Bio
Hi there! I’m Cassy Klisch, your friendly neighborhood introvert, hopeless romantic, and writer of 30-somethings Really Going Through It while (unknowingly) earning the HEA they deserve. I live in the Greater Philadelphia region with my husband and single-braincell orange cat, listen to screamy music at a much louder volume than I should, and am most likely to get kicked out of a kidnapper’s car for my unsolicited diatribe on why LOST is the best TV series to ever exist, unpopular ending included.
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I’m represented by Hannah Schofield at LBA and was a SmoochPit mentee myself in 2024! I was also fortunate to have been a mentor in a different mentorship program this past year, which was such a rewarding experience in so many ways, and I’m honored to have the opportunity to be on the other side of the mentorship that played a huge role in my publishing journey as well!
Manuscript
Wishlist
(MSWL)
I’m open to adult contemporary/rom-com and romance-focused women’s fiction, and I’m eager to support stories written by writers from all communities and identities. Regarding the specifics of what I'll be looking to get my grubby mentoring hands on…āØāØ
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“Alexa, play “Feel Something” by ILLENIUM, Excision, and I Prevail.”āØāØ
Truly, the best way to summarize what I’m looking for is “I just want to feel… FEEL SOMETHIIIIIING!!!!” Every story I’ve ever stayed up way past my bedtime to finish hooked me with a combo of voice, chemistry, and all the feels. If you can make me laugh one moment, kick my feet the next, then serve me an extra heavy helping of emotional damage à la Voicemails for Isabelle, EYEBALL EMOJI IN ALL CAPS.
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I love banter. I love yearning. I love wit woven through deeper themes. I love torturous slow burns. I love mess. I love big, sweeping love stories and tear-jerker grand gestures. And!—potentially about to get kicked out of another kidnapper’s car here—I love love loveeeeee me a devastating third-act breakup (and will not apologize for it as I die on the hill!!!!).
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If you’re overthinking (relatable) if I’ll vibe with a certain aspect of your book, whether it’s the tropes, POV, tense, spice level, what have you… Stop that! But seriously, as feral as I am for, say, fake dating, what matters most is if the fake dating is intentionally used to effectively tell the story. In other words, it’s much more about the ‘how’ than the ‘what’ for me!
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A small handful of faves, if it is of any help: Bend Toward the Sun by Jen Devon; August Lane by Regina Black; The Best Worst Thing by Lauren Okie; Happy Place by Emily Henry; and You, with a View by Jessica Joyce.
I’d like to believe I can be into anything in romance depending on the execution, and I'm also okay with speculative elements so long as the story is firmly rooted in our world. But I will say I do prefer characters in their late twenties to mid thirties, and as an extreme hypochondriac, I’m not the best fit for any story that features a life-threatening condition in any capacity.
Mentoring Style
Whether I’m helping dig deeper into big-picture character arc or tighten line-level prose, my biggest goal is for the writer I’m reading for to feel energized and excited to revise versus discouraged and defeated. Your story is your baby, and we, as writers, are also often baby! I want nothing but the best for it and you, and that means treating you both with as much care as I can, especially in an industry that breeds self-doubt.
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I always present my constructive comments as the subjective opinions they are and would never expect my mentee to implement them without question or discussion. You are your book’s creator. I am merely your newest, pompom-wielding, unbiased reader here to help your manuscript shine even brighter than it already does while staying true to your vision. And when it comes to the stuff I adore and never want to change, screaming/being unhinged in the margins is one of my favorite hobbies.
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Also, I’ve always felt that revision is most effective when it’s collaborative. We are all writers who love this shiz and are constantly learning from each other! And I don’t consider our working relationship paused after a kick-off call or an emailed edit letter or a marked-up query. I’m a huge fan of brainstorming sessions and bouncing ideas off each other to get to that solution that has us both shouting “YES!!!”. I also just love to yap.
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Also x2, a phrase people will often hear from me is I love being bothered. Always bother me and bother me with all of it: Your counter suggestions. Your revision snippets. Your playlists and moodboards. Your bi-hourly querying spirals. Your 3am brain blasts. Your nine-minute rambling voice notes. I absolutely want to be the mentor my mentee needs in every way, and that includes our level and frequency of communication. But cultivating community and giving back what I’ve received has always been incredibly important to me, and the best part of my own time as a SmoochPit mentee was connecting with my mentor, who’s become one of my biggest cheerleaders and writing BFFs. I’d love to be the same for my mentee, sharing the industry knowledge I’ve learned over the years, commiserating on harder days, and aggressively waving my foam finger for them as we ride this publishing rollercoaster through SmoochPit and beyond. Basically, *insert I WANT TO LOVE AND SUPPORT YOU meme*.
Applications
from Connections
Please do not submit to me if we’ve ever read for each other or had extensive conversations online. However, if we’re in the same Discord(s) or mutuals on social media but have only interacted through a comment or DM here or there, I’d love to see your materials!