Fiction Commons^™

Blood At The Root, April Schofield

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This is a coming of age story about two very different boys – Jason, a Northerner who ends up stuck in a small Southern town and Billy, a Southern boy with an abusive father. The boys become friends and grow up learning the dark secrets that are allowed to fester in a tiny southern town ruled by the Good Ol’ Boy System of justice. The story chronicles how their shared experiences change them in ways they never imagined and ultimately destroys their friendship and their lives. Through a history of violence and prejudice, Billy and Jason learn who they really …

No Absolutes: A Fantasy Collection, Tiffany M. Hughes

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Genre fiction, particularly fantasy and science fiction writing, has a mixed reception in academia across the world. The notion that make-believe characters and worlds could not be intellectually fulfilling is an old stereotype that reduces some of the most profound fiction of our era down to children’s tales. This fantasy collection serves as an example of how genre fiction can contain impactful stories that challenge our understanding of traditional values. As the title suggests, life, from relationships to self-identity, offers no absolutes for the future. Humanity faces uncertainty of the past, present, and future every day. These stories reflect the …

2015 Jim Wayne Miller Contest Winners, Creative Writing Committee

Mary Ellen and Jim Wayne Miller Celebration of Writing

No abstract provided.

Rulers, Rhetoric, And Ray-Guns: A Post Colonial Look At 90'S Alien Invasion Media, Logan Matthew Hudspeth

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis opens discussion on American alien invasion films of the 90s as a self-critique, a reaction to being an imperial power at the end of the Cold War. The alien menace in these films is not the "other" but rather the U.S. itself being the colonizer or conqueror looking to expand its sphere of influence. Furthermore, it discusses how Presidential rhetoric in the films play a role in this postcolonial reading. Specific works studied are: Independence Day (1996), Mars Attacks! (1996), Babylon 5: In the Beginning (1998), and The Puppet Masters (1994).

The Ancient Art Of Smile-Making, Elizabeth Ann Garrett

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

If I am anything, I am a Kentuckian, which means I appreciate a good storyteller. In my writing, I hope to bring back some dignity to the “lost cause” of the good values from a broken culture. While I am not quite “southern” enough to qualify as a writer of Southern Gothic fiction, I can relate to this brand of identity crisis in which someone wants to maintain an archaic mindset in a culture charging towards “progress.” As technology and corporate success take precedence over a genteel and pastoral soul, our collective competitiveness has crippled a quaint future of back …

2014 Jim Wayne Miller Contest Winners, Creative Writing Committee

Mary Ellen and Jim Wayne Miller Celebration of Writing

No abstract provided.

Ua68/6/2/4 Potter College Of Arts & Letters English Student Organizations Sigma Tau Delta, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records of Sigma Tau Delta.

The Lone Flower: A Collaborative Cybernovel, Western Kentucky University Department Of Communication

Communication Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Ua68/6/2/3 Potter College Of Arts & Letters English Student Organizations English Club, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records of the English Club including minute books, programs, and banquet records.

Ua68/6/2/2 Potter College Of Arts & Letters English Student Organizations Speculative Fiction Society, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records of the Speculative Fiction Society.

Being The Beautiful Fool, Ashley N. Gore

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Ernest Hemingway wrote to F. Scott Fitzgerald that “The good parts of a book may be only something a writer is lucky enough to overhear or it may be the wreck of his whole damn life — and one is as good as the other” (305). With that, I created a collection of short stories that analyzes my generation of women’s struggles. Framing the thesis are two stories involving three women, Lindsey, Jenny, and Sarah, “The Generation of Discontent” and “Revisions,” with the characters attempting to sort through love, success, and happiness in society. The piece “The Bachelor” has Amanda …

2013 Jim Wayne Miller Contest Winners, Creative Writing Committee

Mary Ellen and Jim Wayne Miller Celebration of Writing

No abstract provided.

