plays

death of a salesman, arthur miller

macbeth, shakespeare

a streetcar named desire, tennessee williams

hamlet, shakespeare

a raisin in the sun, lorraine hansberry

a midsummer night’s dream, shakespeare

antigone, sophocles

king lear, shakespeare

the glass menagerie, tennessee williams

othello, shakespeare

pygmalion, george bernard shaw

the tempest, shakespeare,

much ado about nothing, shakespeare

as you like it, shakespeare

the taming of the shrew, shakespeare

the merry wives of windsor, shakespeare

the merchant of venice, shakespeare

oedipus rex, sophocles

an ideal husband, oscar wilde

who’s afraid of virginia wolf, edward albee

our town, thornton wilder

waiting for godot, samuel beckett

fantasy/fairy tales

the ranger’s apprentice, john flanagan

harry potter series, j.k. rowling

inkheart by cornelia funke

throne of glass, sarah j. maas

the chronicles of narnia, c.s. louis

the lord of the rings, j.r.r. tolkien

the hobbit, j.r.r. tolkien

percy jackson and the olympions, rick riordan

eragon by christopher paolini

the bartimaeus trilogy, jonathan stroud

howl’s moving castle, dianna wynne jones

the wonderful wizard of oz, lyman frank baum

the books of bayern, shannon hale

ella enchanted, gail carson levine

the princess bride, william goldman

the raven cycle, maggie stiefvater

the sisters grimm, michael buckley

the spiderwick chronicles, tony diterlizzi and holly black

the alchemist, paulo coelho

forgive my fins, tera lynn childs

alice in wonderland, lewis carroll

the faerie path, allan jones frewin

the school for good and evil, soman chainani

the grimm legacy, polly shulman

the sweetest spell, suzanne selfors

the tales of the frog princess, e.d. baker

the wide-awake princess, e.d. baker

once a witch, carolyn maccullough

the silver bowl series, diane stanley

the emily windsnap series, liz kessler

fairest, gail carson levine

the fairy realm series, emily rodda

the water mirror, kai meyer

the two princesses of bamarre, gail carson levine

non-fiction

the seven habits of highly effective people, stephen covey

the seven habits of highly effective teens, sean covey

mencken’s chrestomathy, h.l. mencken

yes please, amy poehler

is everyone hanging out without me? (and other concerns), mindy kaling

audrey hepburn: an elegant spirit, sean hepburn ferrer

how to be lovely: the audrey hepburn way of life, melissa hellstern

how to win friends and influence people, dale carnegie

how to win friends and influence people for teen girls, donna dale carnegie

#girlboss by sophia amuroso

14,000 things to be happy about, barbara ann kipfer

choose to matter, julie foudy

the little book of skin care: korean beauty secrets for healthy, glowing skin, charlotte cho

where stylists shop: the fashion insider’s ultimate guide, booth moore

the girls’ book of glamour: a guide to being a goddess, jeffrie sally

the girls’ book: how to be the best at everything, juliana foster

the girls’ book of excellence: even more ways to be the best at everything, sally norton

the life-changing magic of not giving a f*ck: how to stop spending time you don’t have with people you don’t like doing things you don’t want to do (a no f*cks given guide), sarah knight

bossypants, tina fey

we should all be feminists by chimamanda ngozi adichie

behind the scenes: or, thirty years a slave, and four years in the white house, elizabeth keckley

the pillow book, sei shōnagon

eat pretty: nutrition for beauty, inside and out, jolene hart

eat pretty every day: 365 daily inspirations for nourishing beauty, inside and out, jolene hart

