What's Up Wednesday

What's Up Wednesday

Posted by Raven M on 3:25 PM in music, the girl of fire and thorns, unfair, what's up wednesday, writing,

I love this so much!

WHAT I'M READING

I am still mentally reading The Bitter Kingdom. I finished it last week but I have been thinking about it ever since I read the last page. It was just THAT good.  If you haven't read The Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy, I highly recommend it. Especially if you like adventure, new twists on old tropes, swoony romance, and diverse characters. I have a million other books to choose from, so we'll see what I pick up next.

 

WHAT I'M WRITING

I am still working on Unfair. I'm not sure if I'll finish it anytime soon but it would be great if this was the year that I finished writing another book. I love this story a lot because it's something I want to read. I'm not sure if I will ever query it or if I'll be brave enough to let someone else read it but, for now, it feels good writing something without limitations.

WHAT WORKS FOR ME

 

I love music. It's one of the things I love just as much as I love reading and writing. But, unfortunately, it takes a lot of effort for me to listen to it whenever I write because I tend to sing along and if it's a song I really like, then more singing off-key happens than actual writing. The only exception is when the music fits the story that I'm trying to tell. It doesn't have to be the entire song. It can just be one line or the guitar solo or even just the singer's voice. I have had Hozier's debut album on repeat because, not only am I extremely in love with his voice and him, but it has inspired me to be more creative and more daring with my writing. It also got me to churn out 4.5K, which is a lot for me considering it's the first time in months that I have written anything that wasn't school related.

 

WHAT ELSE IS NEW

1. I made it through last semester with all As and one B, which is surprising because I was certain I would fail at least two of my classes. That may or may not be an exaggeration but I still wasn't expecting to do as well as I did.
2. I go back to school (after being on vacation for three weeks) on Saturday. I'm going to miss being home but I am excited that junior year is halfway over.
3. I have decided that I'm going to work writing into my schedule for this semester. I suck at time management but someone tweeted (can't remember who) that if you really want to write, you'll make time for it and while I can whine and say it's impossible to write while in college...there are people with kids and careers who still find time to write books.

 

 

That's it from me.  I hope everyone had a wonderful Wednesday and thanks for reading! :)

 

Continue Reading

What's Up Wednesday

What's Up Wednesday

Posted by Raven M on 4:04 AM in college, inspiration, penn state, what's up wednesday, writing,

WHAT I'M READING

Nothing at the moment. I haven't read anything in about a week or two and I don't know why. I have such a long TBR list to get through before I go back to school.

WHAT I'M WRITING

I haven't written anything since Monday. I didn't even attempt to work on any of my WIPs. I'm hoping this is a different story by next Monday. All of this lack of writerly productivity sucks!

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

 

Well, in case I haven't mentioned this before, I have to go to a different campus to finish out my degree because my old one didn't offer my major (Sociology). I was a little nervous about switching and while I am going to miss my old campus a lot, finding out that I get to live in the best (from what I've heard) residence hall on campus is making me really excited to move in. It was designed by the same architect who did Harvard's dorms (once upon a time I wanted to go to Harvard for law school, so I think that's freakin' awesome), it's walking distance from most of my classes, and it's EXTREMELY GORGEOUS. I might not get much time to write next semester but if I do I'm inspired just by the thought of being able to write surrounded by such beautiful scenery.

 

 

This picture doesn't really do it much justice but it's really pretty in person.

 



WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

 

Aside from gushing over where I'm living next year, I've been preparing for next semester since it's literally around the corner. I am going shopping this week for school supplies. I honestly hate this part of the going-back-to-school process. It involves shopping; my least favorite thing to do.

 

In other news, I HAVE AN INTERNSHIP! I keep wanting to shout that from every rooftop haha. I know that it's going to be a challenge juggling my schoolwork and an internship but I welcome that challenge with open arms.

 

 

Enough about me, what's going on with you guys?

Continue Reading

What's Up Wednesday

What's Up Wednesday

Posted by Raven M on 12:05 AM in inspiration, love in the time of comic con, unfair, what's up wednesday, working on my fitness, writing,

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme started by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk where writers post about what's up by answering four questions. If you want to participate, you can click on either one of the links.

 

WHAT I'M READING

 

I haven't been doing a lot of reading, which isn't a good thing. I want to take some time to do that this week, especially since I won't have to do it once school starts back up. I go back next month!

