Would You Like to Read My Novel for Free?

Sorry to come back unannounced all of a sudden. As you know, I am no longer writing on this blog as I’ve moved on to my own domain. However, I decided to come back for this one last post…

This blog was the start of my ‘public’ writing journey, a safe space where I could finally post my creative writing out there in the world, among a supportive community of like-minded bloggers.

Thus, I thought this announcement is worth sharing here.

I have no idea how many of you this post will reach, but to whoever is reading this…

How about coming along with me on my new writing journey on Substack?

Even after all these years, I’m not done writing… I can never stop writing… and so I’ve decided to start a publication on Substack, a newsletter-based platform…

…where I’ll be posting the entirety of my novel, chapter by chapter over the course of the next year. For free.

(As well as any posts related to my writing process, thoughts, etc.)

How does it work? You don’t have to create an account or anything. Substack is just like subscribing to a newsletter. Everything will come to your inbox, although you can also catch up on any emails you would have missed on my publication page. For now, I plan to release a chapter a week, starting mid-November.

Thank you for your support for the few years I’ve been active on An Evil Nymph’s Blog. While I might not be blogging anymore, I still can’t stop my creative juices from flowing!

P.S.: I’m also planning to publish the same novel, chapter per chapter, on Tapas, so if you already use this platform, you can view my profile here and read it there instead!

Happy reading and hope you’re all doing great.

An Evil Nymph.

I’M TRANSFERRING!

Hi guys,

This is a short update on my blogging situation. As you may have known, I have a second blog, specialised in articles on the lifestyle of international students abroad. However, if you’ve been following this blog here for a while, you may know that I am barely able to write on a regular basis ever since I started my first full-time job.

It’s been a hard decision to make but I’ve chosen to merge An Evil Nymph’s Blog and my student blog so that I can focus on only one blog. And the blog I’ve chosen to keep updating is my second blog, dkwaye.com. I’ve chosen my latest blog for obvious reasons: I’m paying for the domain and web hosting services.

Thus, as from now on, my future blog posts will be published on the other blog. If you do want to keep up with my writing, do not hesitate to subscribe to it using this link.

You can also follow its Facebook page to stay updated about new blog posts!

It’s not easy to part with this blog. After all, it’s been 6 years! Nevertheless, I am not shutting it down, so who knows, I may come back for a blog post or two. 🙂 An Evil Nymph’s Blog is yet to die.

I’m simply shifting my focus.

I hope you’ll join me on my next blogging adventure!

An Evil Nymph.

Dear WordPress, It’s Our 6th Anniversary Together.

These past 6 years have been a crazy ride. It’s been complicated.

I’ve not always been the blogger you’ve wanted me to be. Especially for the past three years or so. First, I’d always forget about our anniversary. You’d constantly had to remind me about it. But I logged in so rarely that I’d see your reminder way too late.

I’m actually surprised I remembered this year. Well, I did see your reminder. But I was on time. And I shouted it out to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And I was proud to have been blogging for that long.

I didn’t always feel that way.

Writing Hacks: Why You Need Grammarly To Ace Your Assignments

As you might know, I’ve enrolled in a writing course this semester… and I’ve not regretted this decision at all. It made me learn so much about my own creative self and pretty much revived my inner child. Now that it’s over, all I’ve left to do is to wait for the final grade.

Okay, so let me tell you a few things about being graded on a piece of fiction you’ve written. At first glance, it sounds like a very subjective process, which could make it unfair because we all wouldn’t have the same preferences as our teacher, but in reality, there is always a marking scheme for every type of assignment out there, at my university at least.

In the end, the actual creative story only comprises around 20-30% of the total grade.

But can you guess what else makes up 20% of the grade? Yes. Grammar and spelling. 

Interested In Freelance Writing? Me Too!

A few days ago, I decided it was time to invest in myself, i.e. my professional skills. I am graduating soon and the future seems… confusing and unfair. So I spent US$10 on the Complete Digital Marketing Course – 12 Courses in 1 on Udemy (original price at $200 but when you sign up you get to buy your first course at a flat rate of $10), in the thought of re-branding myself as a serious, professional freelance writer.

