From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #240 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, January 25 2001 Volume 01 : Number 240 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2001 22:51:00 -0800 From: harlowclark@juno.com Subject: Re: [AML] (Andrew's Poll) Religious Stories On Wed, 03 Jan 2001 Andrew Hall writes: > What are your favorite non-Mormon stories about faith and/or religion? > What was it about it/them that you liked? A day of Pleasure, by Isaac Bashevis Singer, also Joseph and Koza or The Sacrifice to the Vistula, also "A Sabbath in Lisbon," and of course, that wonderful scene where "Gimpel, The Fool" decides not to desecrate the bread dough. Measure for Measure and King Lear and The Winter's Tale by Shaxbeard Revelation and Parker's Back and (especially) Good Country People, by Flannery O'Connor Cathedral and A Small, Good Thing by Ray Carver. He wouldn't have thought of himself as a believer, but his stories are often quite religious, these two particularly, in how they deal with estrangement and at-one-ment. The Last Gentleman and The Second Coming, by Walker Percy. Like Williston Bibb Barrett I am deaf in my left ear, and just as confused by the world as him. I love the last 20 pages of the Second Coming where Will reaches out to God through serving other people, and the part where Allie breaks out of the asylum. I was a bit disappointed that Sutter Vaught doesn't play much of a role in The Second Coming. I've remained, for 10 or 12 years, halfway through Love in the Ruins, but I want to finish it so I can read The Thanatos Syndrome, then The Moviegoer and Lancelot. I think I could turn out as good a stylist as Percy--now I've just got to find the stories to tell. Endless Mountains by Reynolds Price. Bruce Jorgensen said he thinks its about the resurrection of the body and I think he's right. It's also about the ambivalence we have towards/from those we save and who save us. "Nine Mysteries," a sequence of poems in his first volume, "Vital Provisions." I especially like "Naked Boy" Where Jesus shows up on Passover morning to make a chicken coop for his friend. And I love the passage in "The Dream of a House" where he says, "Will I be alone," and the angel opens the closet to show him a man Nailed to a T-shaped rig-- Full-grown, his face eyelevel with mine. Eyes clamped. He has borne on a body No stronger than mine every Offense a sane man would dread-- Flailed, pierced, gouged, crushed-- But he has the still bearable sweet Salt smell of blood from my own finger, Not yet brown, though his long Hair is stiff with clots, flesh blue. A Bed by the Window, by M. Scott Peck--Murder mystery in a nursing home, where prayer plays a part in solving the mystery. The Blood of the Lamb, by Peter DeVries. Inspired by his daughter dying of leukemia I think I read (in How to Light a Water Heater and Other War Stories, a collection of newspaper columns I came across in 1976 when I was moving books from the old BYU library into the new BYU library (And those freskids who started in 1999 thought _they_ had the new library.)) The narrator comes to some peace with his faith after the death, only to find a tape his daughter recorded telling him how much she liked a rather nihilistic essay he had written. I particularly love the scene where he throws the cake in the statue's face. Death Comes for the Archbishop and Sapphira and the Slave Girl by Willa Cather. Moses, Man of the Mountains, by Zora Neale Hurston--Read about half of it in grad school when I was looking out literature drawn from religious folklore. Gotta find another copy and finish it. Jesus Tales, by Romulus Linney. A hoot and a holler as the Perry New York branch mission leader DeWayne Cox would say. The long, opening story, "Old Man Joseph and His Family," is wonderfully funny, Joseph's frustration and anger at this miracle-performing baby. And of course, I've got to mention Stephen Minot's Surviving the Flood, great story for anyone who loves Noah. Narrated by 900 year old Ham, prisoner in the "tower of which hath been spoken." Louis Owens' The Sharpest Sight is a wondrous piece about the Choctaw afterlife meeting the Catholic afterlife, sorta. Mundo Morales, who's looking for the body of his friend, has a ghostly grandfather who pops in and out of his patrol car giving him advice and helping the girl Mundo's murdered friend killed understand her death and cope with it. "Attis McCurtain spun in the river, riding the black flood, aware of the branches that trailed over his face and touched his body, spinning in the current of the night toward something he could feel coming closer, rising up to meet him. He knew he was dead, and in death an ancient memory had awakened, a stirring in his stilled blood, moving with him and around him on the flood." And Attis's brother Cole is also looking for the body, and his Uncle is using his spirit power trying to help change the narrative that destroyed Attis, and stop it from destroying Cole. The scene where Attis's father makes a sweat lodge for a girl who's just been raped and, who he knows might have killed Attis, is quite moving. Interestingly, I learned at the 1999 RMMLA convention that Owens sharply criticizes Sherman Alexie in Mixed Blood Messages for being too nihilistic. (Hmm, well, I'm starting to get caught up on my e-mail) Harlow S. Clark ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2001 23:13:17 -0800 From: harlowclark@juno.com Subject: [AML] Faith(fu)less Fiction January 20, 2001. I was reading Linda Adams 1/17 post, "Dealing with Mormon History," and saw her comment, "That said, I'm also on the side that is tired of reading faithless stories, stories critical of the Church, its doctrine, policy, or leaders. But I'm also tired of reading fluff."