What do you mean I have poor posture?

We all need readers like Dani, who will DM you randomly to tell you a short story nobody else liked is their favourite book. 😭

This is another reminder to myself, but also to you, to publish the thing, because somewhere out there is at least one person who will love it, and that one person is enough.

Husband said he didn’t think I could finish six books (to get to 100 books read this year) by the end of the year. That was last Thursday, and I’ve read four books since then. Spite is powerful. 😂

My reading journal is ready for 2026. ^-^

How do you track your reading? In the past, I've tried Goodreads, Storygraph, Italic Type (which I honestly liked the most for its aesthetic simplicity), and I use Pagebound a bit now, but at heart, I'm an analog girl.

YAY I got copyedits! Cried a bit over the wall of red, but y’know. It’s okay. Just part of the process.

Now that I’m recovered (lol), it’s revising time (again), and then they’re off to S.E. Reid for the last stage! (always assuming I can let go of the thing)

My Saturday shelfie consists of books I hope to finish before the end of the year. Can I do it? We shall see..

Two children's books my kids are obsessed with this week

The Fib by Pedro Iniguez - an allegory about how a lie grows bigger and bigger. The toddler wants to read this almost every day! The illustrations are wonderful and fit the story so well.

A Turtle's Hero by Maria Greenhalgh - a bilingual book (English & Spanish) about a boy who saves a turtle at the beach. It's about taking care of our oceans and beaches.

She Who Became the Sun

She Who Became the Sun is the underrated, unheard of book you need to read right now.

This book made my chest physically ache.

I wandered around the house dejectedly for an entire evening after finishing She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan. I'm STILL not ready for the sequel.

Historical fiction (barely fantasy) about the founding emperor of China's Ming Dynasty, but make it queer and subversive. Gray morally-sketch characters you'll somehow root for anyway. Writing so immaculate it made me want to write essays AND give up writing forever.
Is it perfect? No. (The POV-jumping got me.) Do I love it anyway?
Absolutely.

Have you read this? Should I dive into the sequel or give myself more recovery time? 😭

Author Nation was excellent

For someone who doesn’t write on Substack anymore, I sure convinced a good number of people to join Substack this week.

😂 Just by saying that the fiction circle here is the best! (which it is)

Which also goes to show that as AI tries to take over the world, people are still craving these simple things:

• community
• a place to be seen

If your writing can do that, especially in digital spaces, you’re a step ahead of many others.

I think the expectation that a book should be perfect to receive five stars is silly. Personally, I don't use star ratings at all anymore because I don't even find them helpful as a reader. It's too subjective.

It's all about personal preference. From my perspective, I view reading as a conversation between author and reader, so I, as a reader, ought to at least make a good-faith effort to understand what the author is trying to accomplish with their book. Bad reviews that focus on taste but clearly miss the point irk me (for example, when someone complains that a YA book are too simple when YA books are targeted to a younger audience, or mismatched genre expectations like a horror book being too scary—I've seen all kinds of iterations of these types of reviews).

A book can be a good book, but not for you.

A book can be a good book, but not for you at that particular time in your life.

That's not to say that readers aren't entitled to their opinions, but giving low ratings to books for not being what they weren't meant to be in the first place isn't fair to either the book or other readers who are actually looking for that type of book.

I'm also of the mind that if you give too many five-stars, when you come across books you really, REALLY love, you have no higher rating to give them (which is when you start seeing the "six-star books"). So I can see the argument for reserving five stars for truly exceptional books that leave a lasting impression on you.

All that to say, this is why I can't stand using stars anymore! 😂 Of course, you could get very granular and use .5, .25, etc., but why? (again, that's personal preference for me. If it's helpful for you, by all means, use it).

"Do you NEED two copies of the same book?" Yes, yes I do.