Basically, I’m applying everything I’m learning to my freelance writing career and how I’m going to market it. Every lesson is a step towards accomplishing a specific project or business idea, and my current project… is a new niche blog on freelance writing, which is going to be my first writer’s official website.

A massive update from this blog (in which I’ll nevertheless still post).

So I’m currently at the market research step, in which I get to ask around how my business idea can help you guys. What would you like to see in a freelance writing blog? Whether it’s to improve your writing skills or get started in freelancing, I’d love to get everyone’s input! Especially as readers of my blog, old and new; you guys know my writing best 🙂

Click the button below to fill the survey! It was purposefully built to be completed within 2 minutes!

Launch me

On another note, before starting the course, I had actually asked on Facebook what new niche blog they would like me to build and apart from writing and freelancing advice, the majority also wanted me to create a Survival Guide for University Students blog.
Therefore, I also created a 2-minute survey to ask about everyone’s input on that one; click the button below if you are interested in that particular idea and would like to see it come to life!

Launch me
 
Your responses and ideas matter; without them, I wouldn’t even have considered going forward with any of the two projects. Depending on the responses, I’ll see what I can do and determine whether I should definitely put them into practice.

Thank you for keeping up with me!
An Evil Nymph.

What Are Ant-tables?

I’m doing creative writing this semester and today in class we did an interesting exercise in which we each were allocated two random words, and with those two words we had to make up a new concept, an invention of the sort.

The two words I got were ‘ant’ and ‘table’, and as you can guess from the title, I ended up creating ant-tables, a particular type of creature that used to live in the Ice Age. The exercise was so fun for me that I’ve decided to share word for word what I wrote during class here.

Enjoy!

The Ant-tables

A feeling of wonder took over me as I bent down to examine the fossil closely. We’d just discovered a new species: the ant-table. It used to live in the Ice Age, but it became extinct soon after that.

A creature, the size of your thumb, armed with four straight legs and skin as rough as wood. Ant-tables would freeze their body in hibernation during the harshest winters. They were resilient and would live as long as a century.

Second Chance | A Short Story

Disclaimer: This is a short story I wrote at the beginning of the year and which never got a chance to be published, so now here it is, out in the world. Enjoy!

***

His left eye burst into a river of blood.

Daan screamed. Thick red droplets fell onto his laboratory reports and experimental drawings. He stumbled away from his desk, knocking down his chair. He covered the wound with a trembling hand.

It had already begun.

He winced as he went for his desk and grabbed the little amethyst next to his pencils.

“Prepare for imminent evacuation,” he said, clutching the pebble so hard that his knuckles turned white. “I repeat, prepare for imminent planetary evacuation.”

“What?! Now?!” The voice coming through the stone was clear. It felt like Troi, his best friend and the most competent engineer of the century, was standing beside him. “I thought we’d have more time to complete the remaining flying ships…”

“Well we don’t. We need to evacuate the whole planet now. Every citizen of Homothea has to be rescued before…” He cried out as more blood gushed down his cheek. The amethyst slipped from his fingers.

“What’s going on? DAAN! Answer me!”

On The Will To Get Out Of Bed

You’d be walking by the road and chatting with your friends, when suddenly an unstoppable force would pull you out in a blurred mixture of melting colours, as you hear a weirdly familiar melody becoming louder and louder…

And the next thing you know, you are in bed, with your morning alarm ringing next to your ears. You feel the brightness of your phone’s screen glaring back at you as you struggle to move your arms and fingers to swipe and shut that noise down. The realisation of the beginning of day dawns on you as you think of the first few things you have to do this morning.

Another fifteen minutes, you say. You’ve set up more than one alarm. It’ll be easier to wake you up the second time.

To The One(s) Who Didn’t Love Me Back

*Disclaimer: This work is partly fiction.*

When I was 5,
I didn’t think about love.
All I knew was that I looked forward
To seeing you every day at school
And playing together during recess.

