From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #115 Reply-To: aml-list Sender: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk aml-list-digest Thursday, July 27 2000 Volume 01 : Number 115 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 15:22:06 -0500 From: "Nelwyn Thurman" Subject: Re: [AML] _Pioneer_ Magazine Needs Writer I heard somewhere that one of Brigham Young's wives was sent back east to attend medical school. Was this just a story going around? Or is it really true? Nelwyn - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 15:01:01 -0700 From: "Christopher Bigelow" Subject: [AML] Two Queries Two queries: 1) Does anyone have old copies of the Salt Lake Observer, the short-lived newspaper that was published not long ago? I'm looking for a review of _Dancing Naked_ by Paul Swenson that ran in the Observer. Or maybe you know of an online database of Observer articles or have Paul Swenson's e-mail. 2) In the new, bright-orange _Dialogue_ which was edited by the AML, a reference is given at the bottom of page 7 for an essay by John Redelf titled "Who are the Signaturi?" However, the URL given didn't work. Does anyone have a better reference or the full text they could e-mail me? Thanks, Chris Bigelow, chrisb@enrich.com * * * * * * Read my novella about Mormon missionaries at http://www1.mightywords.com/asp/bookinfo/bookinfo.asp?theisbn=EB00016373. - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 15:32:01 -0600 From: Kathleen Woodbury Subject: RE: [AML] BYU Children's Writing Conference At 03:31 PM 7/26/00 -0400, Tracie Laulusa wrote: >Which group did you work with? I'd really like to hear about some other >attendees' experiences. Lisa Peck was there as well, and I've talked with >her a little. I was in a middle-grade reader group, though we did some young adult as well. >A lot of what we went over were things I knew. I did wish that our group >(picture books) had done a lot less talking and a lot more working on our >writing. I'm glad we had the opportunity to hear from pretty much all the >presenters-different perspectives and ways of working and all that. I >especially enjoyed John Ritter. It was probably hard for the teachers to know what to spend time on and what to skip over. There were people who didn't know anything about writing at all, and really needed to go over the basic stuff. It would be nice if there could be a workshop for more advanced writers sometime.... Dean Hughes presentation on how he develops an idea was probably the most useful for me. I do that in a more or less haphazard way and I felt inspired to be more systematic about it, as he is. Might get me writing more stuff, for one thing. >I'll try to be a little more detailed when I have a little more time. I >know Beth was interested in picture books-or I can e-mail her privately. I'd be interested in hearing more about picture books, so don't email her privately. Share! Kathleen Dalton-Woodbury workshop@burgoyne.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 15:19:05 -0700 From: harlowclark@juno.com Subject: [AML] Margaret YOUNG, _I Am Jane_ (Review) What the Inner Soul is Saying Review of Margaret Young's _I Am Jane_ "Last but not least, in our services anybody can sing, and there are very few if any people that sing of a caliber of a Katie Jackson. Most people can't sing a lick. Contrary--I mean, they're really bad singers, and they have bad timing, to debunk the stereotype about African American people. And, what we have to do as musicians is be able to pick up on what they're singing and bring that spirit that they're trying to bring out and bring that expression out, and help the service reach that level of being able to express what their inner soul is saying." - --Chuck Campbell, sacred steel guitar player in the House of God African American Holiness Pentecostal Keith Dominion, speaking with Renee Montagne Friday, May 5th 2000 on NPR's All Things Considered, after Arhoolie records released its album _Sacred Steel_. Before that, sacred steel, "a way of leading and luring worshipers to the spirit," was rarely heard outside the House of God, Keith and Jewel Dominions. (Part 1 of the interview was Thursday, May 4) A ward choir director, one of the several I sang under in Seattle, once said I had an unparalleled ability to harmonize, which meant I would match any note anyone in the choir was singing, except the note I was supposed to be singing from the sheet music. As one who loves to sing, has a good voice, but doesn't sing well (if I want to know what it feels like to be illiterate I go to choir practice, usually late) it was deeply comforting to hear Chuck Campbell say that the Lord wants to hear from every voice and raised up a musical tradition to help each sorry voice raise itself to depths of great contrition and grand praise, a tradition of guitar "trying to mimic the human voice and try to bring it to another level." I thought about this when we went down to the Villa Theater July 10 to see Margaret Young's _I Am Jane_. I was moved when the cast came onstage through the audience, clapping and singing "Amen." I have loved that song since I heard Sidney Poitier sing it in _The Lilies of the Field_ decades ago. Ten or so years after I first saw _Lilies of the Field_ Clayne Robison introduced me to Jester Hairston's music ("Elijah rock, shout, shout, / Elijah rock, coming up Lord") in a multi-disciplinary class. A year or two later Hairston, an old man, came to BYU with his choir and during the intermission he sat on the edge of the DeJong stage talking with the audience about the early days of his marriage and other things. I loved his generosity, spending his break time with us. Then I went off to graduate school, and a few years later saw Hairston, older still, playing Rolley the deacon on a sitcom about the Black Church, _Amen!