The Exchange: A Novella, Katie Knecht

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Grace Schmeidler is dealing with her recently broken engagement, which is horrible enough, what with her perfect wedding plans gone to waste. If she think nothing could be worse than the embarrassment she feels now, she is wrong. Her best friend, Audrey, shows up to deliver the only news that could have made her desire to be invisible even stronger; her ex-fiancé married someone else using all of Grace’s wedding arrangements. As if this weren’t enough, Grace’s mother calls with equally unsettling news. Work no longer provides Grace with an escape, and she is forced to deal with life’s circumstances …

2012 Jim Wayne Miller Contest Winners, Creative Writing Committee

Mary Ellen and Jim Wayne Miller Celebration of Writing

No abstract provided.

2011 Jim Wayne Miller Contest Winners, Creative Writing Committee

Mary Ellen and Jim Wayne Miller Celebration of Writing

No abstract provided.

Ua68/6/2/1 Potter College Of Arts & Letters English Student Organizations Western Writers, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records of the Western Writers and issues of Voices magazine.

Ua68/6/1 Potter College Of Arts & Letters English Publications, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Publications created by and about the English Department.

Zephyrus is produced by the English Department and contains student creative writing.

"A literary magazine called Voices had been produced for a number of years prior to that, but in 1969 Professor Gatlin, with the help of Professor Will Fridy, came up with the title Zephyrus, the Roman name for the west wind, because Dr. Wood had asked that "Western" be included in the title." From A Centennial History of the Department of English of Western Kentucky University by James Flynn

"In 1979, Frank [Steele], along with his wife, Peggy, began publishing …

Zephyrus, Western Kentucky University

Student Creative Writing

No abstract provided.

Outside My Bedroom Window, Nicole Hodson

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

No abstract provided.

Ua12/2/2 Xposure - Summer 1996, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

1996 Xposure yearbook.

• Thomas, Kim. Banshee: The Grandmother of All Parties
• Quarles, Mitchell. Talk About a Revolution – Recycle Revolution
• Guenther, Kelly. Dancing for Money: One Student’s Story of Stripping, Spending & Surviving
• Hall, Jason. Home Away from Home: Student Helps International Refugees Adjust – Dat Ly
• Witty, Patrick. Rappel
• Wade, Molly. War & Peace: Western’s Gay Community Faces Alienation, Alliances
• Hutchins, Chris. Doing It Her Way – Anna Wilson, Artists
• Root, Tonya. Serving Time – Ed Bohlander, Prisons
• Noel, Anthony. Facing Their Futures – Todd McCutcheon, Claire Davies, Charles Cecil, Carla Gantz, Paul DeHaven
• 24 Hours of Life at …

Beginner's Luck: A Screen Play, Marissa Lee

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

No abstract provided.

Ua12/2/2 Xposure - Prejudice: Beyond Black & White, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

1995 Xposure yearbook.

• Parel-Sewell, Amethel. A New Beginning
• Contributors
• Xposure Staff
• Thomas, Kim. Dream Weaving
• Gunnoe, James. On a Roll – Cycling, Skateboarding
• Hinkebein, Dana. No Boys Allowed – New Rock 92, Jessica Bouldin
• Burnham, Maria. Sticks & Stones . . . Words Do Hurt – Racism
• Ritchie, Christa. Breaking the Rules? - Gays, Lesbians, Racism
• Thomas, Kim. Prejudice: It’s Not Just a Black & White Issue
• Ritchie, Christa. A Voice of Diversity – Johnston Njoku
• Hinkebein, Dana. Culture Shock: Students Abroad – Study Away
• Davis, Amanda. One of the Presidents’ Men – Robert Baum
• Davis, Amanda. The Back House …

Ua12/2/2 Xposure - Fall 1995, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

1995 Xposure yearbook.

• Contributors
• Meese, Ray. Ethnic Harmony – International Festival
• Frazier, Stephan. The Unspoken Me – Scott Foster, Musicians
• Thomas, Kim. From the Front Page to Fruit Loops – College Heights Herald
• Shain, Kimberly. Politics? Who Cares!
• Hutchins, Chris. Live, Learn & Intern – Chris Daniel, Lisa Vaught
• Hutchins, Chris. The Power of Prayer – Eastside Church of Christ, Newman Center
• Meese, Ray. Cutting Up on Campus
• Gamblin, Joe. Comic Craze – Comic Books
• From the World of Art – Paintings
• Noel, Anthony. Achieving Greatness – Theatre & Dance
• Noel, Anthony. Precious Moments with the Duke – Duke Orsino, …