 

 

WHAT I'M WRITING

 

I'm still working on Unfair although I might take a break from it sometime this week to work on my side project, Love in the Time of Comic Con. It's a YA Contemporary Romance that is about 5K so far. I love my main character, Jet. She's so much fun to write and she's a nerd like me, which is something I really like. I've never been to Comic Con (I'm going to go one of these days!) so working on this story gives me an excuse to watch all of the Comic Con related videos on YouTube and pin pictures from the convention on Pinterest. Not that I don't do that every year anyways hehe.

 

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

 

This post on anger. Camellia, the main character of Unfair, is very angry. While it doesn't show all the time, because she does a great job of hiding it, it's really interesting to think about the different ways to show anger without actually using the word. It's a great post and I think it will help make my writing a lot stronger.

 

 

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

 

I worked out a lot during the school year but once summer vacation came around, I got really lazy. I have been working out on and off but lately I have decided that I want to try to be more consistent with my routine so, when school starts, I can keep at it. So far, it's going really good. It's kicking my butt but I know it'll be worth it in the long run.

I also revamped the blog! It took awhile for me to find a template that I liked but I settled on this one because I LOVE the birds, for reasons that are probably obvious lol

 

 

So...how's your week going so far?

 

Continue Reading

What's Up Wednesday

What's Up Wednesday

Posted by Raven M on 2:22 AM in deliver us from evil, inspiration, Pittsburgh, shadow & bone, unfair, what's up wednesday, writing,

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme started by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk where writers post about what's up by answering four questions. If you want to participate, you can click on either one of the links.

 

WHAT I'M READING

Shadow & Bone still. I stopped reading to focus on my writing for a bit. I realize that at this rate, it'll take a million years to get to Ruin & Rising but I'm not in any rush to get to the end. I don't think I'm ready to say goodbye to this series just yet.

WHAT I'M WRITING

 

I added 1K since Monday, which makes me really happy. This means that I have about 27K words in all. The idea that I'm so close to 30,000 excites me. I know that I am nowhere near finished with this story but I get one word closer to my goal each day and that's all that matters.

 

It's a little rough and it might change in the next draft but here's some of what I wrote:

We’ve been through so much together so it wasn’t fair for me to pretend like he hadn’t lost as much as I have or that he didn’t hate the queen just as much. But because Wynn was stronger than I was; because he could bury his pain and anger without the help of the sun gods or sangria, I forgot that deep down he was just like me. We both had a shred of darkness in us. He just was better at making his darkness look like light.

I also partially figured out how I wanted Unfair to end. It might change once I get to that point but it feels good to have a scene to work towards.

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

 
My main character. She's so different than I am and the things that she says/the choices that she makes always surprises me. I guess some people would say that I'm the one making up the things she's doing and saying but, sometimes, it just doesn't feel like that.

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

 

I stayed with a friend over the weekend. We've known each other since freshman year and it already feels like we've been friends for years. I guess it's true what they say about the people you meet in college being life-long friends? Well, anyways, I had blast. We had a few adventures that were worthy of a YA novel and we also went downtown to see the fireworks for the Fourth of July. Needless to say, once we got down there for the festivities, we didn't see the fireworks because we got distracted BUT I was able to take pictures. Okay, I only took two but they remind me of just how much I love my city. I have always wanted to write a novel set in Pittsburgh so I hope, one day, I get the chance.

Oops! That guy wasn't supposed to be there lol

 

We also went to go to see Deliver Us From Evil. We got to the theater late so we missed some of the movie but aside from drooling over Eric Bana and Edgar Ramirez we were surprised at how much we liked it, considering that our scary movie standards are pretty high. My friends and I will go see just about any horror flick. We went through just about every scary film on Netflix when we weren't studying or doing homework. Some of them were extremely corny, others were so disturbing that we couldn't sleep afterwards. Deliver Us From Evil was far from corny and it wasn't really disturbing but it was...scary. I may or may not have screamed a few times. So, if you're into films like that, I highly recommend it.

 

 

How's your week going so far? 



Continue Reading

What's Up Wednesday

What's Up Wednesday

Posted by Raven M on 12:01 AM in carpe juvenis, college, inspiration, shadow & bone, unfair, what's up wednesday, writing,

 

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme started by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk where writers post about what's up by answering four questions. If you want to participate, you can click on either one of the links.

 

 

WHAT I'M READING

 

 

 

I am still re-reading Shadow & Bone. It's going really slow but it feels good to revisit this world again. And, is it bad that I still really like the Darkling even after I know about all the things that he's done? I'm going to assume the answer to my question is yes.

