///
Hi, I'm L. Siekiera, and I'm a weird fantasy and speculative fiction author. This is where I post takes on writing, indie DIY art and how Punk's Not Dead™.
June 5th, 2026
Are you one of those people who feels like they can't stick with a craft longer than five minutes, or who has a heap of unfinished projects? Do you not just like to do, but to dabble? Well, then read my post on surviving as a dilettante creative already, idiot!
>> READ MORE
July 11th, 2025
Brought to you by the multiple writing communities and authors that have leaned heavily into using AI with zero self-awareness. When AI is presented as something “democratizing” art for the masses, it’s a complete lie: art has always been democratic. If you need art for a writing project without being a visual artist yourself, here’s why not to use AI art and some better ideas instead.
>> READ MORE
December 25th, 2023
Artistic critique and preference are more complicated than "I liked it" or "I didn't like it" (wow!). Even when we cite surface level reasons for enjoying a story, a lot more is beneath the surface than that. Or shall I say, behind the looking glass.
>> READ MORE
December 15th, 2023
Or if you’re tossing and turning at night asking yourself other questions like: What makes a good character? Are my characters fleshed out enough? Are my characters brave and stunning? Are they relatable? Enter your solution, character models!
>> READ MORE
September 30th, 2023
Since I’ve easily spent more of my time as a writer writing fanfic than original work, I’m not gonna shit on it and call it cringe.. bc the real cringe is adults bullying teenage girls for having interests. That being said, there is room for nuance and criticism around how fanfic and fandom spaces affect authors and the literary scene. These critiques are angled at other hybrid authors of both types who may be thinking of doing more original work.
>> READ MORE
September 23rd, 2023
Character interviews are a very open, flexible way of building a character. It helps develop their psychology, voice, their memories, and even material to be used in your book all at once! However, many interviews I have seen left me disappointed since they either explored superficial details (”What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?”) or asked way too open questions (”What was the happiest day of your life?”). I made my own and my interview’s been a great help in building my characters.
>> READ MORE
September 4th, 2023
Writing seems a lot more straightforward when you begin, or even think about beginning. When the going gets rough, a lot of frustration can build up. You can be looking for novel writing advice, courses, the whole nine yards bc your favorite project is getting NOWHERE and it is such a pain. But you may be trying to fit a square in a round hole.
>> READ MORE
Music Player