narrative of the life of frederick douglass, frederick douglass

narrative of sojourner truth, sojourner truth

12 years a slave, solomon northup

night, elie wiesel

poetry

the flowers of evil, charles baudelaire

a season in hell, arthur rimbaud

she walks in beauty, lord byron

shakespeare’s sonnets, shakespeare

we real cool, gwendolyn brooks

poems of emily dickinson

poems of robert frost

leaves of grass, walt whitman

the raven, edgar allen poe

poems of edgar allen poe

milk and honey by rupi kaur

the sun and her flowers, rupi kaur

the princess saves herself in this one, amanda lovelace

romance

romeo and juliet, shakespeare

emma, jane austen

ever, gail carson levine

pride and prejudice, jane austen

eleanor and park, rainbow rowell

sense and sensibility, jane austen

jane eyre, charlotte brontë

landline, rainbow rowell

madame bovary, gustave flaubert

to all the boys i’ve loved before, jenny han

love in the time of cholera, gabriel garcía márquez

the sun is also a star, nicola yoon

young adult

fangirl, rainbow rowell

great expectations, charles dickens

aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe, benjamin alire sáenz

when the moon was ours, anna-marie mclemore

the goldfinch, donna tartt

looking for alaska, john green

we were liars, e. lockhart

the wrath and the dawn, renée ahdieh

little women, louisa may alcott

palace of spies, sarah zettel

the clique series, lisi harrison

the finishing school series, gail carriger

eyes like stars, lisa mantchev

the ever after high series, shannon hale

along for the ride, sarah dessen

girl online, zoe sugg

keeping the castle, patrice kindl

stargirl, jerry spinelli

stir it up, ramin ganeshram

prom and prejudice, elizabeth eulberg

the summer i saved the world…in 65 days, michele weber hurwitz

pink and green series by lisa greenwald

six of crows, leigh bardugo

the catcher in the rye, j.d. salinger

the house on mango street, sandra cisneros

turtles all the way down, john green

under the lights, dahlia adler

geekerella, ashley poston

simon vs. the homo sapiens agenda, becky albertalli

it’s not like it’s a secret, misa sugiura

the idiot, elif batuman

the outsiders, s.e. hinton

everything leads to you, nina lacour

a wrinkle in time, madeleine l’engle

dumplin’, julie murphy

historical fiction

the great gatsby, f. scott fitzgerald

the scarlet letter, nathaniel hawthorne

a tale of two cities, charles dickens

the song of achilles, madeline miller

the last of the mohicans, james fenimore cooper

the constant princess, philippa gregory

the count of monte cristo, alexandre dumas

les misérables, victor hugo

war and peace, leo tolstoy

a mad, wicked folly, sharon biggs waller

manor of secrets, katherine longshore

to kill a mockingbird, harper lee

uncle tom’s cabin, harriet beecher stowe

atonement ian mcewan

the unbearable lightness of being, milan kundera

things fall apart, chinua achebe

ophelia, lisa m. klein

the god of small things, arundhati roy

gothic fiction

frankenstein, mary shelley

dracula, bram stoker

the picture of dorian gray, oscar wilde

wuthering heights, emily brontë

parody/satire

catch-22, joseph heller 

candide, voltaire

don quixote, miguel de cervantes

animal farm, george orwell

the importance of being earnest, oscar wilde

science fiction

the city of ember, jeanne duprau

1984, george orwell

the handmaid’s tale, margaret atwood

brave new world, aldous huxley

the lunar chronicles, marissa meyer

the time machine, h.g. wells

the fourteenth goldfish, jennifer l. holm

fahrenheit 451, ray bradbury

twenty thousand leagues under the sea, jules verne

the extraordinary voyages series, jules verne

epics

beowulf, author unknow

the odyssey, homer

the iliad, homer

the bhagavad gita, vyasa

the mahabharata, vyasa

inferno, dante alighieri

miscellaneous

the bell jar, sylvia plath

the secret history, donna tartt

swann’s way, marcel proust

the art of war, sun tzu

the awakening, kate chopin

moby dick, herman melville

anna karenina, leo tolstoy

the canterbury tales, geoffrey chaucer

the crucible, arthur miller

one flew over the cuckoo’s nest, ken kesey

the antichrist, friedrich nietzsche

sew zoey, nancy taylor and chloe zhang

the candymakers, wendy mass

my sister the vampire series, sienna mercer

eight hundred grapes, laura dave

their eyes were watching god, zora neale hurston

the adventures of huckleberry finn, mark twain

the adventures of tom sawyer, mark twain

a christmas carol, charles dickens

the old man and the sea, ernest hemingway

to the lighthouse, virginia woolf

utopia, thomas more

a spy in the house of love, anaïs nin

crime and punishment, fyodor dostoyevsky

the assistants, camille perri

a room of one’s own, virginia woolf

the joy luck club, amy tan

sputnik sweetheart, haruki murakami

the namesake, jhumpa lahiri

a thousand splendid suns, khaled hosseini

crazy rich asians, kevin kwan

save the date, morgan matson

neuromancer, william gibson

The Family Business was a small coffee shop on 37th Street, run by the Winchester. It was a pleasant coffee shop that was not quite famous, or posh; but the food and coffee at the coffee shop had a taste of warmth and comfort, which was why The Family Business had a number of regular customers.

