As usual, my attempts to be a regular correspondent have not survived contact with the semester. It’s been a busy but fun time. I have a lovely office on the fourth floor of the humanities building on campus, with a great view of the courtyard, and I’m having fun developing my lesson plans for an honors writing class on creative nonfiction.
In August, I presented at the Online Midsummer Seminar for the Mythopoeic Society. I was very intimidated by the amount of Tolkien knowledge on display, but our little King Arthur corner of the conference was productive for me. I got lots of good feedback on my discussion of religion and the character of Nimue in Lev Grossman’s The Bright Sword. The paper will soon be published as part of the conference proceedings. I look forward to going to future conferences!
I attended both the Restore conference and LDSPMA this fall. What can I say? I’m a conference junkie. LDSPMA was particularly productive as I met the team behind the new LDS sci-fi/fantasy magazine Infinite Valley as well as Cole Melanson, the designer behind the always gorgeous Wayfare Magazine. I’ll definitely need their advice as I head into laying out the first issue of Further Light!
Speaking of which, we’ve selected the pieces for the first issue of Further Light magazine. Developmental edits are going well and I’m so excited for you all to get to enjoy them. I’m in the midst of commissioning art for some of the pieces, which is a whole new world for me, so lots to learn. I’ve also been commissioned by BYU to be the new faculty advisor for Leading Edge. This student-run science fiction and fantasy magazine has been running for almost 50 years now, and I’ve argued before that its existence is one of the driving forces behind the huge numbers of LDS SF authors. Now that the magazine is moving back to the English department after its sojourn in linguistics, I’m excited to be part of helping to carry on that legacy.
And if all that wasn’t enough, I’m starting a new podcast! The Storming Journey is the brainchild of El Call, but when she asked me and Adam McLain to cohost, I couldn’t say no. The goal of the podcast is to read The Stormlight Archive as though it were a sacred text. If you’re familiar with Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, you know the vibe to expect. We’re reading chapter by chapter through the series looking for deeper meaning and personal growth. Our third episode released this morning, so if you’re all caught up on Stormlight (spoilers do abound on this podcast) and want to dive deeper into the books, join us on the podcasting platform of your choice!
(Don’t forget Pop Culture on the Apricot Tree which has recent episodes about The Wild Robot, The Good Place, and Cinderella retellings!)
Below are my book reviews from the last three months with a large caveat. I’ve started a project to read through the rest of the Jo Walton books that I haven’t read. I’ve got three more books, I believe, and I’ll be putting my review of her entire corpus into a separate post once I finish. Of course, if you’re dying to know what I thought about things, you can always follow me on Goodreads for more regular updates.
Continue reading “What I Read: August-October 2025”