Ua12/2/2 Xposure - Canvas Flesh, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

1995 Xposure yearbook.

• Hutchins, Chris. Canvas of Flesh – Tattoos, Branding
• Gunnoe, James. What’s Next – Career Services
• Cutraro, Andrew. Miss Black Western
• Xposing DUC – Downing University Center
• Thomas, Kim. Games of the Mind – Ouija Boards
• Davis, Amanda. High Frequency – Rave Culture
• Spears, Brian. Summer Jobs
• Davis, Amanda. Stress
• Hinhebin, Dana. Color Me Psychotic
• Frazier, Andy. Ah, Venus - Art
• Solitary Notes – Music
• The Content of Style – Heath Seymour, Mike Duncan
• Coleman, Jill. Exquisite Entrapment
• Crawford, Marshall. For Book Sake, My Brother!
• Peters, James. The Watch – Poetry
• Wolfgang, Leslie. Velvet – Short Story
• Brown, …

Ua12/2/2 Xposure - Rites Of Passage, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

1995 Xposure yearbook.

• Contributors
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, 1996
• Frazier, Andy. My Cup Is the Cup of Life – Coffee
• Hinkebein, Dana. Behind the Curtains – Theatre & Dance
• Thomas, Kim. Rites of Passage – Mark Nethery, Jessica Nethery
• Cunnoe, James. College: Land of the Free & Home of Instant Pasta
• Thomas, Kim. The Search for Truth – Religion, Paul Miller, Native Americans, Clay Coleman, Candi Cabaniss, Atheism
• Meese, Ray. Confirmed in the Faith – Pam Page, Catholicism
• Broadbent, Stephanie. The Stigma Unearned: Virginity in College
• Davis, Amanda. Nontraditional Values – Nontraditional Students
• Spears, Brian. Turn On, Tune …

Ua12/2/1 Hillside, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

Special magazine edition of the College Heights Herald:

• Anna, Cara. Keeping the Balance – Ralph Willard, Kevin Willard, Basketball
• Armes, Anya. Giving the Gift to Others – Jim Wayne Miller

Behind The Scenes, Gary Schneider

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

"Behind The Scenes" is a creative, non-fiction thesis that delights and amazes the reader from behind the scenes of a funeral home. Often, funeral homes and funeral directors are criticized via newspapers, television broadcasts, and magazine articles. But, seldom is a reader allowed to enjoy tales from a funeral director's perspective.

So, Gary Schneider, a licensed funeral director and freelance writer, opens the doors and welcomes the reader inside his Victorian funeral home, Rudy-Rowland, the second oldest funeral firm in Kentucky. This time, however, the public is allowed past the viewing room, as the reader gets into the hearts and …

“I’M Not Lost . . . I Meant To Be Here!”, David Lee Sloan

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This is a collection of creative essays containing one person’s world view and experiences – factual and fiction. The intended purpose is not to make the reader think, act, or change any of his beliefs, it is simply meant to entertain him in a world that often offers few risk-free entertainments. It is hoped that the reader will be just as ignorant when he turns the last page as he was when he turned the first. Even Adam with his wonderful garden, or Aladin and his magic lamp, didn’t offer as much. I am offering reading without the danger of …

Ua12/2/1 Ayieeeeee!, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

Special magazine edition of the College Heights Herald:

Broda, Jeremy. Wishing – Short Story

• Bricking, Tanya. Completely Free & Scared Witless – Bungee Jumping

Ua12/2/1 Root For The Home Team, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

Special magazine edition of the College Heights Herald:

• Nickel, Mike. A Part of Experiencing – Short Story
• Poynter, Chris. Root for the Home Team – Troy Liscomb