Creative Writing Commons^™

Carol And The Ugly Sisters: A Play In Three Acts, Judith Jones

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

Carol and the Ugly Sisters, reflects the trajectory of two teenage African American girls growing up in 1960s Harlem. They met when Anita was 16, and Carol was 17. Anita, the protagonist, is from a lower middle-class family, and goes on to graduate Columbia University. Carol, her friend, dropped out of middle school, and is an unwed mother of three children, when she meets Anita. She remains mentally closed in a lower socio-economic mindset for the remainder of her life, and dies of the same alcoholism that killed her parents.

The Woods Of Wander, Stephanie Dinizio

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

The Woods of Wander is a children's novel about a young fox with a disability. The fox learns about mystical eggs that may heal him, and goes on a journey to find them. However, when he finds the eggs, the fox sees that healing is different than he expected.

Wonders For The Dead, Sarah Cook

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

This capstone project presents the first five chapters of a novel entitled Wonders for the Dead, which follows the lives of two sets of brothers whose lives intersect in an unexpected way. Ep Fairfax and his brother Francis are estranged, but when Ep finds himself in trouble and on the run he relies on Francis for help. Tom Mersy is a dangerous man, and when his brother Isaac is killed, Tom decides that Ep is to blame. He sets out to find Ep and have his revenge, but along the way both men learn more about themselves and the …

Highway 11: A Memoir, Judy Benowitz

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

When my sister, Valerie, committed suicide, I looked back to the choices we made and wrote this book. Highway 11 is the title of my 60,000 word memoir. I grew up on that swath of road between Monroe and Winder, Georgia. It was a whiskey soaked, Southern Baptist upbringing, in a blue collar family. I moved away, as soon as I bought a car, while Valerie got pregnant in high school and lived in Monroe all her life with her husband and two children.

My first stop was Atlanta, in 1969, for the “Age of Aquarius,” where I was a …

Patient Zero, Crystal Ramos

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

A screenplay, "Patient Zero" is about Lillian contracting a zombie-like virus and the efforts of two people who love her, Jenna and Bill, to save her. The movie explores the binary opposites of heterosexual and homosexual love and how Jenna and Bill show their love for Lillian. In addition the impact of sexual abuse and rape are shown and the zombie transformation works as a metaphor for sexual abuse.

The Creative Voice--Dialogue Between Writer And Editor: A Portfolio, Valerie M. Mathews

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

An author's voice does not venture into the wild west alone; it rides with a full posse. On the surface of a published piece of work, the author appears to be the lone genius; yet, underneath in multilayers of revisions and conversations that carry an author's voice over the rooftops of the world, voice is an intimate communal affair. As an editor, I view co-creation as embodying the push-and-pull relationship that forms between writer and reader, including the editor. A good editor pulls out the best sound from the author even when the manuscript is a wild, caterwauling animal. An …

Secrets On Morgan Hill: A Story Of An Unlikely Friendship Amid An Apartheid South, Camille Kleidysz-Ferreira

Master of Arts in American Studies Capstones

Introduction

The Burden of History and Fiction

“How much of the burden of history can fiction bear?” – Margaret Walker

Comprehensive historical research can often become the inspiration for art. The greatest pieces of historical fiction, are a result of years of historic scholarship before the creation of a compelling historical narrative or fiction piece. Through my two-year ethnographic study and collection of oral histories of the black community, surrounding the historic Bethel A.M.E. church in Acworth, Georgia, I was told a story about a friendship between two little girls who remained friends until the end of their lives. What …

Doorway To The Deep: Memoirs Of Enduring Endometriosis And Embracing Life After Loss, Carma Peña

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

No one is spared grief. Yet while it is universal in nature, it is painfully specific in experience. Many people describe grief in terms of water, and often refer to it as coming in waves, while others have drifted so far from the proverbial shore that they are drowning in it. Doorway to the Deep explores this concept through personal reflections and private diary and journal entries.

The story commences on December 17, 1993 with my first diary entry when I was eleven years old. After enduring many years of endometriosis, the story climaxes on May 12, 2014 with my …