Raquel Strikes Again

[nastyhobbitses]

On 1/5/2019 at 5:37 PM, formergothardite said:

She justifies this by saying she is an Aries and can't help it, but in reality she is just selfish and rude. 

Uuuuuuugh I hate when people use their zodiac sign as an excuse to act like a dick. I think zodiac memes are funny as fuck and I will absolutely go "haha it me" at Virgo memes, but your date of birth does not determine your personality, nor does it give you an excuse to wallow in the toxic or unsavory aspects of your personality because "I'm an Aries and that's how I am". As our lord and savior Tyra Banks once said, take responsibility for yourself, because nobody's gonna take responsibility for you. 

[clarinetpower]

Raquel seems to have forgotten the whole “wherever two or three are gathered in my name” thing. She isn’t the church, the church is a fellowship of believers, and the big J made it clear that worship wasn’t just her. Community is important. Fine, miss some services, whatever. But don’t blather on the internet about how you are so damn special that you’re doing it better than people who actually go because you looked at the sun in Argentina. That’s just bragging, self absorbed bullshit.

[formergothardite]

On 3/8/2019 at 4:21 PM, refugee said:

Sadly, I wonder how much of this is kicking against the church her family attended some years back, when she was much younger. People there were brainwashed to be practically paranoid over missing a Sunday.

Part of it is probably that, but IMO part of it is her struggling with accepting she isn't living this super special life. Raquel has always acted like she is above the rest of the world so even when she did normal stuff, like missing church, she was doing it in a way that was deeper/more spiritual than everyone else. 

I find it interesting that Raquel was allowed to have a very public internet life from the time she was 13(14?) but it doesn't seem the rest of her siblings were allowed to do so or chose to do so. I wonder if her parents  didn't allow them to because they saw what it did to Raquel, but then they never attempted to limit Raquel's internet even when she was a teen. Or if her siblings saw what it did to Raquel and they didn't want that life. 

Raquel was a pretty popular blogger when she was young, even though she now has revealed the life she was blogging about was all a lie, but I think her tiny bit of internet fame was the absolute worst thing for Raquel. She would have been so much better off if her parents pulled the plug on her blog, especially when they had to have realized that she was lying on her blog about her life. 

[AmazonGrace]

Her blog posts get 0-2 comments lately. I wonder what share of her  traffic is freejinger readers.

[formergothardite]

1 minute ago, AmazonGrace said:

Her blog posts get 0-2 comments lately. I wonder what share of her  traffic is freejinger readers.

One of Raquel's writing issue is that she doesn't want to show her true self, she only wants to write things that she thinks will make her look deep and special. Very few people want to read that.  If she wrote about what it is like to be someone in their 20's with no education trying to make ends meet, she would draw in more readers. Write about why she decided college wasn't for her. If she was honest about how she has changed over her years of blogging and explain why she spent years creating a blog life that didn't match her real life, she would also get more readers. Write about her actual life right now! But she won't because doing so would make her seem normal, something she can't stand. 

She wants to be a writer, but she keeps her writing social media private so she won't risk criticism. Raquel wants things to be handed to her, and that just isn't how life works. 

According to her FB page she is self-publishing another book of "poems" next month. I wonder how many copies her other book has sold. It only has one review. 

[Curious]

2 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

Her blog posts get 0-2 comments lately. I wonder what share of her  traffic is freejinger readers.

98%   The other 2% is her hitting refresh to see if she has any comments yet and the 1-2 friends/family members that she hasn't totally alienated since she started blogging.

On 3/9/2019 at 2:42 AM, nastyhobbitses said:

Uuuuuuugh I hate when people use their zodiac sign as an excuse to act like a dick. I think zodiac memes are funny as fuck and I will absolutely go "haha it me" at Virgo memes, but your date of birth does not determine your personality, nor does it give you an excuse to wallow in the toxic or unsavory aspects of your personality because "I'm an Aries and that's how I am". As our lord and savior Tyra Banks once said, take responsibility for yourself, because nobody's gonna take responsibility for you. 

I'm a "textbook" Virgo, both positive and negative traits.   I find it funny because it's so on the nose for me.   I have never once used that as an excuse when I'm being a bitch about something.  Sometimes, I'm just a bitch (as are all people at one point or another). 

My mom was an Aries and I can remember her saying that it fit her to a T as well, but I just went and looked up the "traits of an Aries" and they are NOTHING like my mom was.   We had our issues, but she was *never* awful to other people.   I know some years ago they changed the dates for the signs, did traits also get changed?    I checked several links and they were nothing like my mom.

