- horror/thriller author, photographer, artist, belly dancer, and flow artist
Readers! Let’s give a good, hearty welcome to Cass Voit !
Cass Voit is a self-published author based out of Northern Virginia. She has breached over 200 subscribers on Authortube after eleven years of honing her writing craft.
She is also a professional photographer, illustrator, bellydancer, and flow artist. At the end of the day, she enjoys curling up with her husband and her black cat, Nobukatsu, watching a stupid show, and reading a horror book.
Cass, 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?
Frankly, I have it: A fat black cat that was feral. I suppose next best would be a full on panther, but the danger of getting mauled one day is real.
An excellent choice. Black cats are pretty amazing.
What do you write?
I technically write supernatural horror/urban fantasy fan-fiction set in the World of Darkness, which is the intellectual property of White Wolf Entertainment.
I’ve enjoyed playing games in that world. It’s definitely a fun setting with a lot of things to explore.
What do you like to read?
I read urban Fantasy mostly. I have been reading a lot of Supernatural Horror/thriller lately, but I’ve been disappointed a lot too: When you put Supernatural Thriller on the cover, don’t fill it with erotic fiction. No judgement against Erotic fiction; I love it, but when I’m expecting horror, it’s a bitter spoon to be fed.
I find myself reading a lot of urban fantasy (and paranormal romance), these days. And what a good point, I know so many authors who hate being penned into genre categories, but expectations matter. If you promise one genre, but give another, you’re setting yourself up for disappointed readers and one-star reviews. Truth in advertising matters.
Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice that doesn’t work for you.
Adverbs are the devil.
No, they’re not. Just don’t abuse them.
Definitely! I use adverbs, but try not to have too many per paragraph. A well placed adverb can add so much to your story. As with all how-to-write grammar sort of things, one should never take it as a ‘never’, and more of a reminder to not be lazy with your writing. There are so many verb choices in english, you can often forgo the adverb with a well-chosen verb, but not always. And it’s good to vary sentence structure.
Name one commonly accepted piece of writing advice that they can pry out of your cold, dead hands.
Use active voice, not passive.
This was a game changer for me. Converting all my old writing to third person and active is really the bulk of the work I have yet to do.
It’s great that your earlier writing is completely usable, readable, and enjoyable with a… well, not-so-simple, but straightforward edit! It’s easy, especially with descriptive passages or transition passages to turn to passive-voice, but often a more active voice adds so much, without adding much to the wordcount.
Shameless Self-Promotion time!
Check out Cass Voit’s debut novel! Hopes Chest
Set in The World Of Darkness
Pandora “Panda” Tran is a queen among the White Hats based out of the Washington DC area. When a government agency hires her to hack into a “suspect” forum, she is confronted by wizards that use computers in their magic. When the Government agents that hired her show their true colors, Panda has no choice but to also learn this form of magic in order to stay alive.
Set in the World of Darkness.
Coming soon: The Damned Hitman series
Check Cass Voit out across the web!
WRITING TIPS & WRITERLY MUSINGS 
I enjoyed this interview. I’m not sure I’d want to scoop a panther’s litter, but we do have 4 black cats.:-)
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She had a good point, didn’t she. 😉
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Cool interview! I agree–adverbs can be useful as long as they’re not reduntantly redundant. I don’t even mind the passive voice if it happens in the second part of a long sentence, though maybe I should… That’s also an interesting point about erotic scenes in horror–I wonder if there’s a distinction between books and movies, a lot of slasher movies have strong erotic motifs, though I suppose they’re part of or subordinate to the horror elements, and not there just for lascivious pleasure.
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