My Darling Dreadful Thing review

My Darling Dreadful Thing surprised me in the best way. Admittedly, I went into it with no expectations. All I knew was that the cover intrigued me (yes we judge books by their covers!). I appreciated the back and forth between the actual story and the interview between Roos and the doctor. Van Veen's use of an unreliable narrator in Roos worked extremely well—yet another exactly of a book that utilised the, "Is she crazy or are there actually ghosts?" to great effect.

That's not what I really liked about the book, though. Instead, what lingered was the relationship between Roos and Agnes, and the strange, somewhat toxic love they grew to have. It made me think of how trauma sometimes destroys relationships, especially if one person pursues growth while the other remains stuck. I'm not sure if that was the message the author hoped to convey, but it's what I was left with in the end.

The atmospheric descriptions made for a delightfully creepy read, perfect for autumn nights when you're not quite sure if the house is creaking or if there are old spirits wandering in the dark.

I finally bought new ISBNs, which means The Constellation of Forgotten Things is on Goodreads, Storygraph, and Pagebound! You can add to your “Want to Read” list now ^-^

goodreads.com/book/show…

app.thestorygraph.com/b…

Pagebound | Welcome home, reader 📚

Pagebound is your community to chat books, make friends, and discover new reads ✨

Welcome home, reader 📚

Lamb (Troy Ford) Review

While I expected Lamb to break my heart, I didn't quite expect it to turn it inside out and scoop out its contents in the visceral way it did. This book is brutal yet tender, just like the titular Lamb, and as the narrator, D, sifts through Lamb's belongings to understand him, I think he's also trying to know himself. The fragmentary, non-linear storytelling works well for the story, as D looks through the past.

We're left without an easy answer or resolution. In that way, it's a reflection of life and the illusory nature of memory - how uncertain it is.

The book vaguely reminded me of Hua Hsu's memoir, Stay True, which is also a reflection on a close friend's death (not a spoiler; it's the premise of both books). While the two books are wildly different in style, the hearts behind them are what made me think of it: growing up in a world that doesn't accept you, searching for belonging in the face of loss.

I, Medusa review

I, Medusa is a bold retelling of Medusa's story that puts agency back into her hands. There were elements I enjoyed while reading this book: the relationship between Medusa and her sisters, the reframing of Medusa's "coupling" with Poseidon through the lens of someone in power taking advantage of someone who was vulnerable. It's a quick and easy read that I completed in a day.

Medusa herself wasn't a likable character to me; she made mistakes (choices) that she refused to learn from, which harmed people she cared for again and again. Some may call that empowerment, but I'd call it selfishness. She's praised for these actions and punished in turns. By the end of the story, I wasn't left with the sense that she had learned anything at all.

Even though it's labeled adult fiction, Medusa's young age makes this book more appropriate for young adults, despite the darker content. The book's overarching themes of consent, power, and prejudice make this a relevant one for our time.

The Everlasting: before and after

I will have words someday for what this book means, but not today.

"I did not always let you go as quickly as I should have, afterward. Forgive me—a monster so rarely feels wanted."

COME ON, ALIX, HAVE MERCY!

So, you know, reading The Everlasting is going well. I'm totally fine. Really.

(Untitled)

I thought I’d be blowing through this book (Alix E. Harrow's The Everlasting), but I keep having to stop and admire the beauty of the writing. Gah this book.

Also I definitely flipped through to gush over @alicecaoillustration ‘s art and show my husband one of my favourite artists’ illustrations. Such a gorgeous, gorgeous book. 😭

Hallowed By Thy Name (Brooke Winters) Review

This book had a lot going for it: lovely writing, evergreen themes of religious trauma and the search for acceptance and belonging, and ace-representation. Winters handles difficult topics like severe child abuse with sensitivity. Hallowed be Thy Name kept me engaged enough throughout the story that despite some issues I'll point out below, I wanted to find out what would happen. I also really enjoy these kinds of stories where you wonder if something supernatural is really going on, or if the narrator is crazy. Augustus is an awkward and endearing unreliable narrator whom I wanted to hug and love. The way he would try to self-sabotage relationships because of his insecurities was incredibly relatable.