[Petronella]

19 hours ago, formergothardite said:

She wants to be a writer, but she keeps her writing social media private so she won't risk criticism. Raquel wants things to be handed to her, and that just isn't how life works.

I teach a creative writing course and one of things I’m happiest about is how much the current group has come to appreciate criticism. I’ve put a lot of effort into showing them that it’s normal for ALL manuscripts (sharing comments between editors and pro authors; critiques of drafts between pro authors) and doesn’t mean your work is terrible/that you’re terrible. They now LOVE critique and feedback. It’s so useful! And really specific feedback can show how clearly you’ve been understood, even when it’s technically negative because it’s asking for more or less of something.

I do understand keeping some things private, and also understand not welcoming “feedback” anymore once something is published. But while I know self-publishing can sometimes go well, I’m a big believer in rejection being an important part of improving; many eventually-published writers are relieved that their early work wasn’t published!

I wish that Raquel would have 1) stayed in her class and grown to appreciate the gift that negative feedback can be (when it’s in helpful form—general bashing isn’t okay), and 2) aspired towards being published by others in a way that would force her to grow as a writer.

I think you’re spot-on that her desire to be seen as an on-high example that others aspire to be like is keeping her from connecting with others in her writing. She’s deliberately distancing herself from the parts of her that people would relate to.

[Terrie]

Per her Instagram, she's releasing another book of poetry called... *drumroll*.... "Are My Eyes Still Tame?" which makes zero sense and sounds pretentious as fuck.

[clueliss]

She's clearly not getting the attention she wants on the instagram for her poetry and art because of her trumpeting this on her main instagram page

[AmazonGrace]

Edited March 27, 2019 by AmazonGrace

[lilith]

I don’t know if anyone’s googled Miss Raquel lately, but I saw this thread and thought I’d look at what she’s been up to...... she might want to rebrand.

[Terrie]

These days, she brands herself as "Its' Just Raquel." Perhaps that is why. Her new book of poetry is out. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999592300/ref=mp_s_a_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=are+my+eyes+still+tame%3F&qid=1554041945&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmrnullHer description of the book on Intagram is.... very her.

Spoiler

 

Could you get any more Raquel?

[formergothardite]

She does not mention her blog on her Amazon introduction, just her instagram. 

Quote

"Are My Eyes Still Tame?" is authoress Raquel Z. Duarte's second collection of poetry. In it, she writes about different aspects of life that she has seen, perceived, and beheld through her brown eyes. Unapologetically raw, Raquel always hopes that readers will find relatable truths in her words, and know they are not alone in the significant things they have experienced in life, as well. Raquel Z. Duarte is a barista by day, a writer by night, and a worshipper at all times. She is a lover of spontaneous adventures , warm beds in cold rooms, and is always down to go wine-tasting.You can find her on Instagram @itsjustraquel

Isn't seeing pretty much the same as beholding? 

[lilith]

She also seems to like unnecessary commas.

Edited April 1, 2019 by lilith

[Georgiana]

1 hour ago, formergothardite said:

She does not mention her blog on her Amazon introduction, just her instagram. 

Isn't seeing pretty much the same as beholding? 

Indeed.  Moreover, it's the same as perceiving when it comes to eyes because eyes can ONLY perceive by seeing/beholding.  It's not like your eyes can smell or hear.  She basically made a list of synonyms.  It's very Raquel.

15 minutes ago, lilith said:

She also seems to like unnecessary commas.

I too, am a comma splicer, but unlike Raquel, I try to edit out my splicing before publishing, to avoid choppy, confusing sentences.  

[AmazonGrace]

This sounds like it's Raquel who is unapologetically raw

Quote

Unapologetically raw, Raquel always hopes that readers will find relatable truths in her words,

but on her blog it's her words.

Quote

I¨In its pages, I write about different aspects of my life that I have seen, perceived, and beheld through my brown eyes.  I always hope that you, my readers, will find relatable truths in my unapologetically raw words.

She wants to make her readers cry.

Quote

When you read my book, I hope you will find something relatable, something that will resonate with your own heart.  I hope you laugh, and in all honesty, I hope you will cry too.  Just remember that to feel is to be alive, to be human.  And I hope you feel so, so many things while reading this collection of poetry and prose.  And I hope it reminds you that you are alive.

Well I guess I gotta buy this book now, otherwise how will I know if I'm still amongst the living?

Quote

So hey, after many, many tears, long nights of pouring my heart into this book, frustrating draft revisions, and impatient final days........it's finally here.

Draft revisions, yay! Attagirl!

Quote

Post pictures of it on social medias and tag me!  I want to hear your thoughts and see everywhere this little piece of me ends up.

