Billy Peterson has given up. A few years past his high school graduation, he finds himself without a job, with no prospects for further education, and hopelessly addicted to alcohol and pain killers. His parents had tolerated him staying at the house so long as he made an attempt at gaining employment, but once it … Continue reading The Guides, Billy
Category: Stories
Events of 1985, Collins Family
Reverend Aaron Abel Collins, pastor at the Edgewood African Methodist Episcopal Congregation of Atlanta, is considered a mighty man of God by his parishioners. His congregation numbers around four hundred and fifty active members with significant neighborhood outreach, making the Reverend an influential voice in his community. As a young Theology student at Morris Brown, … Continue reading Events of 1985, Collins Family
Expanded Universe: Rebecca Asher
In the earliest work that bears her name, the 18-page screenplay I wrote in September 2010, Rebecca Asher doesn’t even appear as a character. In this, a woman named Allison Caine wakes up in the hospital following a car accident claiming to be Rebecca Asher. We’re never told, within the context of the screenplay, how … Continue reading Expanded Universe: Rebecca Asher
Ashes: Claire and Rachel
A few months after meeting Rebecca, Claire realizes that she is familiar with Rebecca’s aunt, Rachel, who’s active in the Unitarian Universalist church Claire attends, and who Rebecca constantly complains about. She didn’t make the connection right away, because Rebecca’s description of her aunt is so negative, Claire initially imagined a much older and less … Continue reading Ashes: Claire and Rachel
Annabelle
Around 1995, Annabelle Collins decides she’s sufficiently independent to get along without the constant, watchful eyes of her parents, and is tired of their insistent inquiries as to when she’s planning to return to Spelman, or her future plans. Injured in a car accident in 1990, she’s been confined to a wheelchair and living with … Continue reading Annabelle
Expanded Universe, Bickering Plummet
Every universe needs a monolithic, ethically questionable, multinational corporation, and the Expanded Universe has Bickering Plummet. So far, it has been mentioned as an employer in several stories and my play Another Mother, but it’s the go-to corporate employer in Fictional Atlanta, and will play a significant part in future stories. Loosely based on places … Continue reading Expanded Universe, Bickering Plummet
Rebecca, Too, Dottie
Dorothy Gage is at her desk in the corporate offices of Delta Airlines in Atlanta. She’s been with the company, in various capacities since the late nineties, after working for American Airlines in Boston for several years following her graduation from Wellesley College in 1991. Dorothy is originally from Greenwich, Connecticut, the middle child and … Continue reading Rebecca, Too, Dottie
Expanded Universe, Claire
With the exception of the screenplay, in which not even Rebecca is featured as a character, Claire Belmonte has been in every iteration of Rebecca, Too since the incomplete first draft, predating Leah as a character, though Claire has evolved considerably over time. She is also a major character throughout Fables of the New South, … Continue reading Expanded Universe, Claire
Expanded Universe, Leah
When I originally developed Rebecca, Too, I created a seventy-five page incomplete draft, which got bogged down at the point where Alyssa Caine, believing herself to be Rebecca Asher, met with the two friends with whom she went to spring break in Fort Lauderdale as teens, where she met Rebecca. The two friends had not … Continue reading Expanded Universe, Leah
Expanded Universe, Alyssa
Some years ago, I started working on a story about the late-90s tech boom in Atlanta, which featured as its main character a web developer turned entrepreneur named David Cairo (pronounced Kay-ro, like the town in Georgia). I created the rough outline of a story and several chapters, but never fully fleshed out the material … Continue reading Expanded Universe, Alyssa
