I don’t believe in writer’s block, even though, truth be told, I experience it all the time. My denial seems similar to the good folks who acknowledge they don’t believe in God, and yet live everyday in a world abundant with his handiwork. Its as if ignoring writer’s block–as if inventing “necessary” errands and projects to keep me away from the computer–will make writer’s block non-existent. Of course this is only a psychological game I play with myself and not a very effective one at that.
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Category Archives: MoLit Community
On the Block
Filed under MoLit Community
Review: The Roots of the Olive Tree
The Roots of the Olive Tree, by Courtney Miller Santo, introduces readers to five generations of remarkable, complex women, each with secrets and desires which cause them to alternately rub one other the wrong way, hold one another’s hand, and have one another’s back. The matriarch of the family, Anna, is a 112 year old supercentarian who oversees the family olive farm. Over the decades, her wisdom has sharpened rather than weathered, and she remains as spry in body as in mind. Continue reading
Filed under MoLit Community, Name Dropping, Reviews and Critiques
Wanted: A New and Improved Feminism
So this woman shows up at the Facebook Mormon Women Writers page and asks an innocent question, something that noted the liberal bend of most posts and wondered aloud if this group was only for liberals. I made the assumption that this was a conservative Mormon woman, worrying that she might not fit in, so I sent her a private message, meant to encourage her participation. Turns out, she’s liberal and we had a brief conversation–mostly me “talking” as usual–in which I admitted to NOT being a Mormon feminist. Continue reading
Filed under Me and Mine, MoLit Community, Mormon Literature
What is the Mormon Sacred?
What a topic. How to approach and depict the sacred is something that has haunted artists throughout time. I’m very aware that I’m one little speck–one little known speck–in the artistic universe and that my take on the subject may be inconsequential to others. Still, approaching the sacred in written text is something I’ve contemplated for a very long time; something I’ve tried and erred doing; something at which I’ve achieved some level of success, or so I think. Continue reading
Filed under MoLit Community, Mormon Literature, Writing the Mormon Sacred
To Mormon Women who Write Literary Mormon Fiction, or to Mormon Men who Dare Write of Mormon Women
I admit I’m going to make some assumptions here. A lot of them actually. And I’m going to sound stereotypical and maybe even sexist. Continue reading
Filed under Getting Published, Me and Mine, MoLit Community, Mormon Literature
A Few Words about Irreantum’s 2011 Fiction Winners
In case you haven’t heard, the top winners in Irreantum‘s fiction contest for this year are: Continue reading
Filed under Getting Published, MoLit Community, Mormon Literature, Name Dropping
Building Bridges: Egbert Novel Excerpt
So I’m writing this novel, see? It’s a Mormon story, but not intended for Mormon consumption only. It’s basically about Holly, a Mormon woman who, as a young adult in the 1970’s, unknowingly married a homosexual returned missionary. It didn’t go well. In the days immediately post 9/11, she begins a redemptive journey to visit her ex-husband and get the answers, the explanations, she lacked these thirty years. Running as a subplot is the story of Joseph Egbert, the Unknown Pioneer of the This is the Place Monument, the man who drove Orson Pratt’s wagon, the first to enter the Salt Lake Valley and, a pioneer who became a reluctant polygamist. Continue reading
Filed under Me and Mine, MoLit Community
Discussion for Writers: Perspective, POV and a Memoir
The concept of perspective is one the best tools in the writer’s toolbelt. But if you bother to google around for an explanation of perspective in literature, you’ll find webpages that equate POV (point of view) and perspective. Conversely, you may find pages like the one I found at Continue reading
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Midweek Me Moment
Allow a moment of self-indulgence in this self-titled blog to mention what’s up in my writing life.
First, I’ve finally faced the fact that I have to rekey the novel manuscript that has become what my husband affectionately calls the “eternal novel.” Eternal because I work on it, leave it, work on it, leave it, work on it . . .
The novel begins immediately post 9/11 (though I began writing it in 2007) and is about a middle-aged LDS woman who, in the 1970′s, unknowingly married a closeted homosexual. He, of course, hoped marriage and hetero-sex would cure him. Continue reading
Filed under Getting Published, MoLit Community
Breaking News: Book of Mormon Musical Proves ‘Nifty Little Mormon Trick’ is True
As I drove my youngest to a playdate in a nearby subdivision, I discovered one of my 
dearest friends retrieving her mail and stopped to talk. She had just returned from NYC, so I asked, jokingly, if she’d seen The Book of Mormon Musical.
“Are you kidding?” she said, “I’d never give them my money.” Continue reading
Filed under MoLit Community, Name Dropping
