Cassie's Crafting Conundrum

Okay, I admit it, I didn't have the energy to work on the podcast or even writing once last September hit. This is me, in true Cassie fashion, telling you all what I've been up to. I hope you all enjoy this yapping session from me. Even 9 years after leaving California, I still sound so much like I never left. I'm also sick so please bear with me with this episode. Cassie's life from September 202...

It's back to school month and that means I decided to share a little bit of my personal life with you all. In this episode, I talk about how not stereotypical my college experience has because I don't party, I don't drink, I don't even really socialize because I was too busy healing from my past. And you know what, that's totally okay o not to any of the things people "are supposed to do in colleg...

Today's episode is a little bit different than a full writing episode. Alex Moran (she/her), a Guatemalan adoptee and 20 something year old gen z author from my own home state, is one of my soul sisters and we deep dive into intentional social media use with a little bit of writing on the side. We talk about algorithms, intentionality, burn out, anonymity on social media, look beyond society's box...

TW: 20 mins in active shooter situation mentioned; 23 minutes another active shooter situation mentioned Victoria Wlosok (she/her) is a 21 year old pubished YA thriller author based in the Southern United States. Through this chaotic episode we talk everything from author timelines, why Victoria chose a podcast for her novel, How to Find a Missing Girl, my own podcast journey, turning actions into...

Birdie Schae (she/her) is a uni student currently studying in the Netherlands and writes autistic lesbians who have realistic, messy lives. We discuss the growth of getting started on writing twitter, the community aspect of twitter, the journey of a writer, advice from two gen z writers (take it or leave it <3), pen names, cultural shocks and so much more. The opinions are our own. You can fin...

How did you all enjoy the cliffhanger? On this continuation of Wyatt Madison 's conversation, we dive into short stories, small vs large writing accounts, life lessons inserted into novels, parents are amazing, lessons learned through writing, "market readers", "everyone has a story", critiquing, social media (again) and more. Wyatt gives insights into what motivates him and this tired college stu...

TW: Suicide mention at 58:25 Wyatt Madison (he/him) is someone I have adopted into my writing family and he knows this and as an 17 year old high school senior who gets less sleep than I do, I admire this young man for who he is. We discuss everything and the kitchen sink when it comes to emotional turmoil. In this first part: families are everything, Twitter is overstimulating, experimentation on...

Makayla Bryant (she/her), a 22 year old science fiction, fantasy, and dystopian author and I discuss her journey from self publishing in 2020 to the querying trenches in 2024. We also discuss the gatekeeping of the traditional publishing industry, working on things outside of writing because income needs to be made, self promoting on different social medias, the "privacy" in the publishing world,...

Aleighsha Parke (she/her), a 23 year old British Columbia native and fantasy (plus a little extra dabbling of genres) and I discuss how reading can affect writing as well as discussing her debut (coming out late 2024), making the ordinary pretty, querying publishing agencies, a discussion on the question "do you believe every book has been written?", and so much more. Our opinions are our own. You...

I can not believe it's been a solid year since the first episode came out and the world learned I talk really freaking fast. I can't believe you all have shared, listened, been guests on, and just plain cheered me on for a year. To Mads who got this all started and my in real life friends, family, and supporters who let me do this pretty much in secret. Season one guests: the guinea pigs, the peop...

What's up world! Today is the one year anniversary of Cassie's Crafting Conundrum and I have Halle J. Minick (she/her) interviewing me about who I am as a writer, what I write, and more. We deep dive into my Asian American heritage, what representation means to me, how characters come to me, BIPOC voices and #OwnVoices, friends all over the world, pen names, Suzanne Collins, boundaries online and...

Callie Rowland (she/her) and still very much 22 now paints a picture of what we can learn in a classroom versus out in the real world. We talk about what her professors have said, how important a community of writers is, and so much more. This is the second premiere of Season 3 and with this week complete, there is a lot more in store for season 3 than even I could dream up! Our opinions are our o...

