Author Spotlight: Cassandra Morgan

• award-winning Author and professional cat enthusiast

Readers! Let’s give a good, hearty welcome to Cassandra Morgan!

Cassandra has published works in two series, a short story in the Dreams of Darkness anthology, and her newest published work, Damsel in (Social) Distance, a Sweet, Quarantine Romance.

She has traveled throughout the Midwest USA speaking at conferences and conventions about writing, publishing and marketing, and has had the pleasure of working with Mary Robinette Kowal, Amal El-Mohtar, Mary Ann Mohanraj, and Jim Hines.

Cassandra, thanks for agreeing to be here today. Most interviews start off with bios and such, and while I’ll get to that as always, let’s start with the important stuff!

If you could have any pet (real/fantasy/no-allergies/no worries about feeding it) what would it be?

I come from a family of animal-lovers, many of which have/had careers with animals. My own career path started many moons ago working in Animal Husbandry, whether in veterinary, grooming, research, behavior and nutrition, training. I’ve worked in just about every facet of animal care you can think of.

So, it’s really hard for me to pin-point one animal. If I had to choose, I’d probably go with a Pegasus. It has the advantage of being relatively easy to house, a low insurance risk for injury or property damage (as opposed to something like a dragon), and has the added bonus of flight so I can by-pass traffic.

I live outside of DC and anything can can dodge traffic sounds like a good bet to me! Especially if they poop on the jerk-faces on the road…

What do you write?

I come from a family of writers, English majors, journalists, etc. I have several family members who have published works over the years. One of my earliest memories is banging out something on my uncle’s typewriter. I didn’t know my alphabet yet. I think I was around 3, so it really was just a bunch of gobbledy-gook, then running into the next room and demanding the grown-ups listen to the story I had just “written.”

In second grade, a friend of mine and I wrote a comic called “The Adventures of Super Pencil and Eraser Boy.” We had a silver, glittery diary we passed back and forth. I would write the story, then give the diary to her to illustrate (BTW, she is still an incredible artist to this day, and has even modeled for Vogue, so quick shout out to growing up with one of the coolest friends ever.). After a few weeks, the teacher’s confiscated it. In hind-sight it was probably because Super Pencil and Eraser Boy looked like a pencil and eraser to eight-year-old children, but not to adults. I wonder what happened to that diary…

I like to write a little bit of everything. Most of what I write has a touch of magic in it, and I really love happy endings.

Oh, dear, I can only imagine what the adults thought you were drawing!

I can’t resist a touch of magic, myself. 🙂 And the world could use more happy endings.

What do you like to read?

I try to read a little bit of everything. My husband and I listen to an audiobook as we go to sleep every night, and we alternate who picks the book. We recently finished The Lies of Locke Lamora, and are now listening to Delta-V. Michael Crichton, Agatha Christie, Michelle Maddow, and Michael West have all featured in my playlist.

Oh wow. I’m horrible at patiently waiting for the end of a story, but it’s great that your husband enjoys the same taste in books as you. Lamora is a great book.

Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice that doesn’t work for you.

If you’re stuck, move on to the next scene/something else.

My brain works very linearly. It’s almost impossible for me to write a book out of order. If I’m stuck, have writer’s block, etc, it’s because something is wrong. Either with my story or with me (such as needing a self-care day), and it’s up to me to figure out what that is.

I completely understand! I took that advice at first, but I hated what I ended up with. I still might write some vignette about a side character or mythology to help me flesh out my world, but I don’t like skipping around on the plot.

Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice that they can pry out of your cold, dead hands.

Stop worrying about being a good writer, just WRITE!

Get rid of distractions! Urgh! I am the QUEEN of mindless social media scrolling. My mind wanders very easily, so when I write, I have to actually put my phone on the other side of the room where I can’t just easily grab it. I also have to turn my internet connection off as well.

The only time I will let myself onto the internet is if I really need to research something quickly in order to move on with the story that’s in my head.

You’ve got a lot better self-control than I do! Although, I do enjoy a writing sprint.

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Shameless Self-Promotion time!

Damsel in (Social) Distance

A global, viral pandemic forced them together. But a nationwide quarantine has forced them apart.

“Damsel in (Social) Distance” is a Sweet, Quarantine Romance about moving on from your past, and realizing that isolation doesn’t mean you have to do this alone.

This is my newest released, dropping for publication the first week of August, 2020!

The Kingdoms of Chartile: Prophecy and Magic

An adventure inspired by Narnia with a stroll through Middle Earth. If you enjoy YA Epic Fantasy, and typical fantasy tropes that have been slightly turned on their head, you’ll love The Kingdoms of Chartile.

The Silver Fox Mysteries, “Dorothy Claes and the Prison of Thenemi,” “Dorothy Claes and the Prowl of the Yule Cat,” and the award-winning “Dorothy Claes and the Blood of the Tsar.”  It’s Warehouse 13 meets Encyclopedia Brown! If you enjoy uncommon heroines, exploring world cultures/travel, and cat myth/lore/history, then you’ll love The Silver Fox Mysteries.

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