The Founders
The Character
Hotshot driver. Gritty realist. Hard-boiled truth delivered in plain English.
The Writer
I'm Hank's handler. Not exactly sure why he trusts me with his stories, but he does. And I've agreed to pass them on to all of you. While Hank tramps around the USA playing Hotshot Hero — writing his memoir in shady diners and truck stops — I'm here in Southern Georgia, studying Philosophy and working on my craft.
Hank Cotton's archive →The Character
Regional nuisance. Minor legend. Ersatz poet who seized a guitar by the neck when he was a kid.
The Writer
Rick West — the public-facing version, anyway — comes from the southeastern United States. The humid stretch of land where stories sweat before they speak. He wanders now. Portugal, Istanbul. Albania. Even Florida. Other coordinates still blinking on the map. He takes notes, asks bad questions, drinks whatever's poured, and passes the signal along. Author of First Light.
rick-west.com →
The Character
Lyrical. Confessional. Southern goth with softer edges — stories that are sometimes fiction but always true.
The Writer
My stories are sometimes fiction, always true. I'm not the Gray or Grace in these stories. But we've walked a lot of the same roads. Heard a lot of the same songs. Cried over a lot of the same things. For a long time, I lived mostly in my head. These days, I write it out. Author of the Opera Rose trilogy.
Turtle Meat Mixtapes →The Trio
Hank, Grace, and Beau — the characters who showed up first and never really left. They're the reason The Porch exists. Everything else grew from that.
How the Trio found each other →Also Present
Strangely sentient. Taxidermied. One eye cracked, one glowing blue-green since Pensacola — nobody's talking about it. He answers to French curses and banana pudding. He was there before the rest of them knew they were starting something. He already knows what's in the cooler. He emits low-level observational signal. The humans continue regardless.
Read his origin →