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The Emotions In Colors Book Tag

~ Cheyenne Raphael ~ Leave a comment

Hey, bookish and writerly people!
School has almost officially ended for me, therefore I might actually have time to blog again! I need to review a ridiculous number of books, but I’m going to kick off my blogging comeback with The Emotions In Colors Book Tag created by Cait @ Paper Fury. I wasn’t officially tagged for this; I just thought it looked cool and decided to do it!

In this tag, you are given ten prompts consisting of a color and the emotion associated with it. You are then asked which book, (or books), you associate with that color and emotion.

1. Blue: A book that made you sad.

Salt to the Sea by Rita Sepetys is the last book that I remember crying over. It’s heartbreakingly hard to read, but you should all go read it anyway because it’s SO good!

Also, Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow completely ripped my heart out and put it back together again because it’s so beautiful and sad at the same time!

2. Red: Bookworm problems that make you angry.

◦When authors kill off their main characters. If this serves a writerly purpose, I have no issue. If it’s blatantly obvious that the author was thoroughly sick of writing that story and wanted an excuse to end it, I’ll probably never read anything by that author ever again. *Refrains from ranting about very popular series*

◦When my iPad dies in the middle of a page. This is just obnoxious and needs no further explanation.

◦Running out of Audible credits and being forced to wait a number of days before starting a new book.

◦Accidentally touching my iPad screen and sending the Kindle app scrolling off to who knows where. This is even worse when you accidentally read a spoiler in the process of trying to find your place again!

◦Not being able to find a book in an accessible format. This is a blind bookworm problem that will not apply to the majority of readers, but it’s THE WORST! 😤

3. Yellow: Upcoming book you’d be happy to have right now.

If Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor could just go ahead and exist already, that’d be great!

4. Green: Favorite unlikely friends.

Can I nominate Adam and Niko from my own book for this one? They’re basically the definition of unlikely friends! No? I have to pick something published? Fine…

I’m going with the gang from The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater. None of these characters should work together, but they totally do!

5. Grey: A book you are totally emotionless about.

◦The Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard. I read the first three or four books in this series and decided I didn’t care anymore. I don’t even remember what it’s about except that it was like The Hunger Games with aliens, which sounds cool in theory but definitely does NOT work in reality.

◦Basically all of John Green’s books. It’s not that I don’t think they’re good books; they’re just not my genre.

◦Everything by Rainbow Rowell except Fangirl. I loved Fangirl because of the writerly aspect; I just don’t have enough Hufflepuff in me to enjoy her other books. Again, they’re not my genre.

6. Pink: Book ending, (no spoilers though), that you loooove.

◦The Raven King: I didn’t expect it to end like that, but I love it anyway!

◦Crooked Kingdom: There isn’t a single thing that I would change about this ending! It’s just SO perfect! 😍

◦The Cruel Prince: This ending provides the perfect amount of closure and manages to leave the plot open for the sequel at the same time.

7. Purple: Book you never really understood??

My favorite color is purple; does that make me hard to understand? The answer is a resounding, “YES,” if my unedited writing is any indication. Anyway, here’s another list:

◦Great Expectations by Charles Dickens: Once upon a time, I did a massive book report over this book. I guess my teacher didn’t understand it either because I passed the class with an A!

◦Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe: What even is this? 😖 It makes my brain hurt…

◦All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr: Before you yell at me in the comments, I am fully aware that this is an unpopular opinion, and I do not care! I have tried to read this book twice, and I still do not understand it or the hype surrounding it. There’s just something about the writing style, pacing, timeline, or head hopping that prevents me from focusing on it enough to understand it. It may also be that historical fiction just is not my thing, and I don’t exactly agree with the portrayal of the blind character in this book.

8. White: Author you’re scared of (they’re just SO mean to their characters!)

Since when is white a scary color? I associate white with purity and goodness! Oh well… here’s another list:

◦J. K. Rolling because what she did to Dobby proves she’s heartless.

◦Laini Taylor because she kills off everybody I get attached to.

◦Marissa Meyer because… I’m not going to spoil Heartless, but if you read it, you’ll understand.

◦Maggie Stiefvater because she has to possess some kind of dark magic in order to rite like that!

9. Black: Book you think is powerful and influential.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is probably going to be everyone’s default answer to this, but that’s what I’m going with! It has SO much significance in the context of the real world, and you should all go read it if you haven’t because it will give you a new perspective!

10. Orange: Playful characters who are just too adorable.

◦Jest and Catherine from Heartless by Marissa Meyer. I just love them!!!!

