- You started out writing contemporary fiction & romance. What made you decide to start writing MM fiction?
Honestly? It was a complete and happy accident. Under my original pen name Wendy Saunders I have a long running supernatural/urban fantasy series and I had two male characters who had this absolutely epic love story that I was just dying to tell. The problem was I felt like I couldn’t just suddenly spring a gay love story onto the existing readership because I wasn’t sure how they’d react to it. I also wasn’t sure if I could write a male/male pairing and do it justice, so I decided to go and have a look and see what other gay romances were available. Lily Morton’s books were the first ones I stumbled across and I just inhaled her entire backlist. I came across some brilliant authors and stories. I decided I’d give it a try so I wrote my first MM novel which was a contemporary novel called Suddenly Beck. I enjoyed it so much I then went on to write Dead Serious which became some of my best and most recognised work.
- What are your future goals as an author for your projects? Would you like to see any of your works adapted into different mediums?
I’m expanding my Dead Serious universe with not only a continuation of the original series but spin offs of fan favourite side characters. Although I still write contemporary settings and I have an awesome Gothic series set in Victorian London I always come back to paranormal/supernatural/fantasy which is my first love. I try to make all my novels as accessible as possible, in addition to eBooks, print copies and audio books I’ve recently begun branching out into dyslexia friendly versions but I’d love to see the original Dead Serious series picked up as a TV adaptation. It’s great all round entertainment with mystery, romance, humour and a very sassy dead drag queen.
- You are a very prolific author; do you have a standard schedule or pattern that you use to keep yourself creative and productive?
A lot of us have grown hearing the saying, if you love what you do you never work a day in your life. Well, in my case I’d absolutely amend that to, if you love what you do you don’t have an off button. I can’t not write. Even as a kid I danced in and out of imaginary worlds, I think it’s just how my brain is wired. I don’t seem to run out of ideas, if anything it’s the opposite, my poor editor telling me to stop adding projects to an already jam-packed schedule. I have a big notebook with all the stories I want to write pencilled in and every time I’m ready to start something new, if I haven’t chosen already I’ll just flip through that. However, one of the most important lessons I’ve learned in the last few years and am still learning is that keeping creative and productive isn’t my problem, it’s making time to stay active and keep healthy because it’s far too easy for me to hibernate in my writing cave sitting for hours and days on end.
- Do any particular authors or books influence your writing style?
My writing style is something I’ve developed over the years and I like to think is completely my own voice and style. I’ve had many people tell me that regardless of whether they’re reading my M/F or M/M fiction you can tell it’s me. But I can see where certain authors/stories have influenced the type of fiction I write. For example growing up I read David & Leigh Eddings, their series The Belgariad and The Mallorean remain favourite comfort reads of mine to this day. It also introduced me to a world of magic, episodic writing and definitely instilled in me a love of long running series and world building. Barbara Erskine, introduced me to a love of past lives and dual storytelling where during the course of one story the writer would slip seamlessly between the past and present telling two stories in tandem. Then there was Nora Roberts who was my introduction to romantic suspense and urban fantasy/magical realism. All of these brilliant authors helped me to narrow down where I love to write and where my strengths lie.
- You are known for your world building; do you have any tips on how to create worlds for up and coming authors?
It depends, for me there are two types of world building. The first is when it is set in a real world setting but with supernatural/paranormal elements, this is very much my Dead Serious and London Underside series. They are set in our world, it uses the same social rules and societal hierarchy, the same foods, currencies and religions, the same histories. Because of this I didn’t have to do too much pre-planning for the world I was going to create I allowed it to develop organically with each book I wrote. One thing I will say is pay more attention to your side characters, they shouldn’t detract from your main MC’s but the more fleshed out and interesting they are the easier it is to add extra books, shorts and spin offs that help grow your universe.
The second type of world building is more complex, for fantasy, dystopian and sci fi series, I’d sit down and create the world before I even wrote the first sentence, including the rules and histories of the world, plus the topography/geography, including maps. I’m currently working on building a new universe like this but sssh! it’s top secret!
- You have many series that you write, how do you decide what you are going to work on next? What is your next project going to be?
Sometimes if I’m in the headspace of a particular series I’ll just go straight on to write the next in series, sometimes I switch to one of the other series and sometimes it just depends on which book my readers are yelling for next. At the moment I’m trying to complete some of the series so I’m not juggling too many at a time.
- If people want more information on you or your projects where should they go?
My website is one of the best places to find out about all my books and connected universes. I’m also in my Facebook group most often, my mailing list is a good place for info too, the sign up for it can be found on my website.
www.facebook.com/groups/cassidysbayboys
www.facebook.com/vawncassidyauthor
www.instagram.com/vawncassidyauthor
Q) When the zombies take over the world where will you be?
Are we talking the super-fast, scary as hell World War Z zombies? or the slightly stoned slower Shaun of the Dead zombies? Hmm, either way I’m pretty sure I’d be one of the first to be eaten, running away involves a whole lot of cardio. I feel like I’d be more likely to survive an Alien Invasion as opposed to a Zombie Apocalypse.
Q) What is your favourite fandom?
I have many fandoms I love, during the 90’s I was a huge Buffy & Roswell fan, I also love LOTR the films, not the books, because the films have Orlando Bloom in elf ears and the books are really hard work. But I think of all of them my favourite has to be Supernatural. I am a die-hard SPN fan.
Q) What piece of art, be it in the form of music, a book, a film or a picture do you think people must experience before they die?
There’s no one piece I could pick, too many amazing choices and differing tastes but I would say that if you’ve found a piece of music that gives you goosebumps, a book that’s made you cry or a film that’s stayed with you for days after then you’ve done alright.
Q) Give one fact that most people would not believe about you?
That’s a really tough question, honestly I wouldn’t have a clue.
Paper Phoenix ink 