Tiffany Graham Charkosky
Author Interview - Tiffany Graham Charkosky
Author of Living Proof: How Love Defied Genetic Legacy
Tiffany Graham Charkosky was eleven years old when her mother, Julie, died. Eighteen years later, she discovers that the genetic mutation that took her mother has been passed down to Tiffany herself. But with this devastating news, Tiffany finds a certain strength in hope, resilience, and knowledge. She will fight for her family’s future.
In this intimate memoir, Tiffany shares her challenging journey forward, mapping out a plan for preventative screenings, genetic testing, and surgeries, as well as a reflective journey into the past as traumatic memories of her mother’s illness and death resurface. Memories, too, of an indomitable love that informed Tiffany’s adolescence, and her own motherhood, and would give Tiffany an optimistic understanding of just how precious even the smallest moments in life can be.
Now, thriving years beyond the age that claimed her mother, Tiffany embraces each day with fierce intention―her path illuminated by vigilant self-care, deep gratitude, and a family bond that proves the human spirit can transcend its darkest fears.
Author Interview - Tiffany Graham Charkosky
Author I draw inspiration from:
Wow, there's so many! I love authors who write both fiction and nonfiction such as Amy Bloom, Dani Shapiro, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Courtney Maum. In Love by Amy Bloom slayed me. I finished it on the bus on my way to the library where I work and you'd think that wiping away tears in public would be a bad way to start the day, but in fact it made my heart so full to read something so emotionally consuming.
Author Interview - Tiffany Graham Charkosky | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
I read in as many places as I can -- in the car while I'm waiting for my kids' baseball practice to be over, listening to audiobooks when I'm walking my dogs or commuting. But my cozy spot is on an old, oversized armchair in my sun rooom with my head on one arm and my legs draped over the other.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
Suleika Jaouad isn't a character in the traditional sense, but she's a writer and the main character in her own books, both Between Two Kingdoms and The Book of Alchemy. She blows me away with her creativity and how she has used it to carry herself through the darkest times. I imagine if we were stuck in an elevator together we'd cook up some type of creative project to work on together and I think that would be a perfect outcome of this claustrophobic situation!
Author Interview - Tiffany Graham Charkosky | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
This is a two-part answer. I first felt the flutter in my chest about being a writer when I was a teenager and I applied to attend a creative writing camp. I attended the creative writing camp and I even majored in creative writing in college, but I didn't trust myself to be able to make a living doing that work. I also needed health insurance and other practical things so writing was a thing I returned to again and again over the years, but not as a serious pursuit. I decided to try writing a book when I couldn't find anything that spoke to me as I was going through genetic testing. That process really shook me up and I'm a reader. I like reading about anything I'm doing or going through and having such miminal reading materials made me feel even worse, like it was shameful somehow to be born into a body that didn't work right. But so many of us have bodies that don't work right and we learn to adapt, either physically or mentally to keep going. So, I tried to become an author when this story about testing and the medical journey I went on felt like it could help other people who were going through something similar.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
Hardback books feel weighty and important. I love how they have so many pieces of design to them -- the cover that wraps around the binding itself, a texture on the hard cover, the inner flaps. I don't like how much room they take up in a bag though! These are books you must own and intend to keep at home for the long haul! Paperback books have that wonderful feeling to the cover -- I love a nice, matte cover that's almost soft. They feel like something you can carry around or lend to friends and they make the best gifts. I'm not a huge e-book reader because I'm a total sucker for the smell and texture of paper, but I love how you can carry so many books with you at a time in an e-reader, so they're perfect for traveling with or reading several books at once. I was late to the audiobook game, thinking that reading was superior to listening for consuming books. But I'm a complete convert -- audiobooks are amazing for listening to when doing housework, walking dogs, commuting, etc. They've allowed me to read so many more books than sitting down to read alone.
The last book I read:
I just finished two books. The first is No One Gets to Fall Apart by Sarah LaBrie, which is about her discovery that her mother has schizophrenia and how she both learned to live with this knowledge and how it reshaped her understanding of her childhood. Sarah's writing is stunning and her cultural observations are so sharp. Being a writer myself I think I'm always looking to be blown away by both story and craft and Sarah's book did that for me. I also just finished Twyla Tharp's book The Creative Habit, which is all about the routines people make to build creativity into their lives. It was just the book I needed as I shift from editing my memoir to new writing projects.