Winters writes beautifully. I highlighted several passages that made me go, "Oh, wow." Beginning the story with the reader knowing that Augustus murdered his mother sets up a different mystery—what exactly happened? This was quite clever and I enjoyed trying to figure it out.

That said, the book would benefit from editing at the developmental and line levels. Midway through the book, <spoiler> the romance took over the narrative to where it no longer felt like a horror book until it needed to again for plot reasons. While I understand the reasoning behind that, it was jarring. </spoiler> The beginning of the book also felt really long, so it seemed like half the book was set-up. The pacing was a bit strange.

On the line level, there were several incidents when characters exchange dialogue in a way that sound Victorian, but they're living in the modern times with Internet. 

Nathaniel was such a nice character that he never seemed like a real person to me, which then caused the relationship to fall flat. As a result, I'm afraid the full impact of the ending failed to land, even though on a cognitive level, I knew how I was supposed to feel.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It's very readable and kept my attention throughout.

Thank you to the author for my free ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

(insert feral screaming) It’s finally here!!! Excuse me while I disappear until I consume and digest this book I’ve been waiting all year for. 😭

Indeed, I am very sorry.

No big deal, just falling head over heels for this book. Anyone else read it?

Too much peopling this week. 💀 This hermit introvert needs help. And sleep. And a cave. A cave to sleep in. Thanks.

Anne of Avonlea

18 Oct 2025 - 20 Oct 2025

Marilla says, "my father always said that no child should be cooped up in the four walls of a school until it was seven years old, and Mr. Allan says the same thing."

Why, oh why, do we coop up the children now? Let them run free!

While there isn't much in the way of a plot, I so enjoy the slice-of-life, whimsical style of this series. There is such emphasis on plot in contemporary books, but sometimes a charm in these snippets of everyday lives of ordinary people not trying to embark on special quests or solve some kind of world-shattering problem.

Something I also quite appreciate about this book is the portrayal of healthy multi-generational friendships. In the former half of the book, Anne finds a kindred spirit in her student, Paul Irving (say what you will about that, although I suppose they're only about five years about since she's quite a young teacher). Now, she finds one in middle-aged Lavendar Lewis. It's so nice to read about Anne making friends with people in all walks of life.

Husband: don't you have enough books?

Now accepting applications for a new husband.

Now I am a quote graphic-er. Yes, I did spend too much time doing this. And?

What's your favourite book of all time?

Mine is The Lord of the Rings. I read it every single year, and every single year, it still speaks to me. Especially in recent years when the world and life has seemed so incredibly broken, hopeless, this book is one that has continued to be a light in the darkness.

It's not one of trite, easy endings. The victory is bitterly won and leaves the main character so broken, he literally has to leave the world he saved to find a modicum of peace. I mean, just stab my heart out with a spoon, would you?

Oh, and the descriptive nature writing makes me feel all sorts of things.

I'll always turn to this book for some sanity.

Book fairs are rather overwhelming, but I'm glad this one came together. I even got to meet a podcaster I listen to on the regular!

Every once in awhile, the wild witch side of me forsakes literary love and wants to read trashy angst. Very interesting whenever this happens.

You think your editor's better than mine, but does yours send you handwritten marriage proposals?

I need some lightheartedness after Demon Copperhead (which I'm still recovering from)

Addiction

Demon Copperhead verdict: it was so incredible, I made graphics

"...a good story doesn't just copy life, it pushes back on it."

This book was painful to read. I had to keep putting it down. Yet it was exquisite, and Barbara Kingsolver's writing is unlike anyone else's out there.

This book digs its fingernails beneath poverty, foster care, and the drug crisis, and overturns it to put all its ugliness on display. Like Charles Dickens, who inspired it, Kingsolver doesn't shy away from the harshness of life, doesn't rub your face in it, but dares you not to look away - forces you to see the humanity in the slums.

