Salt, Sand and Blood
Date
2019-06-13
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MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa
Abstract
Salt, Sand, and Blood, as presented in this thesis, is the first fragment of a fantasy
epic following a vast cast of characters across country and continent. Protagonists Adam,
Adnihilo, Jael, and Trey struggle to find their sense of autonomy and to align their moral
paradigms with corrupted institutions and fabricated histories. It is this struggle which is
narrated by the prophet Kashim, told in verse to his audience, the reader.
Tying these characters and stories together is a single theme, the journey--or in
other words, pilgrimage and the spiritual transformation which occurs when one is made
to “leave his father’s tent”. The life paths inherited by each of the characters rapidly come
into question or are otherwise destroyed, and all are tempted to embrace sublimation to
ethnic ties, religious strictures, or vengeful plots. In these first twenty two chapters, the
focus is this question: to sacrifice for the will of others, or to sacrifice for one’s potential
self?
In matters of craft, Salt, Sand, and Blood was born of such writing found in
Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire and McCarthy’s Blood Meridian. That is, the manuscript
combines the richness of worldbuilding and dramatic action with rhythm, rhyme, and
alliteration to create the feel of a song or poem. It is an attempt to approximate the
experience of an oral story or an epic poem, or something in between.
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Keywords
Fantasy, Speculative fiction, Epic literature