Cassie Begins
Starting 2023 with some reflection and a new name
Hey y’all, happy new year! I hope this letter finds you safe and well, calm and ready for whatever 2023 brings. First things first, I’m excited to share a new username and brand for myself that I’ve had in the works for little awhile.
Here is the new me, I hope you love it (if not, don’t tell me, lol):
Find me posting about writing life here on Substack, Instagram, Medium, Twitter, Mastodon, and Goodreads. Still waiting on my Post invite. I’ll probably try a lot of different things until I figure out what works and what’s going on with Elon over at Twitter, what a mess, eh?
Why am I changing my name?
It’s been a loooooong time
I’ve been on Twitter for fifteen years. That’s a really long time. Since the dark ages of social media! Not only has the technology landscape changed a ton since 2007, so have I, and @cassiemc (my primary online identity) began to feel like someone other than me. It wasn’t always that way—I remember sharing exciting new resources and inspiration, connecting with other people pursuing their difficult-to-obtain dreams, learning a new industry. As I concentrate on publishing this year and building an identity as a writer, I wanted a fresh start that felt less chained to a design and tech audience. I’m sure I will post about design sometimes, I’m still me after all, but I’m going to leave the work stuff primarily at @cassiemc and have my writing pursuits at @cassiebegins. You are very welcome to follow both accounts, if you like, and maybe one day I’ll unite them forever!
Why “cassie begins”?
Starting projects is difficult for a lot of people, and I get it—the blank page is scary, you’re going to get a lot wrong at first, and it will probably be embarrassing especially if you’re creating in public. But starting things is one of my strengths. I instinctively see opportunities in challenge. I find immense joy in the beginnings of things. In the past, I have not been so generous with myself here, especially as I’ve struggled to complete the projects I start. But in 2023 I am ready to hold on to “beginning” as a strength, pure and simple. As any story begins, so do I. To begin is perhaps the most critical part, even! I hope to always maintain a beginner mindset—humble, naive maybe, but brave, optimistic, enthusiastic and joyful. That is what I aspire for my writing practice in 2023.
Making myself more easily found
My last reason for the switch is pretty tactical. I joined Instagram and Twitter at different times and ended up with different user names; I then had another Twitter account, @twothickthumbs, for writing stuff. While it would have been ideal to be “cassiemcdaniel” on all platforms, that user name wasn’t available, nor was “cassiewrites” or “cmcdaniel” or any of the other hundred combos I tried. So not only did @cassiebegins speak to me, it was available across all platforms and allows me to finally align my accounts across the web. As I build up a platform for my work and take myself more seriously as a writer that initial discovery is important. Now, it’ll be easier for new readers to find me wherever they are.
A silly amount of publishing news!
I hinted in the last letter that I’d have some news to share today and do I.
Sylvia Magazine will be publishing a poem of mine in February, my first ever paying piece of creative writing! At £1.75 per line, I’m getting $28 for this poem, but it is so much more than the dollars, of course. It is priceless validation and encouragement. I first wrote this piece 16 years ago about the wild swings of emotions during PMS. I only recently came back to edit it because it fit their themed call for submissions. This whole process delights and humbles me.
But there’s more! New Note Poetry is publishing a sparse poem of mine, “The Sound of Someone Staying” which is about Mark’s proposal in Yellowknife in the middle of the night, deep snow, the northern lights and wolves on our doorstep. Their Winter issue just went live today, in fact—find me on page 67.
And more!!! Messy Misfits Club is including a piece of mine, “I Tell Myself Not to Worry” in their upcoming dreamscapes issue! Follow them for the latest, or if you’re in Chicago RSVP to the launch party on Jan 27.
And then one more: Fulminare Review will be publishing a newer piece of mine that is close to my heart and the tension in my experience of raising kids. It’s called, “The Last of the Tangerines.”
I can’t wait to share all these when they come out. December has proven to be really kind to me. Lastly, if you missed it in my first letter you can read my last published poem, “Toronto, Texas” in Cider Press Review—check out the whole great issue here.
Reflecting on 2022
A lot happened this year for me in terms of writing, particularly around April/May and November/December where I went through submission spurts. Here is my writing year by the numbers:
Submissions, acceptances, declines
I submitted to 53 publications (a couple of repeats), with 27 declines, 19 pending, and 7 acceptances for publication. That gives me a 21% publication rate by those not outstanding, which is actually really good and quite encouraging!
My individual poem acceptance rate is lower at 9%, but that is expected (in my experience publications like to choose a favorite to publish from a set of 3-6 poems, rather than multiple poems at once). I had 7 poems accepted, 68 declined, 1 withdrawn (it was being published elsewhere), and 59 poems still out on submission pending a verdict.
A few other highlights:
I began thinking about strategically building a platform for my writing, capturing some thoughts and goals earlier this year. Achieved a couple of ‘em.
Sorted out my social profiles which was a fun, tricky problem for my curmudgeonly old brain to figure out. Happy and relieved to have momentum here as it unblocked the critical need to be able to express myself openly.
I now have 48 Substack subscribers after launching this in the last couple weeks. For comparison, I had 150 Mailchimp subscribers when I last sent out a newsletter with creative work. So next year I’d like to surpass that number.
I also wrote a vision statement. Here’s a peek into why I’m doing this, and what I want my writing life to look like:
As a writer: I enjoy talking about and sharing my and other people’s writing, and I feel a sense of belonging in the writing community. There are enormous opportunities ahead of me. I feel comfortable being myself and sharing challenging or controversial work openly. I have a collection of work published that I am proud of and that a community engages with. The harmony in my life nourishes my work, and my creative work nourishes my life.
What are your 2023 dreams?
I’m all about dreamin’ right now, would love to hear what you have in mind for yourself, and if there’s anything I can do to help you realize it. Let me know.
I hope you have a peaceful entry to the new year. And see you again on the 1st and 15th of every month!