will need to let it sit, then do a dev edit and line edit on it first (while also working on Episode 2). But I shall keep you informed.
Welcome back! I saw in your previous post you went to South-East Asia at some point? Hope it wasn't too bad!
The last binge-read I did on the Sun Prince was a month or two ago, and I still haven't finished... Even after reducing the number of serieses I subscribe here on Tapas, I still gravitate towards comics rather than novels. Guess I should blame my brain for liking images presented on a silver platter rather than having to draw the image itself? Oh well...
In any case, do take your time working on it!
The last binge-read I did on the Sun Prince was a month or two ago, and I still haven't finished... Even after reducing the number of serieses I subscribe here on Tapas, I still gravitate towards comics rather than novels. Guess I should blame my brain for liking images presented on a silver platter rather than having to draw the image itself? Oh well...
In any case, do take your time working on it!
Yeah, I gravitate toward comics here as well, although I read a lot of novels on my kindle. You still have a lot of time to catch up :)
SouthEast Asia was amazing. I hung out the side of the oldest running train in India taking photos.
SouthEast Asia was amazing. I hung out the side of the oldest running train in India taking photos.