_ Very nice comic timing, and I loved the Christmas episode where each cast member was presenting a gift. His was directing a choir. Then we came back to Utah and a still older Jester Hairston was performing in the Tabernacle, and he sang "Amen," which, he told us, he had written for, and sung in, _Lilies of the Field_. He explained how the song follows events in Jesus's life, for example, "‘Preaching in the temple.' Now you don't sing Amen there because that's disputation." You sing it after the resurrection, drawing out the A. "A-Amen, Amen, Amen." What a beautiful word--_Truth_--to hear a cast sing as they come onstage. I went to hear that singing, to hear their story. For you see, I carry a wound. I must have been in kindergarten in November 1963, I had turned five that summer, and I remember the feeling of helplessness when I heard that President Kennedy had been shot, the same feeling I felt 5 years later--still in elementary school--when I heard Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King had been shot. By that time I had come to see something very confusing in my country. I had teachers who taught me about the evils of slavery and the brave people who fought for civil rights--and other people who told me Martin Luther King, and those like him, were communists. And I remember very clearly Black Panther comments about killing pigs and a news report of a Black Panther breakfast where comic books were handed out with pictures of children killing pigs in cops' clothes. I came to a conclusion that blacks hated whites--and with good reason, considering how whites had oppressed blacks for centuries. Of course it was not true that blacks hated whites, just like the rumors about the blacks coming to SLC to march on general conference and start a race riot were not true. But imagine yourself a brilliant child with a deep sensitivity to language, but not enough rhetorical skills to understand the difference between speechifying and the language people use to say their truths. How would such a child understand the angry words from so many sources? There was language of hate all around me, deeply angry language, like Eldridge Cleaver's review I came on years later of _The Wretched of the Earth_, where Cleaver said Frantz Fanon had written the book to legitimate the murderous rage oppressed people develop for their oppressors. And I found many years later, reading Michael Quinn's article about Ezra Taft Benson and Hugh B. Brown, that the rumor about race riots at general conference was started by ultra-conservative whites, wanting to stir up a riot. So I carry a wound when I delve into Black American life and experience. I have no right to ask that part of my culture to heal my wound. That those sisters and brothers give out their healing is an act of grace. There is a snatch of hymn from my childhood that expresses the grace of such healing, "What comfort this sweet sentence gives." There is deep mystery in that line. I knew that a sentence was something a judge hands down, like a death sentence. How could a sentence be sweet? I also knew that Jesus's suffering was an act of supreme love, and I supposed that was what made his death sentence sweet. I asked my father, and he reminded me that a sentence is any collection of words, not simply what a judge says, and the sweet sentence those words referred to was, "I know that my Redeemer lives." Well, I grew up wanting to write sweet sentences. And to hear them. There are lots of sweet sentences in _I Am Jane_, some preachy sentences right at the end, and the inter-cutting of Martin Luther King's and Spencer W. Kimball's voices didn't work very well (maybe that device doesn't work well, or maybe the sound system just wasn't good enough to pull it off), but enough sweet sentences that I hope the people in Chicago find it as moving as I did, and enough sweet voices to understand why that stereotype Chuck Campbell talks about still plays from a lot of stereos. Harlow Soderborg Clark - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 17:09:43 -0700 From: "Brandi Rainey" Subject: Re: [AML] _Pioneer_ Magazine Needs Writer I'm actually writing the feature article Chris mentioned in his post. = Based on my preliminary research I can confirm that Brigham Young sent = several women east to study midwifery, but I'm not sure if either of them = was one of his wives. I'll keep you updated as my search continues. [Brandi Rainey] >>> "Nelwyn Thurman" 07/26 1:22 PM >>> I heard somewhere that one of Brigham Young's wives was sent back east to attend