Callie Rowland (she/her), a 22 year old recent college graduate and literacy fantasy author, has known her fantasy has an emotional aspect most don't focus on. Callie and I dive right in and talk about what one can learn in and out of a creative writing degree, the way social media can connect authors all over the world, letting yourself feel more deeply makes your characters more real, the writin...

Welcome back to the podcast! This is going to look a little bit different in terms of podcast episode titles and yet if you've listened to the first two seasons, it's still the same crazy content I've been bringing to you. I can't believe it's now Season 3 and people are listening to this and have an interest. I am calling this the "Golden Season" because I finally feel like my life is coming toge...

*brother from another mother* I do not appreciate low tech sometimes Get ready for 23 life lessons in 2023 because this is the most I've opened up to all of you so thank you all who will listen to this all the way through <3 Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed season 1 and season 2 of Cassie's Crafting Conundrum because I certainly enjoyed making it for you! To the 12 authors whom have let me into...

*absolutely do not read American Psycho unless you are ready to face every trigger warning in the world; we also do not support J.K. Rowling* Grace, a fourth year phycology major, and I have known each other for a few months and talk like we've known each other for years. We go into school testing, books we really were not ready to read, how trauma should be read about in books, and much more. Eve...

*slight ptsd mention, war is mentioned* Maria I. Antonia (she/her), what can I say about this lovely human who writes humanity in a way that leaves me in awe. She is a 23nyear old author who is in the process of getting a master's degree, sadly an ocean away from me. What started out as a journey about morally grey, human female characters spans talking about education, delusional males, wattpad s...

Cress (she/her) is a 15 year old novelist and poet who knew pretty much all her life she wanted to do something in literature. It's an honor to bring a conversation like this to the podcast. It might read like a big sister, little sister conversation, however, we touch on important topics. We discuss being young, support systems, passions always have a human on the end, silent supporters, supporti...

*brief mention of war* *When I was referring to the past, I was referring to contemporary history.* Fantasy, dystopias and fantasy all have a lot more in common than I originally thought. In this episode, I sit down with Caitlin (she/her), a 26 year old historian and fantasy author thinks working on a novel is like solving a complex puzzle. In this episode of season two, we discuss Caitlin's two p...

This week I tackle a topic near and dear to my heart, people of color in fiction and real life, with my guest Bia (she/her) a 26 year old author who is also a person of color. We open up about what it's like growing up as a person of color in the United States, how people we interact with in real life shape characters and our own experiences, reveal who one of our author idols is, and so much more...

*content warning: brief mentions of death as an overarching theme* Kicking off season 2 is Thea (she/her), a 19 year old multi genre author from the UK and I take on the publishing industry and how hard it is to be a multi genre author wanting to pursue the traditional publishing route. We talk about how publishing is such an interconnected industry, trauma of any kind no matter how big or small i...

It's a little short episode for you all. I know you all know I can't talk about myself for a long period of time, I can't. It's not in the cards for me. So me making the life update episodes long, it's a stretch for me. People will criticize me for releasing a podcast right now, note, these episodes were recorded in August and we were not aware of how much the world would change in a few short mon...

Never thought I would get to do a season two so you all get a show trailer. :D Welcome to Cassidy's Crafting Conundrum, a gen z podcast about writing and life in general hosted by a gen z author. This podcast is here to share what gen z authors have to share with the world. I am so excited for you all to experience another side of gen z most of us don't like to share. Please, sit back, relax and e...

*Mads and I do not support the author mentioned in this podcast* Mads (she/her), an 18 year old (internet phenom, in my opinion) and I have been friends for a long time and we sit down together to talk about a subject both of us have talked about a myriad of times. My idea of social media is not being as active as I can. Mads' idea of social media is being as active as she can. We discuss social m...

*When I said European languages, I meant the less popularly translated European languages.* Solaire (she/her) is extremely active on Twitter and so it brings me great pleasure to introduce her voice to the world. In this episode, we talk about coauthoring, our separate projects, our shared projects, AI, international translations and so much more. It is a little bit of a shorter episode, however,...