Edith Pilaf
@tjwest3.bsky.social
Queer Appalachian ex-pat writer who loves all things pop culture. My debut queer Appalachian rom-com, Country Road Romance, is available now.
Now seated for Wicked: For Good!
November 19, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Now seated for Wicked: For Good!
I'm serious, though. Do a search in any doc you're writing and find out how many of those sneaky "ly" words clutter up your prose, then take as many of them out as you can. You will be amazed at how much clearer and more powerful your prose becomes.
November 19, 2025 at 10:06 PM
I'm serious, though. Do a search in any doc you're writing and find out how many of those sneaky "ly" words clutter up your prose, then take as many of them out as you can. You will be amazed at how much clearer and more powerful your prose becomes.
Wow. It's amazing how removing "that" and adverbs--as much as possible, anyway--really cleans up your prose and strengthens your voice (and your characters).
Turns out craft really matters in this whole writing thing!
Turns out craft really matters in this whole writing thing!
November 19, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Wow. It's amazing how removing "that" and adverbs--as much as possible, anyway--really cleans up your prose and strengthens your voice (and your characters).
Turns out craft really matters in this whole writing thing!
Turns out craft really matters in this whole writing thing!
I am getting ready to see Wicked: For Good tonight and let me tell you, I am definitely not ready.
November 19, 2025 at 4:42 PM
I am getting ready to see Wicked: For Good tonight and let me tell you, I am definitely not ready.
Happy Tuesday, everyone! For today's edition of Omnivorous I reviewed the final two episodes of this season of The Witcher. Things get pretty grim, and I actually applaud the show for taking us into some darker, grittier territory. Can't wait for season 5!
open.substack.com/pub/omnivoro...
open.substack.com/pub/omnivoro...
TV Review: "The Witcher" (Season 4, Episodes 7-8)
The fourth season of the Netflix series comes to a devastating conclusion, as the various characters find themselves facing an uncertain future.
open.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Happy Tuesday, everyone! For today's edition of Omnivorous I reviewed the final two episodes of this season of The Witcher. Things get pretty grim, and I actually applaud the show for taking us into some darker, grittier territory. Can't wait for season 5!
open.substack.com/pub/omnivoro...
open.substack.com/pub/omnivoro...
Ugh. I hate how everyone always sees my home state as their natural resource piggy bank. Disgusting.
November 18, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Ugh. I hate how everyone always sees my home state as their natural resource piggy bank. Disgusting.
I'm very pleased with how clean this new manuscript is. The final revisions and edits are taking shape, and I'm on track to submit A Bond of Blood and Stone for preorders next Tuesday! It will be available on 12/16. Then it's on to the next project, another WV queer romance due out in April!
November 18, 2025 at 10:24 PM
I'm very pleased with how clean this new manuscript is. The final revisions and edits are taking shape, and I'm on track to submit A Bond of Blood and Stone for preorders next Tuesday! It will be available on 12/16. Then it's on to the next project, another WV queer romance due out in April!
Man, it is so empowering reading more Appalachian lit, both fiction and nonfiction. It feels like finally connecting with a part of myself I'd denied for so long. It feels like coming home at last.
November 18, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Man, it is so empowering reading more Appalachian lit, both fiction and nonfiction. It feels like finally connecting with a part of myself I'd denied for so long. It feels like coming home at last.
Happy Monday, everyone! For today's edition of Omnivorous I reviewed Hedda, Nia DaCosta's beautiful and tragic adaptation of Ibsen's play.
open.substack.com/pub/omnivoro...
open.substack.com/pub/omnivoro...
Film Review: "Hedda"
Tessa Thompson gives a beautiful, bitchy, and ultimately tragic performance in this queerly subversive adaptation of Ibsen's classic play.
open.substack.com
November 17, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Happy Monday, everyone! For today's edition of Omnivorous I reviewed Hedda, Nia DaCosta's beautiful and tragic adaptation of Ibsen's play.
open.substack.com/pub/omnivoro...
open.substack.com/pub/omnivoro...
Dear TJ of previous months, please stop using "that" so much.
All My Love,
Today's TJ
All My Love,
Today's TJ
November 17, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Dear TJ of previous months, please stop using "that" so much.
All My Love,
Today's TJ
All My Love,
Today's TJ
One of the things I really enjoy about growing as a writer is paying more attention to style and prose, finding weasel words and phrases that clutter the story and constrict my voice. I've still got a long way to go, but I feel much more confident than ever before.
November 17, 2025 at 9:53 PM
One of the things I really enjoy about growing as a writer is paying more attention to style and prose, finding weasel words and phrases that clutter the story and constrict my voice. I've still got a long way to go, but I feel much more confident than ever before.
I'm in the stage o editing where I'm just adding in a few grace notes to clarify some plot elements, as well as polishing the style (removing a lot of "thats" and adverbs). The story is so much stronger, the prose is tighter. I'm genuinely proud of this forthcoming romantasy!
November 17, 2025 at 5:33 PM
I'm in the stage o editing where I'm just adding in a few grace notes to clarify some plot elements, as well as polishing the style (removing a lot of "thats" and adverbs). The story is so much stronger, the prose is tighter. I'm genuinely proud of this forthcoming romantasy!
So what are we all working on today? I'm finishing up edits/revisions to A Bond of Blood and Stone, which I'm submitting for preorders next week. Almost to the finish line!
