Shelley Cass is the mother of fantasy worlds, magical erotica, myth touched dystopias, and of the Raze Warfare series – a kickass LGBTQ+ action/romance/social commentary. We enjoyed having this Author Interview – Shelley Cass, for our blog. Check out this fantastic author and follow them for more amazing stories.
Shelley Cass works with diverse teens as a secondary teacher. She has always been the head in the sky (slow, distracted) type, and an unhealthy blend of the scrambled perfectionist.
Her ADHD brain made it hard to learn easy things, like keeping her attention still, or learning to read when she was a kid. When that mental block lifted, the same ADHD brain became addicted to reading, Devouring all the words she’d felt too dumb to process before. It was a revelation.
She has such empathy for her own students who have to overcome mental blocks. And also social blocks. It was watching her students attend equal marriage marches before this was legalized that made Shelley more passionate that love is love. The idea that her students may not have access to a wedding day because of their type of love was horrifying. That fact helped her to write Raze and Kiddo’s romance in Raze Warfare. The character Kiddo is loaded with Shelly’s calm, perfect, storm-in-a-teacup qualities. It’s very therapeutic, really.
When did you start writing?
I wasn’t the brightest button. It took a long while for my brain to absorb how letters strung into words and then into sentences. My poor brain never managed to work out numbers, though. When all the other kids raced to get prime challenger spots in a game of Maths Champ or Maths Tiggy in the classroom, I would be squeezing myself between the tubs and the teacher’s desk so nobody could find me to challenge me.
The embarrassment of losing every time was overwhelming. But when we got to creative writing and reading our work out to the class (now that I had worked out words and didn’t have to mumble nonsense out to pretend I was reading something)… I got laughs. I got claps. I got joy. I vaguely remember an early story called ‘The Adventures of the Talking Glue Stick,’ and I believe this brilliance was produced in grade two. Writing became my escape, my fixation, and my dopamine hit.
What was it like growing up?
Aside from the pitfalls of being a daydreamer at school, growing up was lovely. My parents and sisters nurtured every imaginative tangent while also keeping me grounded and working their butts off to help me succeed in learning the skills I needed for the real world.
How was your early life?
My early life was all about the piles of toys surrounding me in bed, the story times, the games, the armchair cuddles, and the learning. Always learning.
What has been the biggest influence in your career?
My fantasy trilogy, ‘A Fairy’s Tale,’ took half my life to write. I began writing that story at fourteen and built the most epic adventure for fifteen years. Yes, it was epic. But I also couldn’t let it go. I couldn’t stop overthinking it. When I let the need for perfection go and realized that I am an English teacher who helps students to self-edit every day, I dropped so much dense fluff from my own work.
I had to swap hats from writer to editor. I had to learn how to self-publish and let it go. Once I released myself from agonizing, and swapped hats from writer to editor to publisher, things started to come much easier. I could access readers from across the world simply because I wasn’t in my own way anymore. So I suppose it was the hats that influenced me. That and, I don’t want to be a fraud telling my students to chase their dreams, all while stifling my own.
Tell us about your newest release.
Raze Warfare is a passionate, sweet, brutal, punch-to-the-gut bisexual romance. The Raze gang are the kind of people who have had to band together to survive a reality where money makes the world go round. Having no family or money makes you a perfect target to be harvested by the snatchers. People traffickers can find all the best candidates for disappearing and selling.
Which book of yours would you call your favorite child?
Raze Warfare. Kiddo is me in so many ways, and Raze is larger than life, like my husband. I also love the diversity of the gang. This series is very much like SE Hinton’s ‘The Outsiders,’ If women had been kick-ass members of the gang, sexualities had been open, some gender-bending had been normal, the family was mixed race, and the enemy wanted to sell you instead of scare you.
What inspired you to write this book?
I just saw the opening scene unfolding. I had no idea where it was going. But I saw Kiddo in the library and Raze – unnoticed and cat-like; stretched out on the old window sill. He was slipping down, stalking forward, curious to get to know what made Kiddo tick. I had to get to know them.
What are you usually found doing when you’re not writing?
Obsessively organizing things, crafting, blobbing on the couch with a cup of tea and the hubby, being guilted by big eyes into walking the fur-baby Ace, or marking papers.
What does your writing space look like?
A pink velvet armchair and a tall, warm rose-gold lamp. Bliss.
If you wrote your autobiography, what would you name it?
Where did I put my…?
How long did it take to write your novel, and what was your process?
Now that I’ve got out of my own way, I can smash out a novel each school holiday if I want to. I just have to be careful not to burn out, as it becomes all consuming.
Favorite reads?
I teach the heavy stuff in English and History classes. So I like to switch off with some good ol smut or fantasy. Or smutty fantasy. I’m an audiobook lover, as I clean, walk Acey or sit in traffic every day.
Do you have any book recommendations?
The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner, is the most brilliant book I’ve ever read. A charismatic, charming, reckless main character, and twists that still unfold before my eyes, despite how many times I’ve read this book. Ahhhhhhhh.
What’s your next big project?
My next edition is an addition to the family. A baby girl is on her way, kicking at my phone as I lean on her and type this.
Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
Get out of your way!
Follow Shelly:
https://facebook.com/ShellCassy
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