Jess Bardin

YA Fantasy Author

Where Words Take Flight

Ever wondered where the word ‘Jedi’ comes from? 🌠

George Lucas pulled it from the Japanese word ‘jidaigeki’ (時代劇) — which literally means “period drama.” These were films about wandering samurai, strict honor codes, and moral struggles.

Lucas was hugely inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s samurai films, so when he needed a name for his space monks with laser swords, Jedi was born. ⚔️✨

It’s a great example of how borrowing from another language can instantly give a made-up word depth, history, and resonance. The Jedi feel timeless because the word itself echoes a storytelling tradition that already is.

✨ Your turn: What’s a fantasy or sci-fi word you love the sound of?

#StarWars #Jedi #Linguistics #LanguageNerd #Worldbuilding #StorytellingMagic #JessBardin #YACommunity #WordsAreCool #FantasyBooks

Fun fact about Canada:
Canadians eat more boxed mac & cheese per person than any other country in the world.

Kraft Dinner (aka “KD”) is practically a national dish — it’s so iconic that in the 1990s, Canada accounted for nearly 1 in 4 boxes sold worldwide.

It’s warm, it’s nostalgic, it’s quick… and it’s definitely part of Canadian cultural identity.

✨ Be honest: are you team “fancy mac” with breadcrumbs and cheese pulls, or team “blue box classic”?

#CanadaFacts #CulturalQuirks #FunFactsFriday #DidYouKnow #FoodHistory

Today’s delightfully odd English word: natiform.

It comes from the Latin natis (buttock) + -form (shape), and it literally means buttock-shaped. 🍑

You could describe a mountain, a fruit, or even an oddly-shaped cloud as natiform. Just… maybe don’t use it as a compliment. 😅

✨ What’s the funniest natiform object you’ve ever seen?

#WordNerd #ObscureWords #Linguistics #FunWords #Etymology #LanguageLover #English #LearnEnglish

In Japanese, there’s a word: ibasho (居場所).

It doesn’t translate neatly into English, but it means a place where you feel at home, where you belong, where you can just be yourself.

An ibasho isn’t always a physical location — sometimes it’s with certain people, sometimes it’s a quiet mental space, sometimes it’s a cozy spot on the couch with a book and a cup of tea. ☕📖

It’s such a beautiful reminder that “home” isn’t always about geography. Sometimes it’s about presence.

✨ What’s your ibasho?

#UntranslatableWords #LanguageLover #WordNerd #DidYouKnow #Linguistics #Japanese #LearnJapanese

Fun fact: New Zealand is one of the very few countries in the world with no native snake species. None. Zero. Zilch. 🐍🚫

That means you can wander through forests, fields, and beaches without worrying about something slithering across your path. (Sorry, Australia — your neighbor can’t relate. 😅)

And while you won’t find snakes, you will find plenty of sheep… actually, way more sheep than people. 🐑

#NewZealand #TravelFacts #NoSnakesHere #DidYouKnow #NatureNerd #FunFactsFriday

💡 Octopuses have three hearts.
Two pump blood to the gills, and one pumps it to the rest of the body.
And get this—when they swim, the main heart actually stops beating.
Just one more reason they’re basically aliens of the sea.

#FunFact #OctopusFacts #WeirdNature #DidYouKnow #ScienceIsCool

📍 Fun Fact: New Zealand Edition
🐑 There are more sheep than people in New Zealand.
A lot more.
As of recent counts, there are around 5 sheep for every 1 person in the country.

#NewZealandFacts #TravelTrivia #SheepCountry #NZAdventures

✍️What made you start writing?

For me, it wasn’t that I wanted to write a book—it felt like I had to.
The story was already alive in my head. I just started writing it down.

Was it a dream you couldn’t shake?
A character who wouldn’t leave you alone?
A world you needed to explore?

