RaveHypertextWatkins defies the industry’s stringent expectations and traditional MFA pedagogy ... Her images are fresh and clear–not heavily gilded to detract from the moment of despair and loneliness her characters move through in each story ... Watkins explores unrequited love in new and inventive ways ... Each of Watkins’ stories deftly and painfully exposes a universal sense of loneliness that her desert landscape amplifies and echoes. No two pieces are alike in their telling, further magnifying Watkins’ keen ability to wield stories. The next time someone asks me why I’m not writing a novel, I’ll give them a copy of Battleborn, and ask them why they haven’t read it yet.