Cass Morris

@cassmorriswrites

656 Folgt6.467 Follower10.289 Posts

Patreon Patreon Linktree Bluesky

Ist das dein Profil?Übernimm es — dann gehört dir cassmorriswrites.dirty.social.Profil übernehmen

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· 24d

#WIPSnips July 18: Political sniping.

He would not have risked his next words had the sorceren still been standing by, but he dropped his voice, striding down the steps into the center of the room, closer to Rhiann. “But the Coriolese! How swiftly Tovira abandoned its determination to be a free-standing nation, once Coriol decided to remember you existed.”
“We are a fr—”
“A protectorate. Just another word for ‘colony,’ but them, you welcomed freely. You’ve given them control of your burhs and your ports. You’ve let them bring migrant settlers over the water. They’re in every corner of your land now, as much as we ever were.”
“They,” Rhiann bit off, “asked.”
“And how readily you gave,” he countered.

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· 24d

#PretendPanel July 18: Here are a few shots from the current project's Pinterest board, plus a little peek at how I track the calendars for the two primary cultures.

Screenshot of a Pinterest board showing various people and mannequins in early medieval dress and fantasy takes on similar.

Screenshot of a Pinterest board primarily showing Viking-era buildings and medieval castles atop rocky outcrops and/or next to water, including Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland.

Screenshot of a Pinterest board showing a mixture of images: medieval-style daggers and short swords, hands holding fire, lovers embracing, ancient texts, reproduction Viking-era buildings and campsites.

Screenshot of a spreadsheet with columns tracking two cultures' calendars, beginning at the spring equinox, and another column titled "IN THE PLOT".

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· 25d

And the state has officially given everyone the “jfc why would you be outside if you didn’t have to be?” order.

Screenshot of an Air Quality alert: The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has issued a Code PURPLE Air Quality Alert across The Richmond Metro Area, for Fine Particulates, until midnight EDT tonight. This also includes areas to the north and northeast of the Richmond Metro, as wells the the Virginia Eastern Shore.

Air quality is expected to reach code PURPLE...which is very unhealthy...and means everyone may experience serious health effects and should avoid all outdoor exertion. individuals with lung and/or heart ailments...older adults...and children should especially avoid all outdoor exertion.

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· 25d

We have moved to our indoor location. We never like having to do that, but, uh… I feel good about our decision.

AirNow screenshot showing Richmond in Very Unhealthy territory.

PurpleAir screenshot showing Richmond in Very Unhealthy territory.

IQAir screenshot showing Richmond in Very Unhealthy territory.

Apple’s Air Quality showing Richmond merely in Unhealthy territory.

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· 26d

#WIPSnips July 16: In which Lycus is absolutely in no form of denial.

‘This is the reminder I needed,’ he thought, weaving out of the way of another strike. ‘This is what we are and what we were always supposed to be: opponents, our commonalities rooted in anger and challenge and vengeance.’ And that was all. He took pleasure in the satisfying reminder of their star-destined roles, entwined though their fates might be. The rush in his blood was the thrill of the fight, certainly not any other kind of arousal.

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· 29d

#WIPSnips July 13: It's rare that I see the prompt word and immediately know which passage I want to pull, but this is one of them. I'm pretty sure I've shared it before, too, or at least an earlier draft, and I do not give a damn.

They were sitting shoulder to shoulder by now, so when she turned to scrutinize his expression, his face was very, very close. ‘You know I’m chaos,’ she thought, searching those ice-blue eyes. ‘But you sent Danaïs to me anyway. You claim to prize order so much. You think it’s Requin’s regimented regularity you want. You tell yourself that. You did enough to uphold it. You killed for it. And yet you find yourself drawn to havoc…’

A powerful impulse surged within her chest, hot and insistent and making the breath catch in her throat. Her eyes dropped to his lips, and for a heartbeat, all the world around her seemed muted. Almost, she leaned over. Almost, she listened to the singing in her blood that threatened to overwhelm her good sense. Almost, she gave in to the urge to press her mouth to his, catch his lower lip between her teeth, grasp him by the back of the neck and swing herself to straddle his hips and show him that, no, she wasn’t going to ask, she would act.

Only almost.

With a deep breath that she hoped didn’t sound as shuddering as it felt, she wrenched her gaze away, pretending to fuss with the pack resting by her other side.

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jul 12

#WIPSnips July 12: I'm sort of surprised at how infrequently I use this word!