◦Marco from The Lovely Reckless by Kami Garcia. I wouldn’t really call him playful, but he’s adorable!

◦Noah from The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater. Noah is under appreciated, okay?! He deserves recognition for being the smudgy Hufflepuff that he is!

◦Nina from Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. She’s just SO bubbly!

Have you done this tag? Drop me a link in the comments so I can check out your answers! Also, let me know what authors scare you and why, and recommend me a book that you think is powerful. I’d love to see your thoughts! 🙂

Snippet Sunday | Fire

~ Cheyenne Raphael ~ Leave a comment

Snippet Sunday is a weekly writing post in which you share a snippet from your own writing. This snippet is from Scarred Flawless, (the young adult fantasy novel that I am in the process of editing).

“Fire is a fickle thing. It smolders, flares, and fades upon its ever-changing desire–answering only to those who hold power over it. Vivian Devereaux holds such power. She wears flames like cloaks and sparks like diamonds, but the only eyes that will ever rest upon her fiery splendor are her own. There are two kinds of fire in this world: one is wicked; the other is sacred. Vivian’s fire is the wicked kind.”

Snippet Sunday | Oblivion

~ Cheyenne Raphael ~ Leave a comment

Snippet Sunday is a weekly writing post in which you share a snippet from your own writing. This snippet is from Scarred Flawless, (the young adult fantasy novel that I am in the process of editing).

Oblivion is a kind thing. Sinking into it feels like slipping under cool, dark water. It is soft and silent beneath its numbing waves, and the nothingness that it brings is the closest thing to peace that Niko Devereaux has found. Perhaps it will kill him some day, but for now, it is the only thing keeping him alive.

Snippet Sunday | Silence

~ Cheyenne Raphael ~ Leave a comment

Snippet Sunday is a weekly writing post in which you share a snippet from your current writing project. This snippet is from Scarred Flawless, (the young adult fantasy novel that I am currently editing).

“Silence is a strange thing. There are many kinds of silence, but tonight is humming with the kind of silence that is louder than many loud things. It is a thick, viscous thing, and its presence in the Council Hall says more than any words ever could.”

2017 Writing Recap | 2018 Goals

~ Cheyenne Raphael ~ Leave a comment

Greetings, writers!
It is time for me to do my annual writing recap and announce some writerly goals for the upcoming year! This year has been pretty crazy, so…

Let’s see what I accomplished!

I had three writing goals for 2017:
◦Finish the rewrite of Scarred Flawless and have it ready for beta readers by January.
I’m calling this one a success! I had the rewrite, (I had to put it in third person instead of first), finished by April, and I should be finished with the last round of edits tonight! I still have to export it from Scrivener and make sure everything is formatted correctly, but I technically accomplished my original goal. I hope to be starting the beta reader process in the next couple of weeks.
◦Outline Fractured Faith, (the sequel to Scarred Flawless).
I sort of accomplished this? Kind of? Okay not really! I have a few scenes written that I know I want to include, a big-picture plot, and a rough summary, but I do not have an official scene-by-scene outline.
◦Write five short stories.
I technically did this. I finished the first drafts of five short stories, but only two of them got edited because I turned them in for class work. The other three are in some random folder that I will probably never find again.

Writing Goals for 2018

I only have three writing goals for 2018 as well because… three is a magic number! They are:
◦Finish the beta reader process for Scarred Flawless and start seeking publication for it. insert terrified emoji
◦Outline Fractured Faith because I didn’t do it last year!
◦Outline my new novel idea that is currently under the working title, “Nevermore Forever”. I haven’t talked about this much because it was literally a tiny spark of an idea until two nights ago, but I will have a post up on it soon!

Reading Goals for 2018

◦Read a minimum of thirty books. That was my goal for 2017, and it didn’t happen, so I’m trying again!
◦Keep up with writing book reviews instead of getting eight reviews behind like I am now.
◦Actually use Goodreads. I have a terrible habit of not updating Goodreads for months at a time and then spamming the feeds of my followers with a million updates at once. It would be really nice if I could end that this year!

What are your goals?

If you have writerly goals of your own, let me know what they are in the comments, or drop me a link to your own blog post! Also, if you’re interested in beta reading Scarred Flawless, keep an eye on my blog and Twitter feed because I will be posting updates.

Snippet Sunday

~ Cheyenne Raphael ~ Leave a comment

Snippet Sunday is a weekly writing post in which you share a snippet of your current writing project. This snippet is from Scarred Flawless

Vivian Devereaux knew better than anyone that The City of Stars and Moonlight was nothing more than a flawless facade, and its crystalline beauty was nothing more than gold plating put in place to hide the scars beneath the surface. In the reality that no one wanted to face, Artimay was nothing more than a masterpiece of flawed perfection around which the world revolved.

