Life and Writing Updates | Goals for 2021

Greetings, readers and writers of the Blogosphere! Remember me? I took another unplanned hiatus from this blog, Twitter, and the internet in general, so now I get to write a giant update post explaining everything that happened in my absence.

Let’s start with life stuff:

I think we can all agree that 2020 was a weird year. If you can’t agree with that statement, you should probably go read something else. Here’s a quick rundown of my 2020 experience:

• I went into isolation in March due to Covid and haven’t really emerged yet. I’d rather not find out what Covid would do to me when combined with my multiple autoimmune disorders.
• The previously mentioned multiple autoimmune disorders decided to act up after being mostly controlled for a while. It made me pretty dysfunctional for a good chunk of the year, (which is mostly why I took an unplanned hiatus from the internet), but I was able to stop some medicine that I thought I’d never be able to stop, so it turned out to be a good thing.
• I learned that taking three English classes simultaneously, (one poetry class and two literary analysis classes), is a terrible idea, but I’m doing it again next semester anyway. It’ll be fine… my fingers probably won’t fall off from typing so much.
• I have decided that I really, really like online classes. It’s easier from an accessibility standpoint, (I’m blind if you’re new here), and not traveling to and from campus allows for more reading and writing time.
• I started a job which is another reason for my unplanned hiatus from the internet.

Now, the writing update:

2020 was actually very good for my writing. I wrote a lot of words while I was avoiding society and the internet, and I’m actually pretty proud of those words. Here’s what I accomplished:

• I finished another round of revisions on “Scarred Flawless”. I’m not totally happy with it yet, but I’ve decided to put it down for a while and work on other things. It still has some serious issues with world building and tone that I’m not sure how to fix.
• I outlined “Indie Blue”, wrote half of the first draft for NaNoWriMo, and am now in the process of fixing all the plot holes. My plan is to have the second draft done by the end of January. I don’t have a synopsis up on the website yet, but it’s about a killer manatee cult. That’s all you need to know for now.
• I wrote a short story called “Stars Fade” that I am currently submitting to literary magazines. It’s about a girl named Nova who burns her mother’s Tarot deck as a way of grieving her mother’s death.
• I started outlining a short story called “Your Name is Evangeline”. I have no idea how to describe it yet, so more on that later.
• I wrote two poems called, “The Snow Globe Can’t be Fixed Anymore”, and “Bitter Liquid”, that I am quite proud of even though I do not consider myself a particularly good poet. Those are also being submitted to magazines at the moment.

Writing Goals for 2021

I am only giving myself one writing goal for 2021, and that is to finish revisions on “Indie Blue”. I’ve got a couple of other projects that I’d love to finish, but Indie is my priority right now. I’ll be working and taking creative writing classes as well, so I don’t want to create a ton of writing goals that I probably won’t be able to accomplish. I am quite confident in my ability to finish Indie by the end of the year if not earlier.

What are your writerly plans?

Let’s chat in the comments. Tell me about your works in progress, your 2020 writing achievements, and your writerly plans for the new year.

2019 Writing and Reading Recap

Hello, people of the Blogosphere! I very obviously did not stick to my 2019 goal of blogging regularly or even at all, and i am not making that a goal for 2020 because college and adulting ate my life, and when I’m not doing either of those things, I usually want to be writing books instead of blog posts. however, I have returned to the internet after almost a year of silence for my annual recap of writing goals and favorite books of the year. I do genuinely hope to post more in 2020 because exciting writerly things may be happening in the upcoming year, but no promises!

Let’s start with a recap of my 2019 writing goals…

◦Finish editing Scarred Flawless: I’m calling this one a partial win! I said in my last recap post that Scarred Flawless had a lot of major developmental problems pertaining to world building because the geography of fictional worlds is one of life’s great mysteries, and maps are hard. Well, the developmental edits are DONE as of a few hours ago!!!! I think the whole thing is logical and coherent now, or at least it will be once I finish the line edits and eradicate all the strange sentences I created at 3 AM.

◦Start drafting Fractured Faith: This did not happen. I don’t even have Fractured Faith fully outlined, but it’s fine. Fractured Faith is the sequel to Scarred Flawless, and Scarred Flawless was my priority for 2019, so I am perfectly happy with what I did accomplish in regards to that series.

