Kelsey Lou and sister Karly Lynn must team up to protect one another against the forces of Patriarchy encroaching on their garden, invading their home, and squashing their hopes for real romance – or their futures – to ever blossom.
5 Growing Seeds
Southern Roots
4 Class
Kelsey Lou felt the weight of this truth, sittin' beside Mr. Bybee smackin' dip under his lip in American History. Even though he was asking for her homework, not sex, it felt the same. Fact was, she'd said no, and he wouldn't take the answer she gave him.
3 The Walk
The Ozarks produced some of the finest, most inspiring folks theyd've ever met, just as it had also beaten and stripped them of their life's potential in the same swift stroke of God's paintbrush, the very moment God seen fit to place them in the U.S. South on the divine canvas of possibilities.
2 Stretching in the Fog
The morning air was foggy enough to see it wasn't still, and still enough to not see anything at all beyond the cloud. Looking out the upstairs bedroom window, Kelsey Lou Faye tapped her fingers against her thigh without any particular rhythm. She knew the sun was up ‘cause the fog was gray instead of black, but there was no knowin’ how long now it'd be before Ma'd wake up and start makin’ the whole family wish they'd died in their sleep.
1 A Romantic Story in Ozark Vernacular English
"Well ain't you pertty as a chrome skull on the hood of a Chevy drivin' down a paved road," Junior smiled as he took off his hat. Kelsey Lou Faye didn't care for the dress her mama'd made for her. It waddn't pretty like Dolly's Coat of Many Colors. Kelsey Lou's mama had stitched this dress with bitterness and spite — the kind that attracted the attention of good ol' boys like Junior.
Redneck Solidarity
1999: I was 11 years old, and the Dixie Chicks' opening act was Ricky Skaggs. I already owned his album 'Soldier of the Cross', but apparently the rest of my generation didn't know him so well. The Chicks came out on stage while everyone was bustling about for t-shirts and snacks, and commanded our attention. … Continue reading Redneck Solidarity
The Front Porch 