Organic Matter

The novel Organic Matter presents a woman who on returning home when her mother dies, plans to stay only until she sells the house and its possessions. She doesn't understand why she doesn't rejoin her husband. She doesn't understand why she begins gardening, a task she hated as a young girl. One morning she drives by a man dressed in black, hair shining like the glistening pavement, nose almost beak-like. He stands on the side of a country road. Crows circle his head. She...
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The novel Organic Matter presents a woman who on returning home when her mother dies, plans to stay only until she sells the house and its possessions. She doesn't understand why she doesn't rejoin her husband. She doesn't understand why she begins gardening, a task she hated as a young girl. One morning she drives by a man dressed in black, hair shining like the glistening pavement, nose almost beak-like. He stands on the side of a country road. Crows circle his head. She continues on, but his image haunts her. She names him the Crowman. Her search for him becomes Seresa's search for self.Seresa and the Crowman have secrets. In fact, their secret selves give them their unusual bond. They drift, not knowing exactly what they are doing, have done, or why. The novel will appeal to those of us who have drifted through months or years of our lives, to gardeners and environmentalists, readers who can be intrigued by a man who buries roadkill in his organic garden, and by a woman who is saved by lilacs and lavender. For, as Seresa begins nurturing the plants' roots in her parents' abandoned garden, she unknowingly begins to nurture her own.B. Chelsea Adams' short stories have been published in BlackWater Review, Clinch Mountain Review, Floyd County Moonshine, Potato Eyes, Huckleberry Magazine, and Voices of Appalachia. She's had two poetry chapbooks published, Looking for a Landing by Sow's Ear Press and At Last Light by Finishing Line Press. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals including Artemis, Poet Lore, Southwestern Review, Motif, and Rhino. Her Masters of Arts degree in English is from Hollins University's Creative Writing Program. She taught Creative Writing at Radford University, has attended the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Selu Writers' Retreat, and Nimrod.