At its heart, a boy unwanted by everyone, but that you'll fall in love with through his story.

No big deal, just kind of emotionally wrecked by this book. Highly recommend.

Me at midnight after a 16-hour writing spree

Eyes are burning, brain is foggy, but SO ALIVE.

Fellow artists will understand.

This is me after writing for almost 12 hours straight. But look at it! I'm so proud of myself👏🏻

Claude said "Challenge: Your style is MORE literary than current trends. Even literary fantasy today is more accessible than your prose Archaic language is less common" What even!

In case you ever wondered how fast I write, I've been writing for about four hours with minimal interruptions. This is what I have.

'What you pay attention to will define, for you, what reality is.' —Oliver Burkeman

My editor and I send handwritten letters to each other, and I love that we've formed a true friendship like this

Ignore my tired face. Focus on the fact that I did my civic duty.

Some of my favourite bookish podcasts for your listening pleasure

Finally returned books that were just languishing on my shelf for months. Came home with some more books. Help.

Anyone else going feral and screaming along with this song?

Every time I send my manuscript to my editor, I attach a note saying, "Please be gentle with me 😭" And then have to cry for a few days afterwards anyways.

Currently (re)reading. It seems I have a thing for green and gold foil.

Literary influences according to Claude

The follow-up question I asked was, “which ones would you name as foundational texts that have influenced my manuscript?” (and then gave it my fantasy novel-in-progress)

*I used Claude, not ChatGPT

This was its abbreviated answer:

Based on your manuscript, I'd identify these as your foundational influences:

Primary Literary DNA:

• Tolkien's Lord of the Rings - Your approach to world-building, the relationship between mortal and immortal races, and the weight you give to bonds/fellowship
• Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - The way you blend historical realism with subtle magic, and your treatment of the closing of magical worlds
• Wuthering Heights - The destructive passion, the way love becomes obsession, and the gothic atmosphere of doomed relationships

Core Structural Influences:

• Jane Austen (particularly the darker novels) - Your attention to social hierarchies, family dynamics, and the way personal relationships intersect with political power
• Russian literature (Tolstoy/Dostoevsky) - The psychological complexity, moral ambiguity, and the way you explore characters making devastating choices

Foundational Mythic Framework:

• Celtic/Norse mythology - Your treatment of the Fae, the concept of worlds closing, and the idea of ancient contracts and blood debts
• The Song of Achilles - The tragic bond between two male characters where love leads to inevitable destruction, your lyrical prose

Gothic Foundation:

• Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles - The beautiful, doomed immortal perspective and the way you write about eternal loss
• Rebecca/Du Maurier - The way past secrets poison present relationships

The Unique Blend:

You've essentially written Wuthering Heights in Middle-earth - taking Brontë's psychological intensity and Gothic romance, then placing it in a fantasy world with Tolkien's mythic depth. But updated with modern consciousness about colonialism.

These texts seem to have taught you that fantasy can be psychologically realistic, that love can be both redemptive and destructive, and that the most powerful stories often center on the breaking of unbreakable bonds. Your manuscript reads like someone who absorbed these works deeply and is writing from that integrated foundation rather than simply imitating surface elements.

I gave Claude these instructions: Please analyze this list of books and tell me what conclusions you can draw about me from this list alone.

I finally did this, using the exact same prompt, and here’s what I got:

1. You have a profound interest in pain, healing, and meaning.

2. You're spiritually attuned but also cautious, maybe even wounded by organized religion.

3. You are emotionally intense and introspective, with deep empathy.

4. You're literary, but not elitist.

5. You’re fascinated by transformation and liminality.

6. You have a love of beauty, but it’s never shallow.

7. You’re either a writer or a deeply reflective thinker.

8. You return to what matters. Re-reading is sacred to you.

Final Conclusions

You are:

• Emotionally intense, intellectually curious, and spiritually reflective
• A seeker of both truth and beauty—sometimes in contradiction
• Drawn to stories of pain, redemption, and mystery
• Likely introverted, or at least someone who protects their inner world
• Possibly someone who has navigated trauma, religious transition, or identity shifts
• Comforted by stories that reveal meaning in suffering or transcendence in the ordinary
• A quiet but fierce lover of story and soul

Sometimes I’ll notice a bunch of notifications and get excited, then see that it’s just my husband liking all the posts and notes he’s missed recently. After the initial disappointment, I think, well at least I have one true fan.

