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cassmorriswrites.com
Cass Morris
@cassmorriswrites.com
5.9K followers 630 following 8.3K posts
Author: Aven Cycle | Story Editor: Mythik Camps | Podcast Cohost: Worldbuilding for Masochists | novels, short fiction, & immersive xp | Shakespeare nerd, once & future educator, rhetorician, geek chic | she/her | Virginia, USA

linktr.ee/cassrmorris
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cassmorriswrites.com
#WIPSnips Jan 8: There's only one... tent.
When they stopped to make camp, it quickly became apparent that, despite having decent provisions for a couple of days, only one of the barkers had a tent among its packs. In most circumstances, Rhiann would have been happy to forfeit the shelter and sleep out in the open, but with autumn turning inexorably to winter, the nights had grown far too cold to expose herself like that. Nor could she in good conscience kick Lycus out to do so, tempting though the prospect once would have been—and still was, to the pettier and more vicious part of her instincts. ‘It’s fine,’ she told herself as they worked in tandem to pound stakes, string up canvas, and set support poles. ‘It… it’ll be fine. You’ve shared plenty of tents before with plenty of people. It’s just a place to sleep.’
January 8, 2026 at 6:00 PM
cassmorriswrites.com
#WIPSnips Jan 7: In which Lycus really *wants* this inconvenient attraction to be the stars' fault rather than his own.
‘Belasa and Belisar again,’ he thought. This proved that fate intended they remain in each others’ orbits. For what purpose… Well, that was yet undetermined. So many stories attached themselves to those stars, rotating around each other in the night sky. The Coriolese thought of them as twins; the Lijari, as warriors locked in eternal combat. But to the Requini—or, rather, to the ancient Talsyrans, from whom they inherited so many of their myths—Belasa and Belisar were paramours. Admittedly, cursed ones, in many of the stories.
January 7, 2026 at 4:46 PM
cassmorriswrites.com
#WIPSnips Jan 6: This word is definitely on my "catch and kill" list. I lean on it far too heavily, especially when describing voices, and have to consciously vary my word choices. Sometimes, though, it's just the best word for the job.
He bent close to her, not with his usual invasive arrogance; this was almost a comforting gesture. Almost. That in itself was too strange. She had never thought to find solace in the pale angularity of a Requini face, and certainly not in his. ‘But you came here. You sought him out, when you could have stayed behind a firmly shut door. You almost died, and that doesn’t stop being frightening no matter how many times it happens, and so you wanted company—his company, his voice, you wanted to see those sharp blue eyes…’ “I would take it as a personal favor,” he continued in a low rumble, “if you tried to get stabbed as infrequently as possible in the future. Your death at this juncture would be inconvenient.”
January 6, 2026 at 3:24 PM
cassmorriswrites.com
The Aven Cycle is epic historical fantasy set in an alt ancient Rome, & it is in fact also on Kobo Plus!

The Dictator is dead; long live the Republic. A trio of sisters and an ambitious senator use wit, charm, and magic to realize their dreams for the city they love.

