Cassian Cole

Short fiction

The short form is where I test the strange ideas — some grew into books, some are complete exactly as they are.

Cassian Cole is a fictional author persona and this is a creative-writing showcase — a fictional literary brand, not a real biography. All works and details are imaginative fiction.
Short story

The Lending Library of Forgotten Names

In a town where you can borrow a name you've lost, a librarian keeps one book no one is allowed to check out.

Short story

Seventeen Ways to Fold the Ocean

An origami master's final student learns that some folds don't unfold — a story told in seventeen creases.

Flash fiction

The Man Who Kept His Mondays

He saved every Monday he didn't use in a jar on the shelf. This is the story of the week he opened it.

Short story

What the Frost Wrote

Each winter, sentences appear on one particular window. This year, they're addressed to her.

Short story

The Cartographer of Small Hours (original)

The short story that grew into the forthcoming novel — where the whole thing began.

On the short form

A story is a held breath; a novel is a long walk. I love both, but the short story is where I go to be surprised. More on how they come together in On writing.