Tell me what sparked your writing journey 💬👇
#AmWriting #WritingLife #Storytellers #WhyWeWrite #Writers

✨ Writing Tip Tuesday:
Give your villain a soft spot. A cat. A niece. A hobby.
Even the darkest characters are more compelling with a sliver of humanity.
#WritingTips #CharacterDevelopment #WritersLife

Where’s your favorite place to read?

📖 A sun-drenched window seat?
🌳 Under a tree in the park?
🛁 The bath, with bubbles and snacks?
🛋️ Curled up on the couch with a blanket?

Tell me where your book takes you and where you take your book. 💬👇
#BookLovers #ReaderLife #TBR

Iktsuarpok (Inuit):
That feeling of anticipation that makes you keep checking outside to see if someone’s coming.

Waiting for friends… the delivery person… maybe that book you impulse-ordered at midnight?
You’ve felt iktsuarpok—and it’s strangely comforting to know there’s a word for it.

#WordNerd #WordCuriosity

Word of the Day: Petrichor (English, coined in the 1960s)
Meaning: The earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil.
A smell that says “cozy reading weather.” It's also part of the psychic password to open the TARDIS' backup control room in Doctor Who.
#WordNerd #RainyDayReads #DoctorWho #TARDIS

Tsundoku 積ん読 (Japanese)

Meaning: The act of acquiring books and letting them pile up unread.

I prefer to call it “future reading.”
(And no, I'm not judging.)

#Tsundoku #BookAddict #Relatable #WordNerd #TsundokuLife

"The road to wisdom? Well, it’s plain and simple to express: Err and err and err again but less and less and less."
~ Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

Sometimes the journey to wisdom isn’t a straight line. It’s about making mistakes, learning from them, and slowly finding our way. We all fall down. What matters is getting back up—and doing it a little better each time.

What’s one lesson you’ve learned through trial and error?

#TerryPratchett #WordsOfWisdom #Growth #LifeLessons #DiscWorld #TheShepherdsCrown

Word of the Day: Fernweh (German)
Meaning: A deep longing for faraway places. The opposite of homesickness.
#WanderlustWords #WordLove #WordOfTheDay

Fun Fact:
The longest novel ever written is In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust — clocking in at over 1.2 million words.
That’s… a lot of tea breaks.
#BookTrivia #FunFactsForReaders

⚔️ "I am a Jedi, like my father before me." – Luke Skywalker

Revenge of the Fifth! The dark side might have its allure, but there’s something to be said about the power of redemption, growth, and the force within.

Whether you’re embracing your inner Sith or basking in the light of the Jedi, today is for all those who have ever had an epic lightsaber duel, and lived to tell the tale.

🌌 Are you Team Jedi or Team Sith? Let the Revenge of the Fifth begin!

#RevengeOfTheFifth #StarWarsVibes #TheForceAwakens #Sith #Jedi #StarWars

💫 "In my experience, there is no such thing as luck." ~ Obi-Wan Kenobi

Happy Star Wars Day! Whether you’re on the light side, the dark side, or just here for the lightsabers, today’s the perfect day to revisit a galaxy far, far away...

📖 What’s your favorite Star Wars book, film, or character?

May the Fourth be with you — always.

#MayTheFourthBeWithYou #StarWarsDay #StarWars #HappyStarWarsDay

✨ Word of the Day: Ibasho (居場所)
In Japanese, ibasho means "a place where you feel at home" — not just physically, but emotionally.

It's the feeling of sitting with a good book, surrounded by people (or even quiet) that accepts you exactly as you are.

Everyone deserves an ibasho.

What's your ibasho — your place of belonging? 📚☕🌸

#WordLover #LanguageLover #JapaneseWords #Ibasho #CozyVibes #Belonging

"Humans need fantasy to be human. To be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape."
~Terry Pratchett, Hogfather

#TerryPratchett #Hogfather #Fantasy #Fiction #FantasyBooks

Word of the Day: Peregrinate (v.)
To travel or wander from place to place.
Because sometimes, 'wanderlust' just isn't fancy enough. 😉

Team Paper 📚 or Team E-Reader 📱?
There’s something magical about turning real pages… but I’ll never say no to carrying a whole library in my bag!
Which one do you reach for first?

