To the snarky among you: Yes, I am aware that any book is re-readable. The question is, do you want to?
Growing up, I loved reading. Garth Nix, Diana Wynne Jones, C.S. Lewis, Brian Jacques. These are some of the authors that shaped my style and my bookshelf, and all of them still have shelf space (at least mentally or digitally) today. I loved living in their worlds, even if just for a few hours, and I knew that every time I opened one of their books I’d be stepping into something to savor and explore, something to set my imagination racing with characters to follow through something grand, something potent, something extremely worth my time.
But as I got older, books started to lose their shine. I got busy, books got samey, and even though I still loved writing, I found myself falling out of love with reading, particularly in my chosen genre. I’ve thankfully come out of that quite a bit, particularly in recent years, with help from old and new favorites (welcome, Jonathan Stroud, Heather Dixon, and N.D. Wilson, to the mix), and as I’ve studied the books and stories I love most, it’s brought me back to a few key tenets that I follow in my own work.
To me, the books most worth re-reading:
- Have main characters that are actually good (or at least are trying to be).
- Have human positive worldviews.
- Have hope.
- Have sincerity.
- Have something they’re trying to say, even if all it is is the story.
And these, my darlings, are the books I try to write. This is shaped, of course, by my faith and own worldview, though if the word “faith” or “Christian” freaks you out, don’t panic yet. All of you are welcome here.
Art has the power to impact people, to change lives. I believe that from the bottom of my heart. I don’t write books with morals or answers, I much prefer to ask questions and to leave the soapy, sugary stuff for bath and bakery. My books aren’t perfect (none of them are), but I do hope that they’ll point to something positive or be the kind of thing written at a quality that will earn them a permanent spot in a world where everything is disposable. Thank you for spending the time to come here. Jesus loves you. Go with peace.
The boilerplate, if you need it: Abigail Morrison is an award-winning Wisconsin-based author. She loves stories that feature grace and redemption, ask questions (without necessarily answering them), and point toward possibility. When not writing, she enjoys crafting, dancing, and all things nerdy, all with the indispensable pleasure of tea. Her first novel, The Yochni’s Eye, came out in August, 2022. Her new series, Chronicles of Castia, began publication in 2026.
AI Policy
The short version: I do not and will not use generative AI in any of my work, nor do I work with people who do. All of the writing, editing, cover design, and merch is made by real humans. Errors caught by things like Word’s spell check will be corrected, but I do not use any tools like Grammarly or AI drafting/editing/etc. to rewrite my work for me.
The longer version: Ah, AI, the great debate of our time. There are many, many reasons why I don’t use it, but I’ll attempt to keep my reasoning brief here, to which I’m going to use a list (in no particular order).
- I believe that most if not all LLM and generative AI programs are built on a foundation of theft based on uncredited, uncompensated work fed to training programs without consent. Until authors and other creators have the ability to fully remove their work from these systems (permanently), opt out of future use, have legal protections around this, and get compensated for inclusion in these systems (if desired), I believe using these systems supports theft at a monumental scale and is therefore immoral.
- Environmental impacts.
- Damage to brain functioning.
- Lack of safety in the systems.
- The fact that I actually enjoy doing the work.
- The fact that doing the work helps me to grow by needing to consider what I actually think or feel about the things I’m writing.
- The fact that doing the work helps me to grow as a writer.
- The fact that my readers are worth my full effort.
- The fact that my readers are worth my imperfect effort.
- The fact that my readers are worth my unique (yet still collaborative) effort.
- The fact that creativity is not an obstacle but the door.
- Artists/creators should be paid.
- Artists/creators should be paid.
- Artists/creators should be paid.
- I like, want to, and must be able to think for myself.
- Life would be misery without the ability to create.
- LLMs and generative AI systems function off the average, which means they will never create anything at the extremes of quality, insight, creativity, etc. that my readers deserve. This includes in drafting, brainstorming, editing, or any other stage.
- My readers are worth me making choices, not just passing those off to something else.
- Why would I ever want my stuff to be average?