◦Start outlining Scarred Flawless Book 3: This sort of happened? I have a few index cards for it at least. Again, this is fine though because at least I mostly met my goal for the first book in the series.

◦Finish outlining Unmarked: That didn’t happen either because I started working on a new book, (Indie Blue), instead of Unmarked. I am quite happy with this arrangement though because i feel like I could sit down and draft Indie Blue right now whereas Unmarked still needs a lot of outlining and research before it’s ready to be drafted.

2020 Writing Goals:

I am only giving myself two major writing goals for 2020 because I am taking Creative Writing I in school this semester, and I’m not sure how much or what kind of writing that is going to require. My two goals are:

◦Finish line edits for Scarred Flawless and get it in the hands of beta readers

◦Finish the zero draft of Indie Blue

2019 Reading Recap:

I read 60 new books in 2019 and failed to review all of them because book review formatting is hard and adulting/school/Scarred Flawless took priority over that. So… here is a list of my top ten favorite books of 2019 with links to Goodreads instead of my own reviews!

1. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. The people weren’t kidding when they said this one was graphic and intense, but man was it good! Yet another work of literary genius from Leigh bardugo!

2. Call Down the Hawk by Maggie stiefvater. This one was my 20th birthday present to myself. It was well worth the audible credit. I don’t have anything more to say about it other than Maggie Stiefvater created another literary masterpiece, and I want to reread it now.

1. The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang. This is an absolutely fantastic sequel to The Poppy War.

2. Sadie by Courtney Summers. This is not my usual genre, but I absolutely loved this book! It is dark, and suspenseful, and it has a very unique writing style.

3. Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan. This one has people who can talk to gods, and creepy mages, and it is amazing.

4. How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow. This is the only book that made me cry in 2019. Kathleen Glasgow is really good at making me cry, but her writing is fabulous, and I will read everything she writes.

5. The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi. To be quite honest, I really don’t remember much about this book because I read it whilst curled up in bed with a sinus infection trying to drown out my roommates with the audio book, but I gave it 5 stars, so it must have been fabulous!

6. Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus. I will read everything Karen McManus writes because her first two books have both been 5 star reads for me.

7. The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black. This was a stunning conclusion to Holly Black’s “Folk of the Air” trilogy.

8. King of Fools by Amanda Foody. This was an excellent sequel to Ace of Shades. Amanda Foody did not disappoint.

2020 Reading Goals

My only reading goal for 2020 is to finish 75 new books. I’m not starting any other kind of reading challenges because I definitely will not stick to them. Feel free to leave some of your 2019 favorites or 2020 books you’re anticipating in the comments though, and I’ll add them to my terrifyingly long TBR! Also, if you’re a writer, let me know what you accomplished this year and what you hope to accomplish in 2020.

Snippet Sunday | Blood Magic

Snippet Sunday is a weekly post in which you share a snippet from your current writing project. This snippet is from Scarred Flawless, (my YA fantasy novel).

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“Blood magic was a vile, twisted thing that never failed to make him ill–Cobalt or no Cobalt.”

Top Ten Tuesday | Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2019

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and allows us to combine our love of books with our love of lists. This week’s topic is, “My Most Anticipated Releases for the First Half of 2019”.

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1. Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManis
   This may or may not be cheating because it came out today, but I’m still including it because I can’t wait to read it! I’ll be starting it as soon as I finish The Poppy War. I’d start it now, but I promised myself that I wouldn’t do the thing where I read multiple books at a time this year because it never ends well.
2. The Gilded Wolves (The Gilded Wolves #1), by Roshani Chokshi
   This one has mystery and secret societies. Also, Roshani Chokshi wrote it. That’s enough to make me want it in my life!
3. King of Scars (Nikolai Duology #1), by Leigh Bardugo
   It’s set in the Grishaverse! Need I say more? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go read Six of Crows!
4. The Dragon Republic (The Poppy war, #2), by R.F. Kuang
   I’m in the middle of The Poppy War right now, and I can already tell that I am going to need the sequel in my life!
5. How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow
   I’ll read literally anything Kathleen Glasgow writes after reading Girl In Pieces. Also, that title is brilliant!
6. Tunnel of Bones (Cassidy Blake, #2), by Victoria Schwab
   This is the sequel to City of Ghosts which I absolutely adored. Also, Victoria Schwab wrote it, and I’ll read anything she writes!
7. The Bone Charmer by Breeana Shields
   The title is enough to make me want to read this one. Also, there are psychics!
8. Nocturna by Maya Motayne
   This one has shape shifters, and mobsters, and forbidden magic! Enough said!
9. Wicked Saints (Something Dark and Holy #1), by Emily A. Duncan
   First of all, the title is intriguing. Also, there is magic, and murder, and a girl who can talk to gods!
10. On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
    This is not the kind of thing I would normally read, but Angie Thomas made it onto my “Must Read Everything List” with The Hate U Give.

