Fiction is Learning Through Imagination: An Exploration of Grief
The Forged Series: Themes & Tropes
To learn more about the FORGED series, visit the Table of Contents.
Learn through imagination
Have you heard this one?
Non-Fiction is learning through information.
Fiction is learning through imagination.
I really like how this highlights the importance of reading both. Non-fiction is for knowledge gathering, whereas fiction is a safe space to learn through the lens of someone else’s story. And good fiction stories touch on your experiences in a way that allows you to feel the characters' struggles and emotional journeys, even if you have never lived the events within the story.
Safe ways to grieve
An emotion that every age group experiences is grief. As small children, you may remember when your [insert pet here] crossed the rainbow bridge (or was flushed down the toilet). Maybe you’ve experienced the death of a grandparent or someone else close to you. Maybe it was long and drawn out, or they were taken before their time. An accident, an illness, or a battle with mental health that they lost. The more tragic or senseless the ending of a loved one’s life, the more those remaining are left with questions of what they could’ve done differently.
Grief can also be caused by the loss of a “time” or “place”—the loss of innocence, transition out of childhood to the brutal realities of adulthood, or the shift to empty-nesting. (Personal experience from the last example…)
Whether a person is mourning the passage of time or the death of a loved one, grief causes physiological responses: Fatigue, changes in sleep or appetite, increased susceptibility to illness, headaches, muscle tension and aches, or gastrointestinal issues, increased blood pressure, and more.
Have you ever experienced physical sensations like tightness in your chest or throat, dizziness, or numbness after a tragedy? That was grief, physically affecting you.
Tessa’s Grief
In the opening scenes of Shattered, Tessa is learning to live with grief. Her family was killed in a horrific accident—one she witnessed. She not only loses her mother, father, and little sister but also must move from the Wilds to the urban center to live with her only remaining family, an aunt and uncle she has not visited for over five years. Taken from her sheltered existence, she is grieving for her family and for her way of life.
And she finds it overwhelming, especially at first.
Persistent images swirled in my mind. They swelled like a flash flood and cascaded over the riverbanks to engulf me, inundate me, drown me with their intensity.
Excerpt from Shattered, book one of the FORGED Series, published by Provender Press, 2025.
When Tessa ‘told’ me her story, I transcribed her thoughts and emotions, capturing her anguish through words so that others may recognize similar feelings they’ve experienced.
This post is public, so feel free to share it. (Someone in your community might be interested too!)
The journey is not a straight line
Anyone who has lived with grief will attest that the journey is not a straight line. You have moments of joy followed by crushing sadness. Some triggers you recognize and can brace for their impact. Others will hit you without warning.
One evening early in the story, Tessa and her Aunt Clari take a picnic dinner to a local park. They enjoy each other’s company, bantering and laughing until Tessa has a sudden realization: she is laughing, but her little sister will never laugh again. Her aunt notices her shift in demeanor and comforts her.
Tessa remembers the advice of her therapist, Dr. Weaver, equating the grieving process to a personal maelstrom of feelings—shock, anger, sadness, and guilt.
Like a real-life whirlpool, Dr. Weaver told me I would need to use strong strokes—have faith and confidence—to overcome and power through the emotions. She told me to move with their flow and to find the edges of the grief or even duck down into the roiling emotions to find a calmer, more stable mindset.
I dug deep. I let Clari’s gentle words be my life vest as I searched for the courage and resolve to accept the path unfolding before me as the correct one for me.
Excerpt from Shattered, book one of the FORGED Series, published by Provender Press, 2025.
Support System
Tessa is fortunate to have a support system to help her navigate the difficult times. In the story, we find out how her mentors have also experienced loss. We see through the stories they share and Tessa’s memories how both her aunt and her Creative Writing teacher, Mx. Philon, are well acquainted with the bombardment of emotions from heartbreak.
The story attempts to normalize therapy sessions, talking with ‘safe’ adults, and not bottling up emotions. Tessa models her coping methods by talking, journaling, and doing activities that allow the brain to wander.
It’s okay to need help. Not everyone has a built-in support system, but if you need help dealing with depression, grief, or thoughts of self-harm, let someone know. Seek help—call a loved one, a friend, a hotline. Just call for help.
Readers can explore the grieving process through Tessa’s journey. For young adult readers, Shattered is a safe space to experience one way to handle the emotions they may feel when grief touches their lives. And though their journey may look different, I hope that seeing Tessa’s play out on the page will give them the confidence to seek help and dig under the turmoil roiling through their personal maelstrom.
What I’m reading
Here are some other dystopian and Sci-Fi fiction pieces available on Substack that you might enjoy. Plus, some thought-provoking pieces.
Mars Sample Return 2 - Larry Hogue has started a new serial, and the tension is building! This is a speculative tale based on the history of the Viking Lander experiments on Mars. Happenings that seem routine and mundane are going to change the course of the protagonist’s life!
I turned a year older and so did my story - Happy (belated, now) birthday to Claudia Befu. In this non-fiction piece, we get a peek behind the genesis of her world-building for There is Hope. Again, the simple moments can be transformative! (I see a theme here…)
Put on your space suits and buckle up… - In this update from author Olivia McCarthy, see talks about an upcoming ARC for book two of her Reach for the Stars series. If you haven’t yet read book one, Reach, pick up a copy from your local bookstore or online retailer.
Darkly - Episode #4 - The near-future serial about the FBI hunt for a killer. Sci-Fi, Fantasy, mystery (and a touch of romance?)! Has Kinley dug herself a hole too deep to get out? Or will her initiative be what cracks the case?
The Poet - Todd Webb’s daily comic strip is one of those guilty pleasures for me. An instant hit of humor and wit. This one was especially apropos, given this week’s topic.
Before you go
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News and Questions
The eBook has been delayed due to a processing backlog. It’s coming! I promise. The date set on the online retailer is way out to ensure we don’t miss it (and get penalized by the mega-conglomerate retailer). Keep watching. Your pre-ordered eBook will deliver as soon as it’s available!
Also available: The Midnight Vault, an anthology containing 29 short stories from some of your favorite writers on Substack. It includes The Sun and the Moon, a prequel set 33 years before the opening of Shattered. Pick up a copy here and support all the authors in the anthology!
We helped our pup, Izzi, over the rainbow bridge about 8 months ago. I still open the front door and expect to see her there. Do you have a dog we can borrow for a day? A walk? A visit? You can come over, too.
My hubby, my mom, and a handful of friends from different parts of my life (depending on the topic) are all my go-to peeps when I need to talk about something. They give me straight-up answers, tell me when I’m being overly [insert current mood], and are my biggest cheerleaders. Who is in your support system?
Thank you for your reflections on grief.
My thirties have been one long farewell tour to my invincible twenty something delusions 😅.
And the physicality of grief! Last year, stress from a family loss gave me such intense neck pain I could’ve sworn I’d been in a car crash. Bodies are inconveniently honest.
Happy Thursday :)
Thanks for the shoutout!