🪦 Readers, Tombstones & Transformation
Your Vote, My Book & Where I've Been (Mentally)
The Readers Have Spoken, and I’m Writing My Heart Out
Hey there!
Thanks to everyone who answered my recent poll—your feedback was super helpful! Here’s what you said:
🗳️ 51% of you prefer these twice-monthly roundups (like this one!)
📬 31% want an email every time I post
🤷♀️ And 18% said you really don’t mind either way
So, here we are with your friendly mid-month roundup! Let’s dive in:
✍️ I’m Obsessed… with Around the World in 80 Graves
Since getting home, all I want to do is work on my new book. Around the World in 80 Graves: Travel, Tombstones & Transformation is shaping up to be something much deeper than I originally imagined.
At first, I thought it would just be a fun way to share the fascinating symbols and historic cemeteries I’ve visited around the world. (And I have seen a lot—from the northern tip of Europe to the southern edge of South America, and even some far-flung South Pacific islands. Still holding out on Antarctica—unless there’s a penguin cemetery I don’t know about?)
But the more I write, the more personal this book becomes. It’s not just about cemeteries. It’s about what they’ve given me: perspective, joy, lasting friendships… In some cases, cemeteries have saved my life. (Yes, literally!)
📚 Rewriting the Blurb (Again!)
You’d think that after cranking out 40 chapters for the first draft of my memoir Around the World in 80 Graves: Travel, Tombstones & Transformation, the back cover blurb would be easy. Nope!
As I wrote, the book took a much more personal turn than I expected. That’s why I added “transformation” to the subtitle. What started out as a fun travelogue about cemeteries and symbols has turned into something deeper.
Distilling all that into a few paragraphs? Grueling! Still, it’s getting closer and I’d love to know what you think. Here’s a sneak peek at my latest back cover blurb:
For author, traveler, and taphophile Tui Snider, cemeteries are more than final resting places: they're unexpected classrooms, confessionals, and catalysts for change. In this thoughtful and often laugh-out-loud memoir, Snider invites readers on a globe-trotting pilgrimage through burial grounds near and far, where grief meets growth, and meaning hides in plain sight.
From swallowing graveyard dirt during a midnight evacuation to narrowly escaping a foiled kidnapping attempt, from discovering long-lost family connections to decoding ancient symbolism and forging lifelong friendships among the tombstones, Around the World in 80 Graves reveals how cemeteries can crack us open, challenge our assumptions, and ultimately transform how we live.
Spanning Italy to Egypt, England to the South Pacific, and even the northernmost reaches of Europe, Tui shares a journey that is as much inward as it is outward with heart, humor, and a deep reverence for the dead.
Whether you're a seasoned taphophile or simply curious looking for armchair travel, this memoir invites you to see cemeteries in a whole new light: as places of beauty, reflection, connection — even adventure.
Does this make you want to read it? Should I use the word “taphophile” or is it too hoity-toity? Does “midnight evacuation” sound like I pooped my pants? Would “emergency evacuation” be better? I’d love your thoughts before I commit it to the back cover forever. 😉
🖼️ Here’s a rought draft book cover:
Does it look like something you'd pick up? I’d love your feedback!
💌 Want an Advance Review Copy?
I hope to have ARCs ready by mid-to-late June. If you’d like one (or have questions), just hit reply and get on the list!
🇮🇹 Come Cemetery-Hopping in Italy with Me!
Have you ever dreamed of wandering Italian cemeteries with someone who can decode all that mysterious headstone symbolism? Well, guess what? I’m your gal!
I’m thrilled to be the symbolism guide for a cemetery-themed tour based in Rome this fall. We’ll explore:
🪦 Ancient Etruscan tombs
🕯️ Mysterious catacombs
🎨 Monumental cemeteries filled with breathtaking art and architecture
🗓️ The tour kicks off October 31st—yes, Halloween!—and is led by the brilliant Lisa Statkus.
🌍 Space is limited, so if this sounds like your kind of adventure, take a peek here:
👉 Click here for tour details & how to join us!
Thanks for being part of this community. Whether you read every post or just stop by now and then, I appreciate you—and I can’t wait to share more in the coming weeks.
Until next time, stay curious and cemetery-smitten 💀🖤
—Tui
P.S. Any thoughts about the cover or back cover blurb? Curious what a one-legged tightrope walker with a stove on his back has to do with cemetery research? Hit reply and let’s chat.