medical school. Was this just a story going around? Or is it = really true? Nelwyn - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 19:43:35 EDT From: "Rex Goode" Subject: [AML] Is the Desire to Write Genetic? By way of bringing some of my friends up to date on some important events in my life, and to relate it to literature, I have a question. Do you think that a desire to write is genetic? As many of my long-time friends know, I have never known my biological father. He and my mother were divorced when she was still pregnant with me. He was reputed to have dealt with mental illness, believed to be paranoid schizophrenia. I'm forty-four years old and have always wanted to know my father. I didn't really care in what condition I might find him. Chances were, if I were to ever have found him, it would be in a hospital or sanitarium, or so I was led to believe by some of my mother's relatives. My daughter, Melissa, took a few classes in family history and Brigham Young University and decided to put a query about my grandfather, Thomas Jefferson Goode, out on a web site intended for such information. A little over two weeks ago, my daughter received a question from a Sharon Goode, wanting to know how we were related to Thomas Jefferson Goode. I wrote back to the woman and said that I was the son of Thomas Jefferson Goode's son, Paul Goode, but that I had never known him. The woman quickly replied to me that she was married to my father for 22 years before divorcing him over a decade ago. She had two sons by him, my half-brothers, and best of all, was willing to put me in touch with him. Shortly thereafter, I received my first email from my long lost father. I've had a phone conversation with one of my half-brothers and long emails with the other. Last night, I had my first voice contact with my father over the phone. He has indeed spent much of his adult life in hospitals. Because of the fog of his illness at the time and my mother divorced, he was not aware she was pregnant, and therefore not aware of my existence. As you might imagine, I am both thrilled and scared. What is more than interesting to me is the degree of my personality, traits, and interests that I share with my half-brothers and father. I've seen pictures of him now, and the poor man looks like me. When he called, he said that my voice was almost identical to his younger son's. Probably the second most powerful dream and drive I've had, next to my father, is to write and some day be published. Among the things that arrived by mail from my father was a small children's book he had published through an even smaller publishing company he owns with a partner and a tape with his voice reading his poetry. My father loves to write. I love to write. Always have. [Rex Goode] ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 21:05:56 EDT From: Pup7777@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] BYU Children's Writing Conference In a message dated 00-07-26 19:04:59 EDT, you write: << There were people who didn't know anything about writing at all, and really needed to go over the basic stuff. It would be nice if there could be a workshop for more advanced writers sometime.... >> I echo this wish. I have been to one writing conference where they did have two different tracks. One for the beginner and one for the more advance writer. There is so much to learn about the craft of writing, it is nice when we can tap into areas or techniques that we don't already know. I am always excited when I come away from a conference learning something. It seems like to me that there is a lot of resources for the beginner but not as much for the intermediate writer. I wonder why is that? Economic? I bet there are a lot of people who want to be writers, come to conferences, find out what it is all about, try it for a day or two, find out it's a lot of work or become discouraged and quit. Does anyone know good sources for the intermediate author? Lisa Peck - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 02:03:16 -0600 From: Thom Duncan Subject: Re: [AML] DUTCHER, _God's Army_ Rex Goode wrote: > > Author, Colleen Bernhard, of _He Delivered My Soul From Bondage_, speaking > at a conference of Evergreen International in Salt Lake City a few years > ago, remarked, "The first commandment of the Mormon culture, not to be > confused with Mormon doctrine, is, 'Thou shalt avoid all appearance of > evil.'" In context, and properly translated, this passage of scriptures mean something entirely different than Bernhard says it does. A rough translation of the passage is: "Avoid evil the moment it makes its appearance." Thus we see that the Lord is not telling us to avoid "appearing" as if we are evil by avoiding outlandish clothing or hair styles, but that if we run across evil in our daily lives, we are to avoid, or eschew it. - -- Thom Duncan - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Read the further adventures of Moroni Smith, the LDS Indiana Jones! The long-awaited second episode in the Moroni Smith LDS adventure series, _Moroni Smith: In Search of the Gold Plates_ is now available as an e-book at the Zion's Fiction web page: http://www.zfiction.com - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 20:48:23 EDT From: Pup7777@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] BYU Children's Writing Conference Okay, Beth you wanted to know everything you could about the writing conference, here goes. (Actually about halfway through this conference I decided to get credit for going to these workshops. One of the assignments I have to do is do a log on everything we attended to prove we were there. That is what this is. This is probably more information than you wanted. Sorry it took me a while to response. I've been playing catch up since I came home from the conference.) Children's Panel Thursday 6:30-7:30 Chris Crowe asked the authors (Carol Lynch Williams, Kristine Randle, Mike Tunnel, and an illustrator (?) ) many thought provoking questions about the writing experience and publishing. One question I found of interest was if the authors thought that experiencing a lot of pain in a person's life could contribute to good writing. Books for Young Readers Symposium Log 9:00-10:15 Margaret Haddix The subject of her talk was where she got her ideas. She talked about how RUNNING OUT OF TIME evolved out of her work as a reporter. She then went through the rest of the books she had written and told of their births. 10:45-Noon Uri Shulevitz He talked about his art and how the publishing world used to be the good old days. He complained about the new evolving art in children's books. He showed pictures from his books. 1:30-2:30 Spotlight on Books Wonderful panel by Chris Crowe, Nancy Evensen, Jim Jacobs, Nancy Livingston, Carla Morris, and Marsha Broadway. They discussed some of the great books of the century and my wallet is definitely feeling the hurt from their sells pitches. Some that I can't wait to read our Backwater, A Dance for Three, Vanishing, Getting Near to Baby, The Wanderer, Eleanor's Story, A Stranger Comes to Ashore, The Iron Ring, Dove Isabeau, The Janitor's Boy, and Dirt Boy. 2:50-4:05 Rick Walton I did not attend. I have heard Rick Walton talk many times. He's always good. 5:00-6:50 Louis Sachar He read a chapter that he wrote and had a hard time fitting into a book. He also read from his movie script Holes and talked about changing the language of his characters for the movie. 8:45-10:00 Jim Arnosky I did not attend but heard that he played the guitar and was extremely funny. 10:40-11:55 Gail Carson Levine She talked about how she tried to write picture books for nine years. She also talked about the struggle to find who she was, her voice. She also talked about how she worked to improve her craft. 1:20-1:50 (The time was changed because the lunch of the presenters was messed up but I don't remember how far behind the presenters were from the original time outline.) Gail Carson Levine She talked a lot about what a writer could do to improve their skills, resources they could use and she also gave writing exercises that she gives to the group of kids she taught. 1:55-2:25 Margaret Haddix She talked about the importance of reading and going back to the books you loved as a child. She also talked about her children and how she is very firm when nap time starts. 2:30-3:00 Louis Sachar He talked a lot of his Sideways books and how he based it on some children he knew while working with them. He doesn't know where he got his view on life and, no, he did not get it from anyone in his family. 3:05-3:35 Louis Sachar He talked about how he like the health insurance he got from writing the movies but his heart is writing novels and that is what he wants to do. He also talked about how he does lots of rewrites and the he does have a list of things he looks for with each draft. "Writing Your Way into Print" Workshop Schedule Monday 7/17 8-12 Dean Hughes-Middle grade novel He explained his method of clustering and how it is a creative process and doesn't take away from being an artist. 1-2 Ron Woods-Placing the First Novel: Lessons in Humility and Patience It took sixteen years for his novel to get published. He read the many of the rejection letters his editors wrote him over the years. The editors called his book 'haunting' but kept having problems with the believability of the book. 2-3 Louise Plummer-"How Do I Write A Novel?" She read a scattering of her journal self-portraits. Then discussed how her students write wonderful journey entry but then lose the spark when trying to write fiction. Her secret was to write about yourself loosely disguised in fiction. Tuesday 8-12 Dean Hughes Talked about the making up a scene. We created a checked list of things needed like visual set up and the sense. Laura Torres visited and discussed the requirements of American Girl and how to get in doing a variety of things and start with nonfiction. 1:30-2:30 Carol Lynch Williams-Too Much of a Good Thing Carol talked about being brave enough to write the truth about hard issues. She possessed questions about the moral implications then showed the dangers of putting others in the book. 2:30-3:30 John H. Ritter-"If I Were You, Here's What I'd Do" He talked about the techniques of how to make good literature and how to analysis and study other people's books to improve your writing. Read books like Sherlock Holmes. 