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C. V. Arras | Space Fantasy Author

@cvarras

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I wrote a book about queer space pirates 🏴‍☠️
✨ Queer, trans, Latin, disabled, curly girl (gender neutral)(undiagnosed)
NYC

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I had my quarter life crisis riiight on schedule 😂

A year ago I’d finished my novel and was flying high on the conviction that I could do anything I wanted. It’s been a year of ups and downs, but even the downs have been better than I’ve ever faced.

I’ve had a lot of rejections this past year. From jobs, from agents, from opportunities: take your pick. Recently that’s all been weighing heavily on me. I’m 25: should I be further along? My friends are buying houses and getting married. Other friends are in the trenches with me. There are NYT bestseller debuts by people younger than me right now. Eiichiro Oda started publishing One Piece as a teenager. Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams were 25 when they started filming Heated Rivalry. Alyssa Liu is 21 for gods sakes.

But when I lost my job, I gained a novel. I gained back self-trust I’d thought I’d lost forever. And that’s the key. Sometimes the grounding has to be literal: sometimes you need both feet in the goal to start making progress.

In the last half of 2026, what are you most proud of? It could be surviving. What do you want for the next six months? by @cvarras

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3 months ago

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to be the most shameless version of myself I could be.

I finished a novel last year. I got help last year. I took a class on genre fiction and publishing last year.

This year I’ve queried 40 agents about my novel, and gotten nothing but rejections. But in the meantime I’ve been doing things for myself. I hadn’t traveled in three years before 2026, and this year alone I’ve traveled four times! Did I take enough pictures or videos? No, but that was because I was writing or I was living in the moment.

There are some things you don’t share online, not because you can’t, but because you just don’t want to. Like my face, for example. But just because I don’t want the gram to see it, doesn’t mean I’m trying to hide from you 😅 I hope that by living up to being the most shameless version of myself I can be, y’all come to know just how chaotic I am in real life 😂

✨ Q: What was your goal for this year? How’s it going?

About me: Hi! I’m Arras, and if you know me from real life you know my real name is unpronounceable on the internet 🤫 I’m a debut fantasy author querying my book about Queer Space Pirates 🏴‍☠️ that’s like One Piece in space. I’m always yapping about romantic stories, offbeat pop culture, and hopecore whimsy. Also, I have strong opinions on the virtues of smut and I will die on my hill defending her glorious honor.

#writersofinstagram #bookish #fantasybooks #authorlife #writerlife by @cvarras

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4 months ago

The fantasy is freedom, not power.

1. FMCs used to be damsels in distress, and now they’re largely girlbosses. That’s an improvement, but it’s also just going from being powerless to gaining power *in the system that hurt you.*

2. Being “strong” is the girlboss power fantasy. But being strong is not a choice for me, because I’m Hispanic. I’m marginalized, so I have to be strong. We are used to fighting twice as hard for half of what we deserve because that is all we can do. What we want is choice.

3. You don’t have to be strong to deserve being cared for.

Latin countries have fought for freedom for all our existence; we the descendants of that legacy continue to fight for our freedom to be. And this is why we claim Luffy lmao, Brasil and Mexico won the lottery with that boy

Happy last day of Hispanic Heritage Month! by @cvarras

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🌟 My biggest win and biggest flop in the first three months of social media

Fall’s arrived, and with it, reflections. I started taking social media seriously three months ago, and since then I’ve grown to 300ish followers! That’s honestly really cool for me. My biggest win is probably the reel I posted about “Three things I’ll never do as a queer author.” I’m glad that sharing my opinions seems to resonate with people.

And my biggest flop… I literally archived because it was a disgrace. Not to me, to Instagram 😤 I shared a reel about my cat for international cat day, and it flopped HARD. What the hell. Bookstagram loves cats.

🌟 What are you celebrating going into fall? What did you learn that you’re changing? by @cvarras

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17 days ago

1. Bury your gays.
Happily ever after is a must for romance, but it isn’t always guaranteed in fantasy and scifi. But
“bury your gays” is a different story. This trope is when queer characters are killed off, seemingly for no reason, because it was unthinkable that they could have a happy ending. Luckily we don’t have the Hayes code anymore, so I’ll be writing all the gay little happily ever afters I want.

2. Make my aroace characters unfeeling robots.
This annoys me so much. Where are the aro characters who are charming, suave, and have sex? Where are the ace characters who are bubbly, bright, and emotional? I love a robot who is aroace (hi Murderbot I love you), but not every aroace is the same copy and paste identity. Let’s get some variety.

3. Closed door sex.
Anyone else notice how sometimes, especially in fantasy or scifi, we don’t get to have sex on page? But the straight couples do? If sex adds to the book, it should be part of the book. I’m not going to shy away from it.

