Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 18/04/2026I never actually watched this show, despite being in college when this first aired. I do remember watching reruns of the original cartoon series, though. I never quite decided if I liked Space Ghost or not. 000
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 10/04/2026I don't put much thought into names. I don't personally believe they're that important to the character. If it takes me more than 30 seconds to find a name, I'm irritated. I've even changed names the night before publishing. LOL. 110
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 10/04/2026In this series, Archie. He's a former math professor whose parents named him "Archimedes". I just liked the name "Archie". In my previous series, there's Doyle and Jen. Jen was a placeholder name, but it stuck. Doyle was inspired by a pack of Hoyle playing cards. 271
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 09/04/2026I spent far too many seconds wondering how high quality your drone camera was....LOL. 000
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 25/03/2026Nah. Teens are easy, especially at my stage. (28 years doing this.) Yeah, there’s a metric ton of “are you KIDDING me?”, and every week feels like some fresh new hell, but I actually like teenagers. Besides…free character research! 010
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 23/03/2026That’s my favorite time to write, but as a teacher…I can’t do that very often. I’m up at 6 am to go deal with teenagers all day, so I can’t write until 4 am. Wish I could, though. 120
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 24/02/2026P.L. Travers C.S. Lewis Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child Robert Jordan Susan Cooper 000
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 18/02/2026I don’t skip prologues, but I don’t see the point of maintaining a prologue. If it’s needed information, make it chapter one. If it’s needed information that feels disconnected, I prefer to work it in during the story. 110
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 27/01/2026No idea; I'm a pantser, so I don't even know what the next sentence is going to be! LOL. 040
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 25/01/2026#wipsnips #writesky “Oh! Bode, quick question: has Archie always been totally oblivious to, like, any kind of hints?” “Yes,” Bode said immediately. “I’ve never seen anybody that spectacularly unable to understand subtlety. You have to be very direct, no matter how mundane the topic.” 050
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 25/01/2026Luckily, we have great air conditioning! I'm a native Floridian--been here almost 50 years now--so I know how to avoid the heat when I need to. 010
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 24/01/2026I feel for you guys. We’ll be on the opposite side, dealing with record heat for this time of year. I think they said 85 degrees for the forecast. Still better than snow, though. Give me the heat any day! Stay safe! 120
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 24/01/2026If I have music going, I will either start typing the lyrics or inventing lyrics and then typing those. Annoys the crap out of me! LOL. 110
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 24/01/2026Unfortunately, no, I don't. I never associate my stories with songs or mood boards or any of those things. I write in complete silence. But I'm glad for those who do and who find that perfect song or picture or whatever. 110
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 23/01/2026My wife was never really a He-Man or She-Ra person, but she thought this looked awesome. (She was more a G.I. Joe girl.) I, of course, cannot wait! 000
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 20/01/2026I know that feeling! My debut novel took me 13 years to write and publish. The sequel took 1 year, then the final book in the trilogy took almost 3. I then spent a couple years not writing anything until I wrote my 4th book in two weeks last summer. So it's famine, a whole lot of feasting, famine.. 000
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 20/01/2026That's basically how it goes for me. I either get a lot done or nothing at all. I wrote my 4th book in 13 days last summer. (65K words). Spent 4 weeks revising and then published. Previous book took me almost 3 years to write and publish. Feast or famine. Every time. LOL. 110
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 19/01/2026Feels great, right? I haven't been able to really write much for months, and over the last 24 hours, my brain decided to cooperate and let me rip out over 10K words. Of course, I'm sure by tomorrow it'll be back to not cooperating with me, but fingers crossed! 110
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 19/01/2026#writingcommunity #writing #writesky My brain deigned to allow me to write this weekend, so I'm nearing the 10K words over the past 24 hours. I can live with that. Now, if I can just convince my brain to let me keep writing for the next week or two, I'll have the first draft finished. 030
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 19/01/2026I actually wrote a post for my website about this a week or so ago. Many of the names in my trilogy were placeholders that just turned into the actual names. I don't put the same emphasis on names that many writers do. I really don't think the names are important at all to the story. 130
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 18/01/2026But do they have the votes to override a veto? Because we all know he'd veto that in a heartbeat. 150
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 14/01/2026I don’t have the time or energy to research ideas for a class about which I know nothing. Sometimes ChatGPT is really helpful with lab ideas, and sometimes it’s not. 000
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 14/01/2026I use it all the time for help with lab ideas for my science classes…since I have no clue about teaching science, the classes were just dropped on me, and we don’t have the supplies to do 90% of the labs that the curriculum is based on. I teach 6 different courses. 100
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 12/01/2026Nothing. I only create what I need for the story as I write the story. If it doesn’t appear on page, it doesn’t exist in my head. 120