 

 

WHAT I'M WRITING

 

Well I wrote three sentences! I know that's not a lot but it's a step up from not having anything at all. I'm really excited about getting back into the story and to be done with notes. Also, remember in my Ready. Set. Write! post when I said my flash drive was broke? Well, it's still broke BUT I was able to retrieve the updated file of my wip as well as some other files. I write mostly in Scrivener because I don't have Microsoft Word on my new laptop. I knew about the backup feature that Scrivener has but, I guess, in my frustration, I forgot about it. So, after remembering it existed and a few minutes of searching, I found the backup folders. Yay! And I do use Dropbox and OneDrive but I didn't think to save the files in one of those places (I know I know) instead of my flash drive. I have learned my lesson now. I won't be relying too much on flash drives anymore. I'm just glad I got some of my writing back! Thanks for all of the tips everyone. I think on top of saving my writing to Dropbox and OneDrive, I'll email them to myself too. :)

 

 

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

 

The worldbuilding in Shadow & Bone. I like how it's complex but not too complicated. I just really love this book and the series and the more I read, the more it inspires me to want to get my own YA Fantasy written.

 

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

 

I got some exciting school/internship related things in my inbox yesterday. My first article over at Carpe Juvenis also went up (which I was pretty excited about!!!), so the first day of July started off pretty good for me. I hope that it's a sign that this will be a great month.

 

 

How's your week going so far? I hope July started off wonderful for you guys!

Continue Reading

What's Up Wednesday

What's Up Wednesday

Posted by Raven M on 11:47 AM in carpe juvenis, inspiration, shadow & bone, unfair, what's up wednesday, writing,

 

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme started by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk where writers post about what's up by answering four questions. If you want to participate, you can click on either one of the links.

 

WHAT I'M READING

 

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. I want to reread S&B and S&S before I buy Ruin and Rising. I keep hearing everyone talk about how amazing it is on Twitter so I can't wait until I can get to it.

 

 

WHAT I'M WRITING

 

Well I'm still working on Unfair. I just haven't done a lot of writing lately. I have jotted down a few sentences here and there but nothing big. I really want to get back into the swing of writing but this week isn't really going well in that department. I'm not giving up hope though! I will be sure to update you guys on my progress on Monday!

 

 

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

 

I think it's amazing that people can start off with one scene in their head and then turn into a book. Writing is such a wonderful thing and I'm not saying that because I'm a writer. As a reader, I am in awe of every book I read - good or bad. And it's mostly because, at one point, every book we see at the bookstore was just a draft or an idea that stemmed from a dream or something the author saw or heard or felt or whatever inspired them to sit down and turn their idea into a novel. The book-writing process is painful and hard and sometimes it makes me want to cry and rip my hair out but there's no denying that it's amazing, life-changing, and extremely inspiring.

 

 

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

 

I recently became a contributing writer for Carpe Juvenis, an online publication that's all about, well, seizing your youth. You can learn more about it here. I'm really excited about being apart of the team and I already have a few ideas for articles I want to write, so I'm going to be mostly working on that this week. It feels great to be doing something productive with my summer especially since looking for a job and/or internship didn't go too well. I can't wait to tell you guys more about it. :)

 

 

Thanks for reading guys! I hope everyone is having a productive week. 

Continue Reading

What's Up Wednesday

What's Up Wednesday

Posted by Raven M on 11:04 AM in birthday, college life, goals, inspiration, love in the time of comic con, reading, unfair, what's up wednesday, writing,

 

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme started by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk where writers post about what's up by answering four questions. If you want to participate, you can click on either one of the links.

WHAT I'M READING

 

I finished reading On the Fence by Kasie West a few days ago (it might've been Monday but I'm not sure lol) and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND  IT (yes, the caps were necessary). It was such a sweet book and it's a perfect read for the summer. I only wish that I was able to sit on the beach and read it but that's the reality of living in Pennsylvania. It may be considered 'east coast' but I don't actually live on the coast. So no beaches for me. Either way, On the Fence was a great book to read curled up on the couch and I'm sure it would be great to read in other places too. I hope you guys check it out when it releases in July.

As of now I'm still reading The Swan and the Jackal by J. A. Redmerski. It's taking me forever to read because I keep getting distracted by other books. And Ruin & Rising just released so I know that in order for me to get it, I must finish this first. Otherwise, I'll kick it to the curb because I've been waiting for R&R for what feels like a very long time.

