2017's End Of Year Review

Well, I used to write these on my old blog, but considering that I'm not keeping that blog anymore and I've grown away from it, these will be on my website now. I guess it's a partial effort to consolidate things, right? Regardless, I do this every year, and to miss out just because I don't have a personal blog anymore doesn't make any sense, particularly in the light of this year. So let's go.

On "Your Reality"

Hey wonderful supporters,

I'm in the process of changing some things up over here as I focus more on my music and put my books aside for a little bit. (Yes, d-VOR-ak fans, it will be back, but it will be a while.) In the midst of all of my construction, I've had something really interesting and fun happen to me that I want to share with you.

Doki Doki Literature Club is an amazing game that quite frankly I haven't made it all the way through, just because it is literally that messed up sometimes. Yeah, it looks like a super cute and fluffy dating sim, but that is literally just a buttercream layer that disguises the trouble underneath. This is NOT a game for the faint of heart or the easily scared, and most of my exposure of the game has been experiencing it in reverse, which in retrospect I'm glad I did. No spoilers, but if I had played this blind, I wouldn't love it nearly as much as I do.


The ending theme song is a track entitled "Your Reality," in which side character Monika sings about her love for the main character (that's you!). I took the song, embraced the sound of Act 3's space oddities, and made my own version of the song that's now available on SoundCloud and, as of right now, BandCamp. We're working to get the song available in more places, it's just the logistics of having everything in the right place at the right time.




As mentioned, the song is available on SoundCloud; if you hit the 'buy' link, you can download it on BandCamp as well!

I'm still hard at work at making something that everybody will appreciate, and I'm glad that my fans have patience. Within the next month or so I'll be coming out with a few new tracks, and I will complete the move of this song to full promotion. Thank you for your support this far!

This Year's Remembrance Day

Note: in case y’all are wondering, I still haven’t figured out what I’m gonna do with the design of this website yet. A lot of it will depend on what I do with my own career and how it grows. I have some ideas, so mind the mess :D

I wanted to take a moment and write again on Remembrance Day. If you remember from my Odyssey of Light series, Remembrance Day -- for me, June 28th -- is a day to remember God’s provisions in all of our lives and how He can change things for the better, if we just trust Him to do so. And I’ve found it’s not just a God thing, too. Whatever branch of the universe you believe in, if you align yourself with karma’s correct path for you, your life will change and upend in ways you never thought possible. It’s such a mystifying and amazing occurrence that you have to be in awe of it, to remember it -- and that’s what Remembrance Day is all about.

If you’ll remember correctly, that’s in a sense what the entire Odyssey of Light is about as well. On June 28th, 2005, I had no clue what my future held, I had a boyfriend for convenience, I was writing a novel, avoiding my ex-girlfriend, and was trying to find my way back to the God I knew existed. By August 16 -- Installation Day and the end of God’s journey with me -- I was ready for my senior year with a new drive and all distractions eliminated.

It’s funny that you can see similar things happening in my life as of recent. Take Emily on last Remembrance Day. When I wrote the blog series last year, I lived in New York City, I was working two part-time jobs to make ends meet, and I had an amazing long-distance girlfriend I could care for. Flash to this year -- I’m in Columbus, my one full-time job has everything covered, I have a place to hang out with friends, and I somehow lucked into an amazing boyfriend who cares for me. (Yeah -- I got no clue how that one happened either, but that’s a story for another day.)

This period of time has not been easy for me. I’ve written on my personal blog about some of the changes I’ve been going through. But I’m taking time to heal from a city that never sleeps and years of not knowing what I need. Notice I’ve said what I need, not what I want -- something similar that I said in 2005. “It’s what I need, not what I want.” “All dreams to me are worthless.” It’s because what we want and what the universe/God needs us to do are sometimes (often) not the same thing. We have the free will to choose, but when we find that pathway that God has made for us, it’s amazing how the world will change to help us. It’s kind of like the turtles in Finding Nemo -- you jump in the jetstream and it takes you exactly where you need to be. (Just, you know, don’t barf on the shell, it was just waxed.)

