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As a college student majoring in journalism with a minor in English, Graves devours the works of author Vladimir Nabokov. She said, \u201cHis novels are literally life-changing. They teach you never to trust a narrator and always read between the lines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She also adores Flannery O\u2019Connor. During the mid-20th century, fiction writing \u2014 especially Southern fiction \u2014 was dominated by men. But O\u2019Connor never let this stop her. Though she died at an early age, her two published novels, along with countless short stories, helped turn the page and crack open the door for future female writers like Graves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always felt a connection to Flannery O\u2019Connor\u2019s work,\u201d she said. \u201cShe is my idol. I\u2019ve read everything she ever put out. \u2018A Good Man is Hard to Find\u2019 completely wrecked my mind when I read it for the first time in middle school. I couldn\u2019t stop reading.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, if Graves could meet her favorite author, O\u2019Connor is exactly who she would pick. \u201cI would first thank her for opening doors for female writers such as myself. I would ask her what she thinks of the South now; the makeup of our region has changed so drastically. I\u2019d ask her if she would still write the same things. What motifs and metaphors has she conjured up with this modernity?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Graves isn\u2019t just an avid reader who frequently settles into her \u201chappy place\u201d \u2014 a comfy chair at Barnes & Noble with a Southern Gothic novel and an iced coffee. She is also a writer and a published author. In her first book, \u201cA Good Southern Girl,\u201d she waded into several topics, including growing up in Shelbyville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are a city that is overflowing with creatives. I know everyone says their hometown is something special,\u201d Graves said. \u201cBut Shelbyville really is. I have written poems and stories all over the state, but none have the elusive muse that lives in Shelbyville. \u2018A Good Southern Girl\u2019 is the most honest thing I\u2019ve ever done. It\u2019s my story thus far. I feel like it\u2019s special because while it\u2019s about me, most anyone can relate to it. Religion, self-confidence, love \u2014 nobody can escape these.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every aspiring author begins by writing what they know, but manuscripts always have challenges that must be overcome. Graves said, \u201cComposing a book is one big collage project. It\u2019s as if there is a magical, cohesive order that will create a perfect flow. The only problem is getting to that \u2018correct\u2019 order. Once you find it, though, that\u2019s something to be proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Graves also writes \u201cflash fiction.\u201d These stories must conclude in 1,000 words or fewer. She said, \u201cIt\u2019s an art. Packing so much into so little can exercise the mind. Only putting what\u2019s necessary provokes the reader to come up with their own conclusions about the character and the story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This isn\u2019t all she has been working on. \u201cI am currently writing a second book titled \u2018The Anatomy of a Cowering Dog.\u2019 It will be both prose and poetry. I\u2019ve grown since I published \u2018A Good Southern Girl.\u2019 This one will be different, but it will still be me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After posting her work on social media a few years ago, Graves received a private message from Maggi Britton Vaughn, who served as the Tennessee Poet Laureate of the Southern Appalachian Mountains from 1995 until her death in June 2026. Vaughn grew up on the Cumberland Plateau and was well known for her deep affection for the rural South. She invited Graves to her home in Bell Buckle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019d stay over there for hours. We would talk about how magnificent it is to write. She gave me so much wisdom. She told me to never budge when it came to my writing. Sounding smart is one thing, but writing where people can understand is key. I will never forget that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thinking back on what her friendship with Vaughn means now that she has died, Graves said, \u201cI am so grateful I got to meet Maggi. She paved the way for young, Southern female writers like me. I received lessons from her that I wouldn\u2019t have learned anywhere else. Tennessee was lucky to have her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Graves dreams of her future, she says, \u201cI just hope to write. I don\u2019t care what it\u2019s about. I just want to write. That is my one true love in life.\u201d GN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ava Graves considers the characters in books her dearest friends. Novels, short stories, poetry, and the authors\u2019 own stories fill Graves with an unending desire to create. They are the breath that fills her creative lungs and the adrenaline that fuels her imagination. When Graves was born, she began receiving books from Dolly Parton\u2019s Imagination […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":25663,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[4,75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cover","category-shelbyville"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/09\/4-1-1024x683.jpg\")
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