It was 6 AM, and Dean was the only person in the coffee shop and he was busying himself by arranging the cups into their shelves. The man looked at Dean with weary blue eyes and took out some money from his pocket.

“Coffee with blueberry pie”, he said, shoving the crumpled notes into Dean’s hands. “Didn’t get a good night’s sleep, eh?” Dean asked, surveying the man’s tired hunch and messy ebony hair. The man’s blue tie was backwards, and Dean’s fingers itched to flip it. “What name should I put on it?” Dean asked, but the man walked away as though he had not heard Dean.

The man shuffled over to an empty seat next to the wide window and slumped into it, bumping his head gently against the window. Dean quietly chuckled as he prepared the blue-eyed man’s coffee.

In a matter of seconds, the man slammed his face onto the table and wrapped his hands around his head. Dean frowned slightly and glanced over at the man on hearing the soft thud.

“Hey”, Dean said, sliding a cup of coffee and a slice of pie onto the table. He waited for the man to lift his head, but when he didn’t, Dean poked the man’s arm gently. “Hey.”

The man started snoring lightly, and Dean shook his head, laughing. He decided to let the man sleep; he definitely looked like he could use some sleep. Dean got into the opposite seat.

I think that possibly, maybe I’m falling for you

Dean smiled, listening to the faint music from the radio. Landon Pigg’s soft voice filled the coffee shop, giving Dean the feeling of a certain kind of pleasure.

Yes, there’s a chance that I’ve fallen quite hard over you

Dean tilted his head to look at the unconscious man in front of him. His eyes and nose peeked from the frame that he’d made with his arms.

I see the paths that your eyes wander down

The man’s eyelashes curled beautifully at the ends, and his face looked peaceful as he slept. He looked so innocent that Dean wanted to give him a peck on his cheek.

I wanna come too.

Dean wondered what the man was dreaming of, noticing how the man’s eyes twitched. He looked at the untouched coffee and slice of pie that were undoubtedly cold now, after five or so minutes on this chilly winter morning. He looked at the man again, wanting to know more about him. He hadn’t even told Dean his name.

Dean looked at the coffee and grinned, taking out a pen and scribbling Baby In A Trenchcoat on it. He felt the nickname was apt, considering how childlike the man looked.

As Landon Pigg’s voice crooned through the radio, singing the chorus of the song, the man stirred. He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes groggily.

Dean had no idea what to do, so he kept staring at the man, fascinated by his bright blue eyes. His hair looked as tousled as ever, and he appeared disoriented. He took a minute to realize where he was, locking his confused gaze with Dean’s admiring gaze. The man broke eye-contact after a few confused moments, realizing that he’d fallen asleep in a coffee shop, and blushed crimson.

Dean noticed the rosy hue that had suddenly appeared on the man’s cheeks and pushed the coffee and pie gently towards the man. The man awkwardly looked up to meet Dean’s gaze and mumbled something. 

“Pardon?” Dean asked, leaning forward as he was not quite sure what the man had said.

“Thank you”, the man said, squinting at Dean’s name tag before adding, “Dean?”

Dean nodded. The man gave Dean a little smile and took a sip of his coffee that had turned cold by now.

“Castiel.” “Hmm?” “My name. Castiel”, the man said, stretching forth a hand. “Nice to meet you, Castiel”, Dean said. “Man, that is a weird name”, he thought, and blushed bright red, realizing that he’d said that out loud. “No offense”, he added hastily when Castiel suddenly looked up from his cup directly into Dean’s eyes. His blue eyes were somehow unnerving.

“I know. It’s the name of an angel.”

Dean raised an eyebrow. For some unknown reason, his mind had conjured up an image of Castiel with majestic, feathered wings protruding out of his shoulder blades and a golden harp cradled in his arms. He tried to shake that image out of his mind.