I want to celebrate Remembrance Day with you all this year, my friends, my straphangers, as I witness God changing my life again and bringing me into a new era. What are some ways that God has changed your life for the better? What are some things that you can thank Him for? If you don’t believe in God, how have you noticed karma this year? What beautiful things have you seen in this world? Remember those, particularly now when all it seems we hear is bad news and trouble around every corner. Stop and think about the best day of your life, whether it was running down the midway at Cedar Point or relaxing under a tree in a field. I’d love to hear about some of the things you remember.

And then, we take those memories, we hold onto that potential -- and for the next seven weeks, we do something about it. Let’s make this an Odyssey to remember.

Odyssey of Light Series: Part 5

This is part 5 in a five-part series, in which I finally tell the truth about myself, my music, and my identity in Christ. Special thanks to my awesome roommate Tamsin Silver for reading this over and making sure this was coherent! You are the reason I've made it through this city in one piece, and I wouldn't have made it without you. :)

James Fineran was my eleventh-grade English teacher, who taught me basically everything I’ve ever learned about writing papers. He always said that, at the end of your paper, your summary should say, “So what? Why did I just waste all my time reading this big long thing?”

Over the last four parts, I’ve delved into my history and my past. Now, we reach the “so what” -- and how this affects me today.

Odyssey of Light Series: Part 4

Odyssey of Light Blog Series
Part 4: Installation Day (Or, "Why Did Millennium Force Break Down?")

This is part 4 in a five-part series, in which I finally tell the truth about myself, my music, and my identity in Christ. For this entry in the series, I am building around a paper I wrote for my senior year English class (hey, I was told I could write about ANYTHING) which gives an account of August 16, 2005. Lots of you have read this version before, so I include it here, along with the proper rest of the story. Read the entire thing all the way through for the best experience. Also, this the longest entry, so buckle up, guys.

Odyssey of Light Series: Part 3

Odyssey of Light Blog Series

Part 3: The Vortex Complex (Or, "Who Really Let The Dogs Out") 

This is part 3 in a five-part series, in which I finally tell the truth about myself, my music, and my identity in Christ. I should probably be clear as I get more into my story: just because I mention somebody does not mean that they endorse me OR my “deviant” lifestyle. I mention them by name in an effort to be honest to you, the reader. That is all.

In case you’re wondering, Dan Smith is the one who let the dogs out.

He’s the pastor of Momentum Church in Cleveland, which I’m pretty sure is still being taught out of a movie theater. During 2004, he created a parody of some well-known rap song called Baby Got Book, which hit YouTube and everybody loved it. He followed that up with an entire album of parodies, spurned on by his Masters of Storytelling. And yes, that’s a real degree.

He was also our week-long speaker and minister during Summer in the Son 2005. Oh, you say, now it makes sense, Emily. Be patient. There are some of you who know this part. And for the rest of you, I left you on an unfair cliffhanger last time, so now we catch you up to speed.

Odyssey of Light Series: Part 2

Odyssey of Light Blog Series
Part 2: Remembrance Day (Or, "A Simple Motion, Coming Toward")

This is part 2 in a five-part series, in which I finally tell the truth about myself, my music, and my identity in Christ. While you read my story, you might question my ability to think clearly in the circumstances or wonder if I am reading too much into “signs.” I tell this story to the best of my availability, as it happened to me, and leave coincidences as what they are: just coincidences, maybe with a little push from God. To compromise the way I experienced the story at 17 is to compromise my identity, and therefore to compromise the reason I’m writing this.

Odyssey of Light Series: Part 1

Odyssey of Light Blog Series

Part 1: The Before And The How (Or, "Why I'm Not Sixteen")

This is part 1 in a five-part series, in which I finally tell the truth about myself, my music, and my identity in Christ. Please leave any and all comments on Facebook, where they can be monitored better. Over the next two months, as part of my Year of Practicing Personality, I’ll be making some changes to this website as I continue to release music and stories. If a link doesn’t work, please let me know.

