An Interview with Cheeky Girl by Blaise25

Cheeky Girl, also known as Cassandra Mantis, is popular here in HubPages for her brilliant hubs and a forthcoming sizzling romantic novel (serialized in the Megumi by the Firelight hubs). Reaching just over 800 followers and celebrating her second year in HubPages, I got this fantastic time to chat with her after tennis in between sips of latte and bites of muffins…

Ok, first off, we know you’re Cassandra Mantis, the Cheeky Girl and you are indeed cheeky. You’re a Financial PA, in your 20s and you are happily living with an amazing lady, Cathy Nerujen ...can you tell us what we don’t know about you? Like how was your childhood and how was it like being the "Cheeky Girl" back in school and college?

Thanks Fehl. And thank you for asking me to do this interview! It's nice to finally sit in the hot seat and be asked the really tough questions! Okay, well as you can obviously tell, I've been cheeky for all my life. (Laughs here.) My childhood was a bit of a mix. I'm an only child, and was was born in Italy originally, from the City of Verona - a UNESCO World Heritage Location. My parents (both journalists) died when I was young, and that was a tough time for me. At the age of 8, I was brought by my grandparents to live in London. That was a big upheaval in my life. My memories of my Italian origins have faded a wee bit, but I am proud of my heritage.

I was an only kid, so having no parents made me very independent. My Grandparents have been a big influence. They taught me well, and I know it is tough for grandparents to have to raise a grand daughter like me. We have this amazing bond. Being an only child, I learned to look out for myself, and solve my own problems, and be self-reliant. I have always loved and enjoyed the company of others and I love being involved and being part of the group. I'm blessed with a great sense of humour - and with my tongue always firmly in my cheek! I was a fun-loving kid, and I have my fun side. But I always had a sense of wanting to do my own thing. I found I was bisexual at age 15 - which is kind of young for a teen to come out. And through tears and laughter and pains of growing up, I knew lots of people had worst problems than mine, and I got out of the habit of pitying myself (being an only child, etc), because - compared to some folks, my life was pretty good.

Childhood growing up in the UK was tough at first, (and damp as it rains a lot) but school was a great experience for me. I love learning new things, and knew I'd work in Business or Finance from an early age. I loved everything, but Maths and English were my favorite subjects. I do read a ton of books, and I love technical things. I have kept a diary all my life, and that is a great way of getting a writing habit. College life was fun and hard work too. I made sacrifices so that I could get a get my Master's Degree in Finance, and after working in recruitment, I went to work as a Personal assistant in a Hedge Fund in the UK. I'm 27 and I own my own home. I'm a woman who knows what she wants in life.

Ooh wow, I never knew you got a Master’s Degree. Your early life is moving. Look at you now. So uhmm, why did you join Hubpages and how did you discover it?

I had been scouring the web during 2009 and was looking for a way to experiment with publishing my writing online, and I found Hub Pages. It was in a search for some topic, about web pages in general. I had found an article by "Bad Company", alias Art from Belfast. It was funny and ireverant as hell, and after reading more amazing hubs by awesome writers, including Blaise25, (that's you, Fehl!) - I said "this is for me!" I published my first hub "First Encounters" towards the end of 2009, and it was a hit, (it's about how I met my partner Cathy Nerujen - alias Astra Nomik - the poet who is also on Hub pages) and I've been here ever since. The Encounters hub has a part 2 and part 3.

Oh was that Tattoo Guy’s hubs... LOL. That’s so funny! (Sigh) I miss his hubs. Oh wow, you mentioned me, girly! And yes, I discovered you, too through your series of Encounters… Those hubs are just amazing and I like your style. You really have the craft of writing down, very journalistic, and your novel promises to be quite outstanding. Tell us how did you get those exceptional skills? How it started?

H'mm... I could say it's probably down to my Grandparents who read stories to me as a child, and my Mother who also did before that. I have always loved stories. My parents were journalists, and maybe it's in the blood, I'm not sure, Fehl. We always had books in the house. I would ask for a book for a Birthday or Christmas present. I read a lot of newspapers. And funnily enough, Cathy now works for a UK newspaper. I had briefly toyed with the idea of a career in journalism, but Finance appealed to me more. A girl in my class introduced me to the habit of keeping a journal. I still have my diaries. They are an unfettered account of everything in my life. Writing comes natural to me.

Absolutely. We breathe Creative Writing. I love your Megumi excerpts so much.

The "Novel" is near completion, and I have serialized 6 parts of it in my Hub Pages, and that "excerpt" is a funny (mostly true) account of 8 teenage girls all having a weekend stayover in a friend's house, where we all get up to all kinds of crazy things. It has humour and romance, and a bit of a curious mystery in it too, and it's a small chunk out of the novel.

