Carolina Gothic

This creative thesis will contain several interconnected short stories. They exist in the same literary world populated by a revolving cast of characters. Some of them remain innocent and emotionally progressing, while others are flawed and morally stagnant. Class and religion coalesce or vanish within their unusual encounters that often only occur on the written page. Under the context of tourism, rehab, or violence, characters' masks are dropped, revealing their deeper inner selves. This display of grace or cowardice under pressure will constantly be revealing character. Redemption will be a key element. Both its acceptance and dismissal depending on the narrator. The settings range from the Carolinas, Nashville, and Key West. Themes include people compromised by community, the momentum of past failures, addiction, familial or neighborly obligation, petty revenge, and love. These writings will strive to stir readers into facing points of view from uncomfortable narrators in order to round out their worldview. Told in mostly first-person snapshot vignettes, my craft will focus mostly on colloquial language and rhythm to avoid similar or basic narration. Relying on slang, misspoken words, and the precise use of specific similes that offer insight into each narrator’s worldview. These distinct voices will contradict one another and subtly inform a plot that is never handed to the reader linearly. Offering layered unreliability which encourages rereadability. Each sentence will strive to offer plot forwarding energy alongside the aesthetically pleasing oddity of sharp, specific word choices. Always towing the line between humor and sorrow. Bridging the abstract and the absurd. The depths of depravity explored will reflect the hills and valleys of human emotion and meaning. Natural settings are a key character in each story, both violent and transcendental. Works consulted range from Denis Johnson, Barry Hannah, Ron Rash, David Foster Wallace, Mark Z. Danielewski, Ann Pancake, and Flannery O’Connor. To name a fraction of influences. These stories will honor the rich tradition of southern literature while complicating it into new directions. Hopefully filling gaps between writers far better than me. These stories will encourage radical empathy through gallows humor, friction from opposing perspectives, and forgiveness in the face of violence and injustice. These stories will attempt to contribute to reader's reality and remind them to enjoy life more introspectively