Beautiful Books 2017 | How’s the writing going?

~ Cheyenne Raphael ~ 3 Comments

Beautiful Books is a writing link-up created by Cait @ Paper Fury. Today’s topic is, “How’s the writing going”?

  1. Overall, how is your mental state, and how is your novel going?
    My mental state is pretty frazzled at the moment. It is day five of NaNoWriMo 2017, and I have 1057 new words to my name. That isn’t even the recommended word count for day one… Because of this pathetic excuse for a day five word count, I have switched my goal around a little bit. Instead of trying to edit Scarred Flawless and draft 50K words of the sequal, I have made my primary goal to finish editing Scarred Flawless. This is WAY more important to me than drafting a new thing right now because I want to have it in the hands of beta readers by January. Therefore, I’ll be counting every thirty minutes of editing as one thousand words for NaNo this year.

  2. What’s your first sentence (or paragraph)?
    The Counsel Hall was no place for the innocent or kind at heart. So much innocent blood had been spilled upon the tiles that it was a wonder the floor was white instead of scarlet. Niko Devereaux had watched every drop of that innocent blood spill a thousand times over, and sometimes the presence of the unseen in the Great Room was so strong that it was difficult to tell what was tangible and what was non-corporeal.

  3. Who’s your current favorite character in your novel?
    The proper answer here is, “Please don’t make me pick a favorite fictional child”, but I’ll be honest… Niko is my favorite.

  4. What do you love about your novel so far?
    I LOVE my characters! The characters actually came to me before the plot, so they were extremely well-developed before I even started writing.

  5. Have you made any hilarious typos or other mistakes?
    I haven’t made any hilarious typos myself, but autocorrect did a number on my first draft! I didn’t realize it was on, and for some reason it insisted that my main characters name should be, “Nero Develop”, instead of Niko Devereaux. Let’s just say I spent some quality time with the find-and-replace feature before I did my first read through… 🙂

  6. What is your favorite to write: beginning, middle, or end — and why?
    Beginnings are my happy place! Nothing has to make a ton of sense in the beginning because the rest of the story is there to explain things, but middles and ends require logic! I don’t like it when writing and logic collide!

  7. What are your writing habits? Is there a specific snack you eat? Do you listen to music? What time of day do you write best? Feel free to show us a picture of your writing space!
    I don’t eat while I write because food and keyboards should never mix, but I do drink coffee or tea depending on what I’m up for that day. I do listen to music while I write, )you can click here to view my Scarred Flawless playlist on youTube). I write best either late at night or early in the morning when no one else is awake.

  8. How private are you about your novel while you’re writing? Do you need a cheer squad or do you work alone (like, ahem, Batman)?
    No one gets to know about my writing except my closest writerly friends until the first round of edits are over.

  9. What keeps you writing even when it’s hard?
    Other people did it, so I can do it too!

  10. What are your top 3 pieces of writing advice?
    ◦Don’t chase after any shiny new ideas unless you are absolutely sure that your current project isn’t going anywhere. You’ll never get anything published if you don’t stick with something.
    ◦Write about something you are passionate about. If you love something, you’ll probably also enjoy writing about it.
    ◦Writing has no rules; don’t let anybody tell you otherwise!

October Updates & NaNoWriMo Time!

~ Cheyenne Raphael ~ 2 Comments

Hey writerly people!

You may or may not have noticed that I haven’t posted anything in like… three months or so. That is because school happened! It’s my senior year, and I haven’t had time for much of anything other than classes, college stuff, and the occasional stolen moment of editing Scarred Flawless. However, I am going to do NaNoWriMo again this year, and, (because I am a crazy person), I have two projects:

  1. I am editing Scarred Flawless. I have about 25 more scenes to put into place. After that, I will do the final read-through, and it should be ready for beta readers in December or January!
  2. I am planning to write 50 thousand words of the first draft of Fractured Faith, which is the sequel to Scarred Flawless.