Snippet Sunday | The Catacombs

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

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“Vivian Devereaux did not like cold, dark places, therefore she had a special kind of hatred for the catacombs beneath the Council Hall. Tonight, however, she was going into them whether she liked it or not since that was what the Campaign demanded of the Devereauxs, and Niko had ever so helpfully vanished before he could be called upon to assist.”

Top Ten Tuesday | The Best Books I Read In 2018

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and is designed to combine two great things: books and lists. This Week’s topic is…

The Best Books i Read In 2018

1. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
   This was one of the first books I read in 2018. The story is simultaneously heartbreaking and beautiful, and it lends a lot of perspective to the issue of racial discrimination in our society. If you’ve been putting off reading this like I did for a long time, stop it, and go read it now! You will not regret it!
2. Ace of Shades (The Shadow Game #1) by Amanda Foody
   I’m gonna be honest… I don’t really remember much about this book, but I rated it four stars on Goodreads, and I do remember being absolutely enthralled with the writing as I listened to the audio book and packed up my life to move to college. It has pretty writing, and gambling, and a crazy magic game played with Tarot cards, okay! You should all go read it, and tell me how it ends so I don’t have to reread it before starting the second book! Just kidding… I actually want to reread it.
3. The Belles (The Belles #1) by Dhonielle Clayton
   Once again, I really do not remember the ending to this book… I’m starting to realize that I retained very little of what I read during the first few weeks of school, and I foresee a couple of rereads in 2019! I do remember absolutely adoring the characters, plot, and writing style, and the only note for it in my book review notebook is, “Think Hunger Games meets Uglies“, so if you’re into that, you should read this!
4. The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly Black
   This book has crazy royal fairies and murder! also, Holly Black wrote it! Need I say more?
5. The Hazel Wood (The Hazel Wood #1) by Melissa Albert
   This book features a book full of dark and twisted stories that turn out to be real! Enough said!
6. City of Ghosts (Cassidy Blake, #1) by Victoria Schwab
   This book seems to be targeted at a middle-grade audience rather than my typical young adult genre, but I still love it, and I gave it five stars. I absolutely adore all of the characters, it made me laugh several times during a super crazy time in my life, and I will never turn down a book about ghosties!
7. A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1) by V.E. Schwab
   This was another five star read even though there is an aspect of it that simultaneously enrages and entertains me. This book is pretty dark, but it also had me laughing at several points. I don’t want to say much more about it here because I plan to review it in great detail later.
8. The Lovely Reckless by Kami Garcia
   Okay, so, the romance plot in this book is gag-inducing instalove, but it’s still adorable. Also, there is a car thieving ring and illegal street racing which automatically makes it awesome! Oddly, I remember reading this on the way to my high school graduation whilst unable to breathe through my nose due to a sinus infection. I’m pretty sure that’s the weirdest reading situation I’ve been in this year.
9. We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
   This book almost made me cry, so it automatically earned four stars for evoking so much emotion in my heart of stone. The story is simultaneously beautiful and sad, and… I don’t actually remember if it ended happily or not, but you should read it…
10. Heartless by Marissa Meyer
    Okay, I actually DO remember the ending of this book, and it ripped my heart out!!!! Like I nearly cried, and that doesn’t happen! It had me laughing up until that point though, and I still gave it five stars because speaking as a writer, that plot twist was brilliant!