Author Interview - Tiffany Graham Charkosky | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
I set my alarm every day at 5:30am and I make coffee. Then, I sit at my dining room table and I write until 7am when my family wakes up and my attention shifts from the page to the immediate needs of the humans and animals I love. I usually write on my laptop, but I keep notebooks for each of my projects. I always have a few different writing projects going on at the same time, so when I'm feeling tired or stuck with one project, I can shift to another one. When the writing isn't going well or I'm feeling stuck, I can write in my notebook about what's going on, or try to experiment with a scene or some new plot points. I also love writing for fun - I've never published a poem in my life and I don't know if I ever will, but I have fun writing them, so it's nice to remind myself that writing is an escape I choose and all of the challenges I face in it are created by me and me alone. It's the process of writing and showing up for my creative self every day that I love the most. It's also amazing what can be created with small amounts of dedicated effort over long periods of time. I also have an amazing writing group that I created with a friend about two years ago. We meet once a month and having that space to support each other's writing goals and processes is a big piece of my writing life too. It's the best to have friends who get nerdy about the same things you do!
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery. Aside from her being an 11-year old red-headed orphan who I way over-relate to, being a red-head who lost my mom when I was 11, I love Anne's optimism and joyful spirit. I feel like we would understand each other's losses and appreciate the way neither of us take any days for granted. I think we both get that we have one life and while we can carry sadness around with us, we'd rather find the good in ourselves and those around us and build our inner and outer worlds to reflect that.
Author Interview - Tiffany Graham Charkosky | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
I'm still working in my non-author career, which I happen to love very much. I work with visual and performing artists to bring their projects to public spaces. Currently, I do that for the Cleveland Public Library as their director of arts and culture. Previously, I worked for a nonprofit that commissioned public artists throughout Cleveland, Ohio. I love this work because I'm surrounded by creative people all day long. I think it helped me with the creation of Living Proof because I see how artists take ideas and turn them into tangible objects or performances. Writers do the same thing with words. There's so many stories in all of us and being able to transform nothing into something is such an incredible thing for me to witness year after year. I'm also never short on inspiration, since I'm surrounded by creative people doing amazing things every day.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
I grew up in the 90s, so I'm always going to have a soft spot in my heart for the fashion in Reality Bites, Before Sunrise, My So-Called Life, Singles, etc. I guess I'll always be a bit of a grunge girl at heart.
Place I’d most like to travel:
New Zealand. I live in Ohio and I love the thought of traveling across the world to an island full of mountains surrounded by ocean.
My signature drink:
Coffee with cream. Start every day with it!
Favorite artist:
I love the live music experience and the best concert I've been to was Brandi Carlile. I could listen to her sing all day every day.
Number one on my bucket list:
It had been writing a book for a long time. Now that I've done that, I'm going to go with getting the chance to write another one.
Anything else you'd like to add:
These are great questions! Thank you for the opportunity to share with you!
Find more from the author:
Instagram: @tiffanygrahamcharkosky
About Tiffany Graham Charkosky:
For over twenty years, Tiffany Graham Charkosky has worked at the intersection of arts and urban planning. She has helped hundreds of artists across mediums implement projects in public spaces throughout Cleveland, Ohio, first at LAND studio and most recently as Director of Arts & Culture for Cleveland Public Library.
Throughout her career in arts administration, she's maintained an active writing practice. Her creative work explores the dynamics at work within human relationships and has been featured in Gordon Square Review, MUTHA Magazine, South Dakota Review, and Avalon Literary Review. Her essay Year of the Rat was the Ohio Prose Contest winner in 2022.
Tiffany studied English and creative writing at Kenyon College and holds a masters degree in urban planning, design, and development from Cleveland State University.
She lives with her husband, two sons, and two dogs in Northeast Ohio. She spends early mornings writing and weekends cheering for her sons on various sports fields across Ohio.
LIVING PROOF: How Love Defied Genetic Legacy is Tiffany's debut. She is currently working on a novel.