Books are proof that humans can work magic with words. ✨ What's a book you wish you could read again for the first time?

#Books #Reading #Reread #Rereading #ReadingChallenge

I've been a huge fan of #LordOfTheRings since I was a kid - I read the books for the first time when I was ten and reread them every few years. I love the films as well - anything that immerses me in #Tolkien's #MiddleEarth makes me happy. So it was that when I went to #NewZealand, high on my list of must-sees was practically every #LOTR #FilmLocation, including #Matamata, where they've left the set of Hobbiton available for tours. It was amazing to get to not just see the Shire brought to life but to actually set foot in it, to leave the modern world behind for a short while and get a drink at the #PrancingPony.

#NewZealandTravel #Travel

I just finished reading a #SherlockHolmes-related book for #BookClub this month and I couldn't help but be reminded of the trip my now-husband and I took to #England. I dragged the poor man across the entirety of #London, looking for film locations and literary hotspots, including the #SherlockHolmesMuseum, appropriately located at #221BBakerStreet. If you get a chance to visit London and you're any kind of #BookNerd or #MysteryBook aficionado, you should give it a go.

#LondonTravel #Travel #EnglandTravel #BritainTravel

I generally really like books in which the main character is a librarian and @sarahbethdurst's #TheSpellShop was no exception. I wasn't super fond of Kiela at first, as she did have a tendency to be a bit rude to people who were just trying to help, even beyond what I thought reasonable to protect the rather big secret that she was carrying. Sometimes, my favourite characters are the ones that I start out not liking as much and then I learn to love them as they grow and this was what happened with Kiela. Character growth ends up being more important to me than a character just already being someone I like. I also enjoyed how Kiela may have taken magic books, but she wasn't a magician. She had to figure everything out as she went and did so at risk to herself to help people who needed it. A far cry from the loner librarian who just wanted to be by herself with her books. I can't wait for its sequel, #TheEnchantedGreenhouse, which is about the librarian who created Caz, the sentient plant.

#CozyFantasy #Fantasy #Bookstagram

Another #CozyFantasy book for me. This one is unusual in that it takes place in our normal world and the main character has to learn to accept that magic exists at all. At first, he's sceptical about the fact that his employer claims to be a wizard, and doesn't believe in the fairies and brownies that tend to the house, both inside and out. At the same time, it also seems cosier, almost, than a lot of other cosy fantasy books in that the stakes are really very low. There's no saving the world that's needed. Instead, it's just one person and the villain is a slightly greedy relative rather than anyone truly evil. This was a fun read, even if it maybe spent a little bit TOO much time on how to set up a computer in a big old mansion.

#TheWizardsButler #Bookstagram #FantasyBooks #Wizards #Magic

I really enjoyed the Phoenix Keeper. It was very different from anything else I'd ever read and I very much liked the zoo setting. @authorsamaclean did a fantastic job making the whole setting seem both magical and realistic at the same time and really got me to love all of the different magical animals through the main character's love of them. I definitely recommend reading this one if you enjoy cosy fantasy but are also looking for something a bit different from other books in that genre. Plus there are mischievous birds, a #PrideAndPrejudice-esque realising that you completely misunderstood somebody, and a bit of an adventure at the end. Plenty to love!

