Alex J Cavanaugh: I Didn’t Want to be an Author

Today is a very special day. I'm deeply honoured and pleased to welcome here, the irrepressible, Ninja Captain himself, Alex J Cavanaugh
Take it away, Alex

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I Didn’t Want to be an Author

It’s true! I wasn’t one of those people who’d dreamed of being an author since I was young. I enjoyed writing stories as a teen, but writing a book just never crossed my mind. Music was a greater passion and it was my college minor. After college, even that was put aside as I ventured into advertising and design and eventually computer work.

Several years ago, I found an old manuscript in a drawer. It wasn’t complete, but it was the longest thing I’d ever written. Created when I was a teen, it was awful. But I remembered the characters well, as they’d appeared in a few other stories. Despite the terrible writing, the characters were solid, so on a whim I started to write a brand new story.

A year and a half later, and after torturing my two test readers and my wife (who still read my manuscripts to this day – bless them!), I finally had what I thought was a much better story. My wife then prodded me to submit it for publication. I started researching online and quickly decided agents were out of my league, especially as I had no other writing credits. (And I didn’t think working on technical manuals would count.) So I made a list of science fiction publishers and started there. After numerous rejections, I widened my search to include more genres, and finally Dancing Lemur Press said yes.

And then I heard the scariest words ever – you need to get your butt online and build a platform.

Somehow I managed to do that through blogging and Twitter. CassaStar was released and I stumbled my way through a blog tour.

After it was over, I heard the next scariest words ever – when is the sequel coming out?

Sequel? What sequel? I only planned to write one book. Somehow I managed to stumble my way through another manuscript, relying on an old short story to get me through. With the help of three critique partners, I polished it and sent it to my publisher, and they set a release date.

A funny thing happened not long after that – almost a year after its release, CassaStar soared up the Amazon charts. It hung in the top one hundred for science fiction for months, which blew my mind. With CassaStar doing so well and CassaFire just two months from its release, my publisher asked if I could write one more and make it a trilogy.

I labored over the outline for months. By the time I actually started writing it, both of my books were Amazon best sellers and had soared to the top of the charts in the UK as well. Talk about pressure! I had to end the series with a bang so I wouldn’t disappoint the fans. Now I know why authors have meltdowns…

I never planned to become an author. And yet, here I am now, with three books to my credit, as CassaStorm was released on Tuesday. It’s been the craziest journey but a total blessing.

So, beware those old manuscripts hiding in drawers. You just might open Pandora’s Box and find yourself in the unlikely role of an author!

Thanks again, Lynda – you rock!

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CassaStorm

By Alex J Cavanaugh

From the Amazon Best Selling Series!

A storm gathers across the galaxy…

Commanding the Cassan base on Tgren, Byron thought he’d put the days of battle behind him. As a galaxy-wide war encroaches upon the desert planet, Byron’s ideal life is threatened and he’s caught between the Tgrens and the Cassans.

After enemy ships attack the desert planet, Byron discovers another battle within his own family. The declaration of war between all ten races triggers nightmares in his son, threatening to destroy the boy’s mind.

Meanwhile the ancient alien ship is transmitting a code that might signal the end of all life in the galaxy. And the mysterious probe that almost destroyed Tgren twenty years ago could return. As his world begins to crumble, Byron suspects a connection. The storm is about to break, and Byron is caught in the middle…


“CassaStorM is a touching and mesmerizing space opera full of action and emotion with strong characters and a cosmic mystery.”
– Edi’s Book Lighhouse

“…the racial conflicts propelled much of the plot in this story, driving home a message that's relevant to our own world and giving the book an interesting texture.”
- C. Lee McKenzie, author of Alligators Overhead

“Cavanaugh has created wonderfully moving moments of great poignancy… CassaStorm could have been a dark story full of hardship and angst, but instead it's a cleverly balanced story about hope and triumph.”
- Lynda R. Young, author of Make Believe


$16.95 USA, 6x9 Trade paperback, 268 pages, Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C.
Science fiction/adventure and science fiction/space opera
Print ISBN 9781939844002 eBook ISBN 9781939844019
$4.99 EBook available in all formats

Find CassaStorm:

Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Goodreads,  Book trailer 

Alex J. Cavanaugh has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and works in web design and graphics. He is experienced in technical editing and worked with an adult literacy program for several years. A fan of all things science fiction, his interests range from books and movies to music and games. Online he is the Ninja Captain and founder of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. The author of the Amazon bestsellers, CassaStar and CassaFire, he lives in the Carolinas with his wife.

Website, Twitter, Goodreads


Book trailer