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Wacky Wednesday: Interview With Cassieq

Renee Stevens

Entry posted by Renee Stevens in Author Interviews

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I think one of my favorite things about the GA News Blog is when we have the opportunity to get to know the many authors that can be found on the site. Today is one such day as Myiege came to me not to long ago and told me that they had interviewed one of our newest Hosted Authors, CassieQ. Myiege asked if I would be interested in the interview for use in the GA News Blog and I instantly said YES!

 

Cassie has also agreed to hang out for a "Blog Chat" from 8pm-9pm Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday evening for anyone who has a question they would like to ask. If you can't be around during that time, no worries, you can still participate! Just leave your question in a comment on the blog and Cassie will still answer them! Hope you see lots of comments! Now, lets get to the interview!!!

Interview with CassieQ

 

Interviewer: Myiege

 

Today, it is my pleasure to introduce one of GA's newest Hosted Authors, CassieQ! CassieQ has been with us since February of 2011 and has published 19 stories on GA and has written an impressive 417,060 words! Let's all give a warm welcome! First off, why don’t you tell us an origin story! When did you start writing, writing M/M?

 


I've been writing ever since I can remember. I was a voracious reader growing up and, frustrated with finishing a book and not having any new material, I would try to continue the book where it left off, experimenting with different styles depending on who I was reading. (My V.C. Andrew's phase is particularly embarrassing). It wasn't until after college that I really started to write steadily and produce completed projects. I also started reading FAKE at the same time and found the online world of M/M romance. I liked reading it so much, that I finally decided to try writing some of my own.

 

What do you regard as the best writing you’ve ever written? Why?

 


It's hard for someone to judge his or her own work, but I would probably say
Save Tonight
. It was an important project to me and I remember really struggling with it. Once I finished it, I was really happy with it. After it was posted, I had a lot of feedback from people who said it moved them to tears and that the child in the story really resonated with them as a parent, which was amazing to me. I loved sharing that story with readers.

 

Save Tonight was one of my favorites as well. For those of you readers who haven't read this touching story, it was part of the Summer Premium Anthology and can be found in the Premium Section! Changing gears a little, how long did it take you to finish the Not the Sun Trilogy?

 


Approximately five years. That being said, I was also working my way through PTA school, moving and starting a new job, so there would be occasional dry spells where I wouldn't work on it at all. I think if I had written it now, where I have a slightly more consistent schedule, it might have taken less time.

 

Speaking of Not the Sun, you had some trouble with plagiarism regarding this story, right? Mind telling us about the experience? What have you learned from it?

 


The plagiarism of NTS is actually what brought me to
GA
in the first place. One of the moderators alerted me that a member had plagiarized my work and the work of several others. I remember being so angry that I actually hurt my shoulder after punching a piece of furniture. The moderator offered to remove the stories, but I didn't think that would be fair to the people reading them, so I joined the site soon after. Since then, I've been more aware of how plagiarism works in the online world, and how to be more aware and proactive about protecting myself. KC had a run in with a similar issue and gave some great advice in a previous blog issue as well.

 

Do you have a favorite character?

 


I like all of my characters (except Keith, he's a creep) but if I had to pick a favorite, it would probably be Brandon from NTS. He was just so much fun to write.

 

Keith was definitely a creep. I don't think I've ever hated a character so strongly! I have noticed that in many of your stories, there always seems to be a prominent female presence. Tell us a bit about why.

 


Well, it's not as common now as it was when I first started writing, but when I was reading M/M I noticed very little female characters unless they were a conflicting love interest or an enemy or just disappeared once the romance started. I like supporting characters, and I like seeing females in M/M stories outside of a romantic role but still as a valid character.

 

Are you a pants-er or a planner?

 


Totally a pantser. If I have a large project, I'll have an outline just to make sure I cover everything I need, but if I know every single detail of the story before I start writing, it loses a lot of the fun for me. One of my favorite things about writing is seeing what my characters are
g
oing to do once I let them loose to wreck some havoc
:P

 

Your current story, Geeks, seems to take a different route than some of your previous stories. It’s definitely more mainstream. Any reason why you decided to take the road…more traveled this time around?

 


Geeks
is the result of a request from my beta way back when I was working on
The In Between
. He likes more lighthearted fiction, so that is what
Geeks
turned out
to be
. I am actually more comfortable with heavy drama and a bit of angst, but this is the first time I've written a large project that doesn't contain too much dark material. That might make it more mainstream, I don't know. I just write the kind of things that I like to read.