Let me start off by re-introducing myself, particularly if this is your first time here. My name is Emily Ann Imes, I am a Christian and I am a lesbian, and the two are mutually exclusive. I am from the most obnoxious city in America, which means I am from the most awesome city in America and nobody can convince me otherwise. Yes, it’s true, I’m from New York City, where the pigeons have more class than the people do and it's not church, it's brunch. In my spare time, better known as day 8 of the week, I do this music composition thing. I also used to write and am trying to get back into it after bedbugs ate my career. You know. Because New York.

This is the summer of 2016. Eleven years ago, in the summer of 2005, some freaky deaky stuff happened and my life got flip turned upside down, and I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there, and tell you how Jesus saved my life by using roller coasters. But before we talk about the summer of 2005, we gotta cover what happened before that...the beginning of the Rest of the Story. It's a very good place to start.

Dvorak & Emily Ann Imes @ New York Comic Con 2014

Catch Emily Ann Imes at New York Comic Con!

Booth 580 on The Show Floor :)

082014 -- A Long Time Coming

Hey, readers. Emily here.

No, this isn't a shutdown notice. I think I'm too brave and powerful for that. What this is is me being honest. I'm horrible at making posts, and I'm even more horrible at updating a website. But something that I'm really good at is being honest. How about I be more honest on here, to start with? I think that's a good goal.

The Success of a Man Named Dvorak

Most of my attention as of late has been going over to the Dvorak series, which has been running in one way, shape, or form since April of 2013. We're officially three books in, and the fourth book is going to start serialization next week. I'm nervous, sure, but part of me is actually really excited that the project has made it this far. I think there are so many more things that I could do as far as promoting the book, but the important thing to me is that they're making it out there.

The Dvorak series is now available on JukePop Serials, as well as Wattpad. The fourth book will begin updating there as I put it out, with the other books to come. In addition, print versions of The Dealey Five and Digital Merge will be coming soon, with The Dealey Five hitting press by the end of this month. We'll be returning to New York Comic-Con this year to promote Dvorak, hopefully to kick off a huge press and advertising campaign...which, honestly, scares the crap out of me.

Am I weird for admitting all of this on my website? Nah. I'd rather admit my flaws and present myself as a human being. There are so many other ways that I'm separated from the rest of society. I write music in my sleep. I think up plotlines like nobody's business. I have an eidetic memory and can see sound. But I'm tired of being separated from the world as a whole. I'd rather try to make things happen, even if it's imperfectly. So may people think things have to be done right the first time!

If you're able to, would you support Dvorak? There are several ways you can do this:

1: Read the books! They're available for free on the website, on Wattpad, and on JukePop (as they are posted).

2: Support book 3's release with the official Thunderclap campaign. This I definitely need help with. Sign up and Dvorak will post on your Facebook wall, Twitter feed, or Tumblr about the series on August 26th. And no, you don't have to pay or dump cold water on your head to do it! (Although that just gave me a great idea.)

3: When the books are released, buy them so you can have a physical version. I don't make a lot of money off the books -- just enough to get them into your hands. Dvorak Classic is available now, and the others will be available before NYCC.

That's it for now. I just want to make sure this world doesn't forget about me, and also that I don't forget about me.

-- Emily

NYCC Recap Post

Because really, these things go way too quickly to be coherent.

This year's New York Comic-Con was, in my opinion, a completely different beast than last year. 

I'm not just saying that, either. The general consensus across the board was that it was a different sort of con. There was less foot traffic, probably due to the fact that they stepped up against counterfeiters (finally), and there was more space as the construction at Javits was done (for the most part -- outside was still a mess). In addition, in my opinion the anime and manga community seemed much smaller than in years prior (though this didn't hamper the amount of Attack on Titan cosplays).

