Timeline

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 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

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.

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

Husband: ooh yay! How much?

me: 1 cent.

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?

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.

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.

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)

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==

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.

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.

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

husband: you can’t just keep buying books!

me: i don’t understand

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.

And then I remember I have a toddler.

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.

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)

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.

• 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.” 😭

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.

Now, those same people say I’ve become selfish.

They say I’m quick to burn bridges.

What they don’t realise is the bridge was already rotten, and I simply got tired of trying to glue it together with pieces of my own flesh.

I don’t want to make money with my writing just to have more money.

I want to make money with my writing so I can use that money to publish more books.

Editors, cover designers, interior designers, shipping supplies and costs, etc. aren’t free. 😉

But now I am someone who:

• doesn’t waste time
• has the courage to self-advocate
• opens herself up to receiving love and loving back
• speaks up

You can hate that you’re still in pain, and acknowledge the growth the pain forced you through.

Hello, thank you for inviting me to be part of this. It really helps me a lot and I didn't know that you wrote so beautifully and so deeply to touch such deep fibers as you do. My congratulations, you are super talented, Tiffany.

Reminding me that no matter how small you think you are (I started here with no audience beyond a few pitying friends and family), your words will reach those they are meant for.

And for those, they might change their lives.

Keep writing.

I’ve taken all my books off the shelves and stored them in the guest room for now.

Husband took this photo and said I have too many books (more on the other side of the bed).

I said there’s still open floor space, so clearly that’s not true.

As a more recent Talebones reader, I haven’t read any of these stories before, but I did read Sayblood’s Children, so finally getting some of the references in that brilliant origin story was super cool (“The Right Thing” and “The Orchard Hounds”).

The first story, “Tilford Till and the Highway Haunting” gave me chills and was a great one to start with. Other ones that featured supernatural justice made me gleeful.

“Under the Mistle Crow” stabbed my heart out with a spoon. Thanks a lot. That one’s going to stay with me for a while.

Also really liked “The Eye of God.”

Am I just going list all the stories? I’ll stop there.

Thank you for a lovely day of reading, Sally!

Instead of focusing on the celebration at the end, though, I want to share something someone older and wiser than I am said last year:

Let this be a time of mourning. We are always so quick to want the happy ending and skip over the lament, but the reality is, we live in a broken world, and we don’t know when it will be restored.

It’s okay to grieve that brokenness. It’s good. Only those who have grieved understand what the hope of Easter truly means.

For some of us, we’ll see no happy ending on this side of eternity.

For some of us, we know and love people who are hurting.

I want to remember them, us, you.

For the child, who, as he lay dying, still thought of me and reminded me of this verse:

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Then, someone said my writing helped them cherish their loved ones more.

Someone else said I inspired them to write again.

Someone said I made them want to read again.

Many someones said my writing made them feel seen.

So even if you don’t think your story matters, keep sharing it anyway. It might just change a life, or several.

Sometimes he’s very nice.

Other times, he’s brutal.

“Why is he a banker?”

“Why are they fighting? Need more detail.”

“I don’t like stories about cheaters.”

“I’m confused.”

“Why is the POV switching?”

But at least I know where I’ve gone way off into my abstract artistic wonderland, which I’m prone to do. Thanks, husband.

I figured, local library, probably small audience, start with low stakes.

And you know what?

It was worth it.

I read a short essay and was told my writing is “powerful, poignant, and heartwrenching.” That always feels nice, but the best part was meeting my local librarians, a few other talented writers, a musician who writes and sings his own songs. People were warm, welcoming, encouraging.

It was feeling part of my own neighbourhood and connecting to other creatives in person.

For a super-introvert like myself, this tiny open mic night was a night to remember.

(husband walking in to me watching a horror movie)

Me: I’m having a shit day.

Husband: So you’re watching people get slaughtered?

Me: You know, at least I’m not being slaughtered, so I’m having a less shitty day than those people.