I can’t avoid asking this, but why do you write?

Oh boy, I write for many reasons, Fehl. Writing is a key tool to communicate. And I love that. I am a communicator. Writing is a way of expressing myself. It can serve many purposes, it can educate, clarify, inform, elucidate, impart vital information, it can let us keep a record of something. Transactions, relationships, Love, histories, inventories, stories, entertainment, history, philosophy, copywriting, work, poetry, News, Hub Pages...the list is endless. And remember that writing can also pay the bills, too. Writing connects us to everything. The world can't exist without words and writing. The web can't exist without written words. And the World Wide Web is everywhere now. We would be lost without writing.

Amen to that. What inspires you to write?

I am inspired by many things. People, personal experience, things that friends or people in general tell me, news, events, true stories, truth, information that can help change a life for the better. Good stories inspire me. So do great ideas. Heroes, and influential characters from History do too. But I'm interested in many subjects, like injustice, suffering, inequality, hurt and pain - and what causes them. They can also inform my understanding. I love the kind of writing where Great Ideas can make a difference. I love writing that can empower people, especially women - and give them something. And I love being among the writing community too.

You have given us a bite of your soon-to-be-published-novel, and it’s dazzling. What made you write such an incredible novel?

I wrote it because it's biographical, and many of my friends felt that my story would make good reading, and I happen to be a writer, and so how could I not write it? I admit I am young at 27 to be publishing a book, but when people see it, they will realise that I have had quite an interesting life, and an unusual up-bringing. I am mindful of how I have to say things, obviously. People have to be protected for legal reasons, and I'm grateful that some allowed me permissions where possible. There are some hilarious characters in this book, many I am amazed to say are actual friends of mine! (Laughs here.) It is soft-hearted in places and sexy and it's funny and it's revealing, and it has a serious side to it too. It is an uplifting and entertaining book. Putting a sample chapter of the book in the Hubs here was a terrific idea. It gives everyone a taste of what is in the book. And the Encounters Hubs are in the book too.

We’ve seen some deeper, softer, sexier and more romantic side of you from your series of Encounters and Megumi by the Firelight and people are wondering why haven’t you published any poetry?

Oh, poetry is something I love, though I am not anything near as good in poetry as I am in writing everything else. I leave the amazing poetry to Cathy, (and you too) and to poets who know how to write beautiful poems and words that can whisk us off to another state of mind. But some day I will focus on poetry as I want to learn this craft better.

You’re a successful Web Content Creator, have built your own websites, have thousands of Twitter followers, an impressive Hub Pages account, what are your secrets to your success in this field?

My ambition is to write fresh original content and write about things that people are interested in. I write about topical things that I think people will read. After I started writing Hub Pages here, I expanded to creating new websites, which I am now expanding and re-constructing further! I also have other blogs and more websites planned. (You can now buy domains in bulk, how nuts is that?) About success, all we can do is write and publish and write some more and publish that and keep going. As for success - if what we write has some value, then one thing will lead to another.

Every website or blog you create ought to have a Twitter or Facebook page, to create a new audience of readers and followers from outside of Hub Pages. Social media platforms can connect us as writers and web content creators to everyone. These have helped my rating in Hub Pages. I created a Nokia Phone App for my Hubs too. (It's downloadable from my apartment Site.) Google plus is the next big thing in Social Media.

Also, look at the huge amount of Hub Writers who have been inspired to go off and create their own websites. And look how well they are doing now. Many of these are my favorite Hubbers! You have done this successfully, Fehl with Fvenue and Appsandmobile. Hub Pages for me was a terrific starting point, and I am happy to be still here in this great community.

Yes, Hubpages is a great starting point. Plus the community shares their online business experiences. Your CGA and Webonist are awesome and became successful easily. And I’m grateful I have a great mentor and friend in you. You’re hitting your second year in HubPages, do you think this site will climb back to its old Alexa rank?

Yes, it will, and it will do better. Hub Pages has a great reputation and is know for quality writing. I have a fan page in my Cheeky Girls Apartment, where some friends are mentioned and linked back to here too. Re-tweeting articles you see here and like in Facebook - this helps increase ranking too. Google Plussing things where possible (as long as it's not gaming the system) can work. (Read the rules!) Bringing fresh new talent to Hub Pages and keeping them there is the secret to the future success of Hub Pages. The Panda update was a nasty blow to many - not just Hub pages. And I think Panda was inherantly unfair in lots of ways. But I still see people duplicating content on their hubs and on other sites too, and it's still an issue. People are still doing this!

