Without further ado, I am thrilled to share the inaugural installment of the Reader’s Library. Growing up, I was raised on mostly classical literature with a spattering of modern from time to time. As I’ve gotten older and more involved in various communities around me, I found myself wishing I was more familiar with recent works. In my search, I found The Hugo Awards, a site where the books, novellas, novelettes, and other forms of media are listed after they have won this prestigious award. So far, I have not been disappointed by their selections. Winners of the Hugo Award in the best novel category have been A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martin (2020); The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal (2019); The Stone Sky, by N.K. Jemisin (2018); and The Obelisk Gate, by N. K. Jemisin (2017). If you’re looking for a fantastic read or to expand yourRead More
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In true form, last year did not go quietly. The end of 2020 left me exhausted and spent. I know I am not alone in my hopes that this year will be a smoother ride for the world in general. It hasn’t been the perfect beginning many were hoping for, but I’ve found that by the end of January I am much more recovered than I was a month ago. Writing is coming much easier than it was in November with both my longer project and the short story I have been trying to have ready for critique by the end of next month. I am excited to virtually attend Life, The Universe, & Everything symposium this year. This is a symposium I’ve wanted to attend for three years now, but the stars have finally aligned (with a lot of pushing and pulling by me), making it possible. Please feelRead More
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The past couple of months have been story worthy with the intense ups and downs going on. Between holidays and funerals, I have been doing my best to squeeze writing in whenever I can. I even managed to get some reading in during long drives and much needed decompressing time. Everything that has happened gave me a chance to think about the people in my life; the ones I have briefly encountered, the people that are dear to me, and those who have gone on. During my latest reading I was having a hard time discerning why I was struggling to get through the book. Eventually I discovered at that my trouble stemmed from the story portraying characters as only drops in a vast ocean of time and progress. It is a “lesson” these characters are taught by experiences that make them feel inconsequential. While I may return to thisRead More
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Just in time for the Halloween season! After months of preparation and delays due to COVID-19, my short story “Night Watch” is now available in the Utah Horror Writer’s anthology, They Walk Among Us! It has been strange seeing my name printed alongside more established Utah authors, some who I’ve seen at writing conferences over the past couple of years. Even stranger, I noticed that “Night Watch” was referenced once or twice in the description on the back cover. That has flattered me beyond belief. For those who want to feel their spines tingle in the spirit of Halloween, They Walk Among Us is now available on Amazon in paperback. In this anthology there is a flavor of spooky for everyone! As far as I know, the publisher has changed plans and not released a digital version, but I will let you know if that changes. Since the finished versionRead More
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July and most of August has come and gone like a storm where my family and I experienced intense illness and a painful personal loss. Thankfully, the storm has passed, and life is returning to its normal bound path. Except for a few particularly bad weeks, I have kept writing. It has been immensely satisfying to break into a new act in the story. I don’t want to give too much away, but my main characters have made some significant discoveries that will both come into play now and later in the story. The last I was told by the editor working to publish the They Walk Among Us anthology, our short stories were to be published in July. So far, I have not heard anything from him or anyone else involved in the project. I assume that this pandemic is to blame for the delay, but I plan onRead More
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I am happy to say that my entire time in quarantine and working from home hasn’t gone to waste. Truthfully, the first few weeks were difficult (as I mentioned in earlier posts), but after that I was able to spare some of my mental energy for writing and plotting. Speaking of plotting, I want to share a personal achievement. While working on The Lost Colony first draft, I have been simultaneously plotting, and a few weeks ago I finished—all 152 scenes! This plotting project has been quite the major undertaking, from buying and gluing the foam trifolds, painstakingly drawing and redrawing lines and boxes, to writing out all 152 scenes on individual 3×5 cards. Now, I know that I will be even more proud when the book is finished, but I couldn’t help but feel satisfaction seeing my plotting board completely filled in. For those who haven’t read my earlier posts, IRead More
