Dr. Blasi’s Reading from Sweet Muffin Ranch

Dr. Matthew Blasi, one of Centenary’s English professors, recently gave a reading from his debut novel, Sweet Muffin Ranch. The novel follows Gene, his family, and their rescue and rehabilitation center for dogs. Before Dr. Blasi read an excerpt from his book, Sam Brown, Dr. Jones-Pierce, and Dr. Martin all read brief pieces. Sam Brown read a couple of flash fiction pieces, and Dr. Jones-Pierce read a creative nonfiction excerpt about a childhood friend. Dr. Martin read three poems that she thought might fit with some of the themes found in Dr. Blasi’s book. I enjoyed getting to hear a variety of different pieces before the main event.

After Dr. Blasi read an excerpt from the beginning of his novel, the audience was able to ask several questions. Many of Dr. Blasi’s answers were very insightful and encouraging for aspiring writers. For example, he talked about how a writer has to just write stuff for the first draft and the manuscript will improve after that draft. Dr. Blasi said that what was published took years to get to and barely resembles the first draft. The story’s structure changed drastically; at one point in drafting, the book even went from about 380 pages to about 220 pages.

Aside from discussing writing the book, Dr. Blasi also gave advice about the publishing industry. He had a rocky experience with his first literary agent. When he was first trying to publish Sweet Muffin Ranch, he went the traditional publishing route before deciding to go the small publishing route. He described the traditional publishing route as “nightmarish” and often chews writers up. To him, small presses felt more comfortable.

One of the things that Dr. Blasi kept mentioning in his responses was the “grotesque.” The grotesque is a common theme of Southern Gothic Literature. Just based on the reading and the novel’s description, Sweet Muffin Ranch certainly feels like a Southern story; it is set in Columbia, South Carolina, and the book has the kind of voice that reminds readers of humidity and Southern charm. But it is the emphasis on the grotesque that makes the novel feel like a Southern Gothic novel. Dr. Blasi described the goal of the grotesque as discomfort; it is a place to sit with characters that you do not like but can’t look away from. Dr. Blasi wants readers to read Sweet Muffin Ranch and view the characters as kind of ridiculous because we live in a ridiculous world.

If you are interested in reading Sweet Muffin Ranch, you can order it at this link!


 

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Jordan Fong

I’m a junior English major and Communication minor. I’m also one of the Copy Editors for the Conglomerate. Most of my free time is divided between updating my Letterboxd, obsessing over my Spotify Wrapped (yes, even if it’s the middle of the year), and thinking about the latest MCU installment.

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