Meet CM Aragon

We were lucky to catch up with CM Aragon recently and have shared our conversation below.

CM, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

From my very first memories of childhood, I knew I wanted to create. From the moment I could hold a pen I would write down fantastical stories that I only I could decipher. Lines and lines full of teeny tiny circles so meticulously placed filled the lines of the paper my mom would give me. I told ghost stories late at night with a flash light under my chin just like I’d seen in the movies. Every single surface became a canvas — much to my mother’s dismay.

However, despite all of this, it took me a long time to figure out what my purpose actually was. I tried to go to school for a degree but found that when the work wasn’t engaging enough, I lost the drive to do any of it. I even tried to go to school for things that were in a creative field and still found that when the demand was there, or I was forced to follow someone else’s idea of creativity that I felt the same avoidance and lack of drive. And yet, when I sat down and followed the beat of my own drum, I felt swept away by it. I let myself fall down the rabbit hole and never wanted to look back. Creativity is something that is so personal to each and every person who creates.

For me, the ability to bring something to life that only existed in your mind is a unique form of magic. Being able to share it with others, to show them the worlds that only exist in your heart is and (hopefully) move them in the same way that I was moved is incredible. I had never thought I would write a whole novel. I was much more into short stories and even just some flowery prose that went nowhere but one day, I randomly got the urge to write a novel. I didn’t know if I was going to finish it, but I at least wanted to try. I sat down at my computer and let the words come and before I knew it, I had written 50,000 words in just a month! It was hard but by the end of it, it felt so rewarding and I knew, from then on, this was exactly what I was meant to do.

Watching entire worlds come to life at my fingertips along with character’s stories and their flaws sucked me in. Once that door was open, it refused to close again. I suddenly couldn’t stop the influx of ideas, of worlds, of people that now called to me and begged me to bring them to life in writing. It also became a way for me to channel myself and a lot of the feelings that lingered inside me. Writing them into my characters and using them to process my struggles and work through them in a way that made things make sense. It became cathartic in a way I never realized writing could be and I wanted to chase this feeling until I couldn’t anymore.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I went into a lot of detail in the previous question regarding what makes what I am doing special, but to continue that a bit here. I have always been a lover of the darker side of things — the things that go bump in the night. In my writing I love to explore those themes and my brand has become a mixture of the inner workings of the psyche along with romance (as well as all the complexities that come with both of those things)
You can expect to find a ton of heart, haunting atmospheres and even a little bit of humor thrown in when you read my work.

I published my first book ‘The Call of Chaos’ in October of 2024 and am currently working on its sequel along with several other projects. I recently just began production on the audiobook that will be available in the summer!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I think the main skill that allowed me to keep going even in the face of doubt is my extreme sense of perseverance — or what some might call stubbornness (I am a taurus after all.) Another skill that I think is absolutely detrimental to being an author is the ability to network. Talking to strangers is hard but there is honestly so much of this I couldn’t have done without the help of my community and taking the leap to send a simple message to someone is so worth it! Doing all you can to learn the ropes in publishing (whether you want to go the self pub route or trad) is also something that is essential to the process of getting your work out there and really taking advantage of the information available on how to have a successful book launch.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

I, like many creatives, struggle with the dreaded imposter syndrome. We are our own worst critics and can find every loose thread to tug at and make us doubt. This is something that no matter how well prepared I think I am, I always feel like something is missing or like no matter how many times I do it or redo it, the work I am putting out isn’t good enough.

I keep a journal as well as lean on that community I mentioned before to get me right in the head again and point out all the ‘big picture’ things I can’t seem to focus on when I am so close to the project. The feeling never fully goes away for me unfortunately but I am getting better and better at ignoring it and pushing past it to see my art through.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worldsofaragon/
• Other: Newsletter – https://worldsofaragon.substack.com/

Image Credits

Art by Dracoryss and Rosiesfables