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Ksenia Anske

March 17, 2015

Amtrak Residency, Day 1

by Ksenia Anske


Adventure! Adventure! I’m going on an adventure! I was so excited to leave on my Amtrak Residency trip that instead of taking ample time to sleep in (and that is after to weeks of running on no sleep to finish a book), I woke up at 6 a.m. I hugged the pillow for another hour and a half and then finally gave up. Sleep truly is something that may perhaps grace me with its presence when I’m dead. Anyway. The adventure started close to 9 a.m. You see, my train was not to leave till 4:40 p.m., but around 9 I got a call from Amtrak. 

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TAGS: Writing, trains, adventures, Amtrak Residency, travel


March 14, 2015

My Amtrak Residency starts this Monday!

by Ksenia Anske


Photo by Rachel Baran

Photo by Rachel Baran

Photo by Rachel Baran

Photo by Rachel Baran

It's here! It's here! Can you believe it?? Pinch me. This Monday I'm hopping on the train and heading to Chicago, then to LA via Texas and all the way back to Seattle again, spending a total of 2 weeks in my own private roomette writing my sorry ass off and staring out the window. Well, I hope more writing will happen than staring, as my goal is to start and compete the 1st draft of Tube by the time I'm back.

Here is what to expect. 

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TAGS: Amtrak Residency, TUBE, writing, travel, trains


December 7, 2014

My Amtrak residency itinerary is here!

by Ksenia Anske


I'm so excited! As you know, I have been selected as one of the 24 finalists to take a ride on the Amtrak train as part of the Amtrak Residency, a wonderful that's been born on Twitter from a couple writers asking Amtrak about the possibility of such a thing. So, a few writers have already completed their adventures. First was Bill Willingham (read about his trip here), next was Jennifer Boylan (read about her trip here), and after that Marianne Kirby (her adventures here). I'm not sure who is next, but I'm going in March, and here is my itinerary: 

Depart SEA – CHI on March 16 on train 8 Empire Builder (arrive in CHI on March 18)
Depart CHI – LAX on March 20 on train 421 Texas Eagle(arrive in LAX on March 23)
Depart LAX – CHI on March 25 on train 422 Texas Eagle(arrive in CHI on March 28)
Depart CHI – SEA on March 29 on train 7 Empire Builder (arrive in SEA on March 31)

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TAGS: TUBE, Amtrak Residency, Amtrak, trains, writing, trip


September 24, 2014

I have won the Amtrak Residency!!!

by Ksenia Anske


Photo by Phillip Schumacher

Photo by Phillip Schumacher

Photo by Phillip Schumacher

Photo by Phillip Schumacher

Are you breathing? Are you breathing?? I'm not breathing. I can't move. I can't even blink. I can't believe it. Out of over 16,100 applicants only 24 writers were selected!

AND I'M ONE OF THEM!!!

What? What?? 

I have found out the news 2 days ago but couldn't share. I was dying to share, dying! And finally I can! Here is the official press release from Amtrak about it. And here is another blog post I have written about being selected as one of the 115 semi-finalists (including the full text of my application, for those of you curious), at which point I thought, Ah, whatever, I'll never win. I was supposed to send in a sample of my writing for the second round, so I have sent the opening of ROSEHEAD. Did that do the trick? I don't know. No clue. Maybe I will never find out. But what I do know is this.

I will start on a new novel while on a train.

I have a title already.

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TAGS: Amtrak, residency, trains, new novel, TUBE


June 18, 2014

Writing without fear

by Ksenia Anske


Photo by Phillip Schumacher

Photo by Phillip Schumacher

Photo by Phillip Schumacher

Photo by Phillip Schumacher

Disclaimer. This post was supposed to be about the rhythm of your sentences, but it would have to wait. Till next post. Because. Some awesome shit happened yesterday. I'm still in the middle of it. And it is . . . are you ready? I'm not even ready myself. Here is the story.

Once upon a time someone mentioned on Twitter (I know, I know, it's where I get my news) something about Amtrak starting a writer's residency program, where they pay for your ticket to some city and back, and your part is to write about it. Anything. An article, an observation, a short story, whatever. There's been excitement around it, at first. Of course. Man, people love trains! There is something about the lull in the movement, the length of the beast, the walking from one compartment to the other, the gazing out the windows, the sleeping. It's the sleeping that I love most. To the staccato of wheels, to this propulsion in the night, when it's dark out, and you look and see a blur of trees and lights and wonder what you're passing. Wonder what eyes are watching you, out of the dark. Wonder. It's like a house on wheels, only it's better than a car. A car is on the road, roads are always leading to towns, cities, places where there are people. You can walk a road. But trains! Trains like to cut through wilderness, through places where there are hardly any people at all. Yes, some roads are desolate, but not as desolate as train tracks. Stephen King comes to mind, both with his novella The Body about a boy being killed on the train tracks and 3 boys finding his body, and the demented monorail train Blaine the Mono from The Dark Tower. Something about them, right? Something. Something special.

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TAGS: writing, fear, amtrak, residency, program, trains, exposure


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