All in all, it was good. 

I wanted to thank everybody who could for coming out (considering the badge situation). We sold a lot of books! If you ended up with one, I'd love to know what you think of it. Our plan is to return in 2014 with a full-out Dvorak booth, complete with cosplay, games, and who knows what else. Dvorak will be at the end of its third book by that time, so who knows? I guess our plans could change, but you never know with these things...

We'll see you next year! (And yes, that is a Dvorak shirt I'm wearing.) 

NYCC Planning Post

What were we doing again? Oh, right, that NYCC thing.

I will be back at New York Comic-Con again this year! This is both the most fascinating and the most scary thing to happen in a long time. 

The con will be from October 10-13 at the Javits here in New York City. If you will be going, I would love it if you stopped by. Last year was a learning experience, and I hope to go in this year with a better image of what I want to promote. Of course, this means you're all getting a huge slice of Dvorak, with some Dealey Five whipped cream on the top. The Dvorak series has been particularly popular so far, and my goal for this year is to get as many people as I can to know about it.

Before the con, a new Dvorak website (a subdomain of emilyannimes.com at this point) will be launching with all of the information up through Act 1. Starting with Act 2, the serial will update there instead of here (and it will always be simulcast on Wattpad). The pens will be back (because, seriously, who doesn't love free pens!), as well as copies of Dvorak Classic in print. Rhythm Buster 200X: Blue Impulse and The Mystery of Taconum Carnival will be available for a discounted price.

I will keep updating as we get closer to the exact event, including special promotions and our booth location. Hope to see you there!

The Dealey Five: Chapter 14

Dvorak: The Dealey Five

Chapter 14 (or, "There Goes The Neighborhood")

Where We Last Left Off: The four kids had cornered whom they thought might be their fifth missing comrade, but their enemies are one step behind.

3-Day Novel Contest Review

3-Day Novel Contest Review

August 31st-September 2nd, 2013

If your face did not look like this at midnight on Saturday, there may have been something wrong.

The Dealey Five -- Chapter 13

The Dealey Five
Chapter 13 (or, "World's (Not) Fair")

Where We Last Left Off: After a crazy couple of days, our heroes regrouped and recommitted themselves to finding the last member of their team.

That Labor Day Novel Thing: Taking On the 3-Day Novel Challenge

Because NaNoWriMo just isn't enough, apparently.

So who, in their right mind, would write a novel in three days? (Let alone the 30 required for NaNoWriMo.) There are certainly a couple of crazy people out there, and I am one of them. The 3-Day Novel Contest requires you to write an entire novel in 3 days. You heard me right. 3 days. I'm not quite sure how my hands are going to adapt to it yet, but I'll make it.

This contest was started in Canada and has been going on for more than 35 years. You start writing at midnight on Saturday of Labor Day and don't stop until Monday night, unless you want to stop by then. I told my roommate that it was akin to NaNoWriMo on crack, which sounds about right.

Yes, in case you're wondering, I'm planning on doing this contest. I will be writing a novel in 3 days, one that has absolutely nothing to do with Dvorak. I have my plan (pend) sorted out and I even have most of my time sorted out into blocks, but I know these are flexible. This is why I have an assistant. A rather good looking assistant who gladly does all of this for free (or at least a back massage).

I will be livetweeting my 3-Day Novel experience @SOSICapSid. I will be hashtagging #3DayNovel the entire time, as well as giving occasional updates on Facebook. Needless to say, it's going to be hard (especially on my hands -- I'll be QWERTYing it the entire time unless I really start having problems, and then I'll switch between QWERTY and Dvorak) so I could use all the support you want to give.