3:30-4:30 Francoise Bui-Writing from the Heart and the Editorial Process Discussed what kinds of books she published and works on. She discussed things you could do better your chances. Number one thing is to have the writing sparkle. Wednesday 7/19 8-12 Dean Hughes Went over the principles of rush write and analyze several members work. Also talked about how to force yourself to make writing time. 1:30-2:30 Panel: Laurel Brady/ Cheri Earl/ Sharlee Glenn Sharlee Glenn gave the 5 T's to be a writer and told about Madeliene L'Engle rejections. Cheri Earl talked about her books almost getting published and not writing in a vacuum. Laurel Brady informed us that once you get published, it doesn't mean you made it. 2:30-3:30 Jim Jacobs and Chris Crowe Chris and Jim announced 40 of the 20th Century's Best Books. They told about their favorite books and why. Jim's picks were more nonfiction and picture books in focused. He liked the truly unusual stories with staying power. Chris focused more on YA novels and the power of emotions. He listed books he found students love, read, and adore. 3:30-4:30 Laura Torres-Everything I Know About Publishing She went over the need for connections and why people write and more about American Girl. She then went to say that bad books get published and do sell. 7-7:30 Gloria Skurznski She read her work in progress called ROCK BUSTER. It was a historical about a boy traveling to Boise. He ends up testifying against his brother, which leads to his uncle's death. 7:30-8 Louise Plummer She read a part of an essay she wrote for the radio about forgetting things. After that she read part of her new book A DANCE FOR THREE. Thursday 8-11:30 Dean Hughes We went through more students work and discussed different issues like the difference from narrator's voice and the characters, the tendency to rehash situation too much at the beginning of a book, and the more specific little known detail you can put in historical the better it is. Noon-1:30 Ann E. Cannon Ann gave a humorous speech on living with fear and gave points on how she overcomes it. 1:30-2:30 Chat room We talked about the local market and the challenges presented there. We also talked about the trend for the "bleak" novel in children's literature. 2:30-3:30 Laura Torres- How To Get Published Laura gave a persuasive argument to why writing nonfiction is really helpful in the publishing world. She talked about submitting nonfiction and what constitute good nonfiction writing. [Lisa Peck] - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: (No, or invalid, date.) From: "Marilyn & William Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] Erica GLENN, _Dancing Shoes_ at Villa in Springville Nice announcement, Sharlee! Thanks so much. I am SO PROUD of Erica! Mostl= y because she has been SO PROFESSIONAL it is amazing. She approached this= work knowing that people were going to change things, make her rewrite = (even me). And on top of that she got criticism and "what are we doing = this for" attitudes. How did she hold up? I don't know. She's a phenomeno= n! Because the show is turning out to be darling, as I KNEW it would! I = have so much faith not only in the show, but in Erica's ability to create= , and to stick to something until she sees it through. We're going to hea= r from this girl again! And she has learned all of the computer tricks = and synthesizer tricks that will make it possible for her to soar! I am = so excited to have been a little part of this--and I hope you listers COM= E! This is a treat, because Erica's growing up! And will probably not be = able to act in her own PREMIER as a 12 year old star again! (And she is = believable and darling!) Sincerely, Marilyn Brown - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 07:33:28 -0700 (PDT) From: Ed Snow Subject: [AML] Re: Confessions of a Former FARMS Filing Clerk Jeff Needle, thanks for posting John Tvedtnes' response to my column, AND, thanks for sending the column to him. I'm glad he liked it, but I guess I'm a little mad at myself for setting myself up for his reprimand about FARMS not being an "apologetic think tank" or a "research arm of BYU." I should have known someone would take issue with those statements. My editor made me do it! Actually, the wording was mine, but Jonathon did make me add an explanation about what FARMS was, and that lame description was the best thing I could come up with to throw into a humor piece. It was a humor piece, after all. I'm allowed to exaggerate and don't have time for technicalities. I love FARMS. I read everything (virtually) that they publish. As a gospel doctrine teacher, I used their stuff every Sunday. In fact, I'm anxiously awaiting Tvedtnes' own Abrahamic lore book and I'm peeved at him for taking so long to publish the darn thing!!!! So there!! Take that, you, you ... "APOLOGIST"! John should know I'm not out of the loop, in fact, I've not only been reading FARMS stuff ever since the beginning, I've in fact published articles in their Journal of Book of Mormon Studies and Review of Books! So maybe John is a little out of the loop for not recognizing me as a FARMS regular!?!?! Hmphmph! John, I