With extra time before the sun went down, some of the bannermen set up a sparring ring behind the large cook-tent. For a while, Rhiann watched from a distance, musing on the differences in technique not only between Toviran and Requini fighting styles, but from fighter to fighter. In a well-drilled line, they moved in unison, but in a freeform fight, she could see that Korian was prone to feints and that Gerion always fell for them, that Damian favored brute force and used his bulkier frame to his advantage, and that Lycus—
Watching Lycus too closely was a mistake.

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jul 11

#WIPSnips July 11: Coriol's role here was inspired by the Champagne fairs of medieval France.

Rhiann supposed it was a good thing, that so many people could expend such effort on all those mundane luxuries. It meant they were safe and prosperous. Coriol stood safeguard not only for Aylesburh and the fair, but even for the merchants as they traveled to and from the event, by land or by sea. To interfere with trade was practically blasphemous to the Coriolese—and to attack a merchant under their protection was to invite swift and unambiguous retribution. Even the Lijari raiders on the eastern side of the Ogeval Waters had learned that lesson swiftly and turned their attention further south, to Requin and the Demetic League.

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jul 5

#QueerWriters Sunday Line Share: No sparkles, but a few sparks.

Rhiann started to move off again; Lycus darted forward to catch her by the elbow. “I will not let you do this.”
But that did not dim the defiant spark glowing within her. “You’re forgetting something, Lycus. You. Can’t. Stop. Me.”
He had been paying too much attention to her words, her face, her lips; too aware of the probable locations of all her knives. He had forgotten to prepare for her other weapons.
The surge of magic caught him square in the chest, an explosive burst of air that knocked him against the merlon. That, he might have recovered from swiftly, but she hit him with a second blast—a weight charm that dragged him to his knees and bound him to the earth.

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jul 4

The series addresses a lot of questions and wrangling about how to hold your nation accountable to its ideals in the face of systemic injustices, using community to build toward something better. Just in case that feels idk relevant on this particular day.

Reasons to Read
A richly developed world – You’ll feel like you could step in & walk the streets of Aven
Elemental magic linked to Roman gods
Cutthroat politics
Weaponized snark
Swords, sieges, and Big Badass Battle Sequences
Large cast full of diverse perspectives
Some characters doing their best, and others doing their worst
Fiercely determined women
Grouchy + sunshine friendship
M/F romantic subplot with heaps of yearning
Sapphic romantic subplot with maximum adorability

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jul 4

#BacklistSaturday: The Aven Cycle: 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. Available in paperback, ebook, and audio: linktr.ee/cassrmorris

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, gold on a purple text box: The Aven Cycle.

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jul 4

I did always know she wasn't going to be conventionally attractive -- and like Latona for Sempronius, Lycus finds her intensity more compelling than anything else about her. As I talked about back in #Smutcember, that's a common denominator in my romantic pairs.

Viewed objectively, she was no great beauty, even setting aside Requini standards regarding the arvata: her nose and cheeks both a little too broad, her eyes too wide-set, her dark hair shot through with hints of red that showed in the sunlight. Yet everything about her enticed him. When he looked at her, he didn’t notice first those flaws, but the strength apparent in the muscles of her arms and legs, the warmth of her golden-brown skin, the soulful depths in those dark-gold eyes.

What attracted him the most, though, what hooks had sunk into him long before he allowed himself to acknowledge the allure, was her intensity. He had never known her to do anything in half-measures, and whatever she felt, she felt with her entire being and with such vehemence that it showed in every line of her body and dart of her eyes. He’d felt that force in her fury; imagining how it would manifest with a redirected passion was enough to drive a weaker man to distraction.

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jul 4

Honestly, Latona is probably giving his appearance too much credit here, but we must forgive her that, since she is, after all, already in love with him. But even through that, she recognizes that he is not, objectively, the most attractive man of her acquaintance.

For her part, Latona was enjoying herself too thoroughly to put much thought into how they must appear to any onlookers, but she was dimly aware of her own entrancement. It was rare for her to feel so captivated by someone, and yet it was a quality that Sempronius always owned. His appearance was comely, but not extraordinary. Brown hair, brown eyes,
a proper Aventan nose, a good strong jaw, but no paragon of masculine beauty, like golden haired Publius Rufilius, nor sinfully dark, like Young Crispinius, nor even bearing the rugged attraction of the Autroniae brothers.
There was something magnetic about him all the same, a fathomless quality that made it difficult to take her eyes off him.