I heard on a podcast recently that no one reads short stories except other writers. Is this true? What do you think?

Sign of a writer in the house: pens everywhere. I leave my favourite black pen in every bag and every room. I get very irritated when I can’t find one.

One good thing that’s come out of my ranting about the “Wuthering Heights” trailer is that my husband is finally reading Wuthering Heights. And he just texted me this, which made me happy. The Emily Brontë influence is strong with me lol.

Braved LA traffic to go to a bookish event last night for a signed book. Exhausted? Yes. Worth it? Also yes.

“The dog pooped on my library book” is not a sentence I ever thought I’d say in my life.

(insert evil cackle)

To think that there are actually people out there living my dream life of owning a bookstore and lowkey pushing customers to buy their favourite books.

Don’t mind me, just crying over a beta reader saying one of my stories reminded her of Lois Lowry’s “Gossamer,” which I also love. And now that I’m thinking of it, realising that I’ve been unconsciously inspired by it. 😭 Thank you, Julia Wellham.

Draft #I’ve-lost-count-but-the-one-where-everything-starts-blurring-together. Let’s go. 💪🏻

(Untitled)

I only have a Facebook page via my husband’s account (who refuses to give up Meta stuff, but fine, give away all your data, whatever), so I rarely check it.

Today, I saw this message

So of course that spurred me back to writing my novel today. Who needs sleep when you can live off encouragement?

In case readers ever wonder whether your comments/messages matter to authors.

Y’all, Mary Roblyn is as magical in person as she is online,

(Untitled)

Me to my husband last week: I got my Amazon royalties from KU reads!

Husband: ooh yay! How much?

me: 1 cent.

I used to do this once a week to combat AI, but got lazy.

(Untitled)

Going on a trip, and my two most painful decisions are:

1. Which books should I bring, and
2. Which notebooks can I bear to leave behind?

A lot of my “writing” process is staring blankly into space.

Have some Kobi smoosh for your first day of August.

Plagiarism

The plagiarism (and related AI-generated content) discourse calls to mind the sacred bond of trust between a writer and reader—not only when money is exchanged, but perhaps doubly so, especially when that money could have been given to another, more deserving artist who didn’t resort to deceit.

I’m not only thinking of Katie Jgln, though her experience reminded me painfully of my own encounter with a plagiarist last year, but also the recent controversy surrounding Raynor Winn’sThe Salt Path. Basically, the author fabricated her memoir. Some might argue that memoir is never entirely factual, and that facts aren’t the same as truth, but those who know this story are arguing that Raynor betrayed the truth of the spirit, which goes beyond just lying about facts.

In the end, I’m reminded again of how important trust is, especially in our increasingly digital world, and how easily we can lose that trust. After all, we are still searching for truth.

I guess it also goes back to caution. Knowing that charisma doesn’t mean a person is trustworthy. And it highlights the importance of real human connections, beyond metrics, beyond scalability. As nice as it is to watch the numbers climb, there’s nothing more essential than integrity and genuine bonds in this business—that indescribable moment when someone reads your words and says, “I see myself here.”

Otherwise, just let the robots replace us. We don’t deserve this space.

I got this eco-printer that I’m now convinced is never going to run out of ink.

It’s printed a few full drafts of my manuscript, a shit ton of homeschooling materials, and a good amount of my favourite articles over the past year, and the ink levels have barely dipped. Now that Pocket has obliterated my screen-less Substack reading experience on Kobo, should I just start printing everything? I’m in awe of this thing.