www.kobo.com/us/en/series...
Book covers for FROM UNSEEN FIRE, GIVE WAY TO NIGHT, and THE BLOODSTAINED SHADE against a white marbled background spattered with gold. All three covers have Roman-style visual elements and vivid colors against dark backgrounds. Text above: "Brilliant imagined and plotted. Readers will be rewarded handsomely with an amazing ride."--BookPage
January 5, 2026 at 6:49 PM
cassmorriswrites.com
#WIPSnips Jan 5: This word pops up in a lot of geopolitical contexts in this book...
‘And you would let them devour other nations while you wait and wonder?’ Rhiann wanted to ask. ‘You would stand by, while they trample over lands just far enough away not to trouble your conscience?’ She didn’t say either of those things, because she already knew the answer: Yes. Coriol would stand aside until the benefits of intervention were clear and profitable, or the costs of inaction too unavoidably detrimental to ignore. They had stood aside for generations while Requin rolled over the peoples on the southwestern side of the Ogeval Waters, only engaging when they needed access to the Strait of Ayles badly enough. That was the price of trying to run so large a domain without turning into despots like Requin: limitations on how far you could extend empathy. ‘But a problem deferred is a problem that has time to grow stronger and more dangerous,’ Rhiann thought.
January 5, 2026 at 2:58 PM
cassmorriswrites.com
#QueerWriters Sunday Line Share:
An aggravated sigh tore out of him. “You are being childish.” “And you’re being ridiculous!” She narrowed her eyes. He wanted her to drag this out of him. If he didn’t, he would have shoved her aside or knocked her over or whistled for backup. Why he was pretending otherwise was as much a mystery as why he had fled the hall in the first place, but she was determined to force the matter. “You are going to have this conversation with me.” Why she wanted that, she was not keen to examine too closely, though she could acknowledge motivations both noble and ignoble. The one, for the sake of the girl, held in thrall to the Lijari after years of Rivers only knew what sorts of torment; the other, general contrariness and a perpetual desire to aggravate Archen Lycus. Surely that was all. Nothing to do with the grief she had witnessed in flickering firelight.
January 4, 2026 at 5:43 PM
cassmorriswrites.com
#WIPSnips Jan 4:
“Tell me you don’t want to chase this down.” His voice turned low, the teasing tone replaced by an earnest timbre that seemed to resonate within her ribcage. “Not only for the magic itself, not only to do what no one since the Cataclysm has done, but to stop Alencia in a way that means they will turn their sights away from Tovira for good. Find the way to make them regret that they ever had the temerity to leave their stars-forsaken homeland and enter the Ogeval Waters. Tell me—” Again he closed the distance between them, sidling in a way that made her notice the easy swing of his hips, and then made her supremely annoyed with herself for having noticed. “That you have no interest in discovering how Talsyran magic might be turned to Toviran defense.” She could, of course, tell him no such thing, and he knew it.
January 4, 2026 at 3:39 PM
cassmorriswrites.com
lmao, no, the world's richest people have only gotten richer, they hold a higher percentage of America's total wealth than ever, and the stock market's higher than ever.
Graph demonstrating the continual rise of the Rich People Emotional Index.
January 3, 2026 at 10:37 PM
cassmorriswrites.com
#QueerWritersChat A5: In an alternate version of ancient Rome, a trio of sisters and an ambitious senator use wit, charm, and magic to realize their dreams for the city they love.

“Liberty is fragile, and it must be rigorously defended.”

Available in ebook, print, and audio: linktr.ee/cassrmorris
Book cover for FROM UNSEEN FIRE: teal embellishments on a dark background with the central image of a fire in an ancient-style brazier. Text and arrows surrounding: Yearning | Fierce determined women | Elemental magic | Dinner with a side of snark | Cutthroat politics | All this blood | An awful lot of swords. Book cover for GIVE WAY TO NIGHT: purple and bronze embellishments on a dark background with the central image of a temple door surrounded by spooky trees. Text and arrows surrounding: Grouchy + sunshine friendship | Creeply cultists | A siege | Sapphic subplot | Roman ghosts | Bad things happen at the beach | Even more blood. Book cover for THE BLOODSTAINED SHADE: red and gold embellishments on a dark background with the central image of a Roman temple split by blue lightning. Text and arrows surrounding: Chaos unleashed | Reunions and revelations | Weaponized snark | Big Badass Battle Sequence | Heroine's Journey | Sapphic sweethearts | Still just so much blood.
January 3, 2026 at 1:32 AM
cassmorriswrites.com
#QueerWritersChat: A3: I do this for my bullet journal every year, so it's at my fingertips:

