October has come and gone and it’s time for book reviews again. Looks like the themes in this month’s reads are great short stories and novels with cliff hangers! I’ll also throw in a link to my Twitter review of the newly released Dune movie. Book reviews after the jump.
Continue reading “What I Read – October 2021”Author’s Note: Buyers, Renters, and Belonging
Read “Buyers, Renters, and Belonging” in Irreantum 18.2 – Building Zion.
Writing this essay was like writing a eulogy. A eulogy for all the groups of women who made my years as a young mother survivable. The steady presence of these two groups of women was the thing that got me through all the experiences of parenthood that make you think you’re losing your mind. Those groups no longer exist, though I occasionally still talk to some of the women who were part of them.
It’s also a eulogy for the suburban wards of the Pacific Northwest. You can see the slow decline of the wards in the area by looking at a ward map. Our ward had two church buildings inside its boundaries, buildings that used to house several wards each but have been hollowed out by the area’s financial success. It’s nearly impossible to find an affordable house in the area that can accommodate a typical Mormon-size family, and so the ward is filled with young renters and older couples who bought in before Microsoft happened.
This essay is also a very vulnerable one to me. The turn in the essay where I realize exactly how privileged and well-off we were is still something I am coming to terms with over and over in my everyday life. Talking about money and success is very taboo. There are different problems that come with financial success, and it’s hard to talk about them with anyone without coming across as bragging. There’s also the guilt of having money in a religion where we promise to consecrate all that we have. I often agonize over if we are giving enough to thank the Lord for his blessings.
I should note that though the ending to this essay is pretty bleak, we were actually quite happy to move to Utah. I grew up around my extended family and had wanted that for my kids for a long time. The pandemic provided the ability for us to be untethered from the Pacific Northwest. Still, the move was bittersweet like a breakup from a long-dysfunctional relationship. We already knew that it was over, but leaving made it feel so final. It meant admitting defeat in creating a community, one that we had covenanted to build. I felt bad for abandoning our ward in the state it was in, with so many in need of help and so many having to leave. In fact, in the months after we moved, several more of our remaining friends in the ward have left the area.
The Story-a-Day Challenge and How to Set ABC Goals for Writers
In September, I set out to participate in the Story-a-Day challenge. If you haven’t heard of it, Julie Duffy runs a challenge called Story-a-Day in May and September. As the title implies, she emails you a different prompt each day from which you are challenged to complete an entire story, beginning to end, in one day. These stories can be as short as you want; the only goal is to finish them. Ideally, by the end of the month, you’ll have 30 completed story drafts.
If you’re familiar with human nature, you won’t be surprised to hear that I did not end the month with 30 finished stories. I wrote 12 stories, 4 of which were complete drafts and the rest of which were outlines or ideas or the first third of a story before I ran out of time or lost the will to finish.
So do I consider my Story-a-Day experience a failure?
Continue reading “The Story-a-Day Challenge and How to Set ABC Goals for Writers”What I Read: September 2021
I had hoped that my life would calm down this month to allow me to read more. So of course our three-year-old van up and died at the beginning of the month. As of this writing, it’s still in the shop, though it appears that the part that broke is still under warranty. *sigh*
Anyway, several fun reads this month. Though it might appear that there’s very little SF, I have taken up reading Daily Science Fiction‘s flash fiction story every morning. (Most recent favorite: “Dinners Like We Used to Have” by Kelly Sandoval. It’s exactly the kind of human, intimate SF that I love.) Book reviews below the cut!
Continue reading “What I Read: September 2021”4 Writing Lessons from an Astronaut
Here’s what the life of astronaut Chris Hadfield can teach writers.
This week I had a chance to re-listen to a favorite of mine, An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield. One of my book clubs chose to read this one at my suggestion, and I’m so glad they did. Chris Hadfield is the astronaut you might recognize from his viral music video from the ISS or any of his great educational YouTube videos on the everyday life of astronauts. I find Chris’s writing delightful, his life fascinating, and his insights to life spot on.
This time through, I read the book with an eye towards how his advice could apply to a writing career. As you probably know, I’ve been a stay-at-home mom for over a decade. Now that my youngest child is in kindergarten, I’ve started to think more often about what I want to be when I grow up. I know I want to do something with words, but nailing that dream down can be hard.
This is where Hadfield’s advice comes in. Here’s what the life of an astronaut can teach writers:
Continue reading “4 Writing Lessons from an Astronaut”