Cheryl Rainfield's Blog, page 89
October 28, 2011
sweet video from healer Simon Hay to me
Check out this absolutely sweet video by healer Simon Hay telling me he loves me out loud. I Love You Out Loud is a fantastic movement bringing positivity and love to people–it helps spread good feeling. It was a treat to watch Simon's video, and hear that he appreciates my books, my speaking out and breaking silences about abuse, trauma, self-harm, being queer, etc, and my supporting teens and other people who've been through similar experiences.
Simon Hay is a soul healer who lives in Australia, does long distance healing and travels the world to help people. He puts a lot of good into the world, too!
October 26, 2011
Want your name in a book by Robin Brande, Shannon Hale, Kiersten White, Becca Fitzpatrick, Janette Rallison, or Brandon Mull? Bid!
Do you want your name in a book by YA authors Robin Brande (Fat Cat, Doggirl), Shannon Hale (Enna Burning, Forest Born), Kiersten White (Supernaturally, Paranormalcy), Becca Fitzpatrick (Hush, Hush, Silence), Janette Rallison (My Unfair Godmother, Just One Wish), or Brandon Mull (Fablehaven, A World Without Heroes: Beyonders)? Well, you have a chance to have a character named after you by placing a bid for a very worthy cause–Kids Need To Read, which provides books for underfunded libraries.
The auctions begin Sat Oct 29th (with a separate auction for each other) at the Kids Need To Know eBay store, and will end on Nov 02, 2011. This sounds like an exciting and fun auction. Imagining having a character named after you in a book by one of your favorite authors! I think it would also make an incredible gift for a booklover.
Check out for more details.
October 25, 2011
Check out the comic strip tie-in for HUNTED–Teen Para!
I'm SO excited to share this with you! Check out the NEW Teen Para: A HUNTED Bonus Comic Strip! A comic strip that ties into my upcoming paranormal fantasy/dystopian novel HUNTED (releases Dec 02).
Isn't it gorgeous? (Click on the snapshot to see the full comic. It may take a few seconds to load because it's a big graphic file.) I had SO much fun creating this! I wrote the comic strip–which means I not only wrote the dialogue (well, the thought bubbles) that you see, but I also wrote the setting, what happens in the panels, what the character and poster and things look like, what the ParaWatch poster looks like, etc.
And then a very talented artist, V Shane, took my comic script and made it come to life–even more than I'd written, with loving detail. He did SUCH a beautiful job! (beaming) He not only did the drawing, but he also did the lettering, inking, coloring. I feel so lucky to have found Shane!
I love comics, so it was fun and exciting to be able to write a comic strip that ties into my novel HUNTED. There will be come to come, too! Shane and I are creating a 6-page comic book to tie into HUNTED, and there will be some more comic strips, too. I hope you enjoy the strip as much as I do!
October 24, 2011
YA author Bobbie Pyron on The Perks of Being BiPolar
I love it when people talk about things that affect them, that can affect other people, too. Things that can be hard to talk about, but need to be talked about. I think talking about painful things can help make a positive difference in the world. So I'm proud of YA author Bobbie Pyron for her article The Perks of Being BiPolar.
I don't have BiPolar. But I do know what it's like to live with severe depression, PTSD, and DID (resulting from the child abuse and torture I endured) and it can feel unbearable, hard to live through sometimes. And sometimes it can be hard to talk about–especially if people judge it. Some people do judge.
But when someone speaks out, it helps to make such a positive difference–for people who've been through the same or similar experiences, and for others who never have, but ho might be able to understand someone they love or know a bit better because of it.
So kudos to Bobbie Pyron for speaking out!
Bobbie Pyron is the author of A Dog's Way Home and The Ring.
October 23, 2011
Guest Post by YA author Catherine Ryan Hyde. Leave a comment to get a copy of her ebook
Today I have a special treat for you–a guest post by YA author Catherine Ryan Hyde, author of Pay It Forward, Jumpstart the World, Becoming Chloe, and many other books.
[image error]Catherine's book Second Hand Heart, a crossover YA book, was traditionally published in the UK, and now Catherine has made it available to the rest of us as an ebook.
If you'd like a copy of Catherine's ebook, leave a comment on this post telling her so (along with your email address) this week (Oct 22-Oct 29) and you will get a free copy. That's right–every single person who leaves a comment on this post will get a copy of the ebook, guaranteed! What an incredibly generous offer!
And now, to Catherine's thoughtful guest post.
Guest Post: Catherine Ryan Hyde
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I had an interesting conversation with a reader a few days ago. Well, I call it a conversation, but it actually took the form of direct Twitter messages. These days that's a viable conversation.
This reader is a blogger who had just reviewed my novel Second Hand Heart. And it was a good, thoughtful review, in which my book came off well. But there was one part of the way the novel developed that was not okay with her. That she just did not like.
I'd read a more detailed and honest description of her feelings about this on Goodreads, and I was able to match that up with this review. I wanted her to know that, in my mind at least, there was more love and consideration in that moment than she might have gathered. But I was unsure how to approach the situation. Because I try to take a step back and view the reader experience with a lot of latitude and respect.