Open
Cass holding up her bullet journal, which indeed has the word OPEN proclaimed on it, drawn inside a sketch of double doors opening, with stickers of leaves and butterflies whimsically scattered about.
January 3, 2026 at 1:23 AM
cassmorriswrites.com
No cheating. Reskeet with the most recent photo of your pet(s).
Oz and Oona, a pair of Airedale terriers, playing tug with a blue and green nylon toy in front of a Christmas tree.
January 2, 2026 at 12:13 AM
cassmorriswrites.com
#WIPSnips Jan 1: This is a word I've been culling pretty ruthlessly because of how often I was using the structure "begin[ning] to [verb]" instead of just "[verb]ing" or similar. It's not that it's never appropriate to ease in with the preparatory phrase -- but I want to choose it more consciously.
Lycus settled his shoulders back, writing confidence in all the lines of his body. “Nothing for it, then. We shall have to retake the fortress.” He expected Rhiann to object, tell him that was ludicrous, impossible—but she surprised him with a wryly tilted smile. “An open assault won’t do it, I’m sure you know.” “I have no intention of getting us into a siege.” He pointed a finger at her. “But you never chose that risky route, either, and yet your pesky little band of rebels managed to capture more than one outpost, as I recall.” “Since they were our burhs to begin with, we called it liberation rather than capture, but yes.”
January 1, 2026 at 5:44 PM
cassmorriswrites.com
Called out on my favorite habitually used filler word
You used 8.8K distinct words Your Vocabulary 8,846 unique words · Most used: "not" not its just one when things time will work people want use know fucking love even lot think need she dont ive book years mean good writing see really day feel actually why look thats something start makes wipsnips word read though getting say today story theyre going characters different
December 31, 2025 at 11:25 PM
cassmorriswrites.com
Yeah these pretty much sum me up
Your signature tag: #wipsnips (used 164×) Your Hashtags 755 hashtags used · Favorite: #wipsnips #wipsnips #sffchat #writesky #pretendpanel #amwriting #queerwriterschat #queerwriters #smutcember #lgbtqwriteathon #maywedance #septopolis #weeknightwriters #mythaugust #writinglifemonthly #gauntletchat #booksky #novelgauntlet #fantasybooks #writingcommunity #nokings #latenightwrite #handsoff #authorsky #writevember #sff #goals #fantasy #patreon #smashwords #microfiction #favelinefriday #readanebookweek #dnd #andor #blessed #worldcon Your mood this year: 😅
December 31, 2025 at 11:25 PM
cassmorriswrites.com
Okay well I'm glad I did in fact write more words in my actual book than I did here 😅
You wrote 132.7K words, that's roughly 531 pages Words Written 132.7K words across 4.6K posts · 28.9 words/post 749.4K Characters 132.7K Words 4.6K Posts 163 chars/post 28.9 words/post 📖 You've written 22.9% of a War and Peace! Leo Tolstoy's 1869 novel · 580,000 words
December 31, 2025 at 11:25 PM
cassmorriswrites.com
Genuinely surprised there were any days I didn't post; I have to assume those were probably all camp days. Probably all *Quest* days, come to that. (175 days ago certainly was one)
You showed up to speak your mind on 362 days Your Posting Habits Your longest streak was 174 days · Active 99% of the year 🏆 Longest Streak 174 days consecutive days 🌴 Longest Absence 2 days without posting 📅 Active Days 362 / 365 days with posts 📊 Consistency 98.9% of days active ⚡ Current Streak 174 days at year end 📈 Per Active Day 16.8 posts on average
December 31, 2025 at 11:25 PM
cassmorriswrites.com
Y'know, I'm genuinely surprised it's the library post and not the "fuck ABC" one, but perhaps I just muted the library post faster so it didn't feel as weighty.
Your time in the spotlight: 4.2K likes on one post Your Top Posts Your most popular post got 4.2K likes #1 · Jan 6 Financial statement today reminded me HOW GREAT IT IS when folks request that their libraries acquire books. 😍 Seriously, if you want a totally free-to-you way to help an author, submit a request with your local library. Those sales help us so much, in whatever format. 4,238 54 778 39 #2 · Sep 18 The address to target is: Disney-ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution 500 S. Buena Vista St. Burbank, CA 91521-3515 1,960 6 1,199 31 #3 · May 20 Hey, media, could we maybe focus more on the obvious physical and mental deterioration of the guy who’s currently in the Oval Office than the one who isn’t? 1,739 19 382 4
December 31, 2025 at 11:25 PM
cassmorriswrites.com
@mrmaresca.com considering I think I was also *your* top person, are we co-dependent? 😅
Chart showing Cass had 3.8k conversations across her 50 top people, with a graphical representation of who those people are. She chatted most, perhaps entirely predictably, with Marshall Ryan Maresca.
December 31, 2025 at 11:25 PM
cassmorriswrites.com
Okay, fine, I succumb.

www.madebyolof.com/bluesky-wrap...
Overview of Cass's Bluesky Wrapped for 2025, showing a graphic of who she interacts with the most, that she has 1.7k posts, 2.9k replies, 51.9k likes received, 174 day posting streak, 923 days on Bluesky (presumably not all in 2025 for that particular bit of data), and a chart showing she was most active in January and September.
December 31, 2025 at 11:25 PM
cassmorriswrites.com
#WIPSnips Dec 31:
A flash of red caught Lycus’s attention: beads of blood, surfacing on the skin of her forearms. ‘She’s drawing that much power, and still getting nowhere…’ Unable to watch her tormenting herself any longer, Lycus put his hands around her waist and hauled her to her feet. Then he stepped away as swiftly as possible, since Maera’s immediate objection to his effrontery manifested rather violently. “Get your hands off me,” she demanded, slapping at him even though he had already released her. “What do you think you’re—” “Putting an end to this futile exercise,” Lycus said. “It’s clearly not working, and you bleeding out in the middle of the current isn’t likely to yield any favorable results.” “I’m not—” “Hush a moment and let me think.”
December 31, 2025 at 2:34 PM
cassmorriswrites.com
It's heckin' wimdy.