Tweet, snapchat, instagram, facebook my book because I look hot on the cover! Erm, and you can read it too.

It looks like she saw, beheld and perceived things through her sunglasses.

[Terrie]

She's posting in her blog again, this time about "healing." She curates her image so much in an attempt to be "profound" that you can't relate to it at all. She also rags on therapy and medication as  way of dealing with things, because at 24, she of course knows all about these things. 

[nausicaa]

She actually used the word "authoress." And describes herself as "a creative."

It doesn't really bolster my faith in your writing skills when you use an incorrect number of ellipses in your book description and there's an incorrectly formatted, and used, em dash on the very first page of the book. 

Scrolling further through the preview, I can see she uses hyphens instead of dashes throughout the book. She isn't consistent with her use of Oxford commas either. How could she miss this while editing? Wouldn't she at least take a grammar class at a community college if she wants to write professionally? 

The writing itself isn't even worthy of comment. It's just navel gazing Facebook posts with more white space added. 

[Lisafer]

22 minutes ago, nausicaa said:

She actually used the word "authoress." And describes herself as "a creative."

It doesn't really bolster my faith in your writing skills when you use an incorrect number of ellipses in your book description and there's an incorrectly formatted, and used, em dash on the very first page of the book. 

Scrolling further through the preview, I can see she uses hyphens instead of dashes throughout the book. She isn't consistent with her use of Oxford commas either. How could she miss this while editing? Wouldn't she at least take a grammar class at a community college if she wants to write professionally? 

The writing itself isn't even worthy of comment. It's just navel gazing Facebook posts with more white space added. 

And why isn't she using a program that will format her em dashes correctly? Word does that for me automatically. And when I'm feeling muddled about certain punctuation, I use the amazing Google, or heaven forbid, an actual style manual. It's not rocket science. 

And "authoress" just makes me cringe. It's AUTHOR, Raquel. Being cutesy does nothing for your image as a writer. 

[Terrie]

She really loves her purple prose, doesn't she? She's doing some kind of 30 poems in 30 days challenge on her writing instagram and she notes how many minutes she spent writing them. They're really, really bad. The best I can think to describe her is that she wants you to be so in awe of her that you can't imagine her as someone who ever has to use the bathroom. Like... she's beyond such earthy, material things.

[Lisafer]

9 minutes ago, Terrie said:

She really loves her purple prose, doesn't she? She's doing some kind of 30 poems in 30 days challenge on her writing instagram and she notes how many minutes she spent writing them. They're really, really bad. The best I can think to describe her is that she wants you to be so in awe of her that you can't imagine her as someone who ever has to use the bathroom. Like... she's beyond such earthy, material things.

Her poems hurt my head. They don't scan, they don't flow, there's typos...I had to read one line three times to get what she was trying to say.

Life Advice by Lisafer

(Writing time: 4 minutes) 

Raquel, girl

Please take a writing class

And stop thinking you're so important

Because you're not more special

Than anyone else.

And there are people in this world with trauma

That you've never dreamed of

And telling them how they should heal

Is goddamn insulting. 

Get a grip.

[formergothardite]

She has some of her "poems" on her FB page. She also has essential oils for morning Bible devotions. One of them is called transformation. She seems to only be transforming into someone even more insufferable. Is there an oil to make you a better person?

Spoiler

 

 

[zeebaneighba]

32 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

She has some of her "poems" on her FB page. She also has essential oils for morning Bible devotions. One of them is called transformation. She seems to only be transforming into someone even more insufferable. Is there an oil to make you a better person?

  Hide contents

 

 

I really, really wish we had an eye roll reaction.  Emoji will have to do. 

[Lisafer]

1 hour ago, formergothardite said:

She has some of her "poems" on her FB page. She also has essential oils for morning Bible devotions. One of them is called transformation. She seems to only be transforming into someone even more insufferable. Is there an oil to make you a better person?

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Apparently there's one to help release your ego: https://schoolofyl.wordpress.com/tag/oils-for-ego/ ?

Please, anyone who reads the article at that link, do NOT start drinking frankincense essential oil. Please. 

Edited April 11, 2019 by Lisafer
typo

[Terrie]

3 minutes of writing, zero minutes of editing. She uses "Surrounded by nature" twice. You need to go for at least three repetitions to make a motif.

Let's see what I can do in three minutes, projecting myself back into the mentality of a "No one understands suffering like I do" young person.

There is a toad

A squat, misshapened thing

All lumps and bumps

Skin mottled 

Mouth too big

Eyes drifting and vacant

This is why I hate mirrors

Written in two mintues. So did I properly capture the eternal angst of youth?