Random Thoughts From An Author (Beware the writer brain ;) )

Hiya guys and welcome to the blog! Today's post will be full of my randomness since I haven't had time to plan one lol. 

So, how about we talk about those first drafts? Have you ever gone back to read your older drafts and thought to yourself, "Who wrote this? Boy, were they a crazy one?" Okay, so maybe crazy isn't the right word here. How about idiot instead? Or have you reread them and thought, "Wow I have gotten so much better at this?" I'm sure we've had had that thought a time or two.

I have recently been going through some of my short stories that are no longer published. I plan to make them longer and polish them so I can republish them later on. I have realized that my writing has gotten better over the years. I have also realized that at one point I tended to stay to one genre. What was wrong with me? Hahaha!!! Honestly, I don't think I could stick to just one genre at this point. 

What about coming up with names for those pesky characters? Do you have a system that works for you when it comes to choosing them? I tended to struggle with naming characters. I kept notebooks full of lists to choose from. These days I came up with a better way to names at least some of my characters. I do giveaways on my Facebook author takeovers and a random person gets to have a character named after them. It's also a great way to find new plot ideas. I'll admit I like picking character names about as much as I like coming up with titles. Can someone jab this pencil in my eye right about now describes how I feel when doing those things. 

And lastly how does it feel to finish that book you've worked so hard on? It feels amazing, incredible, fantastic? All of the above and more. It's one of the greatest feelings in this world. To be proud of what you've accomplished and be able to share your happiness with others, there's no better feeling. 

Thank you for listening to my ramblings today. Until next time... Happy Writing!

A Taste of my Current WIP's, and an update too!!!

 I know I missed posting last week. I was fighting a bad headache. So this week I am making sure I get this posted on the right day lol. Starting off with a little update.

How has everyone's week been? Mine hasn't been that bad. I have taken on another project. The anthology will be about female slashers. My story is called Snapped. This is definitely going to be a fun one to write. 

I have also written more on Heart Of A Hero which will be part of The Blake's series. I managed to get 2,700 words in today. It is now sitting at 9,500 words. 

Other than writing and plotting I worked on making updated teasers and banners yesterday. I have also been reading of course. 

What can we talk about today? Oh wait, I know. Let's have some questions about my writing.

How do I stay organized? I have my ideas all written down in my writing notebooks. I also make paper copies of my story ideas as well as digital copies. See below for those examples:

What was the last scene you wrote and how did you like it? It was in Heart Of A Hero. The two MC's are talking about the person stalking the FMC. I think it turned out to be a good scene.

What is the plot of your current WIP? Snapped: A woman is abused by her husband and two friends over a period of ten years. She's finally had enough and takes a stand against them.

Heart Of A Hero: Bailee Ryan is being stalked by someone. It's up to Tyler Blake to figure out who and stop them. Little do they know it's someone Tyler knows all too well.

And that's it for this week. Have a wonderful week and Happy Writing!!!

What's I've Been Up To This Week

Welcome to the blog! Today I am going to let you in on some things I have been working on lately. Of course there has been writing and editing. You know the usual stuff LOL. There has also been plotting while the entire was acting up and writing blurbs and taglines for stories. And looking into different swag I can have made. 

I decided to make character cards for my stories as well. It sounded like a fun idea, and has been so far. Here's the only one done so far. The photo is my best friend who passed away and inspired the story.

I have also been designing bookmarks.

And also needed to update my banner for my FB author page. It was missing a book.

Now for swag ideas. I have been making jigsaw puzzles to use when I do author takeovers. I was thinking that I might see about having them made into physical jigsaw puzzles that I can use for giveaways. The ones I plan to look into having made first are bookmarks (of course, what reader doesn't love bookmarks?), stickers, buttons/pins, magnets, tote bags, keychains, clothing, and lens wipes. 

I have one more story to edit and send in for an anthology by the 31st of this month. Then one more to write that isn't due until December. I took a break from that one to work on another story. 

Anyhoo, that's how my week has been, plus a trip to the library too! Have a wonderful evening and Happy Writing!!!

How I Became A Writer

 Hello everyone and welcome to the blog! Today is a random post kind of day since I haven't had a chance to make a post. So, what can we talk about in Cassandra's Writing World? 

Well how about why I became a writer. I suppose the writer was always in me waiting to be unleashed. I knew I loved to read from an early age,  but hadn't really thought about writing anything myself. When I was thirteen I decided hey, why don't I try to write my own story and see how that turns out.

I had always loved English class and when I had to chose my electives for high school I chose creative writing and journalism. I loved both classes and had loads of fun working on my assignments. After taking those classes I knew for sure that I wanted to be a writer. 

I started out writing nothing but short stories. Then decided to try something a little longer. I had over two hundred stories started and saved in notebooks until I lost them in a fire. After that I wanted to give up for about five minutes, but then I said to myself what do you do when your life's work is gone in the blink of an eye. Pick yourself up and start again. That's exactly what I did. I was able to remember some of the ideas for the stories I had lost, although some characters needed new names. 

Now I always make sure that I make back up copies of what I write. That's the one piece of advice I would give to any writer. Have backups of your backups lol.