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 10/01/2026Just binged Season 1 of Creature Commandos. Been meaning to watch it for months. Really enjoyed it. 010
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 09/01/2026Archie is a human working in a magical library. His coworkers? An elf who always “knows a guy,” a dwarf who expects a good insult every chance you get, a lederhosen-loving Sasquatch, and a relentlessly cheerful pixie. Their boss? A tiny book dragon with an insatiable need to hoard books. 110
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 06/01/2026I've actually never gotten a flu shot. My needle phobia is way stronger than my fear of the flu. If it was required for my job, I'd do it, but since it's not, I don't. 000
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 06/01/2026I've been lucky enough to not get the flu for 40 years or so. Got it a few times as a kid, but not since. Hoping that streak continues. 100
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 06/01/2026More or less. He set the story in motion with his machinations 15 years earlier. Now they have to try to overthrow him. 010
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 06/01/2026#wipsnips "That was impressive, Detective," Sharian said. "How did you know to look there?" "A benefit of being a comic book nerd. I loved Will Eisner's 'The Spirit' comics, from the 1940s. They taught me that the story is already present, and I just have to put the clues in order." 040
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 06/01/2026I prefer to not have the antagonist on page that much. In my trilogy, you don't meet the main antagonist until a few chapters into the second book. He then appears here and there in the second and third books, but not too much. 110
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 06/01/2026Archie solves math problems to relax, but he has a Ph.D. in math and was a professor for almost two decades before switching careers. We haven't seen him doing it yet. Rowan, on the other hand, collects comic books. She mentions it in the first book, but we'll actually get to see it in the second. 010
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 05/01/2026I saw Cadbury Creme Eggs---aka the greatest candy in existence--in the store yesterday. Made me insanely happy. 000
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 03/01/2026#wipsnips "You're awfully calm about finally meeting your daughter's first real boyfriend," Rowan said. I shrugged. "I...um...already met him. By accident." She folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. "How?" "At the grocery store. He introduced himself." "And you didn't tell Ada?" "Um...no?" 050
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 03/01/2026"I was supposed to die yesterday. Unfortunately for those jerkwads, it didn't take." 091
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 03/01/2026#favlinefriday #writingcommunity #writesky “And don’t you DARE look inside!” she said, wagging a finger at me, her cheeks slightly pink. I rolled my eyes. “Yes, I’m SO bored this morning that I just want to go through my daughter’s purse and see what I can find.” 000
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 02/01/2026Had a student years ago whose mom was 38 and her dad was in his late 70s. When I met them, I thought he was her grandpa. She had to correct me. She also said she asked her mom why she'd marry a man who was older than his father-in-law. The kid was uncomfortable with the age gap of her parents. 020
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 02/01/2026#wipsnips "When I started dating, I made certain promises to myself. I told Aunt Helena about those promises, too. Why would she even ASK me that question?" Before I could reply, Rowan tapped her own shoulder, the signal we used in the Curiousium to mean "Let me handle this". 070
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 01/01/2026With my debut novel, I added 50K word while editing. Added 65K to the sequel, and then 40K to the final book. For me, editing means “finish the story”. LOL 000
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 01/01/2026I can understand disagreeing with his various ideas, but not a single comment focused on budgets or infrastructure or anything like that. Every one of them was mad because he's a Muslim, an immigrant, and/or not-white. 000
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 01/01/2026People here in South Florida were crashing out in the comments of a news station's post. Just disgusting. "Did they swear in the goat too?" "Well, at least he isn't Jewish." "Ladies, prepare to wear hijabs cause sharia law is coming soon!" "I can't stop crying. NYC is ruined!" 100
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 01/01/2026#wipsnips "So how long do you think before your daughter begins to bug you about proposing?" the Sasquatch asked. "I figure less than three weeks," I said. "You?" He laughed. "Bro...she'll bring it up by Friday." "Today's Sunday," I said. "We've only been a couple since last night." "Exactly." 070
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 30/12/2025Write and publish the next book in my new series. If I’m really, REALLY lucky, I’ll also get the third book done. 110
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 27/12/2025It was only used by the Faekind, the mystical beings who live alongside the mortal world. It’s full of everything from magical scrolls to novels written by dwarves to boxes of uncatalogued magical items. Now it’s open to humans. 110
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 27/12/2025Like two spaces after a period. That's how I was taught in middle school and I will die on that hill. Scrivener used to remove the two spaces when I exported, but I guess it doesn't now, so my latest book has two spaces after every period. I am unbothered by that. LOL. 010
Ben Cass @bencass.bsky.social · 27/12/2025That was in the two required freshman-level classes. Had to pass both of them in order to graduate. No chance to drop it. I'm all in favor of simplifying writing. Academic writing is boring as hell...kinda like reading LOTR. I don't worry as much about some grammar rules, but others I can't break. 110