 

Are there any ‘up and comers’ you’d like to give a shout out to?

 


As far as newer writers, I like my interviewer's work quite a lot, and I think Ron, Cole Matthews and totallyy
all
have good work. But I also like some of the more established writers, like Stellar and Renee Stevens.

 

Aw! Thank you! I quite love your writing too ;) Before we cut this loose, is there any advice you’d like to give to writers just starting out?

 


I'm horrible at giving advice, but the main thing I would say is to read. Read, read, read, read, read. There is nothing that will help you write more than reading.

 

Thanks for the enlightening interview! Readers, be sure to check out the plethora of stories by GA's own Hosted Author CassieQ!

 


Thank you Myiege and Cassie for this wonderful interview! Don't forget, Cassie will be available on the blog Wednesday night at 8pm EST to answer questions that you might have. Also, I'm always looking for blog content, so if you want to do an interview, or have an idea for an article for the blog, send me a PM and let me know!

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Lisa

I first found Cassie on that other site when she was writing the NTS series. I was hooked on that from the first line. :) I don't think I realized it wasn't a typical mainstream story, but I was too invested in it to back out! And I'm glad I didn't back out! It's a fantastic series and if there's anyone out there that hasn't read it, I highly recommend it. =)

 

I remember that time Cassie had the problem with the "impersonator". I was sort of new here at the time but I remember. It's horrible that people will stoop so low as to steal an author's hard work. Cassie spent so much time and energy on her story and when I was reading it I knew I read it on the other site first, buy the real author. Glad that's water under the bridge now.

 

Cassie's a great author and I'm really enjoying her new "Geeks" story. :)

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  • Site Administrator
Cia
  • Site Administrator

Great interview, Cassie and Myiege! I'm a big fan of angst and drama too, but sometimes it's nice to write something light and sweet. Variety is the spice of life. And I feel for you and your VC Andrews phase. I never did... but that's only because my sister used to have me read it to her and I was disgusted by HER phase, lol!

 

So a quick question... what is writing to you? Is this just a side hobby? Do you have any hopes of publishing something one day?

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Mann Ramblings

This was a great series of Q & A. Nice work, Myiege and Cassie. In case I'm not around during the live portion of our interview, I leave the following:

 

Save Tonight was a FANTASTIC short that would be nominated for Best Anthology (and probably win) if it wasn't a Premium content piece. I know the prompt that began it was "Wishing Well." Beyond that prompt, what was the train of thoughts/ideas that made you write such a powerful and touching piece of fiction?

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CassieQ

Great interview, Cassie and Myiege! I'm a big fan of angst and drama too, but sometimes it's nice to write something light and sweet. Variety is the spice of life. And I feel for you and your VC Andrews phase. I never did... but that's only because my sister used to have me read it to her and I was disgusted by HER phase, lol!

 

So a quick question... what is writing to you? Is this just a side hobby? Do you have any hopes of publishing something one day?

Thank you Cia.  Writing is more than just a hobby…maybe an obsession would be the right word?  LOL.  No, seriously, I write because I enjoy it and it's fun.  I have thought about publishing, but it's not something I'm interested in right now.  I have a job, and writing is what I do for fun.  I worry if I published something for profit, it would start to feel more like a "job" and less like "fun".  So I try very hard to keep them separate.

 

 

This was a great series of Q & A. Nice work, Myiege and Cassie. In case I'm not around during the live portion of our interview, I leave the following:

 

Save Tonight was a FANTASTIC short that would be nominated for Best Anthology (and probably win) if it wasn't a Premium content piece. I know the prompt that began it was "Wishing Well." Beyond that prompt, what was the train of thoughts/ideas that made you write such a powerful and touching piece of fiction?

Thanks Mann, Myiege came up with some great questions.  I'm glad you liked Save Tonight.  A lot of the plot came from losing a friend of mine back in December.  I miss him very much and when I was thinking of a wishing well, I knew one of my wishes would be to have a chance to see him again.  So I drew a lot on those two things, how much you could miss someone and wanting to just have more time with them when I was writing Save Tonight.   

