It’s been snowing like crazy here in Utah. The kids even got a snow day, which was unheard of when I grew up here but seems much more common now with remote learning tools. My father-in-law has been keeping track and says he’s shoveled his driveway 20 times this year. It’s definitely been cramping my running style. I know how to run in the drizzly rain of Seattle, but I still haven’t quite braced myself for running 6 miles in the snow.
This month I attended LTUE 41 in Provo. My goal was to attend some classes about plot and structure to help me improve my ability to finish stories (still a struggle!). I also wanted to network with potential guests for Pop Culture on the Apricot Tree, which I definitely succeeded at. There was a presentation on “Faith and Film” with a bunch of LDS film people who I’m hoping to follow up with. I also met up with my online writing group, which was formed after the conference last year (Hi, Paper Wizards! You are awesome!) and had lunch with a great group of writers from the Latter-day Saint Authors of Science Fiction and Fantasy group on Facebook.
But the highlight for me was finally getting to hear Nick Fredrick’s presentation “Could Brandon Sanderson Have Saved the Nephites?” (I was so mad that I couldn’t make it up to the Book of Mormon Studies Association conference when he first presented it.) I didn’t realize the title was playing off of a 1994 presentation by Carol Lynn Pearson called “Could Feminism Have Saved the Nephites?” so now I’ve got homework to do. I loved how the paper combined the academic, the theological, and the personal into one cohesive package. It’s exactly the sort of thing I’d love to write someday. Fingers crossed, but I think we’re going to publish it in the genre fiction issue of Irreantum, so you’ll all get to read it!
February was very poor on the writing front. Only hit 2668/8000 words. Probably due to the shortness of the month, LTUE, and other responsibilities getting in the way. Oh well, time to get back to work in March. I’ve got a new short story I’m working on codenamed “Terraforming Project.” Also my proposal for the Association for Mormon Letters conference was accepted, so now I get to write my paper on how Mormons write about aliens. The conference will be streamed free online, so jump in if you’re interested. I’m excited to see what other fun presentations on Mormonism and genre fiction were selected.
In publishing news, my Solar Punk Utah story has found a home! I’ll be sure to post a link here when the story is published. We published two killer episodes on Pop Culture on the Apricot Tree this month. Episode 21 is a crossover with Radical Civility discussing the “Hated in the Nation” episode of Black Mirror and how social media makes us worse human beings. We also released an episode discussing The Chosen from an LDS perspective, including the whole “I am the law” controversy.
And the biggest news of all, which I just got this morning: my application was accepted to BYU’s English MA program, so I’ll be going back to school this fall! It’s going to be a major lifestyle adjustment, but I’m excited to put some more work into my academic side.
And now, on to the book reviews!
Continue reading “What I Read: February 2023”