love your stuff--publish more of it, please!! Do more work on the DSS/BoM Isaiah stuff too. FARMS is one of the best things to happen in the church I can think of, but here's just one quibble. Why are they so defensive about being, well, defensive? "My name is Ed Snow, and I'm ... (gulp) ... an apologist." "Mommy, Tommy called me an apologist!" "That's it! I'm calling his mother!" It's not a disease, its not a defect. You don't have to join a self-help group. There is no 12 step program to follow. BH Roberts was proud to be a defender of the faith. I'm proud to do it too. It doesn't mean you're not a true scholar. I'm not parroting anti-mormon writers when I say FARMS is an apologetics think tank; that doesn't mean they don't produce true scholarship. Heck, all scholarship is apologetics!!!!!!!!! (that should rile everyone up). Even FARMS has made that point--that's where I learned it. Ed, defender of FARMS and Mormon Humor Apologist ===== Among best sellers, Barnes & Noble ranks _Of Curious Workmanship: Musings on Things Mormon_ in its top 100 (thousand, that is). Available now at 20% off http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=5SLFMY1TYD&mscssid=HJW5QQU1SUS12HE1001PQJ9XJ7F17G3C&srefer=&isbn=1560851368 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/ - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: (No, or invalid, date.) From: "Marilyn & William Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] Is the Desire to Write Genetic? Rex, this is incredible! What a story! Yes, you must write it! I am so = impressed. This is amazing. I haven't heard many stories of this kind tha= t have had the impact this one does on me. Of course you'll need to meet = him--get some relationship things going--to complete the tale, but it is = a NOVEL of epic proportions. And it belongs to YOU! I envy you your posse= ssion of such a powerful tale (I always hoped I'd find out I was half Ind= ian someday). Marilyn Brown - ---------- - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 11:26:54 EDT From: "Rex Goode" Subject: Re: [AML] DUTCHER, _God's Army_ >In context, and properly translated, this passage of scriptures mean >something entirely different than Bernhard says it does. > >A rough translation of the passage is: "Avoid evil the moment it makes >its appearance." Thus we see that the Lord is not telling us to avoid >"appearing" as if we are evil by avoiding outlandish clothing or hair >styles, but that if we run across evil in our daily lives, we are to >avoid, or eschew it. Of course, but the good woman can quip it in the context that most people believe it. Knowing a bit about her, I have little doubt that she knows what it really means. Her point is that, culturally, we tend to go to our church meetings putting our best and often falsest faces on, justifying our dishonesty out of fear and competitiveness. Our families may be full of spiritual and emotional sickness. We may desperately need the help of the people we worship with, but prefer instead to see if we can look the most "together." We use the church and our fellowship in it to make us museum saints instead of hospitaled sinners. Sister Bernhard's book is about addiction recovery and it is widely used in Mormon 12-step groups as an addiction workbook. Think of the woman married to an abusive husband, who shows up at church every Sunday, picture perfect, with flawlessly clean children walking reverently behind her. Her husband is a stalwart leader in the ward. Instead of leaving the bum, she ties her little family up in a "model Mormon family" package and avoids looking like her true pain. This is what Sister Bernhard meant. I find it interesting that every time I mention this quote from Sister Bernhard, someone feels obligated to correct the translation. What's up with that? Obviously, in the context in which I quoted it, her referral to that scripture was not to use it literally, but to make a philosophical point. Rex Goode ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 10:12:02 -0700 From: Barbara@techvoice.com (Barbara R. Hume) Subject: Re: [AML] Is the Desire to Write Genetic? >By way of bringing some of my friends up to date on some important events in >my life, and to relate it to literature, I have a question. > >Do you think that a desire to write is genetic? I'm not sure about the desire, but the talent may very well be. After I divorced, I moved back to my home town, where I got a job in Information Services at the local university where my father was a professor. During the course of my work, several of his articles crossed my desk. They were beautifully written! I had never seen any of his writing before, and I was seriously impressed. When I said to him, "Dad, you are a wonderful writer!" his response was, "Well, I've known that for thirty years!" My son always avoided writing because he considered it a chore, but when he was in graduate school I edited some of his papers for him and found that he has a natural feel for organization, sentence structure, support of thesis, integration of narrative passages into technical articles, word choice--in other words, I was seriously impressed. Okay, no cracks about traits tending to skip generations. barbara hume - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 09:31:10 -0700 From: eedh Subject: [AML] BYU Children's Writing Conference Thank you, everyone, for the comments about the writing conference. And thank you, Lisa, for your comments about the individual sessions. Do you have the time to answer a few questions? 