#CozyFantasy #Bookstagram #ThePhoenixKeeper #Books #FantasyBooks #Fantasy #Zoo #WildlifeConservation

As a writer, I found this to be brilliant advice from @therealmargaretatwood. It's hard not to try to be perfect and to wait to show my work to anyone until it's 'ready' but if I do that, I'll never achieve my goal of becoming published because perfection is impossible. That doesn't mean I shouldn't strive to be a better writer and improve my work with editing, but waiting until I've met an impossible goal will only mean I'll never be done. Besides, the only way to get better at writing is to just write. #WritingTips #WritingAdvice #Writer #Writing

#WilliamShakespeare is already important to #EnglishLiterature, but he apparently also had a huge impact on the #EnglishLanguage as well. More than 2,000 new words entered into English through his plays and poems. My name included! The first known usage of the name #Jessica is in #TheMerchantOfVenice. Shylock's daughter is named Jessica. So I have #Shakespeare to thank for my name, which I think is rather cool.

Happy Valentine's Day!

In Western countries, #ValentinesDay is usually a day on which couples exchange gifts, chocolates, flowers, etc. Both partners give and receive or they do something special together to celebrate the day. But that's not the case everywhere in the world.

In Japan and Korea, for example, #February14th is a day on which women give chocolate to men. In #Japan, there are three different types of #ValentinesDayChocolate:
-Giri-choco (義理チョコ) – “obligation chocolate” given to coworkers, bosses, or male friends.
-Honmei-choco (本命チョコ) – “true love chocolate” given to romantic partners or crushes.
-Tomo-choco (友チョコ) – “friend chocolate” exchanged between friends, often among women.

One month later, on #WhiteDay (March 14th), men return the favor by giving gifts—often white chocolates, cookies, or even jewelry—to the women who gave them chocolates.

#Korea then takes it a step further with an unofficial holiday called #BlackDay on April 14th. This is their version of #SinglesAwarenessDay – those who didn’t receive chocolates or gifts on the previous holidays gather to eat jjajangmyeon (짜장면), a black bean noodle dish, to “mourn” their singleness.

But at its core, Valentine’s Day—no matter how it’s celebrated—is about love, appreciation, and connection. And that love isn’t limited to just heterosexual relationships. While these traditional Valentine’s Day customs were designed with straight couples in mind, acceptance of diverse relationships is growing, particularly among younger generations, and the holiday’s commercial aspects are starting to be more inclusive.

Regardless, anyone can celebrate the holiday in whatever way works for them, whether that's following traditional customs to the best of their ability or doing something completely new. The point should be to celebrate your love your way, no matter what traditions say we ought to do. #LoveIsLove #HappyValentinesDay #CelebrateLove

호랑이 담배 피우던 시절 translates to 'the days when the tigers smoked' and is often used to either mean a long time ago or to introduce fairy tales or stories, similar to our own 'once upon a time'. This saying is believed to come from when cigarettes were first introduced to Korea in the 17th century. Everyone smoked: adults and children both. But as Korea became more Neo-Confucian, smoking began to be restricted more for the upper classes and people would look back and remember the old days, back when 'even the tigers' smoked as an idealised period of time. It's unknown if this is actually true, of course, but it's interesting regardless. #Korea #KoreaMythology #Korean #KoreanLanguage #learnkorean

‘Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.’ ~Frederick Douglass

February is #BlackHistoryMonth2025 and it's important now more than ever to listen, read, and educate ourselves about the stories that have shaped not only Black history but also our shared history. One way to keep growing in our understanding, allyship, and commitment to equality is to read #OwnVoicesBooks—works, both fiction and non-fiction, by Black authors whose stories reflect their lived experiences.

#ReadingBlackAuthors is a powerful way to learn about the Black experience and how we can all contribute to a more just and equitable world—without placing the emotional labor and the burden of such education on Black individuals. Asking others to teach us about their experiences can be exhausting, but reading their stories allows us to do the work ourselves. As a bonus, it also helps support those authors and their work.

Of course, we shouldn't stop reading and learning once February is over. Learning to be a better ally and a better person is a life-long endeavour that we should strive for all year round.

📚 What are some of your favorite books by Black authors? Let me know your recommendations in the comments—I’m always looking for new books to add to my #TBRList.

