'I looked up in wonder at the domes lining the ceiling of the Cinerama theatre, so proud my dad was their maker. The mould maker.'
Tami Lou grows up longing to be close to her father, only to watch him drift further into the self-destructive storm of a long-held secret. Through multi-day absences, divorce and remarriage, Tami Lou continues to follow her dad, willing to share him with his new family so long as she gets her share.
But when his unreliability descends into reckless ambitions, bankruptcy and near-homelessness, Tami Lou has to accept that he may never become the father she longs for.
Thirty years later, Tami Lou is finally let into her father’s secret life: where Roy once stood, now there is Connie.
Roy spent his life creating moulds for beautiful things yet was never able to do the same for himself. Connie is a woman finally comfortable in her own skin after sixty years in the wrong body.
But can Connie’s courage in becoming the person she truly is heal decades worth of hurt between parent and child? Or is it too late?
This is the story of a daughter’s search for her authentic father and the unconditional love that shapes us – if only we allow it.
LGBTQIA+ Themes
Biography/Memoir, Parent-Daughter Relationship, Transgender Parent, Living Life Authenically, Memoir, Unconditional Love, Family Relationships
About The Author
Tami Lou Castillo is a global educator who has been teaching in secondary classrooms and universities across the US and Australia for thirty years. With a BA in English and an MEd in Education, she specialises in literature, writing, academic skills and curriculum design.
Outside of the classroom, Tami has also championed the importance of English communication skills and student engagement models in various educational conferences.
Tami’s first foray as an author was writing a book chapter titled ‘Mastering Environment and Sustainability’ in a scholarly collaboration between Monash University Library and La Trobe University Library around curriculums, libraries and student learning.
Following this, she embarked on a personal writing journey leading to her debut memoir, The Mould Maker. She was in part inspired to write by her parent, Connie, who was one the first persons in California to have her name and gender changed on her birth certificate.
When she’s not writing, Tami enjoys running on forest trails, riding bikes with her husband, Peter, traveling and of course, reading.