Will I win NaNoWriMo? Probably not! But at least I can say I tried!
I will still probably be pretty inactive on here until January when my course load lightens up a little, but I will be posting NaNoWriMo updates on Twitter! At least I think I can manage to write a 140 character update every day… Maybe… Probably NOT!
If you are also participating in NaNoWriMo, feel free to add me as a writing buddy! Also, let me know what you’ll be working on in the comments! I promise I will check the comments! And respond to the comments! Over Thanksgiving break… 🙂

My NaNoWriMo2016 Writing Arsenal

~ Cheyenne Raphael ~ 5 Comments

Hey writerly people! Everyone’s been posting their “NaNoWriMo Survival Kits” all over the internet, but i decided to be original and post my “Writing Arsenal.” A “survival kit” makes me think of slogging through woods and fighting off killer mosquitoes, and that just doesn’t sound fun at all… Plus, my characters are more the “royal assassin type” than the “slog through woods type,” and therefore they should have an arsenal instead of a survival kit, right? Just agree with me please! And read on if you wanna see my writing weapons of choice!

 

■My laptop.

This is probably a no-brainer, but I gotta have my laptop… I do handwrite my notes and a copy of my outline, but the thought of handwriting a 50000 word NaNoNovel makes me want to scream, cry, crawl in a nice hole somewhere, and read a book that somebody else wrote…

 

■Scrivener!

Scrivener is possibly the best thing to ever happen to my writing process! It makes my brain look organized, and that is NOT and easy thing to do! If you don’t know what scrivener is, (what have you been doing with your life?!), it basically lets you break your project up in to little pieces, like chapters or scenes depending on how you write, and presents them as pages in a virtual binder, or virtual index cards. It’s also got a research section, a place for setting and character info, and a place for notes below each file so you can write down exactly what you’re going to put in each scene or chapter and have it right there as a reminder. It pretty much lets you keep everything you need to write in one place so you won’t get distracted by Googling stuff or spend hours trying to find a file that got saved somewhere weird. You get a 30 day free trial if you’re not convinced of the awesomeness of this, and if you win NaNo, you also get a 50^ discount! And no, the Scrivener people did not pay me to say any of this… I just think it’s amazing!

 

■My iPad.

Now that Scrivener has an IOS app, it’s super easy for me to write on my iPad when I’m stuck in the car or hiding in the corner at a social event. Also, it has Spotify! Which leads me to the next writing weapon…

 

■My project playlist!

Now… I’m complicated with this one… I usually have two, but sometimes three, different playlists for every project. The first consists of songs that describe my characters or the theme of my story in the lyrics. The second is instrumental songs that sound like the tone or emotional voice of my story. I use this one for the times when my brain can’t focus on anything and starts randomly putting song lyrics into the story. And the third is all ambient noise! I love writing to thunderstorms and waterfalls, but sometimes I just don’t have the real thing when I want it. I’ve downloaded some, but I also use an app called Nature Space that has some really high quality nature sounds. If you’re curious, here’s a song from my lyrical playlist that perfectly describes one of my main characters:

And here’s one from my instrumental playlist:

 

■A notebook dedicated specifically to my project.

I use a notebook to write down my character sketches and a copy of my outline so I can refer to it without taking my focus to another part of scrivener. I do my writing journals bullet journal style, and I might go more in detail with that later if y’all wanna see how it’s done.

 

■Coffee/tea and water.

I always have a glass of water close at hand because a, I’m a total health nut, and b, it could be really bad if I get dehydrated because of a medical condition. But when i’m writing, I also like to have coffee, (if it’s got enough chocolate creamer and milk to not taste like coffee), or green tea with jasmine on my desk as well.

 

■Peppermint oil.

I love essential oils, and peppermint is one of my favorites! It really helps me concentrate when I put it on my forehead and wrists. And also it helps my wrists not hurt from typing constantly.

 

■My jade palm stone.

I collect crystals, and I have this really flat and smooth piece of jade that stays next to my keyboard. If I can’t think, or I just need comfort while writing a hard scene, I’ll pick it up and rub it for a bit. I also have a black onyx buffalo carving on the shelf above me, and I like to call him my writing buddy. He’s really good to talk out plot problems with, mostly because he doesn’t actually talk back so I’m forced to work it out myself. 😄

 

■A flashdrive.

I save everything in Dropbox, so there isn’t much chance of my precious words self destructing as computer files are sometimes known to do, but a horrible experience with a piece of technology that I will not name has made me majorly paranoid about losing work. SO… I save my writing to a flash drive as soon as I’m done for the day.

 

And there you have it!

That is my writing arsenal for this NaNoNovel! I’d love to see what’s in your writing arsenals, (or survival kits), so feel free to make your own post and leave a link in the comments! Or just tell me in the comments… Do you have a project playlist? A bullet journal dedicated to your story? A special something next to your writing space? Let’s chat!

From Cheyenne 🙂

The Music Tag

~ Cheyenne Raphael ~ Leave a comment

Hi Guys! I ran across this tag on Word Wonders, and while it doesn’t exactly pertain to writing, I am going to post it because music tends to inspire a lot of what I write, especially the personalities of my characters. 