2018 Writing Recap | 2019 Writing Goals

Hello, people of the Blogosphere! I disappeared from the internet for a very long while! To those of you who messaged me to ask if I was still alive: thank you! Y’all rock! To those of you who didn’t notice my absence: it’s fine! I’m not bitter at all…

Why did I disappear, you ask? Well, to cut a very long story very short, life happened. I started college in August, and let’s just say that being blind as a bat and having a variety of other strange medical disorders made transitioning to college… interesting… for lack of a nicer word. Because of that, I didn’t have the time or energy to dedicate to blogging or really anything other than classes and just enough writing to maintain what was left of my sanity. Next semester should be a lot smoother though, so to kick off 2019, I am going to attempt to return to the Blogosphere and the Twitterverse because I miss writing for an audience rather than just filling pages upon pages of composition books with words that will probably never see the light of day. I seriously doubt that I will be able to maintain a regular posting schedule like I used to, but I’d like to try to post at least twice a month. We’ll just see what happens…

Anyway, (life updates aside), it's New Years Eve, which means it's time for me to tell the world whether or not I accomplished my 2018 writing goals and outline some writerly goals for the coming year! Spoiler alert: I sort of achieved my 2018 goals, and my 2019 goals are probably a bit too ambitious, but I'm a Slytherclaw, so it's fine!

Cheyenne’s 2018 Writing Recap

I had three writerly goals for 2018. They were:
◦Finish the beta reader process for Scarred Flawless
◦Outline Fractured Faith, (Scarred Flawless Book 2)
◦Outline Nevermore Forever

Yeah… okay… obviously the first goal didn’t happen! The fact that I thought that was doable is beyond laughable! Scarred Flawless really needs an update post of its own, but I’ll try to condense it for now. Basically, fictional geography is one of life’s great mysteries, and fixing the disaster that was my first attempt at creating a fictional world is proving to be WAY more difficult than anticipated. I had to resort to making maps, and maps made by the blind girl are more entertaining than useful! I have world building woes, okay! I don’t know when Scarred Flawless is going to be ready for the eyes of other humans, but thank you to all the people on Twitter who have inquired about it! It makes me very happy to know that other people want to read my book based on a couple of quotes from it. In all seriousness, I do hope to have Scarred Flawless ready for betas by the end of 2019. I am currently in the process of finishing what I hope is my final read-through before I start making the final revisions.

My second goal was a bit more of a success. I don’t quite have a scene by scene outline for Fractured Faith, but it is detailed enough that I could start drafting if I so desired, so I’m calling that one a success!

My third goal is a bit more complicated. I did not outline Nevermore Forever, but I did start outlining Unmarked instead! The original idea for Nevermore Forever is still sitting in a Scrivener file somewhere because I do want to come back to it some day, but I care about Unmarked more right now. Unmarked is a young adult thriller, which is not something I ever expected to write, but I kind of love it! The fast-paced vibe is very refreshing after the deep darkness of Scarred Flawless. The outline for Unmarked is nowhere near done, but I have the big picture and a few drafted scenes, so I’m calling this goal a partial success.

Onward to Writerly Plans for 2019!

I only have four writerly goals for 2019. They are:
◦Finish editing Scarred Flawless
◦Start drafting Fractured Faith
◦Start outlining Scarred Flawless Book 3
◦Finish outlining Unmarked
Honestly, I will be more than happy is I only achieve the first goal. Scarred Flawless is my priority right now, and I am ready to be able to hand it over to other people. Outlining and drafting will be my reward for the many hours spent resolving my world building woes.

Share Your Plans

Did you accomplish your goals for 2018? Do you have any writerly plans for the coming year? I want to know in the comments! Also, please let me know if you want to see any specific kinds of posts from me in the near future. I need quick and easy stuff that I can write and schedule, because school is starting again soon.

Snippet Sunday | Soundlessness

Snippet Sunday is a weekly 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).

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“The soundlessness swirled with the kind of simmering, viscous energy that forms when many people collectively hold their tongues out of fear, rage, and raw, untempered hatred.”

Snippet Sunday | Mother’s Day Edition

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

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“My mother was a Faery–the Unseelie kind. She disappeared a long time ago. I don’t remember her.”

The Emotions In Colors Book Tag

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.

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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!

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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! 🙂