story origins: the real-life inspiration that birthed the idea for Slumberhaven began at around 3:00am on her wedding night:

”all the world seemed to be asleep but me. i thought to myself it didn’t seem fair that only children get bedtime stories, because for some reason, it seemed that was exactly what i needed.

as a caregiver for my mother until her passing, my father currently on hospice, and 15 year old dog, i can barely recall a night where i was not jolted awake for an emergency, or didn’t lie awake with surmounting troublesome thoughts that kept me deliriously awake for hours. in the late hours of my wedding night while the world was sleeping soundly, I began drafting slumberhaven out of sheer necessity; my first-ever attempt at a short story like this.

the success of the story was proven magical when i finally fell asleep after writing the last paragraph, and again, when reading the story to my new husband and later to my father at his assisted living facility, both men each fell asleep respectively.

i knew at that moment i should continue to complete this book and many more helpful bedtime stories like it for others just like myself. my husband and i will listen to “sleep” podcasts once in a while, and i also enjoy soothing music. i’d never seen or heard of anything like a bedtime story for adults, so i knew my idea must be special enough to pursue.

my vision is to keep each book to around just 24 pages or so, and an even balance of text and illustrations. this way, it should only take about 10-15 minutes to read each story, which is apparently the appropriate amount of time to lay awake in bed.

another huge mission for me is making sure anyone can enjoy this story, no matter their disability. my father is nearly completely incapacitated. he cannot use his left hand at all, and while he may be able to hold a book in his right hand for a short while, his mind is slowing, drifting, and reading may be more difficult.

AUDIOBOOKS AND AI

because of my father’s severe disabilities and limitations, i have been headstrong in finding the best AI Voiceover tool in order to create my book so that even if people cannot hold a physical book, they can hold their tablet or just listen from their earbuds, phone, or tablet. it’s enough so that they can simply hear the words. when i finished the first draft of my book, i hadn’t found an AI Voiceover programs yet, so i read the book to my father myself. the power of the human voice is undeniable, and computers are getting very close to mimicking humans.

my love for technology and story-telling means i will be pursuing this mission for a long time to come. and will continue to help people find a way to unwind from their stressful days, clear their minds, and fill the air with calming thoughts.

my father, who is nearly non-verbal said of my story, “it’s fantastic.” this was all the motivation i needed to create stories for people like him, people like me, people in need.

CREATIVE PROCESS
from no dreams to dream to reality - a peek into my creative process that brought together storytelling, art, and technology in the creation of Slumberhaven.

my father taught me how to be a great writer; i often received A’s on my creative writing papers and english assignments. in corporate settings, i draft well-organized and ultra-detailed emails and correspondences.

also, his love of technology was nurtured within me, from computers to cameras, leading to my bachelor of fine arts and graphic design degree.

for the illustrations, i have combined my artistic drawing skills since i was 4 together with about 7 months of teaching myself generative art and joining many ai art communities. with each chapter of slumberhaven, i entered sections of my text as a prompt into MidJourney. i repeated this process over and over again until i was more than pleased with the beautiful illustrative styles. this process of developing and selecting the artwork i create in MidJourney falls under my other creative company called Hummingbird Imagined Art.

i already have many well-round works on my Hummingbird Imaged Art’s instagram account; painterly, satyrical, pop culture, couture fashion, fine art, portraits, of course dogs and cats, and many more images and so chose to connect the writing and digital art-making disciplines.

i made further edits to the chosen images using adobe photoshop and adobe lightroom. once finally satisfied with the written content and imagery respectively, i then designed the entire book from scratch using adobe indesign, dropping in my copy and illustrations.

my goal for slumberhaven and all my future books in the ‘bedtime stories for adults’ genre is to be able to offer them in as many styles of experiences as people may want them: audio, interactive with audio, and physical. also, i want to create a diverse selection of stories that people will be able to enjoy as a collection.

thank you for reading this far and joining me at the first step of my hopefully long, creative story-telling journey.

tiffany rachel
tiffanyrachelstories & hummingbirdimaginedart
monday, july 24th 2023