AND A BONUS!
4. Avoid using they/them pronouns.
It’s not hard to use they/them pronouns. You should have characters who use them, because it’s cool and fun. Anyone who tells you to change it because it’s too hard isn’t going to advocate for you or your work, so don’t listen to them. by @cvarras

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a month ago

The hills I will die on as a queer author:

1. The they/them pronouns stay.
2. The poly characters stay, and we value friends just as much as lovers.
3. I’m not explaining why someone is queer.
4. Aroace characters are complex, emotional, and have meaningful relationships with others without sex or love.

I put the queer in queer space pirates 🏳️‍⚧️🌌🏴‍☠️

✨ What hills will you die on as a writer? Or as a creative more generally?

🏴‍☠️ ABOUT MY BOOK:

The only thing more dangerous than pirates in the astral sea is the Speculation Enclave, a hedge fund with imperial ambitions that wants to monopolize all magic. Having the power to erase memories didn’t save Romea from becoming a runaway to escape them. But when she rescues Cedek, an ethereal scientist working on a theory of transillience that would unite the entire sea with instant spacetime travel, she becomes the one thing standing between him and capture: and the Enclave conquering the sea. She’s perfect for the job; she knows how to run away.

Romea is a runaway. When she rescues Cedek, an ethereal scientist creating magical wormholes, she becomes the only thing between him and the Speculation Enclave, a corporate cult that seeks to monopolize all magic in the world. He’s magnetic and distracting, but she’s perfect for the job; she knows how to run away.

Except, Cedek refuses to run. He wants to reunite with his partner, Tuvat, who he swears is coming to save him.

So when he sacrifices himself to save her life, freeing him is non-negotiable. Even if it means working with Tuvat: who is a space pirate.

Just one problem: Romea hates pirates.

🌌 About me: Hi! I’m Arras, and if you know me from real life you know my real name is unpronounceable on the internet 🤫 I’m a debut fantasy author querying my book about Queer Space Pirates 🏴‍☠️ that’s like One Piece in space. I’m always yapping about romantic stories, offbeat pop culture, and hopecore whimsy. Also, I have strong opinions on the virtues of smut and I will die on my hill defending her glorious honor. by @cvarras

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a month ago

I don’t actually have videos of all the work I do bc I’m too locked in to remember to film 😔🫡 by @cvarras

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a month ago

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a month ago

Some days just catch you and shake you like a bug in a little glass jar.

I don’t talk about it much, but I’m disabled and neurodivergent. Day to day, I have to find ways to work with my overloaded brain so I can write and work on my goals. Writing a book takes discipline, but that looks different for me than it does for other people. I don’t write every day— I aim for a monthly word count goal. Having a number works for my brain.

It’s really easy to get lost in book anxiety spirals sometimes. What always recenters me is actually sitting down to write. Everything seems more manageable when I go back to my work and remember how much fun it is to write whatever I want. I try to do something for myself every day, and I’m lucky that writing feels like that for me. Maybe it will change when (WHEN) writing becomes my full time job. But I’ll hold on to that as long as I can, and find my way back to it if I ever get lost.

What’s your brain sound like? by @cvarras

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2 months ago

The twin demons that torment the artist out of fulfillment and a creative life:
Corporate and Bedrotting.

I feel like plenty of artists talk about how they “quit their corporate job” or “got fired from their corporate job” (🙋🏻) before they went full time in their creative career. That’s because corporate jobs (at least an America) rely on one principle: suck as much out of you that they can and give you as little as possible back. Gen Z is more aware of this than past gens, and well, with the economy doing so bad… why not follow your dreams?

Two: Bedrotting.
I don’t know why we don’t talk about quitting bedrotting when we talk about quitting corporate. Regardless of whether it’s bedrotting that steals some hours of your day, or bedrotting because of serious depression, if you’re doing it you’re going nowhere fast. I went down a TRUE rabbit hole at one point, I’m talking full depressive hellhole. And I had to learn how to get up and go after. I had to learn to quit it and try again.

What were your wrong paths? Any fun detours that taught you where you were supposed to be going? by @cvarras

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2 months ago

And for my next trick, I will do it anyways. by @cvarras

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2 months ago

Convincing myself this is true.

It still feels strange sometimes? Going through something people write coming of age novels about: losing a job, changing careers, following a dream. It’s also something way more people go through than you’d think. But I lived it and it still doesn’t feel real. It’s one year since it all changed, and I’m still learning. And I’m no longer in my early twenties?! Oh god.

I’ve started noticing how many characters are under 21 now. There are so many characters who are 18, 19, 20, etc. It’s been that way for a long, long time… but damn. I’m growing up faster than my favorite characters.

Everyone I know says your thirties are where it’s at. And truly, I’m excited for that. But at the same time, I don’t feel like I know how to be an adult? … then I remember literally no one knows what they’re doing and you can do whatever you want forever.

Finishing my first draft felt crazy. It was beyond satisfying, but it was also this huge moment of pride in myself. I did that completely on my own, without telling anyone. It’s so strange to think it took me 24 years to do something that only took like three months.

I had my quarter life crisis early, and for that I’m grateful. Now I have my year of being 25 to get this shit together. Last year was for the decline, and the realization. This year is about pulling it off and proving it. by @cvarras

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