Too much emphasis is around Google and it's perception of how things should be done. In the end, it is only a huge "Opinion" and some parts of it can contradict itself and confuse many. It can also be construed as in some ways, almost holding some online businesses and communities to ransom. "Do it our way or we'll punish you and downgrade you..." attitude. White lists make a mockery of the whole Panda update too. Meanwhile there are rumors that AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo may band to sell ads (Class 2 display inventory ... sort of banner ads) in a way that will compete against Google. Imagine the heave that might bring. It could be the start of something good, for hubbers! What the hell! They might bring it to Hub Pages! *Laughs here* If more awareness was placed on Alexa and other systems to measure popularity of web content, Google would lose its apparent relevance. So there is competition now amongst organizations in how to "rate" content, as we have several systems. If some other system was more fair and just, that too would influence thinking. Conversely, the more we all do it Google's way, the more powerful they become...and the more control they have.

The web is being forced into a weird situation nowadays. If Mark Twain, Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare were dragged out of their graves and reincarnated and told to re-do their great works, but now add relevant keywords and search engine optimization parameters - they'd tell you to get lost and go bury them back in the ground. And print authors feel largely the same. Their attitude is - why bother? I can't blame them. Some web businesses have just made publishing online confusing for so many writers.

Oh that’s so funny! If Twain, Dickens and Shakespeare rose up from their graves, I’d ask for autographs LOL And I’d take a photo and post it on Facebook! LOL! Give us some of your Cheeky secrets to earn money in Hubages and Amazon, will you?

I can't. That's a secret! *Chuckles here* Okay, okay - just keep writing, improve yourself, never be afraid to learn new things (the internet can eventually teach you just about everything anyway...) and push the envelope a little. That's what I did. Try new things, see what works for others. It could very well work for you. I don't want to go ito affiliates here, but there's plenty of places you can go learn about them. What have you got to lose? And set up an Amazon A-store. Or Zazzle, or any other store ideas you fancy creating. Anyone can sell anything they want on the net now - for free. Weebly even give you free shopping cart eCommerce stuff on their free wesites. (Now you see why I love Weebly so much!) This stuff is free to set up and do, for Pete's sake!

I'd tell you more, but you'd have to pay me. LOL!

Okay, these next few are some general queries and funny requests. Which of these are you...Glass is half-empty or half-full?

Depends on what is in the glass? Didn't you bring anything? Aw Fehl! Okay, I am a glass half-full person.

Okay, I assumed that. Think of your favorite book / movie / cartoon characters ... What do they all have in common?

Um, nothing whatsoever. To Kill an Mockingbird, Star Wars, "Flowers for Algernon", Clueless, Akira, Jane Eyre, Bound, "Tuesdays with Maury", Plato's "Republic", Sponge Bob Squarepants, "Four Weddings and a Funeral", "Bugs Bunny", "Wuthering Heights"...I have thousands of these, all very entertaining in some way...perhaps you can see a connection?

Nah. You’re giving me a hard time to psychoanalyze you in this. LOL. All is fair in love and war. Yes or no?

Sadly no. All that kissing and shooting, not for me. I hated that movie. LOL!

Haha! Damn. Do you have any tattoo? What it is?

Er, no I haven't.

Okay, a short few questions in set of threesomes...can you list 3 latest movies you’ve watched recently?

Threesomes? Most interesting! LOL!

1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
2. Beautiful Lies
3. Project Nim

List 3 songs of your life

1. "I did it my way" (Sinatra)
2. "Let's get the party started" (Pink)
3. "You raise me up" (Westlife - it's on the iPod just now, nice...)

List 3 Hubbers you have a crush on:

Excluding the one I live with - oh I have no one to speak of, Fehl dearest! LOL!

It’s just crushes for muffins sake. LOL. We’re done with the ‘serious business’ part of the interview, so I thought I’d put some fun stuff like these! Hehe. Can you list 3 places you dream to visit some day?

1. Italy
2. Asia
3. The Bahamas.
3 and a half - your place! LOL!

This is cheeky, but can you list 3 favorite keywords / niche?

1. Earn more money.
2. how to find a niece.
3. How to fix miss-spelling! LOL! I am so funny!

(Laughs!) Okay, can you list 3 sites you can’t miss checking everyday:

Apart from my own (and I won't include friendly ones, as I'd be a Narcissist otherwise)...
1. BBC
2. HubPages
3. Facebook

Aw, okay - that's a wrap. You’re one amazing Cheeky Woman. It’s been a great pleasure. Thank you for giving us the time to have this informative and fun interview. You inspire lots of hubbers here and sharing this with us really means a lot. Mwah! Thanks for the coffee and muffins treat, too.

Aw shucks! Thanks Fehl. I loved this, and you are a fun person to have as an interviewer! I hope everyone learned a wee bit more about me here today. See you all in Hub Pages! I better finish the last bit of coffee and that muffin! No point in wasting good food! LOL!