So what is my story about? I can't say explicitly, but it's not a new story to me. I even tried to write the entire thing down once...the summer after my junior year. And while the book was kind of bad, my dedication to this story wasn't. While I can't say the story exactly, my oldest fans (dating back to high school) know that the tagline www.@ has been used for it in the past. When I tweet this weekend, I will occasionally use the hashtag #wwwdotatmark to give some insight into my head and the process. The story is where the hashtag comes from.

It is my sincerest hope that you'll join me on this journey.

Goggles on, folks. You've got mail.

The Dealey Five: Chapter 12

Dvorak: The Dealey Five

Chapter 12 (or, "What Days May Come"

Where We Last Left Off: The group of four kids from the destroyed world headed to Mac’s apartment in Coney Island to regroup...again.

Write More Better: Wattpad, Serials, and Pacing

People who write serials often have trouble figuring out pacing. I've found that I also have this problem sometimes.

A serial is a story, fanfiction or not, that updates live on the Internet. The schedule may be sporadic -- whenever a chapter gets done -- or timely, like Dvorak does every week. I think serials can be a great thing because if you get an idea, you can instantly share it with the world and see what they think of it. They're also a way to get fans, because they don't have to wait for the entire book to be done in order to read it. Fanfiction.net and its sister site, Fictionpress.com, started the wave for this (I remember when they were one site, that's how old I am).

(This particular blog post won't deal with serials that are written ahead of time and then are posted each week or month or whatever. Those are a bit different in design; this post is more for stories that get updated as soon as the latest chapter is written.)

Recently, Wattpad has brought serials into the 21st century by giving fans a way to follow their favorite stories on their mobile devices. I love Wattpad, and my chances of reading your serial skyrocket if you post it there (mostly because in today's society of ease, I can't be bothered to go to your blog).

A problem I saw back at FF.net, and occasionally see on Wattpad, is the "on hold" story. This sadly usually means the story will never be finished, because there weren't enough readers or because the writer ran out of ideas. So how can you pace your story so that it'll get to the end, or to make sure you don't get to the end within five chapters and have nothing else to say?

There are several ways to fix this, and over the next few blog posts I hope to expand on this as much as I can. But to get started, if you want your serial to succeed and flow well, there are two things you need to do:

1: Love your serial. This means not just falling in love with your idea, but also coming to love the characters and the setting. In Dvorak Classic, it took me a while to get into the groove, as that story is completely built upon the ideas others gave me. But I told my friends I had to start with two characters, to give the story a solid core, but also to have me get familiar with them. Once I learned who Carissa and Mac were, I could write them properly no matter what scenario they were thrown next.

I'm usually not that spontaneous; in A SHINee Night To Remember, my SHINee prom fanfiction on Wattpad, I worked out some basic details and got to know the characters really well. The real life Karen (SoulMatthew) will testify that I asked her a bunch of questions so I could create a character based on her. When it came time to write that first scene, with Kori and Karen driving down the California interstate, I knew I could capture it perfectly because I loved my characters and were genuinely excited for them. This leads to the second point:

2: If you love your serial, you'll do even just a LITTLE bit of planning. After the 3-Day Novel Contest is over and I can stare my computer in the camera again without wanting to punch something, I plan on fully detailing my own process of how I plan, just in time for National Novel Writing Month. Those posts are forthcoming. But a little bit of planning can take you a long way and ensure that, in the case that writers block hits, you'll know what to write.

I do full out planning for my regular novels (including my 3-Day Novel novel, which I am doing now). That process I will detail later. But a shorter version of this plan is used for when I plan out my fanfictions on Wattpad. I think to myself: do I want this to be a big longer of a story, engage the audience? Do I want it to be shorter? I think about this before every story I write. Not every story has to or even should be a hundred thousand words long. I made the conscious decision that A SHINee Night To Remember would be a shorter story. There are fanfictions that you do not know about yet that will be longer, some of which are already planned out.