I also do something now that I really didn't do when I first started writing. I plot and plan my stories, or start to before the characters take over and tell me what I should be writing. When I started i just wrote. Didn't write down plots or names or anything at all. 

I have really come along way from that thirteen year old girl who couldn't decide if I wanted to be a writer or an archeologist. I'm still interested in both, but prefer writing to digging in the dirt. Haha!!!

Now I am currently working on my debut novel and hoping to get it published soon. I was published in the first anthology in 2015. Thirty+ anthologies later and you might say I have an obsession with them. The most recent was published the end of last month. 

Now I am a published author with readers who enjoy my stories. I have people who want to read my work who are not only readers and other writers, but wonderful friends.

And that's how my writing journey came about. Until next time... Happy Writing!!!!

Who Are My Writing Heroes? A list of my top 20 authors!

 Who are your writing heroes? How can you answer that question as a writer if you don't as a reader? I have writing heroes for different reasons. Some I love their writing style, some of love the genre they write in, and some are just some of my favorite people who have come into my life for whatever reason. So today I want to share a list of 20 of my most favorite authors out in the world today. If you know me you can probably guess who will be at the top of this list ;) 

1. Karen Young

2.Sheila Kell

3. Stephen king

4. James Patterson

5. Jane Blythe

6. Elizabella Baker

7. W.A. Ashes

8. Amber M. Kestner

9. Rachel Van Dyken

10. D.L. Gallie

11. Natalie- Nicole Bates

12. Amgelina Kerner

13. Tina Hogan Grant

14. R.L. Stine

15.Lisa Regan

16. Katie Mettner

17.Debra Webb

18. Delores Fossen

19. Elle James

20. Tara Taylor Quinn

That's my list of 20, but it's not all my favorites of course. If I were to list all of them you would never finish reading this post. So let's just call this list 1 of my favorite book world people. Until next time... Happy Reading!

Later Days!

Cassandra's Ramblings

 Hi everyone! How are you doing today. I started this thing on my Tome page called Cassandra's Ramblings so that what todays post will be called. This is a post where I am just winging it and not planning my weekly post. Sometimes we need a break from lists and planned out things. This will basically be a post of random things I want to talk about today. Yes it will involve writing and reading.

So, what should we talk about first? Writing? Reading? The weather? See how random I feel today. I'm not even sure what story I want to work on. I have a few that need to be read through and edited. I am also working on the one for the Curse of the Sword Anthology later this year. It still has no title as of right now. I have also been going through stories and getting the ones about possessed, creepy dolls together for that collection I'm working on. 

As for author stuff I am getting things ready for the Soul Chaser release party in my FB reader group on June 23rd and the Echoes of the Mind release party on the 30th. Plus I am doing a couple other takeovers as well. Add to that trying to update all my social media sites and website, making teasers, plotting stories, and the list goes on and on lol.

We have had some issues with the internet this week due to bad weather so I have been catching up on my reading as well. I have finished four books in the last five days. That's most of my ARC's for the month (only 2 left). I am about halfway through my latest library book and already 25% into my next ARC. My book trees are looking so pretty.

How are you keeping track of your books for the year? Any cool ideas I can do next year? I am also trying to find more creative ways to post book reviews. I thought of doing videos, but it's way too noisy here for that. I'll eventually think of something I suppose, probably when I'm not trying.

Well I guess I should go and get some writing done, or editing, or something productive. Hahahaha!!!

Until next time....

Later Days from Cassandra's Writing World!!

The Story Behind The Story: Echoes Of The Mind Anthology

 Hi everybody and welcome to the blog.

Today I wanted to ell you a little about my story in the Echoes Of The Mind Anthology. (Coming June 30,2025) The anthology is to help raise awareness for mental health, and my story was a little rough on my mental state. While the characters have different names and the story isn't the same, there are elements from a personal experience I went through with an ex friend. 

Things that happened between the two of us that happen between the characters. Things that are an actual part of the story that were said by this ex friend. There is a line from the story that my so called friend actually said to me. The very first line of the story and that was the hardest part to write. It brought back all those painful memories and thoughts. 

When this friendship ended suddenly I had no clue why. I couldn't remember doing anything wrong. The worst part was she refused to tell me what I had done, or why she wanted nothing more to do with me. For the longest time I blamed myself. I must have done something for her to stop talking to me. I was the one in the wrong, wasn't I?

It took me a while and a lecture or two from another friend to realize I wasn't. It wasn't me who had the issue with our friendship. It wasn't me who refused to talk things over. It wasn't me who didn't want to try to fix the friendship. No, that was all her. I also realize just how things had been throughout the friendship. I was only ever needed when she had a problem or she needed something. If I had a problem she would give me one or two sentences of advice and the next sentence would be her latest issue.

So, where is this post going? Since this anthology is about mental health I wanted to share my story with all of you. I am hoping that other people can find inspiration through reading this story. I want to tell everyone that the troubles you face with friends may not be your fault. Don't let it get you down. Be the best you and forget the people who don't want to share your journey.

Until next time... Sending everyone who needs it the biggest virtual hug ever!!!

Echoes Of The Mind Anthology

https://books2read.com/u/3LQKe0