Master of Arts / Department of English / Daniel A. Hoyt / This project is the opening chapters of a novel in which two brothers, Txanton and Riddley, are split from each other in post-apocalyptic Kansas. The Commune of Eternal Light has been their family’s peaceful home for more than a hundred years but is crushed by a fascist army that considers killing the only way to survive in civilization’s aftermath. In this destruction, Txanton sees his father’s murder, while Riddley watches his mother’s death. After the separation, Txanton, along with several other boys from the Commune, becomes part of the very army that destroyed his family, and he is visited by the ghost of his great-great grandfather who begins telling his personal story along with the tale of the downfall of the world. Riddley, meanwhile, wanders a picaresque path in which he sees cannibals, zombies, witches, a cowboy, and other ghosts. Both boys struggle with the brutality of the wasteland they are thrust into and try to cope with the memories of their peaceful home and the deaths of their family and friends. Told in chapters that jump back-and-forth between the two brothers, the novel parallels their challenges in a close third-person narrative.

Please note: creative writing theses are permanently embargoed in OpenBU. No public access is forecasted for these. To request private access, please click on the lock icon and filled out the appropriate web form. / Short stories and novel excerpt / 2031-01-01T00:00:00Z

This project consists of a union between sci-fi, magic, and realism. Using magic in the same contexts of realism is to make a legend come to life in our modern world. All three stories deal with difficult situations: the struggle of creation and insecurities, the struggle of suicide and overcoming traumatic experiences, the struggle of disabilities and disadvantages and turning it into strength. These topics are introduced through characters who find themselves coming up with solutions through fantastical means as outlets for their pain. In "She Who Fell in Love with the Sky and Sea," an artist and an unlikely mythical muse come together to create the best art the world has ever seen, yet the art becomes unclaimable to the artist at the twisted eyes of her muse. In "Death Date," death has visited Sola through a psychic prediction arriving with perfect timing. She is given one year to live. Struggling with a traumatic past, her death date encourages Sola to live out the rest of her days and stop her original plans. The Switch explores the conditions of living in dystopian lands with a neighboring land that is a utopia. This novel explores the life of Sain as he uncovers the mysterious disappearances of his fellow townspeople. On his journey, he discovers more than he wanted to know. Diving deeper into the governing rule of the Regime, Sain finds himself as a savior for not only his people but for the hidden people within the border. Sain, starting off weaker than most due to his father's negligence, must advance his axum, a power flowing within everyone at birth, and reduce the Regime to what it once was to reclaim what rightfully belongs to his people.