I have a heckin' headache.

Uff.
Barometric pressure chart for Richmond VA showing a steep drop and then a nearly-as-steep rise within a 36 hour periods.
December 29, 2025 at 6:22 PM
cassmorriswrites.com
#QueerWriters Sunday line share: Meant to do this yesterday but got distracted!
Maera Rhiann, who had a fire in her that blazed like none of the other Toviran rebels, a spark in her very blood. And, occasionally, in the fire-shots she cast his way. During his last visit, she had well and truly lost her temper with him, but that was far from the only time in the past six years she had called a bit of dangerous magic to her fingertips, just to remind him that she could. The woman was an aggravation, but a worthy opponent. Unreasonable, really, how long they had been falling into each others’ orbits, like the twin stars Belasa and Belisar, ever turning around each other in the sky. No matter how close they dipped to the horizon, neither ever fell beneath it, and while they moved apart at certain times of the year, always they returned to close connection. So it had been with him and Rhiann.
December 29, 2025 at 3:37 PM
cassmorriswrites.com
#PretendPanel Dec 27: The Aven Cycle is still on sale at Smashwords through Jan 1! From Unseen Fire is FREE; Give Way to Night and The Bloodstained Shade are half-off!

www.smashwords.com/books/byseri...
Book cover for FROM UNSEEN FIRE: teal embellishments on a dark background with the central image of a fire in an ancient-style brazier. Text and arrows surrounding: Yearning | Fierce determined women | Elemental magic | Dinner with a side of snark | Cutthroat politics | All this blood | An awful lot of swords. Book cover for GIVE WAY TO NIGHT: purple and bronze embellishments on a dark background with the central image of a temple door surrounded by spooky trees. Text and arrows surrounding: Grouchy + sunshine friendship | Creeply cultists | A siege | Sapphic subplot | Roman ghosts | Bad things happen at the beach | Even more blood. Book cover for THE BLOODSTAINED SHADE: red and gold embellishments on a dark background with the central image of a Roman temple split by blue lightning. Text and arrows surrounding: Chaos unleashed | Reunions and revelations | Weaponized snark | Big Badass Battle Sequence | Heroine's Journey | Sapphic sweethearts | Still just so much blood.
December 27, 2025 at 5:19 PM
cassmorriswrites.com
#Smutcember D27: Yeah, this is... probably the most explicit moment in the WIP. tbh I'm still in negotiation with myself about a few of the vocabulary choices, but it's a good moment for sex as a means of conveying character.
Maera pushed herself half-upright, bracing against her headboard. One of Alestir’s arms locked around her body while his other hand guided his cock into her again. He fit himself to her so closely, her back to his chest, every thrust a relentless demand for her pleasure. He reveled in every sensation, the slap of flesh on flesh accompanied by the sweet notes of her rapidly mounting euphoria, and sweetest of all, his name, its scarce-heard syllables panted over and over again, as much a command as a plea. She wanted, his Maera, with a fierceness that put lesser yearnings to shame, and to see her giving in to that desire, demanding its fulfillment, brought on a rush of adrenaline unparalleled by any other conquest. Alestir Lycus knew conquest, yes, and the intoxication spurred by blood and achievement. Weak triumphs, those, compared with convincing Maera Rhiann to vanquish herself, to give free rein to purest instinct. Her explosion of rapture clenched around him, tight and hot and utterly soaking his cock and balls, a painful temptation to his own release—but he held his rhythm, inexorable as the tremors of an earthquake. “What a glory you are, Maera, what a wonder…”
December 27, 2025 at 3:14 PM
cassmorriswrites.com
#FaveLineFriday: This is one of those moments that not only can I see it so clearly, I can hear the soundtrack.

(Something between "Romantic Flight" from HTTYD, "Under the Stars" from The Lion King, and "Only the Beginning of the Adventure" from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, fwiw)
Rhiann sucked in a sharp breath as the ethereal pageant changed again. The map disappeared, and light fell like raindrops down the cavern walls. They shimmered in shades of silver, gold, and blue, a heart-stoppingly beautiful array encircling Maera and Alestir. Tears stung at the back of her eyes. She was far too proud to let them fall, but the power of this moment shot straight through to her core and swelled beneath her ribs. As the tiny lights resolved into a pattern at the far end of space, between two painted murals, Maera realized that, somehow, she had ended up with her back against Alestir’s chest. And his hands—his hands were resting gently on her upper arms. She waited for the instinct to wrench away to seize her. It didn’t.
December 26, 2025 at 7:12 PM