Living Chosen with Tabitha Caplinger: Stories

For The Girl Who Is Looking For True Love

Tabitha Caplinger — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 16:12:38 GMT

“My dear, true—I mean really true love—isn’t found in a confession or a kiss…it’s found in a choice.” - The Castle Rose

I love a good love story. I’m a sucker for a happily-ever-after. There’s always …

For The Girl Who Is Trying To Hope

Tabitha Caplinger — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 15:54:54 GMT

“Her people were people of big hearts, and yet, even as she feared she wasn’t enough, her heart had grown to fit the whole uncomfortable, painful, messy world.”

At some point, we all experience loss. …

For The Girl Who Is Guarding Her Heart

Tabitha Caplinger — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 15:58:37 GMT

So many stories begin with once: “Once upon a time…” or “Once there was a girl…”. Yet before there was a once, there was an always. Always has there been Lys. He is the oldest thing, the wisest thing…

For The Girl Who Is Discovering Her Purpose

Tabitha Caplinger — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 15:21:26 GMT

“You are powerful, chosen, loved, and never alone.” - TCO3 Trilogy

Early in my author journey, I wrestled with fitting storytelling into my life. I’ve always loved stories, but turning the inner worki…

TCO3: Bloodline Tenth Anniversary Celebration.

Tabitha Caplinger — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 18:07:31 GMT

My apologies for making you late for a very important date…or month-long bookaversary celebration, but since I just started Substack, it couldn’t be helped.

My last post mentioned that my debut novel…

A Book...Ten Years Later

Tabitha Caplinger — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 16:20:14 GMT

I was thirty before I started writing my first book. I wrestled with non-fiction versus fiction for a couple of years, which is all a story for another time. In the middle of my back-and-forth on wha…

Girls With Swords...or other various weapons.

Tabitha Caplinger — Sat, 11 Oct 2025 16:43:20 GMT

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I’ve published six books so far.

It began with a ragtag group of demonslayers in The Chronicle of the Three Trilogy, then there was a shieldmaiden raised by wolves in The Wolf Queen. The Wayward jumped into a cottagecore scifi dystopian future. My last book, The Castle Rose, was a fairytale retelling set in New Orleans. I’m working on another retelling, something a little Western, and I have an idea for a speculative meets historical blend. At any given point in time, I write the story that intrigues me, that tugs at my heart, and I never think too much about genre. Which is why I might be a little all over the place, but I’m okay with it.

From aliens to demons to dragons, there are threads and themes that tie my stories together.

There’s always a little bit of sass. I mean, it isn’t all TCO3 level, but it’s there. I like sass. I enjoy a little humor and sarcasm to break up the tension. (Trust me, in The Wayward you’re gonna need it.)

There’s always a battle between light and darkness. Sometimes it’s in your face. In The Wolf Queen, it’s quite literal. But sometimes it’s a little more under the surface. I think The Wayward will be this way. TCO3 and The Castle Rose are a nice mix of both.

There’s always someone who is chosen for a purpose. (Blame Buffy if you want.) I know it’s a trope. I know it’s cliché. I. Don’t. Care. I like the idea of being chosen. I think we are all chosen for a purpose, and sometimes reading about someone figuring this out is inspiring and can remind us to live like we are chosen.

There’s always a strong female lead who kicks butt and takes names...usually with a sword.

I’m never going to write a sweet little contemporary romance (sorry, mom). It’s not that I don’t enjoy them. I like a good Hallmark story as much as the next girl. But I think life is grittier. While some of us read to escape, and I even write some of the fantastical things that I do because I love getting lost in imagination and leaving reality behind for a little bit, life requires that we carry a sword. (Not a literal one, that could get you into trouble at airport security and grocery store checkout lines.)

I like the idea of a girl with a sword. I like a girl who isn’t perfect, who makes mistakes and is still learning. She can also be soft and silly, but she fights and fights hard for what she thinks is right.

The world has dragons to slay. The world has evil trying to destroy us. The world is sinister at times. We don’t need to fear it. And we won’t, if we know how to fight it.

So, my stories have girls with swords slicing through demons and dragons. My stories have girls who rise out of the ashes of pain and grief, and tell the darkness where it can stick it. My stories have girls who defend those who can’t defend themselves. My stories have girls who don’t give up when it gets hard or scary. My stories have girls with swords who look evil in the face and say, “You wanna go, let’s go...but know that at the end of this fight there will be blood, but it won’t be mine.”

My stories have girls like that because I want to be a girl like that. Who’s with me?

* Sometimes the girl has a gun or axe, but the thought process here still holds true. So, don’t @ me when you read other books and it’s not an actual sword. But saying weapon wasn’t as poetic. You get it, right?