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jul 3

#WIPSnips July 3: Another bit from the prologue.

Still, neither of them moved. Rhiann’s pulse yet raced with battle-fury, and she was sure Lycus’s was no less agitated. Both of them had chased this moment for so long, years of animosity and bloodshed and delayed retribution, rage and wrath pointed at each other—and to have it interrupted before the terminus, before either could make one final end of the other, was nearly unbearable.

“It’s true, Maera.” Osric’s voice rang out, steady as ever, clear and cutting in their own language. “Aylesburh is ours. Let him go.”

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jul 2

I may not have gotten much writing done in June, but actually having a commute this time of year means a lot of audiobooks.

Storygraph graphic for Cass's June reading, showing she read 11 books for a total of 4093 pages. Average length 380; average time to finish 6 days. 73% were fiction and 27% nonfiction; 64% were audio and 36% were print. 7 were romance, 4 historical, 4 fantasy, 2 history, and 1 reference. (Not actually sure which book was categorized that way; guessing something that's actually history).

Storygraph graphic showing the calendar of Cass's June reads. She read something every day!

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jun 29

#WIPSnips June 29: And this is also from a bit of ephemera!

As well to try to nail moonlight to the surface of the water, as hold down a soul whose nature is movement.

—Book of the Devotions, Verses of the Rivers

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jun 28

#LGBTQWriteAThon June 28: This is among the most common non-utilitarian words in the manuscript, naturally, but I particularly like this bit of thaumaturgical philosophy.

“It’s fascinating, isn’t it? We’re all drawing from the same essential primal forces—but we think of them as different, or at least as alternatively…” She considered, tapping a foot lightly. “Shaped? Or flavored? Something. Anyway, our cultural preferences and inclinations affect how we conceive of the forces that create magic, but it’s all water from the same well, in the end.”

Rhiann was surprised to hear Lycus first make a contemplative noise, then voice his agreement. “Just as one might draw water up from that well in a bucket, carry it through pipes, or use it to turn a mill wheel, the shape we perceive the magic as taking affects its expression.”

“And in turn the uses we can put it to!” Elusine finished excitedly.

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jun 28

Oh, camp season.

Screenshot of an hours tracking app showing that Cass has worked 55 hours and 16 minutes this week, including on the weekend.

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jun 27

Ugh. We had really good weather luck for the first two weeks of the camp season, not too hot and barely humid at all (by Virginia standards), but I knew it wouldn’t last. This *would* be the week with the most campers.

Screenshot of weather forecast for Forest Hill, VA for Monday-Friday of next week. High temperatures start at 87 on Monday, bump to 90 on Tuesday, then accelerate viciously to 96 on Wednesday and 100 on Thursday and Friday.

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jun 27

#PretendPanel Hugo Award voting is open until August 8th, and if you're a Hugo-voting-type person (or would like to be), I would be delighted if you voted for Worldbuilding for Masochists (@worldbuildcast.bsky.social) for Best Fancast! worldbuildingformasochists.podbean.com

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jun 27

#WIPSnips June 27: You can play with fantasy linguistics even if you don't want to go *full* conlang. 😊

Lycus gestured at one of the complicated glyphs placed alongside the mosaic figure. “It’s the same. Tabni-Unu, the Maker. In Requi’ch, we might say ‘the Smith.’ In Tovirel…” His eyes cut sideways at her. “The Runecrafter.” Rhiann’s eyebrows went up, and he nodded in affirmation. “The word is not dissimilar. You can see the root of the Tovirel term, as well as some cognates in Requi’ch.”
Rhiann glanced between the journal and the mural. “The poem in the journal could be a copy…”
Lycus shook his head. “Look at it. Yes, I know you can’t read it, but still look. There are bits crossed out, written over—she was composing.”

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jun 23

#WIPSnips June 22: From my rewritten prologue. File under: "When I say 'enemies-to-lovers', I fucking well mean the 'enemies' part".

The Coriolese man continued: “You can both stand down. A truce has been declared.”

“Not by me,” Lycus snarled, pressing his blade so hard into Rhiann’s thigh that it made her gasp. She retaliated by dragging her knife just enough to draw a few beads of blood from his neck.

“By Kamioch.”

“Barkshit.”