#BlackHistoryMonth #ReadBlackAuthors #AmplifyBlackVoices #TBRPile

Another #FunWord in #English: absquatulate. To absquatulate essentially means to get up and leave quickly. This one is fun to me less because of its meaning and more because of the way it sounds when I say it. #FunEnglishWords #FunWordsinEnglish #EnglishVocabulary #LearnEnglish

If you've not read @kevinkwanbooks's #CrazyRichAsians series, which predominately takes place in #Singapore, you ought to. I found them to be a fun read and it was from the film adaptation of the first book that I learnt that Singapore's #ChangiAirport has a butterfly garden. I got to go to Singapore last year with my best friend and did actually stop by. There weren't a ton of butterflies out at the time, but I did manage to see a few before I had to go catch my flight to #Tokyo. #Japan #Asia #Travel

“Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua.”—This Māori whakataukī, or proverb, translates to "I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on the past." in English and is a reminder to look to our past as we move forward together. It's especially appropriate today, #WaitangiDay2025.

#WaitangiDay is a day of reflection and significance for all New Zealanders, particularly Māori. It marks the signing of the #TreatyOfWaitangi in 1840, a document that was meant to establish a relationship between Māori chiefs and the British Crown. Today, Te Rā o Waitangi serves as a reminder of both the progress made and the challenges that remain, as Māori continue to seek redress for breaches of the Treaty and ongoing #MāoriRightsInequality.

Though I was fortunate to visit the #WaitangiTreatyGrounds a few years ago, I have learned that for many, especially Māori, Waitangi Day is a time to reflect on both the treaty’s impact and the path forward. There is much to celebrate, but also much work to be done for true equity and justice.

It’s a day for all New Zealanders—Māori and non-Māori alike—to listen, reflect, and work toward a more just and equitable future. For those from outside New Zealand, it's an opportunity to seek out ways to support similar efforts for equity and justice in our own countries. #EqualityForAll #MāoriRights

#TimothyZahn is my favourite #StarWars author. I actually got to meet him (twice!) at #ComicCon. The first time, he kindly signed both the book that I'd brought with me (just in case I didn't buy his new book) and also the new book of his that I'd bought (because OF COURSE I was always going to buy it) and also was more than happy to pose for a photo with me. The second time was at another Comic Con several years later. He'd run out of books by the time we found him but was generous enough to stick around and sign things like posters, which he did for the friends I was with. So not only is he the author of all of my favourite Star Wars books, but he also just seems to be a really nice person. #TimothyZahnIsTheNicestPerson #TimothyZahnBooksStillTheBest #TimothyZahnStarWars #TimothyZahnBooks

Thrawn is one of my favourite #StarWars characters (despite him technically being a villain), so I'm not sure what took me so long to read the #ThrawnAscendancy trilogy. It's been out for a while now! I was expecting this series to be fantastic, since #Thrawn in the hands of #TimothyZahn is always fantastic, but this series managed to be even better than I'd expected. If you like #StarWarsBooks and like #GrandAdmiralThrawn, then definitely don't miss this series (and don't put it off for ages like I did)! Just like anything Star Wars by Timothy Zahn, they're definitely worth the read.

#StarWarsFan #TimothyZahnStarWars #TimothyZahnBooks #TimothyZahnBooksStillTheBest

The Honey Witch by @sydneyjshields was a quick, fun #JanuaryRead. I liked it but didn't necessarily love it. I don't know if it just wasn't the right read for me at the time, or if it just wasn't quite my thing. Either way, I didn't get super into it, but that doesn't mean it wasn't worth the time spent reading. I don't need to absolutely love every book I read as long as it's an enjoyable use of the time spent reading it, which this was. I just don't have a ton to say about it.

#WitchyBooks #January2025Reads #WitchyReads #FantasyBooks #Fantasy

I see a lot of social media posts about fun words in other languages, like how Japanese has got tsundoku, which means stockpiling books but not reading them, or how German has got schadenfreude, or taking pleasure from someone else's misfortune. But English has got plenty of #FunWords too. The first I'd like to share is natiform, which describes things that resemble buttocks.