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June has followed suit with this year’s theme of chaos and uncertainty. Thankfully, life has found a way to continue. I am so grateful that the League of Utah Writers decided to hold its Spring Conference in a virtual format this past May. I wanted to share a few highlights shared by various authors during their presentations, starting with J. T. Moore’s Dos and Don’ts of Writing People of Color. I have always strived to be respectful in my writing in regards to race and representation, but Moore’s presentation made me realize that I needed to be more conscious in my choices and descriptions of people of color. She advised writers to indicate a character’s race early on, even if the character is White. This will help avoid the White default that many readers envision when first introduced to a character. However, when describing people of color, Moore explained thatRead More
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Even upside down, the world goes on spinning. I wanted to share an event going on later this month, as well as an update regarding “Night Watch.” Although we can’t meet in person, the League of Utah Writers is still holding its Spring Conference on May 23rd via technology. I’m excited for this year’s conference because I don’t have to pick and choose what classes and discussions I attend. I can go to all of them! The presentations will be prerecorded for everyone to view. There will be some live Q and As, manuscript feedback, and other fun things to attend live next Saturday as well for a more en media res feel. I’ll make sure to share some of the highlights of the conference before June rolls around. Registration for LUW members is $20, while normal registration is $50. Buy a ticket here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2020-spring-conference-league-of-utah-writers-registration-73177121741 *** The They Walk AmongRead More
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This past week I finally feel like I’ve gotten a handle on things. Motivation to do more than work and sleep has broken through the fog my brain has been swimming in over the past month. I sincerely hope that I’m not alone in finding this new normal easier to traverse. What I want to share is an experience I had back in December, months before the insanity of 2020 ensued, that reminded of the costs of any level of fame and the impact actions can have on readers or potential readers. I was with a group of neighbors when they began talking about a fairly well-known author’s visit to the local elementary school. My interest quickly turned to dismay as one of my neighbors shared what she had been told about the encounter. Apparently, the visit wasn’t going as smoothly as the writer wanted. They became snippy and yelledRead More
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Saying that these past couple of months feels like a whirlwind is a major understatement, but it sums up how I feel. I was finishing up my second week at my new job when the institution I work for announced that everyone would be working remotely effective immediately. A short time later, my area experienced a significant earthquake, and we are still feeling the occasional aftershock. Now, like most of the United States, I am staying at home as much as possible. When the advisory to stay home first began, I found I silver lining by imagining how much writing I could get done instead of commuting to work. I imagined that I would have so much more energy. But not surprisingly, things haven’t gone as planned. During the first part of this week I was chiding myself for not being as creatively productive as I wanted. I couldn’t understandRead More
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Years ago when I was a teen who read everything she could about the authors she liked, I came across an interview with one of these authors discussing the characters in his fantasy series. I don’t recall much about the interview, but I do remember the author saying that the main protagonist was himself. At the time, I didn’t realize how important character creation would become for me, but it has stuck with me nonetheless. When I was still a young writer, I listened to authors give their opinions about making characters. Some create characters from scratch; others base them off of people they know. Very few authors (like the one I mentioned above) said that they base characters off of themselves. Now, I know that there is a lot more to this conversation than what I’ve stated, but this is what my understanding boiled down to when I beganRead More
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Recently graduated from college and currently looking for a (paying) job, I found myself with something that I haven’t had in a long time: time to write. I was excited by this prospect. Finally, I could write for hours and finally finish that novel I’ve been working on. Additional motivation was added when a fellow writer suggested we exchange weekly chapters. And yet, I found that I was struggling to get the words on the page. It was easier to become distracted and prioritize other tasks, some of which truly did need to be put first. These and other thoughts about my writing career were pinballing in my subconscious while I was listening to an episode of Writing Excuses from last year. The topic of the episode was deciding what kind of author you want to be, and making that decision early on. While I believed that I had alreadyRead More