 

The Rules 

*Link the blogger who tagged you. 

*Pick the first ten songs that come on shuffle, (no skipping!) 

*Write your favorite lyric/verse from each song. 

*Tag other bloggers. 

 

My Songs 

  1. “Run Daddy Run” (from the Hunger Games soundtrack), by Miranda Lambert and the pistol Annies 

“Momma’s been crying  in the kitchen, 

Sister’s been afraid of the dark, 

And I’ve been gathering the pieces, 

Of all these shattered hearts.” 

This song, and these lyrics especially, have been greatly influencing one of the characters in my current WIP. I listen to it every time I sit down to start writing from Diana’s perspective. 

  1. Eyes Open (also from the Hunger Games soundtrack), by Taylor swift 

“Everybody’s waiting for you to break down
Everybody’s watching to see the fallout
Even when you’re sleeping, sleeping
Keep your ey-eyes open” 

Again, this pertains a lot to my current story because every body’s kind of out to get everybody else in my story world right now, and if my characters don’t watch their backs, they might end up with their throats being cut by a corrupted shaman lady. 

3. Let Your Tears Fall by Kelly Clarkson 

“It’s not a crime to fall apart sometimes
It’s not a crime to ask why to ask why, you cry
Let your tears fall
Let your tears fall” 

4. Just A Dream by Carrie Underwood 

“Baby why’d you leave me

Why’d you have to go?
I was counting on forever, now I’ll never know
I can’t even breathe
It’s like I’m looking from a distance
Standing in the background
Everybody’s saying, he’s not coming home now
This can’t be happening to me
This is just a dream” 

5. No Cure For Crazy by Kellie Pickler 

“Now I ain’t prim and proper

No country clubbing, champagne popper
Dropping names, sipping Sonoma wine 

I’ll be barefoot on the bar
White lightning buzz from a mason jar
Chasing my whiskey with a damn good time 

Well there ain’t no cure for crazy
I ain’t sorry baby
Wheels fell off of my trailer
Daddy taught me how to curse like a sailor 

I’m an all-night, long neck, train wreck
Two queens short of a full deck
Good luck trying to save me
There ain’t no cure, no cure for crazy” 

6. Brave by Sara Bareilles 

“Everybody’s been stared down by the enemy

Fallen for the fear
And done some disappearing,
Bow down to the mighty
Don’t run, just stop holding your tongue 

Maybe there’s a way out of the cage where you live
Maybe one of these days you can let the light in
Show me how big your brave is” 

7. Dirt Road Prayer by Lauren Alaina 

“And so I go where the green grass grows 

The weeds are high and the sun hangs low
Look to the sky and I say, hello
Like it’s the very first time
It doesn’t matter how long it’s been
I can talk to God like he’s my best friend
Take my heart lay it down again right there
In a dirt road prayer” 

8. Safe & Sound by Taylor Swift 

“I remember tears streaming down your face
When I said, “I’ll never let you go”
When all those shadows almost killed your light
I remember you said, “Don’t leave me here alone”
But all that’s dead and gone and passed tonight 

Just close your eyes 

The sun is going down
You’ll be alright
No one can hurt you now
Come morning light
You and I’ll be safe and sound” 

9. I Am Invincible by Cassadee Pope 

“Cracks run through these walls, But they still stand strong
Oh heart covered in scars, But my fear is gone
Oh I will fight, I will survive 

I’m invincible
I’m unbreakable
I’m a diamond cut to last
I’m unstoppable
I’m a hero
Like a phoenix from the ash
Oh-ah, oh-ah, oh-ah-ooh
Nothing gonna make me break or shatter
No one’s gonna tell me that I don’t matter, no” 

I absolutely LOVE this song, and now it’s stuck in my head again… It also goes along with the eventual transformation that my story is going to achieve, so that makes it even better! 

10. Fight Song by Rachel Platten 

“Like a small boat
On the ocean
Sending big waves
Into motion
Like how a single word
Can make a heart open
I might only have one match
But I can make an explosion 

And all those things I didn’t say
Wrecking balls inside my brain
I will scream them loud tonight
Can you hear my voice this time? 

This is my fight song
Take back my life song
Prove I’m alright song
My power’s turned on
Starting right now I’ll be strong
I’ll play my fight song
And I don’t really care if nobody else believes
‘Cause I’ve still got a lot of fight left in me” 


I Tag 

* Em at Keystrokeblog.com 

* Universenotebook 

* Anyone else who wants to do it.