#English #EnglishWords #FunEnglishWords #FunWordsInEnglish #EnglishLanguage

Voyage of the Damned by @franceswhiteauthor was my #BookClub book for January. I really enjoyed this one. It was like an #AgathaChristie mystery, but with the added complication of the main character having to figure out exactly what magical power each of his counterparts has, all the while not having any magic himself (and having to keep that a secret). I would recommend giving this one a read of you like fantasy and mystery novels. I hadn't expected to enjoy the combination, but the two actually work together well, with the fantasy enhancing the mystery rather than detracting from it.

#Fantasy #FantasyBooks #Mystery #Mysterybooks #JanuaryReads #January2025Reads #2025Reads #FantasyMystery #FantasyMysteryBook

The first autumn colours are here #autumn autumn leaves #autumnvibes

On the Lord of the Rings tour of Mount Sunday, where they filmed the outdoor scenes for Edoras in Rohan, they bring along prop weapons that you can play with. #newzealand #newzealandtrip #nztravel #nztrip #nztourism #lordoftherings #edoras #mtsunday #southisland

A living mural in Portland, Oregon. Portland is known for its street art, but this mural was particularly cool because her hair is made of plants growing on the wall. #portland #portlandoregon #oregon #keepportlandweird #streetart #livingmural #infiniteoregontours #travel

Enjoying Latourell Falls, one of the many gorgeous waterfalls along the Columbia River Gorge just outside of Portland, Oregon #portland #portlandoregon #thegorge #columbiarivergorge #columbiarivergorgeous #latourellfalls #oregon #oregonisbeautiful #oregonexplored #pacificnorthwest #travel#waterfall #waterfalls #infiniteoregontours

We got snow today! I’m especially excited about it this time because it was just enough to cover the grass and to look magical on the trees and roofs, but not enough to accumulate on the roads and impede driving. #snow #winter

I know that King Kamehameha was the founder of the Kingdom of Hawaii, but the anime nerd in me is always reminded of Dragon Ball Z.
#hawaii #travel #maui #dragonballz #neunersnexradventure #hawaiitravel

Traditional Korean 떡국 (rice cake soup) for New Year’s with my fiancé. 새해 복 많이 받으세요! Happy New Year! #koreanfood #newyear2020 #happynewyear #happynewyear2020

For some people, fall means pumpkin spice lattes. For me it means apple cider doughnuts. I go to an apple orchard every year with my now fiancé and this year we went to Stuckey Farm Apple Orchard in Sheridan, Indiana. We got cider and doughnuts for ourselves but went back a few days later so I could get some for my sister. She was pregnant and super jealous of my doughnuts so I took some with me to Florida for her when I went down to visit before my niece was born. #stuckeyfarm #applecider #appleciderdonuts #indiana #florida #sharingiscaring #ihaveaniecenow

A red sand beach on the Road to Hana. It’s not the famous red sand beach, but that one is dangerous enough that our tour wouldn’t go to it, so we visited this one instead so we could still see the red sand. Maui is one of the only areas in the world that has red sand like this. #maui #hawaii #neunersnextadventure #travel #travelhawaii #travelmaui #roadtohana

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About Jess

Jess Bardin writes YA fantasy full of ancient myths, magical secrets, and complicated feelings. Her stories explore what it means to find your place in the world—whether you’re hosting a legendary wizard in your head or battling ghosts in Tokyo.

When she’s not worldbuilding or writing dialogue at inappropriate times of night, she indulges her inner nerd through The Ongoing Education of Jess Bardin—her blog about whatever happens to be fascinating this week. Philosophy, language, astronomy, history, Star Wars, D&D, quantum physics—if it makes her brain light up, it’s fair game.

She believes that words can change the world—and if you hand her a good cup of tea, she’ll probably explain how.