Tag Archives: Cassandra Featherstone

#WOTR24 #attendingauthor #Authorspotlight -Cassandra Featherstone

Cassandra Featherstone

Tell us your name and then a bit about yourself.

Cassandra Featherstone has been writing since she could hold a pencil.

She is passionate about literacy, but when she picked up her laptop to write her first published novel in March 2020, she focused on subjects that not only spoke to her soul, but affected many of the women she’d met throughout her twisty life path.

Bullying, PTSD, body dysmorphia, mental illness, reinvention, and claiming your space are frequent themes in her books, as well as respectful, non-fetishized representation of LGBTQIA+ relationships.

Cassandra lives in the Midwest with her computer geek husband, artsy college goblin, an author dog, and five cats that Loki himself spawned. Her works include sci-fi fantasy/urban fantasy, paranormal, humorous, and academy whychoose with characters over eighteen. Her books never include non-consensual elements, but feature accurate, safe depictions of BDSM and kink lifestyles.

When you are writing a book, which is harder? The first book in the series or the others after it?

The first! I have to learn their voices.

When writing a series how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?

I try to make sure I’m not falling into a trap of not moving the plot enough— pacing it to make sure they don’t feel like they’re waiting around for things to happen.

Writing can be an emotionally draining and stressful pursuit. Any tips for aspiring writers?

Pick and choose what to give your energy to. Do not do everything just because everyone is. Cutting things out that weren’t helping me was a goddess send this year.

On a typical day, how much time do you spend writing?

Four to eight hours depending on if I work my day job.

Do you have a favorite character that you have written? If so, who? And what makes them so special.

Ughhhhh why choose? I love them all so much. I usually have a secret fave in the family group though.

What is your definition of success?

Being able to support myself without the evil day job 😉

What are your social links?

Get them all here: https://cassandrafeatherstone.com/follow-cassandra-everywhere/

What are your buy links? (Provide links to your Amazon/iBook’s/Koko/etc Author Home Page if you have quite a few. Also include audible links if applicable.)

https://amazon.com/author/cassandrafeatherstone https://cassandrafeatherstone.myshopify.com/

 

Want tickets to Writers on the River #2024?

They are available starting November 6th at Writersontheriver.com

$75 VIP Plus – 11-12 Lunch with the Authors , 12-1 VIP hour, 1-4 General Admission time. You get a filled VIP bag and admission to the after party is included. *Limited Quantity expected to sell out first day*

$50 VIP -12-1 VIP hour, 1-4 General Admission time. You get a filled VIP bag and admission to the after party is included. *Expected to sell out first day*

$25 Early Access – 12-1 VIP house, 1-4 General Admission time. You also get a filled VIP bag but NO admission to the after party. *Expected to sell out opening day*

$10 General Admission – 1-4 General Admission time. You can purchase a bag but it is not filled with VIP swag. There is no admission to the after party included.

$35 After party – 7-11 After Party with food and cash bar. Dj with a photobooth is also included in the fun.

 

 

 

#WOTR24 #Review – Hoist the Flag: Triangles and Tribulations Book 1 by Cassandra Featherstone

***This was previously published in the Jingle My Balls Anthology. This version has bonus content!***

Click to send… and I’m outta here.

Being the infamous fairy tale ‘Jack’ isn’t as glamorous as it sounds. My entire life has been a series of memes—before they were even invented!

My current ‘Jack’ title is companion to the Ice Queen—who spent the first couple of years singing that song—but my sentence here is almost over. I’m going to make a run for it to retire with my shaker of salt on an island in the Caribbean while I drink piña coladas.

Before I leave, I realize my heart wasn’t as frozen as I thought and I have to save Queenie from her evil sister. We make a plan to escape together after the Yule celebration, but even that falls victim to my legendary bad luck.

Enter two bumbling pirates who were playing Robin Hood, a monkey, and a sea voyage to our permanent hiding place…only to trip over a bottle on the beach that contains a mysterious map to a legendary graveyard filled with famous treasure the moment we arrive.

My spill draws the attention of our pirate friends and two other local hotties who can’t resist damsels in distress.

Insert eyeroll here.

My girl and I didn’t ask to be conscripted on an adventure with two shifter pirates, a masseuse, a demi-god, and a merman who think we’re on the menu, but here we are.

Maybe I should have taken the Ice Queen’s musical advice when I first arrived ?

Goodreads

Amazon

Review by Twinsie Kelly

First, this cover is amazing! I mean we have a gorgeous female pirate and I immediately think of a female version of Jack Sparrow. I was scrolling and immediately stopped to check it out. Second, the blurb grabbed me by throat, pulled my hair, and made me one click, like RIGHT NOW! Needless to say, I have incredibly high hopes that this story is going to consume me. I am ready to ride high and laugh my money maker off. However, I had a difficult time at the beginning. This could be because this is a ‘new to me’ author and I am not familiar with her writing style, but I was expecting a YO HO HO glorious grand time and got stuck in the snow. The beginning was quite foreboding with detail (that is needed) to give you each of the female character’s backgrounds so that you understand why they are planning to escape. There are funny and extremely hot scenes throughout the first half, but it didn’t really pick up until about the 60% mark for me. Now, this is where things get really good. We get a lot more action with the escape, add the shifter pirates and crew, plus a special request comes into play. Now, I am hooked! I need to continue this journey and see what the next leg has in store for this crazy crew!

Cassandra Featherstone profile image

Cassandra Featherstone has been writing since she could hold a pencil.

Her passion for literacy is unmatched, but when she picked up her laptop to write her first published novel in March 2020, she focused on subjects that not only spoke to her soul, but affected many of the women she’d met throughout her twisty life path.