A simple plan for me usually involves writing out what happens in the story, from start to finish. I call this a pend. For the record, that is my made up word -- it comes from "pending" and means that the story's been planned and is waiting to be written. Some people call it a map. Once I write out the entire plan, I divide it up into chapters. For an example of a short pend, here's a sample from A SHINee Night To Remember:

1: Kori and Karen in a subcompact car driving down the road, talking about prom and how SHINee will be doing a concert nearby and how they DON'T have tickets. Boo hiss. Of course there's a limo stopped on the shoulder and Kori jumps it (Karen is nervous). She only speaks to the limo driver to start, but Key as the English speaking one gets out to thank them, then drags all of the boys out when he learns the girls have been studying Korean in school (because of their K-Pop obsession). They go to In-N-Out Burger even though there's no chicken.
2: Sadness at the discovery of no chicken. "Did you just call him 'tofu?" They mention prom, and the boys decide to invade the prom. "We can only take one date each..." They figure they'll decide after the concert that night (SM Town?). They all climb into the limo.

Not everything from the plan makes it into the story -- I don't think I ever used that tofu line, and Kori and Karen are in an SUV -- but it helps set the tone. Plus, when your readers want a new chapter and you're clueless as to what to write, the plan will be your backup. Dividing the plan up in chapters helps you see where the parts of the story lie, and you can change the plan as it goes. I'll get more into detail about this at a later point.

Likewise, Dvorak updates in a very specific fashion. I usually go by quantity over quality, though by typing in Dvorak and not QWERTY, I know I'll get a better quality regardless because I'll be typing less fast. Dvorak Classic updated every single day with 1,667 words per day; The Dealey Five updates with 3,000 words every Friday. Usually by mid-book, I write a very loose plan for what will happen for the rest of the story, and continue to take comments from the crowd and fit them in as I wrap the story up.

I have a lot of writer friends who are "pantsers," ala they write by the seat of their pants, winging it and making up stuff every step of the way. This works for some people. IT DOES NOT WORK FOR ME. If it works for you, I'm not gonna stop you. I encourage you to do what works! If that's the case, though, I encourage you to at least know your characters fairly well. No matter what happens to them, good or bad, you'll want to see them tough it out and that will keep the serial going. That's what happened with Dvorak Classic (notably the only series I pants).

What is most important is that there is something keeping you going, no matter if you plan or pants or however you write your stories. Planning can help with your flow and make your story consistent from beginning to end, so you're not left high and dry with no ideas. If you pants and you find it works for you, find a way to keep your characters going without that plan. Get inspired.

Do what drives you, but don't stop doing it.

That's the best advice I can give.

The Dealey Five: Chapter 11

Dvorak: The Dealey Five

Chapter 11 (or, "Past Due Moto")

Where We Last Left Off: Dimitri’s henchmen, Anton and Vlad, escaped with the boombox and set off an explosion near Carissa’s apartment.

Rainbows and Butterflies

It's not easy to write a blog post when you're depressed.

I seem to have highs and lows these days. Most of it is because there are eight million people I can compare myself to on these lonely islands. I'm surprised all of us aren't in some form of therapy. In fact, some people think I do need therapy. I do have therapy -- I have writing, and music, and a boyfriend who listens no matter what, and a world I can wrap myself in. But there are still days where it's just hard to get out of bed in the morning.

Furthermore, there should be three steps I should follow whenever I get depressed:

1: Remember that this is a normal occurrence and there is no reason to freak out, or put myself down further. Also, remember that there is a world outside your room, outside these islands. Up north, there's a kid who takes pictures. Out west, there's a roller coaster with my name on it. Things may seem like they suck, but those are only lies that we all tell ourselves to keep ourselves "safe." In reality, that's an outdated fight or flight system, isn't it? We don't need that anymore, not in that way, at least. We should be scared of rabid bears on the loose, not of standing on stage and singing.

2: Get up from where I am, no matter how hard it is. Get some food, even if it's just chocolate. If possible, go outside and go get something. Start walking. Dance.

3: Never look back.

What about you? What do you do when everything's not rainbows and butterflies?