November 17, 2025 at 4:23 PM
So what are we all working on today? I'm finishing up edits/revisions to A Bond of Blood and Stone, which I'm submitting for preorders next week. Almost to the finish line!
So, my very good friend is kindly putting together a couple of maps for A Bond of Blood and Stone, and today was the first time that I saw the rough version. It's already amazing, and I can't wait to see the final version this week!
November 17, 2025 at 12:40 AM
So, my very good friend is kindly putting together a couple of maps for A Bond of Blood and Stone, and today was the first time that I saw the rough version. It's already amazing, and I can't wait to see the final version this week!
It's Swoony Sunday at Omnivorous, where I reviewed Catherine Doyle's The Dagger and the Flame, a quite gripping enemies-the-lovers romance that I couldn't put down.
open.substack.com/pub/omnivoro...
open.substack.com/pub/omnivoro...
Swoony Sunday Book Review: "The Dagger and the Flame"
Catherine Doyle's new romantasy makes for a gripping read, with characters you love and an enemies-to-lovers dynamic you can't resist.
open.substack.com
November 16, 2025 at 2:05 PM
It's Swoony Sunday at Omnivorous, where I reviewed Catherine Doyle's The Dagger and the Flame, a quite gripping enemies-the-lovers romance that I couldn't put down.
open.substack.com/pub/omnivoro...
open.substack.com/pub/omnivoro...
Looking more and more like my dad every day.
November 16, 2025 at 4:15 AM
Looking more and more like my dad every day.
The most surprising part of today's writer's conference, was when, during a poetry workshop, I actually volunteered to share something I wrote. I prefaced it by saying that I'm not a poet but, to my surprise, both the moderator (the great Ruth McQuade) and
November 15, 2025 at 11:21 PM
The most surprising part of today's writer's conference, was when, during a poetry workshop, I actually volunteered to share something I wrote. I prefaced it by saying that I'm not a poet but, to my surprise, both the moderator (the great Ruth McQuade) and
Baby’s first West Virginia Writers Conference!
November 15, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Baby’s first West Virginia Writers Conference!
Happy Saturday, everyone! For today's edition of Omnivorous I reviewed the third and fourth episodes of King & Conqueror, which I continue to find a really compelling, and very tragic, pierce of period storytelling.
November 15, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Happy Saturday, everyone! For today's edition of Omnivorous I reviewed the third and fourth episodes of King & Conqueror, which I continue to find a really compelling, and very tragic, pierce of period storytelling.
Happy Friday, everyone! For today's edition of Omnivorous I reviewed the fifth and sixth episodes of this season of The Witcher. IMO this season is quite good, and these two episodes in particular are exceptional.
open.substack.com/pub/omnivoro...
open.substack.com/pub/omnivoro...
TV Review: "The Witcher" (Season 4, Episodes 5-6)
The fourth season of the Netflix series delivers some strong drama while also heightening the stakes of the conflicts to come.
open.substack.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Happy Friday, everyone! For today's edition of Omnivorous I reviewed the fifth and sixth episodes of this season of The Witcher. IMO this season is quite good, and these two episodes in particular are exceptional.
open.substack.com/pub/omnivoro...
open.substack.com/pub/omnivoro...
I've now done a complete read-through of A Bond of Blood and Stone. A few edits a needed here and there, but we're close to the having it done and ready to put into production.
A couple of days' more work, and then it'll be submitted for preorders!
A couple of days' more work, and then it'll be submitted for preorders!
November 14, 2025 at 2:55 AM
I've now done a complete read-through of A Bond of Blood and Stone. A few edits a needed here and there, but we're close to the having it done and ready to put into production.
A couple of days' more work, and then it'll be submitted for preorders!
A couple of days' more work, and then it'll be submitted for preorders!
Reposted by Edith Pilaf
New byline!! Got to shout out some of the disabled movies worth watching for @letterboxd.social!!
letterboxd.com/journal/disa...
letterboxd.com/journal/disa...
Disability Visibility: a starter pack of twenty depictions of disability on film • Journal • A Letterboxd Magazine
With her book Popcorn Disabilities soon to hit shelves, author Kristen Lopez offers a starter pack of twenty films about disability—from the good (The Best Years of Our Lives) to the not-so-good (Rain...
letterboxd.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:25 PM
New byline!! Got to shout out some of the disabled movies worth watching for @letterboxd.social!!
letterboxd.com/journal/disa...
letterboxd.com/journal/disa...
No, I will not stop barraging you with pictures of my cat.
November 14, 2025 at 1:18 AM
No, I will not stop barraging you with pictures of my cat.
Happy Thursday, everyone! For today's edition of Omnivorous I reviewed the fourth and final season of Acapulco, which I found to be an absolute delight (even if some plot points felt a little rushed). I'm gonna miss this happy little gem of a show!
open.substack.com/pub/omnivoro...
open.substack.com/pub/omnivoro...
TV Review: "Acapulco" (Season 4)
The Apple TV series was a ray of light in some dark times, and the fourth and final season allows viewers to say goodbye to the characters that we love and to Las Colinas.
open.substack.com
November 13, 2025 at 11:51 PM
Happy Thursday, everyone! For today's edition of Omnivorous I reviewed the fourth and final season of Acapulco, which I found to be an absolute delight (even if some plot points felt a little rushed). I'm gonna miss this happy little gem of a show!
open.substack.com/pub/omnivoro...
open.substack.com/pub/omnivoro...