At just five years old, Jillian Laine knew exactly what she wanted to be when she grew up — an author. She has just published her first novel, “Henry Tudor Must Die,” a historical fiction following the wives of Henry Tudor as they finally seek the revenge they deserve.
Laine graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Arts in English, and urges fellow English majors to look at her career as proof of the possibility of achieving success in the humanities, despite the looming threat of advancements in generative AI.
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Laine discussed her book, three cats and all things English major. I emerged on the other side with a rekindled passion for my own path of study and love for literature. The conversation began with Laine fondly reminiscing about her days as a student at the University, when her commutes from her dorm on North Campus were made sweeter by the company of books.
“It was always a ride on the bus from North Campus down to Central Campus where all my classes were, and I always had a book, which worked out great being an English major because the reading load was very heavy and I had multiple times a day that I was going back and forth,” Laine said.
Beside bus rides back and forth from her classes, Laine recalls working as an editor for the Sweetland Peer Writing Center and honing her writing skills by helping other students. Despite her love of the craft and childhood dreams, Laine considered several other paths, such as law and teaching, before she landed on the writing industry.
“I had always in my head thought that if you were going to be an editor, you had to live in New York, and you had to drink black coffee, and you had to wear black turtlenecks — and I don’t really drink coffee!” she jokingly explained. “I’m a tea girl, and turtlenecks always feel like they’re trying to kill me. And so I was like, ‘oh, I guess it’s just never meant to be.’”
But after a speaker from the Denver Publishing Institute visited one of her classes, she realized that there was a possibility for a future in books — one she was passionate about pursuing.
“I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh! I could do this.’” Laine said. “There are other places that you can go and be in publishing,” Laine said. “It doesn’t have to be in New York. You can learn about it. You can get a foot in the door at an early age.”
After this realization, she did exactly that. Laine participated in a summer program with the Denver Publishing Institute, where she learned about the industry and climbed mountains in the countryside in her free time. From there, Laine continued pursuing a career in the publishing industry, working as an editor, literary awards judge and journalist, as well as publishing a few children’s books under a pen name along the way.
All the while, Laine continued writing. She wrote several novels in genres ranging from science fiction to romantic comedies before landing on the historical fiction and fantasy mashup that comprises her debut. She described it as an “outlet and a catharsis” to be able to right history’s wrongs with her words.
“Writing historical fiction, especially about women whose stories haven’t been told, and especially with a little bit of magic, has given me a way to sort of contextualize both history and the present,” Laine described. “So I can talk about things that happened 500 years ago, but (also) how those echoes are happening here in 2026.”
“Henry Tudor Must Die” is the first of what Laine hopes will be many more novels, including an anticipated sequel. The sequel is planned to focus on Elizabeth and Mary, the daughters of former queens Anne Boleyn and Catherine of Aragon, respectively.
Though Laine has tasted success in the book industry, she worries that the rise of artificial intelligence will have detrimental effects on it and on arts and culture as a whole.
“What I fear now is that we’re entering a time where art is being taken from us, and I think it’s being taken on purpose. I think that it’s really interesting that the first thing that generative AI … is doing is taking books and music and art, because those are the hallmarks of a real society, a functioning society and culture,” Laine said. “The first thing that any emerging society does is create art: cave paintings, oral storytelling, passing along those types of things. So they’re going after the core of who we are after survival.”
When I asked what she thought could be done to mitigate the negative impact of AI on our society, her answer was simple.
“I think the first step is get ChatGPT off your computer,” Laine urged.
Laine expressed a deep concern that the more we rely on generative AI to write our emails, essays and articles, the less creativity and natural sense of drive we will possess. Her fears are heightened as a creative writer, but extend beyond just her body of work. Laine encourages people to hang on to physical forms of media — whether it be books, DVDs or vinyl records — to keep our humanity alive and put less of our livelihoods in the hands of digital technology.
“I think, at the very least, everyone will always be able to make art,” Laine added. “Whether or not that art will be able to reach its audience is different, and I think that’s going to be the challenge.”
When I asked Laine if she felt there was hope for current English majors to reach the heights she’s managed to reach given the current situation, she seemed optimistic in the face of it all. Her advice to the younger generations is to be steadfast in our opposition to generative AI. We hold the power to keep our art safe, as AI can only take the time and energy we put into it in the first place. For aspiring authors specifically, Laine recommends “just always be writing” and reading, no matter what is happening in the outside world.
Studying the humanities in university has never been the path of least resistance. Students are told they will never get a job, or that they will earn significantly less than their STEM counterparts if they study subjects like English. What Laine hopes other artists can glean from her story is that even if it takes longer than expected, you can find a livelihood chasing your passions.
“The short version is it’s not easy being an English major,” Laine said. “But if you try really hard for a really, really long time, your childhood dreams will come true.”
Daily Arts Writer Amany Sayed can be reached at amanysay@umich.edu.
