Margin of Balance is a collection of seven short stories developed and published during the spring and summer sessions of 1993. This six-hour creative project was completed under the guidance of Ms. Margaret Dimoplon, Dr. Thomas Koontz, and Dr. Frances Rippy, all of the English department. Stories were written, workshopped by these committee members, then rewritten or revised; upon completion, the stories were paginated, printed, and perfect-bound for marketing on consignment in area bookstores.Numerous authors-Virginia Woolf, Allen Tate, Dylan Thomas, and William Blake, to name a few-have used self-publishing as a first step on a successful career path. This creative project, besides completing the requirements for my master's degree, becomes an initial opportunity to place my collected fiction in public.The stories "Knuckling Under," "Margin of Balance," "Run, Red Pony," and "A Man of Letters" were begun in fiction classes taught by Ms. Dimoplon. The three longest stories-"The Anointed," "Brooklyn Babes & Babbling Brooks," and "Strings Attached"-were written for this particular project. My professional experience as an editor and graphic designer made planning and producing the book possible. Six sixteen-page signatures and a separate cover were printed at Ball State University Printing Services and bound at Commercial Service in Anderson, Indiana.Although I have had extensive experience in journalistic and public relations writing, this project served as a professional introduction to the field of fiction writing. Also, it became a final opportunity to work with three accomplished professors, a last chance to gain insight concerning my work and writing methods through their guidance. Though the collection must stand on its own merits, the experience of working with three such distinguished literary academicians proved most valuable and unforgettable. I trust that, through this project, I carry some portion of their sagacity into my writing endeavors. / Department of English

The group of six short stories is unified around a central theme of remembrance, as the title of the collection suggests. In all of the stories but one, the memories of a female character are evoked--a character who looks back in time, either to childhood or to the more recent past, to recall an event which was crucial in her life, an event which changed her. In each of these five stories, the speaker is a mature adult; however, in the sixth, "Fern James and the Kid," the story is told by an observer of the main character(s). The setting (and voice) in these stories is most often that of small-town southern Indiana.

This creative project is a collection of five pieces of short fiction revolving around the life and times of one central character, a young man named Jared Yando. The perspective of each individual piece is centered at different points within approximately one calendar year, and chronicles the protagonist's life within that very transitional period. The focus holds mainly on Jared's relationships, from the latest one with his girlfriend Claudia to the oldest ones with his shattered but healing family. Throughout, these relationship partners take unexpected actions that result in unexpected consequences spanning both ends of the emotional spectrum. Jared finds himself repeatedly involved in that most human of predicaments as he is forced to sort out the actions of those close to him and determine what they have meant, and will mean, to the construction of his own character. / Department of English

No description available.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Texas State University-San Marcos, 2008. / Vita. Also available on microfilm.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--University of Wyoming, 2007. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Oct. 22, 2008).

Thesis (M.A.)--Florida State University, 2005. / Advisor: Dr. Virgil Suarez, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of English. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 7, 2005). Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 56 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Boise State University, 2009. / Title from t.p. of PDF file (viewed Mar. 24, 2010).

Thesis (D.A.)--Illinois State University, 1984. / Title from title page screen, viewed June 3, 2005. Dissertation Committee: Ray Lewis White (chair), Elizabeth E. McMahon, William R. Linneman, William C. Woodson, Dent M. Rhodes. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 239-240) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (January 19, 2009)