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CassieQ

I first found Cassie on that other site when she was writing the NTS series. I was hooked on that from the first line. :) I don't think I realized it wasn't a typical mainstream story, but I was too invested in it to back out! And I'm glad I didn't back out! It's a fantastic series and if there's anyone out there that hasn't read it, I highly recommend it. =)

 

I remember that time Cassie had the problem with the "impersonator". I was sort of new here at the time but I remember. It's horrible that people will stoop so low as to steal an author's hard work. Cassie spent so much time and energy on her story and when I was reading it I knew I read it on the other site first, buy the real author. Glad that's water under the bridge now.

 

Cassie's a great author and I'm really enjoying her new "Geeks" story. :)

Thanks Lisa.  I remember you  :)  Glad you gave NTS a chance!  :hug:

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Renee Stevens

Thanks for the mention!  I know many authors that there's that one story that there's something that bothers them about it, mine is Puppy Love and Eternity.  Do you have such a story and if so, what is it and what would you change?

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CassieQ

Thanks for the mention!  I know many authors that there's that one story that there's something that bothers them about it, mine is Puppy Love and Eternity.  Do you have such a story and if so, what is it and what would you change?

 

I am pretty happy with most of the stories that I post, but if there was one that I would have to change, it would probably be the NTS trilogy.  It is one of my longest works and one of my earlier ones and while I really like it, I think it wanders a bit at times and could be a little more focused.  If I ever did decide to revise it (and I have thought about it) it would take a long time so I'm saving that as a long term project.  :)

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Johnathan Colourfield

Having had the honour of seeing "Save Tonight" develop from first draft to final, among other stories on site, I can say that Cassie, you rightfully deserve your position as Hosted. I look forward to one day getting back to working with you :) I really really loved Save Tonight, it made me cry :)

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CassieQ

If you don't mind me asking, what is something that most people might be surprised to know about you?

Hmm…that's a good one.  I'm not very mysterious  :P  I guess maybe that I'm very shy in real life, at least until I get to know people.  I'm not as bad as I used to, but I used to be so shy I would get in trouble at school for being too shy to answer questions when the teacher called on me.  It's why I enjoyed reading and writing so much, they didn't require a lot of social interaction.  :)

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CassieQ

Having had the honour of seeing "Save Tonight" develop from first draft to final, among other stories on site, I can say that Cassie, you rightfully deserve your position as Hosted. I look forward to one day getting back to working with you :) I really really loved Save Tonight, it made me cry :)

Thanks JC.  Your help with Save Tonight was invaluable  :hug:

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Ron

I'm glad Mann mentioned 'Save Tonight' and reminded me of the story, thanks for that by the way.

 

I remember reading the story shortly after signing up for GA. I hadn't found my voice here yet and I was still stumbling around, afraid to write a review. It seems a long time ago and now I can say to you that I think it ranks with some of the best short stories I've had the pleasure of reading. It was awfully sad, awfully heartbreaking and awfully wonderful!

 

It may be too many adverbs in a row for editors but I mean every one.

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CassieQ

When you're not crafting stories or working, what else do you like to do to amuse yourself?

I like NFL football, and I like to hike and read obviously.  I'm trying to learn Spanish and I like to spend time with my family, who lives nearby.  Oh, and nap.  I definitely like to nap  :P  

 

 

Also, if you were a tree, what tree would you be :D

Um….palm tree?

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CassieQ

I'm glad Mann mentioned 'Save Tonight' and reminded me of the story, thanks for that by the way.

 

I remember reading the story shortly after signing up for GA. I hadn't found my voice here yet and I was still stumbling around, afraid to write a review. It seems a long time ago and now I can say to you that I think it ranks with some of the best short stories I've had the pleasure of reading. It was awfully sad, awfully heartbreaking and awfully wonderful!

 

It may be too many adverbs in a row for editors but I mean every one.

Thank you Ron.  I'm glad to hear that you like it, sad, heartbreaking and all the adverbs included  :)  

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  • Site Administrator
Graeme
  • Site Administrator

Hi, Cassie! One question for you -- what is it that you find most difficult about writing?

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CassieQ

Revision or rewriting.  I have ADD and when I am going back through something I wrote to find mistakes or figure out what is wrong with a certain scene or just edit in general it's really hard for me to focus and concentrate.  I depend a lot on my beta reader and editors to help me out during the revision process and they are worth the world to me.  

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Lisa

Man, I gotta sign up for Premium just so I can read "Save Tonight". It sounds like a great story!

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