“Can I call you Cas instead?” Dean asked, watching as Castiel raised the drink to his mouth to take another sip.

Cas nodded. His eyes suddenly landed on his coffee cup.

“Baby In A Trenchcoat? ” Cas asked incredulously, noticing the words on the coffee cup for the first time.

“Uh…” Dean racked his brain, trying to come up with some explanation. “Well actually,” Dean started, but eventually gave up, realizing there was no proper explanation that would not embarrass him further. “I’m…sorry?”

Castiel shook his head, before giving Dean a huge grin.

ravenclaw  playlist x            x            x

northern downpour - panic! at the disco haunted - skylar grey blinding - florence + the machine birds - thomas sanders feat dodie clark tiny glowing screens part 2 - watsky the sound of silence - simon and garfunkel crystals - of monsters and men

ravenclaw + showtunes x                                             x

“ i’ll discretely use my own discretion “ just leave everything to me - hello dolly on the steps of the palace - into the woods wait for it - hamilton

“ never part of any crowd, cause her head’s up on some cloud. “ more (outtake) - moana belle - beauty and the beast when will my life begin - tangled

“ the opposite of war isn’t peace, it’s creation! “ history has its eyes on you - hamilton la vie boheme b - rent the schuyler sisters - hamilton

” the ripples from pebbles; the painters, and poets, and plays. “  audition - la la land rent - rent city of stars - la la land

ravenclaw in love - playlist x                  x                  x

Hello! I’m currently an apple user, so I’m not sure if the following apps are possible to download on Android, but here are some of my favorites that are available for iPhones:

Simple Habit - A meditation app that has 5, 10, and 20 minute meditations to help you focus

Ambient Mixer - A sound mixing app that I use to create the ambience for my current setting. I find that having a track playing in the background puts me in ~the zone~ where I can focus on what I’m writing instead of how much of it is being written.

Forest - Productivity app where whenever you want to focus, you plant a tree. The tree grows while you work, but if you leave the app, it dies. You build a tiny forest by being focused on the task at hand.

I hope that this helps! 

x Kate

If you enjoy my blog and wish for it to continue being updated frequently and for me to continue putting my energy toward answering your questions, please consider Buying Me A Coffee.

A nice anon asked me the other day about my writing software, and I gave out the name “manuskript” and like, realised that i really wanted to share more about it with you guys ! (I gain no money for that, i just really like that app ?)

SO, Manuskript.

First it’s free. So, yeah, nice ! Then :

Parts to put your general infos and summary, with option to put different sized summary. NICE. Then I guess you’d like to keep tracks of your character ? Well good cause here :

Sorted into main/secondary/minor for your convenience. You can chose colors for them which will be useful later… Mine is pretty empty cause I got all in my brain and forget to put it down here but see that last tab ? Perfect for a character sheet ! Then you’ve got plots, sub-plots, sub-subplots ? Here you go :

I did some censorship there, because I wouldn’t want to spoil you but see ? Organised in importance, general infos, characters part of the plot/subplot, then resolution steps. Also there’s a button on the right side so if you wanna have the book summary on screen you can. SO NICE. 

Also I guess you may have some worldbuilding to do ? GOOD cause there’s a part for this too !

Here you can put all your worldbuilding stuff, under categories of your choice ! 

Now you want to do some plans for your writing ? put down chapters, parts ? guess what’s in the “outline” tab ;)

On your left, you plots and subplots. In the middle, your outline. You can also put a summary, one line or longer, set the POV, and the wordcount goal down there. HOW COOL.

 What about ACTUALLY WRITING NOW ?

Here is the Editor with all parts open : outline on the left, data, cheat and search tab on the right, and that thing that let’s you keep track of things you put in References (in the data tab) through chapters, with POVS, down. 

Note : You can chose also what appears in the outline bar : here i set it so that i have :  - progression percentage after categories, wordcount after chapters -  color of chapter icon indicates POV - color of categories and chapters name indicate progression (red = not started or less than half [or two thirds ?] of goal, blue = half of goal or more, green = goal or more, orange = more than a third of goal above it)

Of course you can chose which tabs are open. For example this is my usual set. Outline, data, nothing more

I don’t use much of the “Debug” part, but it’s a great way to keep track of things, and I guess you can do much with it that I don’t know about.