1) Did the panel feel that experiencing pain in life contributed to good writing? 2) What things did gail Carson Levine say about a writer improving writing skills? What resources did she suggest? 3) What is Dean Hughes' clustering method? How did he suggest we force ourselves to make time to write? 4) How does Ann E. Cannon overcome fear? 5) What are the local market challenges for children's writers? 6) What constitutes good nonfiction writing? Did it make you want to try nonfiction writing (if you don't already do it)? Thanks for all this information! - -Beth Hatch - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 10:37:46 -0600 From: Steve Perry Subject: Re: [AML] _Pioneer_ Magazine Needs Writer Wasn't Ellis Shipp one of these women? (Not a wife of BY, though.) Steve P. > From: "Brandi Rainey" > Subject: Re: [AML] _Pioneer_ Magazine Needs Writer > > Based on my preliminary research I can confirm that Brigham Young sent several > women east to study midwifery, but I'm not sure if either of them was one of > his wives. I'll keep you updated as my search continues. - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 11:13:00 -0700 From: jeff.needle@general.com Subject: [AML] Two Queries Am> Two queries: Am> 2) In the new, bright-orange _Dialogue_ which was edited by the AML, a Am> reference is given at the bottom of page 7 for an essay by John Redelf Am> titled "Who are the Signaturi?" However, the URL given didn't work. Am> Does anyone have a better reference or the full text they could e-mail Am> me? Am> Thanks, Am> Chris Bigelow, chrisb@enrich.com His name is John Redelfs, and his e-mail address is jredelfs@worldnet.att.com. Hope this helps! ... Jeff Needle/jeff.needle@general.com ___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12 - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 11:53:09 -0700 (PDT) From: Laura Summerhays Subject: Re: [AML] SALINGER, _Catcher_ I am a female who read Catcher in the Rye at 17 and it affected me very much, so I don't think it's just a guy thing. Laura Summerhays - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 15:23:57 -0500 From: Linda Adams Subject: Re: [AML] Is the Desire to Write Genetic? At 06:43 PM 7/26/00, you wrote: >Among the things that arrived by mail from my father was a small >children's book he had published through an even smaller publishing >company he owns with a partner and a tape with his voice reading his >poetry. My father loves to write. I love to write. Always have. > >[Rex Goode] Very good question. I've wondered about this myself. My grandfather was Jean R. Paulson, who never became "famous" through his writing, but he wrote and published several biographies and a quantity of nonfiction articles in his lifetime, working in journalism and communications. He kept writing until he passed away two years ago at 91, although his eyesight had deteriorated to virtual blindness. He was also a friend and contemporary of Sam Taylor's. I am pretty sure there are other writers in my family further back as well, but I can't name them. So, there could be some truth to the idea. For all I know. And congratulations on finding your father. It must be both joyous and nerve-wracking, I can only imagine something that would be an overwhelming experience for all involved. Wow! Linda Adams ======================= Linda Adams adamszoo@sprintmail.com Writing Page: http://members.xoom.com/adamszoo Little Ones Lost: http://home.sprintmail.com/~adamszoo My new book, _Prodigal Journey,_ is now available online! Go to: http://deseretbook.com/products/4066899/index.html - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 14:58:27 -0500 From: Linda Adams Subject: Re: [AML] CARD, _A Storyteller in Zion_ >I hate the feeling of going to a book store or a sacrament meeting with >something nagging at me--"Oh, there's a book I need to remember to pick up >or an envelope I need to remember to give to someone." I prefer to keep my >mind free to enjoy and daydream. Okay, that makes sense. >I make a lot of serendipitous discoveries in bookstores (and try to avoid >them because I always spend too much), but if I know in advance I want a >specific title, I always just order it on the spot via Internet so it's >off my plate. (That reminds me, Linda, I need to order YOUR book. I balked >because it wasn't yet on Amazon or BN.) > >Chris Bigelow I wonder if you can order it directly from Cornerstone? Richard? And what would the process and postage be...? Anyway, thank you for wanting it. :-) Linda Linda Adams adamszoo@sprintmail.com Writing Page: http://members.xoom.com/adamszoo Little Ones Lost: http://home.sprintmail.com/~adamszoo My new book, _Prodigal Journey,_ is now available online! Go to: http://deseretbook.com/products/4066899/index.html - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #115 ******************************