Fun Facts

This page MAY contain spoilers.

Lake Merritt in Oakland Panoramic during a clear day
  • The series is written in a way that, Tiffany hopes, you can pick up any book and start reading it from there without a problem.
  • And on that note, Tiffany often recommends starting the series by reading Stitches. This is because the full and permanent cast of characters is introduced there as well as more of the city.
  • The strip club portrayed in Inside Out, AJ’s Space Club, is not real but it is modeled after a San Francisco strip club, not space themed…
  • Vanessa’s apartment in Inside Out is the apartment Tiffany lived in when she was seven years old, in San Leandro CA.
  • Tiffany attended Skyline High School (Class of 2003) which is the school Michael and Max attended. Go Titans!
  • Back in 1999, Tiffany also used an aunts address to gain admission to the high school, Just like Michael and Max. Oakland now has less strict requirements for which school a residential student can attend.
Aerial View by Google Earth
Then & Now – Oakland Public Schools – No. 19 – A Bit of History
Image from A Bit of History

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  • UC Berkeley (Cal) is a college close to Tiffany’s heart, having spent many summers there in college prep programs, which is why Azlynn Matthews is an alumni of the school. Go Bears!
UC Berkeley Online Education Offerings | 2U
UC Berkeley
  • The titles of each book are in a simple pattern which will carry through the series. Did you notice it?
  • When Tiffany originally wrote the series, she modeled Michael Taylor after the actor Michael B. Jordan, but over time his description evolved and now he “looks” different. You can still use MBJ as a mental picture though!
  • The book Inside Out took Tiffany one month to write and was released by her publisher in less than a year.
  • On the other hand, Stitches, the sequel was started in 2014 and not released until 2019.
  • El Jefe, book 3, was actually a mash up of itself and Stitches. This meant it was started in 2014 as an attempt to get a second book written, but was tabled when Stitches took off. The officially manuscript was re-started in January 2018 and completed by October 2018.
  • The reason for all this mashing up and long winded writing process was that Tiffany had an issue with a very well liked relationship in the book and eventually decided she needed to cut it. After this, book 2 flowed out and is now one of her favorites in the series.
  • The series was originally planned for five books but Tiffany prefers even numbers.
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