Did it really matter what I intended for that scene, as opposed to what she took away? Many writers, especially ones newer to reviews and feedback, might say yes. For years I sat in writer's workshops and listened to authors "straighten out" the group about how their work should be received. I'm sure at one time I tried it myself. But there comes a moment when we accept that we send our novel out into the world unaccompanied. Like a child we've finished raising, we let it have a life. We can't follow it around to alter how it's being received. Nor should we.
The truth of the matter, in my opinion, is that we don't own the novel once it's in the hands of its reader. The reader has to take the experience from there. And the reader is not a blank slate. The reader comes to your work with a lifetime of experiences, opinions, judgments, likes and dislikes. And…here's where it gets interesting…the words you wrote and the mind of that reader meld. And the result is a unique experience.
I find this wonderful. I suspect some other authors do not. Well, let's just say it's easier to love it when it goes the author's way. In a recent viral "author behaving badly" meltdown, a reviewer pointed out some problems with the writing, and the author got into the comment section and said, "The writing is fine," then began hurling angry invectives. Such stories—and there have been many lately—never end well. Apparently she wanted to convince the reviewer that he was wrong about what he perceived as a problem. But the reader is never wrong, because fiction is too subjective for right and wrong.
I had a particularly interesting time with this about twelve years ago when my novel Electric God was released. It was a character study of a violently angry man. Granted, his violence was aimed at defending the innocent and righting wrongs. Think of him as the Robin Hood of breaking jaws and getting thrown in jail. In the end it was a book about forgiveness. Forgiving one's self first, then others. Making peace inside so no wars need to play out externally. In the end, Hayden forgave—himself, and others. And laid down his anger. But some readers still didn't forgive him. Most, but not all. I had some interesting conversations with readers, some of whom were surprisingly forthcoming in admitting to me that they were not very forgiving people. Not so surprisingly, they had trouble with the book. This is when I realized that, when people tell me what they thought of my book, they are actually revealing a great deal about themselves. They are describing to me the unique experience that came about when their life history mixed with my story. I learned to listen more objectively.
Back to Second Hand Heart. This reader and blogger was nice enough to explain her own views in a way that made it clear why she would read this scene differently from most others who picked up the book. Ultimately, her reality has to be validated, which is what I did. It doesn't pay to say, "Nine out of ten people liked that." It could be 99 out of 100. Doesn't matter. Doesn't make the hundredth reader wrong. Just different.
I told her I thought it was important to let readers own what they take away from the work. And that authors who quarrel with that are fighting a losing battle and making everybody unhappy, themselves included. I told her that's what I love about reading. It's not just the words. It's the words in special combination with the reader.
Anybody who lives a life deeply surrounded by books has watched some of this unnecessary pain playing out. Feelings get hurt in the writer's group, beta readers become awkward ex-friends or sworn enemies, and well-known and once-well-respected authors put a reviewer's phone number on Twitter so people can call her up and tell her she's wrong.
I've noticed in my own life that any time I feel a deep sense of frustration and stress, I'm probably trying to change something that can't be changed. Like someone else's opinion, for example.
So I try to get better and better about getting out of the readers' way and respecting the unique bonds between them and my book. And if their perception occasionally doesn't match with my intention, probably it's because they're not me. I do this because I deeply respect the process of reading, because I want my reader to be happy…and because I want to be happy, too.
October 22, 2011
Petal in her dragon costume :)
Hallowe'en is a hard time for many ritual abuse survivors–myself included, though it's getting easier every year.
This year I'm trying to make it even lighter by putting someone I love in a costume. Who is it, you ask? Not me–my little dog Petal! I think she's so cute in her sparkly dragon costume. (smiling)
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October 21, 2011
*free* HUNTED Bonus Short Story – ebook!
I know it can be hard to wait until a book is released–especially when the release date gets pushed back. So, while you're waiting, why not download the FREE ebook: PinPoint: A HUNTED Bonus Short Story
Download the free bonus short story to help celebrate HUNTED:
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Kindle (mobi for Kindle devices and apps)
PDF (reading directly on your computer or printing)
Or head over to Smashwords to download these and other formats.
I hope you enjoy it! And if you do, I hope you'll share the ebook around, and let your friends know about it.
New Release Date for HUNTED: Dec 2nd
I just found out: The NEW Release Date for HUNTED is December 2nd! Sometimes that happens in the publishing world. I'm looking forward to HUNTED getting out into the world!
I'm planning a lot of fun stuff for the release date–giveaways, a Twitter Party, and more. I'll hope you'll join me.
October 19, 2011
Show your support for LGBTQ youth and speak out against bullying – wear purple Oct 20th
Stand up against anti-LGBTQ bullying tomorrow, Oct 20–wear purple, and if you're on Twitter or FaceBook, make your profile pic purple for Spirit Day.
Spirit Day was started in 2010 by teen Brittany McMillan because of the many gay youth who killed themselves. Tomorrow, many individuals, schools, organizations, corporations, media professionals and celebrities will wear purple, which symbolizes spirit on the rainbow flag.
I'll be wearing purple. And I've made me Twitter pic purple as well. I hope you'll join me and so many others.
