To Soar Above the Apple Grove: Stories

57 Pages·2015·0.29 MB·English

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All NMU Master's Theses Student Works
8-2014
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Emily V. Doseck
Northern Michigan University, [email protected]
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Doseck, Emily V., "To Soar Above the Apple Grove: Stories" (2014). All NMU Master's Theses. 19.
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To Soar Above the Apple Grove: Stories

By

Emily V Doseck

THESIS

Submitted to
Northern Michigan University
In partial fulfillment of the requirements
For the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Office of Graduate Education and Research

2014
SIGNATURE APPROVAL FORM

Title of Thesis: To Soar Above the Apple Grove: Stories

This thesis by Emily V Doseck is recommended for approval by the student’s thesis
committee in the Department of English and by the Dean of Graduate Studies.

Committee Chair: Jon Billman Date

First Reader: Jennifer A. Howard Date

Second Reader: N/A Date

Department Head: Dr. Ray Ventre Date

Dr. Brian D. Cherry Date
Assistant Provost of Graduate Education and Research
ABSTRACT

TO SOAR ABOVE THE APPLE GROVE: STORIES

By

Emily V Doseck

The stories written for this thesis revolve around the idea of lesbian characters
finding, and in some cases losing, love in the young adult genre. Each piece differs in
time period and setting, but all take the typical ‘tragic’ stereotype of queer fiction and
prove that everyone deserves a chance at love. All three pieces also contain elements of
magic, ranging from the black magic associated with the witches of Salem to the
whimsical magic of fairy tales. First love is a time of discovery and new joy for so many,
and queer literature could use more of these positive stories to show teens and young
adults that life does get better.

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Copyright by
Emily V Doseck
2014

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DEDICATION

To Beth, my queen and my happily ever after.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank my thesis director, Professor Jon Billman, and my thesis
reader, Professor Jen Howard, for all the hard work they put in to helping me get my
thesis ready and especially for always being there to listen when I started panicking about
one thing or another. They’re both rockstars. Thank you to Professor Laura Soldner and
Dr. Ray Ventre for all of their time and support while I was a TA. Thank you to Professor
John Smolens for helping me grow as a writer; two of the pieces included in this thesis
came from classes I have taken with him. I would also like to thank my officemates,
Michael, Emily, and Andrea, as well as my friends Alyssa and Hayley, who were always
game to listen to me ramble about my thesis and fairy tales in general.
Finally, thank you to my parents, John and Holly Doseck, for their endless
support. Why you never screened your phone calls, even when you knew it was me
calling at 1am with my latest story idea, I’ll never know…
This thesis follows the format prescribed by the MLA Style Manual and the
Department of English.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1
The Garden ................................................................................................................. 7
To Soar Above the Apple Grove ............................................................................. 18
So Darkness I Became ............................................................................................. 35

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INTRODUCTION

This was not the thesis I intended to write. When I started thinking about what
sort of writing project I wanted to work on (because I knew, even though I was dual-
concentrating in Literature and Writing, it’d be a creative project), I wanted to do
something with rewriting fairy tales for the queer young adult niche of books. It’s a small
category but it’s making a pretty big impact on the internet and to have my voice be a
part of that, to think that someday a queer teen could read one of my stories and think to
themselves that there isn’t actually anything wrong with them like people sometimes say,
would be a dream come true. Any story with queer characters would have been fine, but I
feel a stronger connection to fairy tales than any other kind. They’re the stories everyone
grows up on, even if they’re told a little bit differently or come to us from Disney instead
of the Brothers Grimm.
But of course, life had other plans…

I’ve suffered from severe migraines since I was in the seventh grade. Every
woman on my mom’s paternal side of the family has had them. Most people don’t
understand what happens when someone gets a migraine; I’ve heard non-sufferers say
that migraines aren’t real or we just exaggerate about the pain, and that it’s all in our
heads. It’s a little different for everyone, but for me, I’ve always had light, sound, and
smell sensitivity along with pain ranging from icepick-precise daggers behind or in my

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eye to hammer blows against the back of my skull. Most of the time, I have to be in
complete darkness; even the light of my laptop or cell phone can make the pain and
nausea worse to the point of crying. I’ve had migraines that lasted only a few hours, and
I’ve had migraines that have lasted for a week. I’ve never been hospitalized for one, but I
have been to the emergency room and urgent care centers multiple times to get stronger
dosages of medication. My life comes to a stop when I get a migraine. It, in a word,
sucks.
There is an upside to the special brand of hell caused by migraines. Nearly all of
the medicines I’ve been prescribed or given to combat migraines cause me to sleep for
several hours after taking them, the idea being that sleep is the next-best medicine. While
sleeping or in the late-night sleepless hours that tend to follow after a migraine, I find I’m
at my creative peak. I dream about my characters and stories, seeing the scenes play out
in my mind like a movie, often including dialogue and action that I hadn’t yet thought of
but is usually exactly what I need to move the story along. I find my mind works faster in
the post-migraine hangover that keeps me awake when everyone else has fallen asleep, I
write quicker and without thinking, without letting my inner editor and critic tell me to
stop or that something isn’t good enough.
Along with migraines, I’ve also had to deal with severe depression, suicidal
thoughts, and anxiety. Writing started out as my way to deal with the feelings I didn’t
know how to express in high school. Writing allowed me to put into words what I
couldn’t say out loud and tell a teacher, someone who helped me get professional help. It
sounds corny and like such a cliché, but it’s true; without writing, I don’t think I’d be
alive. As I’ve gotten older and worked at finding my own voice as a writer, and not just

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