By way of answer, the Coriolese leader gestured abruptly, and one of his attendants dismounted. With a rolled paper in hand, he strode to the highest-ranking Requini he could identify who wasn’t currently being held hostage.

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jun 21

Happy Solstice! I’m spending it my favorite way: outside, in a lovely setting, with some wine and a book. Blessings of the sun be with you all! ☺️☀️🌼

Cass sitting on a bench with a wine flight beside her. She’s wearing a coral-colored spaghetti strap dress and a necklace of pearls and carnelian. Her hair is coiled into a coronet at the back of her head and sewn with a white ribbon.

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jun 21

a) NO THE FUCK WE HAVE NOT b) WOW what a staggering violation of your ex-partner's privacy

Other users say they are turning to chatbots to help navigate relationships.

In a Substack post titled, "I've Outsourced My Judgement to AI. So Has Everyone Else," financial writer and comedian Dominic Frisby described how he uploaded his entire WhatsApp exchange with an ex-partner for advice.

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jun 21

#LGBTQWriteAThon June 21: This feels pretty well reflective of the sense of humor in this book. Dry, wry, teasing.

“Don’t get spiky with me before you’ve heard what I’m going to say,” Elusine interrupted, steering them toward Rhiann’s quarters. “I thought you handled that better than I anticipated, if perhaps lacking the ideal degree of grace and patience for interacting with a girl that age. And yes, I do know what you’d been through by the same years, and frankly it’s a wonder you’ve turned out even marginally more personable than a porcupine.”
That got a laugh, or at least a half-amused snort, out of Rhiann. “I’ll have you know that porcupines are—”
“Sweet and affectionate underneath their instincts to jab barbs at anyone they find even remotely threatening,” Elusine cut her off again. “Yes, I chose the metaphor well, thank you.

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jun 21

#WIPSnips June 21: Yeah, they're... they're not supposed to do that.

She hissed, then bit her tongue to swallow the sound, but it was too late.
“I knew something was wrong,” Lycus said, grabbing her by the elbow and guiding her around the fire. “Sit down.”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Rhiann insisted, in the face of all evidence. But she did sit on the edge of the cot and strip off her jacket and over-tunic so she could inspect the damage. Her arms ached, and when she exposed her shift, its pale sandy-colored fabric was stained a deep reddish-brown from the elbows to the wrists on both sleeves.

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jun 19

#WIPSnips June 19:

A blast of hot air hit them first, alarming in contrast to the winter chill but not itself enough to trip the shield. Specks of dust and grit whipped into Rhiann’s face. “Now would be good, Maera!” Lycus urged, as though she were holding back out of paralytic fear or ignorance of the incoming threat.

She wasn’t holding back, only waiting. The rune-shapes would react just as she had set them to, in response to the real danger. It arrived behind the initial gust of wind, a vicious core of malignant power twisted inside the squall. All the hairs on her arms stood on end, and then her own magic erupted out of the ground, surging through the arc to form a crescent of protection. With everything in her, she urged it wider. She couldn’t create a full dome, not around a group this large, but it ought to act like a wind-breaking stone, deflecting the Alencian’s magic off to either side.

She hoped.

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jun 18

Had a great first week of camp! One ImpossibleQuest down, five to go.

A highly stylized lotus flower, rendered in plastic and resin, with a silver-grey seed pod and purple and blue petals, sitting in a broad grey dish, on top of a picnic table in a park.

Cass in her camp gear: a purple Camp Jupiter t-shirt cut into a chiton-esque tank top, hair in pigtail braids and held back with a rainbow bandana. She has glitter on her face, a walkie talkie strapped to her shirt, and a wry expression.

A collection of brightly colored foam & duct tape swords arranged in a pointy array on the dirt.

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jun 15

So this is what I spent most of my Sunday working on. 😅 First day of camp is tomorrow. I... think I'm prepared for the whole week. Ish. But it's very fun that this is my job.

A pair of small clay planters, a faux amphora, and a can of black spray paint sitting on cardboard. The planters have obviously just been painted.

The aforementioned amphora sitting on Cass's kitchen counter, accompanied by an absolutely ludicrous partner that she had to assemble out of two plastic painters and holographic duct tape.

A bunch of projects spread out on the floor with paints and glues and a box cutter.

Cass Morris@cassmorriswrites· Jun 14

#SundaySnips June 14: Very tickled that Ellipsus has a perfect theme for this snippet.