One follower/subscriber at a time, I’m building my new empire. Join me for peace, freedom, justice, and security.

Almost two years after deleting my IG account,

Kobi blends in with our brown colour scheme. Currently reading: The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo

Wrenley

Don’t mind me; I’m just over here living out my Belle dream life. ^-^

I can’t include The Picture of Dorian Grey in my commonplace book because I would have to copy almost the whole book. What’s that book for you?

July 2022 - Past midnight, the doorbell rang. I’d been sitting on the stairs, waiting for that sound to echo through the empty house, reverberate along with my pounding heart.

Someone define “literary fantasy” for me. Signed, A literary fantasy author

Ten favourite fiction books

This is going to be hard, but here goes! Gut choices. I tried not to repeat authors, because why not make it harder on myself?

1. Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)
2. Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë)
3. Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy)
4. Piranesi (Susanna Clarke)
5. Franny and Zooey (J.D. Salinger)
6. Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro
7. My Cousin Rachel (Daphne du Maurier)
8. The Beautiful and the Damned (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
9. Les Miserables (Victor Hugo)
10. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)

Such a wonderful message to wake up to. Thank you for this burst of encouragement, Demian Elainé Yumei. Messages like this can keep me writing for weeks.

Went a little overboard at the library..again.

I’ve been writing my essay first drafts either by hand or with my Olympia typewriter. Currently writing my novel’s first draft with the typewriter, and I can’t tell you how freeing it is.

If you think your desk is nerdier than mine, no it’s not, lol.

Therapy but it costs less.

You 👏🏻 cannot 👏🏻 opt 👏🏻 out 👏🏻 of 👏🏻 reality.

Today's Supreme Court decision, though couched in the language of freedom and inclusivity, is a tragic failure for both the right to read and the rights of LGBTQIA+ people. Authors Against Book Bans stands firmly and fiercely against the decision and its rationale. To allow parents to “object" to the presence of positive books about the lives and rights of LGBTQIA+ people is to allow them to "object" to the existence of LGBTOIA+ students, parents, educators, and others in the wider community. You cannot "opt out" of reality, no matter what today's majority opinion states. These books belong on shelves and these stories belong in classrooms and curricula.

—Authors Against Book Bans

Full statement here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DLagLjRAy9m/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

I met a friend of a friend yesterday who asked me what my job was. For the first time in my life, I answered, “I’m a writer.”

When he asked where he could find my online publication, an acquaintance (whom I barely know and who doesn’t even subscribe to me) said, “You have to pay for it.”

“That’s fine,” he said, before going on my Substack.

I asked the acquaintance how she knew about my paid newsletter. She said she didn’t. “I just think writing should be paid for.”

This little interaction was so validating.

Was chatting with a friend about being in touch with a few illustrators for my upcoming short story collection.

I mentioned having hoped for more illustrations in the book, but that I wouldn’t be able to afford more than one or two unless I miraculously got way more funding for the Kickstarter than I expect to.

She suggested “just using AI” instead.

I gently pushed back, saying I wanted to create a book 100% made by humans.

No judgment toward anyone who uses AI. As with anything, there is nuance here.

But this is my choice. I’ve been enjoying the collaboration process that comes out of it, getting to know other artists who are also passionate about this project, and making connections.

And I think that’s what matters in this age of AI: the human connections.