 

 

 

WHAT I'M WRITING

 

I did get some writing done but it wasn't Unfair-related. I was doing some reading up on how to handle those pesky shiny new ideas and most people have been saying that if you spend some time getting it 'out of your system' then you should be okay. I gave myself a day to work on Love in the Time of Comic Con, a YA Contemp idea (you can find out more about it here) that's been bugging me for a few days now and I ended up writing about 5K for it. It's at a point where I feel comfortable enough to leave it alone but I know that if I ever need a break from Unfair, I'll set a timer, work on it for maybe an hour, and then once that time is up, I'll go back to working on my main project. I don't feel the urge to work on any SNIs, surprisingly, so I'm really excited about getting back to Unfair (maybe that mini break was exactly what I needed). I don't know how much I'll get done today since I'm going out with my mom later, so we'll see.

 

 

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

 

I'm going to have to say storytelling. I have had that song Rude by MAGIC! stuck in my head for a few days now and so I decided to listen to it because strangely that's what helps me get a song out of my head. Anyways, I found an acoustic version on YouTube and the lead singer was talking about how the story behind the song was made up and that none of them have actually experienced any of what the guy in the music video/song was going through. Him saying that reminded me a lot of how I feel about writing. I usually write stories that have nothing to do with me. My main characters aren't anything like me and I do that on purpose. In my opinion, storytelling isn't storytelling if you don't challenge yourself to tell a story that isn't your own. In other words, I don't want to write an autobiography. Maybe there are elements of my life that I use as a basis for my characters but being able to use those elements to create a character that is their own person is what I love so much about storytelling.

 

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

 

My birthday (excluding today) is in three days! I went out for lunch to celebrate with my mom and two of my cousins yesterday since my mom works on weekends and my birthday unfortunately falls on Saturday this year. I'll most likely spend the day reading Ruin & Rising because I don't really do much on my actual birthday anyway. But my mom and I are going out for dinner later on, which I'm really excited about. These last few days being a teenager weren't as scary as I thought they would be, only because I know I'm still going to be the same kid when I'm twenty. I mean, just because you get older, it doesn't necessarily mean you have to grow up completely.

 

I've been worried about not having enough money for next year since I'm changing campuses and the one I'm going to is a little bit more expensive. But I got an email saying to check my financial aid and thankfully the university has given me a scholarship and a grant which pretty much took care of the rest of my tuition. That was some much-needed good news because I've been bummed about not being able to find a job (started looking for one in the beginning of May) because I'm in college. That's the answer I've been getting a lot, which sucks, but it's a relief to know that at least my tuition is taken care of.

 

Thanks for reading! 

Continue Reading

What's Up Wednesday

What's Up Wednesday

Posted by Raven M on 9:57 AM in inspiration, reading, supernatural, unfair, what's up wednesday, writing,

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme started by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk where writers post about what's up by answering four questions. If you want to participate, you can click on either one of the links.

 

WHAT I'M READING

 

The Swan and the Jackal by R. A. Redmerski. I started it about a week and a half ago and it usually only takes me a few days (or one, depending on the book) to read something. However, I've been more preoccupied with my own story which sucks but hopefully I will be able to get back to reading this week. I also received an ARC of On the Fence by Kasie West a few days ago, and I'm excited to read it because it's on my TBR list and it's YA Contemporary, which is something I haven't read in a really long time.

 

WHAT I'M WRITING

 

Unfair has always had a prologue but after reading over the old one, I decided that it didn't fit the story that I wanted to tell so I scraped it and wrote a few sentences in Snow White's POV instead. Before it was told from the Prince's POV about his first encounter with Snow White, and it just didn't seem to do anything for the story. Even though my WIP isn't about Snow White, she does play a major role in main plot so it only seems right to start there. I also took some notes on the world-building, backstory, and the relationships each of the characters have with each other. So this week, so far, has been surprisingly productive. I can't wait to see what I have done by next week's RSW check-in.

 

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

 

A number of things have been inspiring me this week:

 

For one, Thistle and Weeds by Mumford & Sons has been on repeat ever since I first heard it on YouTube yesterday. I was always aware of this band but I've never actually listened to their music. Then I listened to White Blank Page and the rest was history. I really love this particular song because it fits my story so perfectly. It just doesn't tell the story of one character either, which is what I love about it. I hear it and I think about each of my character's individual stories and it's truly an awesome thing when you find a song that allows you to do that.





 

 

The original Snow White story is always an inspiration for me because even though this is a retelling, I do want to make sure that my story keeps the dark elements of the original tale. While I like Disney, their version of the tale written by the Grimm Brothers doesn't really intrigue me like the original does. I also have a fairytale book (didn't know I had it until I found it the other day) with a translation of the original Snow White in it, so I've been reading over that a lot lately.

 

 

When I was first coming up with the idea for the story, one of the questions I asked (after figuring out who Snow White was and what she would do) was: how does her actions affect the rest of the world? So coming up with the backstory and trying to piece together my own world by using our world as a blueprint has been very interesting. I want to draw a map so I can visualize where I want everything to be but...my drawing skills aren't that great when it comes to map-making haha.

