Melissa Tyndall

Connect What inspired your most recent tattoo?

My best friend and I got matching bats for Friday the 13th, but what I’ve been dreaming of recently is something to represent the book I just finished writing and submitted to my literary agent—a dark, fairytale retelling. Hopefully, that will be the start of my sleeve and be as big a part of me as the story I’m so obsessed with.

If your ink could speak, what would it say?

This woman loves the beauty that lives in darkness, and like in her books, her ink is a narrative. It represents her family history (the Chinese nickname from her great-grandfather), the cat she loved for 14 years before he died of cancer, her connection to nighttime, and lines from literature that haunt her. And there's still so much story to tell.

What would you do with the $25,000?

I’d keep renovating my 80s house, which is challenging with a full-time job, a side writing career, two kids, two cats, and a dog. We’re updating the millennial blue that was here when we bought it and gradually incorporating more Victorian vibes with wild wallpaper and spooky gallery walls. I’d love to speed that process up so it’s decorated like me. :)