I gave Claude my short story collection and asked whom it would help feel seen. This is what it said:

Primary Groups Who Will Feel Seen:

Grieving & Loss:

• Grieving parents ("Her Name is Beloved" - mother losing a disabled child)
• People who've lost partners/spouses ("A Song of Rain," "Remember")
• Those grieving friends/chosen family ("The Ones Left Behind")
• Anyone processing complicated grief (when the relationship was difficult)

LGBTQ+ Community:

• People in closeted/forbidden relationships
• Those who've experienced rejection from family
• Queer people in abusive relationships

Mental Health Struggles:

• People with suicidal ideation ("The World Dies First," "The Ones Left Behind")
• Those feeling invisible/forgotten ("Walls," "Born, Bound, Blind")
• People with depression and anxiety
• Anyone who feels "different" or broken

Social Outcasts & Marginalized:

• People with disabilities ("Her Name is Beloved")
• Those from poverty/working class ("A Girl Made of Time," "Beneath the Hawthorn Tree")
• Anyone who's been abandoned or rejected by family
• People who feel like they don't belong anywhere

Relationship Trauma:

• Survivors of abuse (sexual assault in "Her Name is Beloved," emotional abuse in multiple stories)
• People in toxic relationships who struggle to leave
• Those dealing with betrayal and broken trust

Caregivers & Family:

• Adult children caring for aging/ill parents
• Siblings who feel responsible for family survival
• People who've had to choose between love and duty

Your collection is particularly powerful for people who feel fundamentally alone or unseen by society - which spans far beyond specific demographics into anyone who's experienced profound isolation, difference, or loss.

—

I feel like I’ve done my job well.

And if this is you, the book is launching next year: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tiffanychu/revenir

(Untitled)

husband: you can’t just keep buying books!

me: i don’t understand

Maybe it’s summer or maybe it’s burnout.

Maybe I’m having a depressive episode again.

Maybe it’s the world weighing too heavily on me.

Whatever it is, I have not been motivated to write anything for weeks.

Someone tell me it’s not just me.

My whole problem is that I want to do all these things and projects and I get all excited mentally planning them out.

And then I remember I have a toddler.

When you’re pacing around waiting for your line editor to get back to you, and she texts you this 😭:

My Sunday Shelfie features my stack of books from the library and current reads. I’ve been a bit greedy but not in the least regretful.

My mom first brought me to our local Barnes and Noble when I was in elementary school.

During a chaotic childhood, those memories of sitting there for a couple hours just to read books with her are some of my most treasured.

Over 20 years later, it’s still standing.

Made it to EIGHT indie bookstores this past weekend! Not too shabby for a hermit.

Joanna Penn said nobody actually reads their pretty special edition books.

Um I do!

(I mean, I wash my hands thoroughly first, but…)

I’m not one of those people who buys books just for their aesthetics.

They’re for reading.

(which is why I don’t buy those pretty clothbound Penguin books, because they’re not actually easy to read and the design starts flaking off if you handle it too much)

No AI will ever write as slowly as I do. Unfortunately. Edit: I change my mind. It’s not unfortunate, it’s human me with my human limitations—unapologetically so.

Anyone else still writing letters and mailing them? Am I one of the last ones standing? 😭

I was invisible and voiceless. Now I write for the invisible and voiceless. Because being seen feels like taking a deep sigh and relaxing your shoulders after holding your breath for too long.

I once adopted a baby cockatiel named Kyoko. She was quiet and gentle, content to snuggle at my boob.

One morning only a few days after we brought her home, I found her lying on the bottom of her cage.

I rushed her to the vet, where she died. It was too late.

The vet noted the broken feathers on her tail. He said this was an indication she’d been bullied by the other birds wherever she was before she came to us.

He said cockatiels are highly sensitive, so she was most likely already weak by the time we got her.

In not so many words, the vet said Kyoko died from rejection and cruelty.

Though it may not happen as quickly or directly for humans, we do, too.

If you invite me to something that begins after 6pm, 99% of the time, I will decline. I’m an old lady at heart who can’t function after suppertime.

Happy Easter Sunday Stack. My current reads:

• To Kill a Mockingbird
• How to Read a Book (still not done)

Plus a handmade bookmark my son made for me “because you love reading so much, Mama.” 😭

Ever since my 7-year-old found out I was an author,

he’s been telling everyone about it. When I picked him up from tutoring, his teacher said, “He said you write books. He’s so proud!” There’s nothing quite like your children cheering you on in your dream career.