 

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

 

We're most likely moving before the end of the summer so I've been helping my mom pack up some of the things we don't need out anymore and throwing away old stuff. I found some of my old stories from when I was in high school and the years before that. It's always interesting to see what kind of writer I was back then and even more than that - what kind of person. I'm a much different person now than I was then but I am also still the same in some ways. So looking back on my younger self was a lot like saying hello to an old friend and that was nice, especially since I'll be hitting another milestone in ten days. My birthday is on the 21st and I will be the big 2-0. Haha, okay. Maybe it's not that big of a deal but I can't wait to see what my twenties has in store for me.

 

I've also been re-watching Supernatural obsessively. So far, I have watched it every summer since I've started college so it's sorta kinda like an obsession tradition. Not only does it make me wish I had a sibling to go on a 'road trip' and fight monsters with but it's also teaching me a lot about character development. Since I'm an only child and don't know much about sibling relationships, accept for what I read/see in real life or on TV, Sam/Dean's relationship is really helping me with the dynamics of my MC's relationship with her sister. There are people who don't like Supernatural (and I just look at those people like: O.O) but even if you're one of those people, there is no denying that all of the main characters have grown throughout each season and it's a wonderful thing to watch and to learn from.

 

Thanks for reading! :)

Continue Reading

What's Up Wednesday

What's Up Wednesday

Posted by Raven M on 9:29 AM in college life, diversity, inspiration, reading, ready. set. write!, the girl of fire and thorns, unfair, what's up wednesday, writing,

 

What's Up Wedneday is a weekly meme started by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk where writers post about what's up by answering four questions. If you want to participate go here:

WHAT I'M READING

 

I'm still reading The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson.



 

 

 

 

 

WHAT I'M WRITING

 

I'm still at the same wordcount as Friday, less than 600 words from the 25K mark. (I posted my What's Up Wednesday post on Friday because I was out of town that week, and couldn't post it earlier.) I did, however, rework the opening of Unfair and post it on WriteOnCon. You can read it here. I got a lot of great feedback, and even though I am nowhere near finished with Unfair, the opening is starting to look a lot better. If you posted anything on WriteOnCon, and you want a critique, feel free to post a link in the comments, and I'll try to get to it.

 

 

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

 

I love this post about Diversity in Writing by Ellen Cho. She hits on a lot of great points, and I think everyone should read it.

 

I have to say that I love it when people in the writing community talk about diversity. I run across a lot of racist people on the internet, and though it's never been directed towards me, some of the things that people say to other people still hurt. There are times when I just want to give up the internet because of all of those things, but then I remember the community I am apart of. No I don't know A LOT of writers but the ones I *know* and the ones I see post on writing-related forums or articles are so respectful and kind and eager to learn. I can't explain how much that inspires me; how much that makes me feel like the world we live in won't always be the way that it is.

 

Speaking of the writing community, I am glad to have written with y'all this summer. I honestly don't know where Unfair would be if I hadn't stumbled across What's Up Wednesday/Ready. Set. Write! I don't think I would've gotten any writing done. I started this summer feeling down because I couldn't find the story that stuck. Now I have characters that I truly love, and the drive to actually finish this story. I couldn't have gotten to this point without everyone's support. Thank you.

 

And a HUGE thank you to Alison, Elodie, Katy, Jaime, and Erin! My writing care packages came and they made me so happy. There are a lot of great things that I can't wait to use to finish Unfair. Ready. Set. Write! was a great idea, and I'm so glad that I was apart of it.

 

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

 

School shopping! I spent the whole of yesterday going from store to store, getting things that I need for this semester, and I got most of what I need, which is good because I LOATHE shopping. The less time I have to spend in a store, the better.

 

I go back to school next Wednesday so this might be my last What's Up Wednesday/Ready. Set. Write! post for a while. Once I get settled into school and get a feel for the semester, I'm going to work out a schedule, so I can write and still stay on top of school work.

 

I'm going to miss having loads of free time but I am really excited about going back to school. People look at me funny when I say this. There are a lot of people who don't like school and that's understandable. College is stressful. I can't begin to count how many nights I've stayed up until three o'clock in the morning studying or trying to finish an assignment. But college is also A LOT of fun. Plus, I have a suite with two of my friends. Freshman year, I really couldn't connect with my roommate, so it's going to be fun having not just one but two roommates that are my friends.

 

 

Thanks for reading! How was your writing week?

 

Continue Reading