Cass’s vision of a more inclusive whychoose genre lead her to include various types of polycules and diverse characters with three-dimensional personalities, hopes, and dreams that readers adore. Due to her relationships with friends and family, bullying, PTSD, body dysmorphia, mental illness, reinvention, and claiming your space are frequent themes in her books. She frequently champions other authors who also strive for accurate, respectful representation of LGBTQIA+ characters in their whychoose romance.

Her works include urban fantasy, paranormal, contemporary, and academy whychoose/polyam with characters over eighteen. Her books never include non-consensual elements, but feature accurate, safe depictions of BDSM and kink lifestyles.

She’s also affectionately known as the Muppet for her outrageous, extroverted personality and her wacky brand of theater kid social media posts and videos.

Cassandra lives in the Midwest with her computer geek husband, artsy college goblin, an author dog named Tilly, and five cats that Loki himself spawned.

Follow here everywhere: https://cassandrafeatherstone.com/followcasseverywhere/

#WOTR23 #attendingauthor #Spotlight – Cassandra Featherstone

Cassandra Featherstone

Tell us your name and then a bit about yourself.

Hi! I’m Cassandra Featherstone, though most people call me Cass (or Muppet).

I wrote my first short story at 3–my mom still has it–and I’ve been writing ever since.

Before the pandemic, I worked at an indie bookstore as Director of Educational Service/B2B, but my whole department got torpedoed by May of 2020. I’d started dipping my toe into self-publishing when they laid us all off in March, but I put myself in the wrong categories!

Once I figured out I belonged in whychoose romance, I really worked hard to learn as much about self-publishing as I knew about trad pub from my decade in the biz. I’m STILL learning and growing, but I’ve been busy!

I have five solo series and two co-write series in progress as of right now. The solo series all fall into one universe, which I love, and so I have an infinite playground to work in.(Plus, a really ridiculous writing schedule over the next few years.)

My five cats, puppy, long suffering husband, and my college aged goblin all live in the sweet spot between the South and the Midwest with me.

When you are writing a book, which is harder? The first book in the series or the others after it?

Mmm. My PA says that I always write slower until I ‘de-virginize’ the characters. (ha!)

So probably first book, because my FMC will get spicy with the different love interests one by one (sometimes more), and after they do, I can really ‘hear’ all of their voices in my head clearly.

When writing a series how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?

Oh, well. I’m a panster. I often haven’t a clue what’s coming next, so it’s ALL a surprise.

As for readers, I try to make sure I’m not just rubber stamping the same things over and over–whether characters, plots, traits, appearances, etc. No shade to people who do well with a formula or enjoy it at all! I’m just a girl who loves to have variety–hence whychoose 😉

Writing can be an emotionally draining and stressful pursuit. Any tips for aspiring writers?

First of all, learn about BUSINESS. You will make mistakes, but don’t let them be ones you have to suffer with FOREVER. Covers matter. Some form of editing (even betas, etc) matter. Marketing on anything free–FB, TT, IG, NL, etc–matter. Vet your helpers–find out about PAs, editors, cons, book boxes, anthology runners, arc team members as best you can before committing. Use contracts for these people and especially for co-writers, even your friends. You have to protect yourself and your work from fraud, scams, and people who will take advantage of you. Doing this stuff from the beginning will help your stress immeasurably.

On a typical day, how much time do you spend writing?

I work part-time still, but I write full time as well. (Sounds counterintuitive, but stay with me.)

That means on non-office work days, I write/do admin junk/do marketing at different points in the day for about two-four hours.

On office days, I aim for throughout the day, on breaks, and after I get home. (I work by daily word count on writing, which varies depending on how far ahead/behind I am.)

Also, I’m trying to get better at not working 24/7. WISH ME LUCK.

Do you have a favorite character that you have written? If so, who? And what makes them so special.

Man, I am bad at choosing. All us whychoose people are.

Delilah (from the Codename series) was most like me when I was younger and got back into writing more seriously. She was my first published FMC and very near to my heart.

Jolene (Hollow series) is most like me now and she’s so much fun to write. She’s sassy, smart, a little damaged, funny, and does everything by seat of her pants. Jolene doesn’t have control of her life, per se, but she’s learned to ride the waves well. And she doesn’t take anyone’s BS anymore.

If any of your books were to be made into a movie, who are the celebrities that would star in it? What book and who?

I’m gonna go with the Hollow series because I think it’s got a good chance, but I’d prefer an HBO series. (Not Netflix they cancel everything.)

Jolene would be played by Zoey Deschanel
Teddy by Henry Cavill
Wolfie by Matt Later
Presley by Jared Padalecki
Doyle by Tom Hiddleston
Benjy by Donald Glover
Saoirse by Emma Watson

What is your definition of success?

I want to be able to go true full time as a writer and have readers adore my books.

Do you have anything you want to share that didn’t fit on one of these questions?

Don’t compare yourself or progress to others’. Stay on your path and do your thing. You’ll be happier for it.

What are your social links?

http://cfeatherstone.ctcin.bio/

What are your buy links? (Provide links to your Amazon/iBook’s/Koko/etc Author Home Page if you have quite a few. Also include audible links if applicable.)

Want tickets to Writers on the River #2023?

They are available starting November 4th at Writersontheriver.com

$45 VIP sell out quickly – 12-1 VIP hour, 1-4 General Admission time. You get a filled VIP bag and admission to the after party is included.

$25 Early Access – 12-1 VIP house, 1-4 General Admission time. You also get a filled VIP bag but NO admission to the after party.

$10 General Admission – 1-4 General Admission time. You can purchase a bag but it is not filled with VIP swag. There is no admission to the after party included.

$35 After party – 7-11 After Party with food and cash bar. Dj with a photobooth is also included in the fun.