When I was 13,
I was peer pressured into love.
I was lost in tales of ‘unconditionally’;
Everyone seemed to have their ‘One’ but not I.
You looked into my eyes, into my despair.
I fell for you; you did not.

When I was 14,
I told everyone about you.
Yes, I was crazy about you.
I got teased; I got ignored.
I felt ugly, unloved.
Never, I will never tell again.

6 Valuable Lessons I’ve Learnt from My Freelance Writing Job [Guest Post]

A freelancer denotatively means someone who is “self-employed and hired to work for different companies on particular assignments”. Although freelancing seems to be a new trade, it’s now been quite prevalent in the market. It has widened the job sphere and provided jobs and opportunities for people around the world.

There is no one solution, there is no one path and hence one has to strive to survive! This is the primary concept that I have learned and grasped through my  freelancing career and, consequently, here are the 6 lessons I picked up along the way:

1. Freelancing is mythically easy but it practically equals to a full time job.

Whenever one takes up freelancing, they assume things would be easy and that money would follow like a stalker. But, in truth, freelancing is not an easy a cup of tea. The company that hires you is also in ardent need of work and hence they make sure that the work is heavy and done on time. The projects we handle require the same amount of time as they do for a full time job. What is even harder is finding the “right time” to pursue the project throughout the day, as time literally flies doing other tasks.

So, first lesson learned, never take freelancing for granted!

What Cannot Be Healed

*Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction.*

What does it mean to be in love, really? What if having feelings for someone and being in love are actually completely different?

Why do people fall in love several times in a lifetime? Then why make up the concept of ‘soulmates’?

When Dahlia looks at her life, it feels wonderful, almost perfect. One year ago, the world was on the brink of destruction. One year ago, she had almost lost her sister. Today, she can walk outside without the fear of being attacked. Today, humans have accepted and welcomed her race to live on Earth.

One year ago, her mentor, ally and one of the two most powerful Masterminds, sacrificed herself for peace.

Here’s An Opportunity For You To Get Your Writing Out There

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT:

I have decided to re-open my blog to guest posts.

A few years ago, (oh my, this blog is almost 5 years old! I feel so old!) I am not sure if it was a WordPress trend or simply a general blogging trend, but other bloggers or writers would email me about a request to guest post here, on An Evil Nymph’s Blog. Moreover, if I remember correctly, other bloggers on WordPress were also allowing guest posts on their blog and maybe they are still doing it.

Anyway, I cannot exactly recall how I decided to dive in, but I ended up accepting the guest blogging requests and further adding in my contact page that I welcomed guest posts.

But, what is a guest post exactly? 

In brief, anyone who wants to guest post on your blog is someone who wants to write an article for your blog, so as to get more exposure as a writer and reach a new audience. They usually request to have links to their website, which I usually include in their bio at the end of the post. And that is all… at least, here on WordPress.com, our free blogosphere.

21 Lessons Learnt On Turning 21

On Tuesday May 3rd, I turned 21.

Although some might say the opposite, 21 years is a pretty long period of time. 21 years feels like a lifetime, for all the positive and negative experiences I’ve gained and endured. 21 years is 252 months of existence on this Earth. It is around 1,095 weeks. Approximately 7,665 days.

It is freaking 6.623e+8 seconds.

Of course, in comparison to the time of the universe, this lapse of time is very very very insignificant, but it is all relative anyway.

Without further ado, here are 21 lessons that I learnt (most of the time via the hard way) during those 21 years and that will probably stay on with me for a very long time. Moreover, I wanted to make this post a little special, therefore, each lesson is presented to you in a picture-text form, designed and personalized by me.

I’m Officially A Freelance Writer!

Of course, you don’t actually have to be published to be called a ‘writer’, and you don’t have to be paid to write or blog to be called a ‘freelance writer’.

Yet, here I am, finally and officially calling myself a ‘freelance writer’. Yes, I got a writing job! It’s more of a part-time kind of freelancing as I am super busy with university as a full-time student.

In any case, I’m working for the Vulcan Post, an online technology and lifestyle magazine based in Singapore and Malaysia. Since I currently live in Malaysia, I’m working under the main Malaysian branch.