=20 It occurred to me that some people think anything negative is faithless, and I realized that Peter rebukes Jesus after the Transfiguration because he thinks Jesus's prophecy about going to Jerusalem and being killed. is telling a faithless story. (A bit like the woman I met on my mission who told me she had always been a bit disappointed in Jesus for saying, Eli, Eli, Lama Sabacthani. "He should know that God is always with us.") The idea of the Lord dying is horrifying. Think of President Hinckley standing up in conference and saying, "I'm going to Jerusalem next week without my bodyguard and I'm going to be scourged and nailed to a cross," and you get some idea of how Nephi felt to have a vision and learn what few people knew, that his God would be tortured to death, some idea of how Alma felt reading the prophecies to learn that the Savior of the world would be nailed to a cross. Then I realized I had said all this in a story I wrote for Christmas. It's very short, so I'll include it. It grew from a long discussion with D. Michael Martindale and Scott Parkin at the Writers' Conference about the ethics of writing fiction from the POV of historical people. The Dog's Feast Harlow S. Clark "You've been reading the prophecies again," Peter said. "The ancients didn't love the prophecies," Jesus said, walking further. "They killed Zenos and Isaiah, stoned Zenock. Didn't like what they said about death." He wondered how his twelve would take the words, how he could tell them. A meal, yes. A good type for his death. He would hold up a piece of bread, say, "This is my body," then tear it to pieces, but they would think Sustenance, not broken, torn=97just as the phrase Lamb of God did not bring them a picture of slit throat and blood over lintels. "You always brood when you read the prophecies," Peter said. "Like a hen gathering her chicks," Jesus answered. They had walked a few minutes before Peter said, "Oh, her brood." "Yes." They came to Sidon, to Simon's house. They would eat and rest, but a crowd formed and a woman asked for him. "Greek," Simon said. "Old Phoenician family."=20 She knelt before him. "My daughter. You know she has an unclean spirit." Jesus remembered the centurion in Capernaum. "He loves our people," they had told him, "built us a synagogue." As they led him toward the house, the man came out, stopped him. "I am not worthy for you to enter my house, Lord. But you don't need to. I am a man of power. I say =91Go,' and people go, =91Do this,' and people do. You are a man of greater power. You need only speak and my servant is healed." Jesus loved him. "He is whole." Those outside the covenant had greater faith. He wanted to say, "She is healed," but heard himself say, "The children of the kingdom eat first. It's not fitting to take the covenant food and toss it under the table for the dogs." She looked at him. Held his eyes. "Yes Lord, but the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." Her eyes, her words, were a hand thrust into his wound, breaking a crumb of his flesh. She knew. Knew what his twelve did not want to know, what the ancients had killed not to know. "Go your way for your saying. The devil is gone out of your daughter." Harlow S. Clark ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 00:20:06 -0700 From: "D. Michael Martindale" Subject: Re: [AML] First Attempts to Be a Writer "Eric R. Samuelsen" wrote: > How about this for a thread: y'all remember your first attempts to Be A Writer? My first "novel" was called _Lost In Space_ (I just can't figure out where I got that idea). I wrote in in grade school. My friends seemed to make their way into it as characters. Partway in, I started reading it to them at school during lunch. They got such a kick out of being characters in it that I started tailoring the writing to what I thought would get the best reactions from them. Like for example, Don Plumb became "Big King Plumb from Planet X." (Please remember, this was grade school.) Guess you could say it was my first attempt at "writing for the audience." The manuscript was lost long ago. Pray it stays lost. - -- D. Michael Martindale dmichael@wwno.com ================================== Check out Worldsmiths, the new online LDS writers group, at http://www.wwno.com/worldsmiths Sponsored by Worlds Without Number http://www.wwno.com ================================== - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 09:54:44 MDT From: "Tarbet, Scott" Subject: RE: [AML] Mormon Dialogue > I worked in a real estate (pronounced "rill astate") > office for a short time. One of the realtors > (pronounced "rill-a-ders") whose name was Dale > (pronounced "Dell") announced one day that "this sell > felled." It took me a few minutes to figure out that he > meant that the sale had failed. > > However, I think this is a Utah accent - maybe even a > Spanish Fork accent - more than a Mormon one. > > -Christine Atkinson I was born and raised (partly) here in Utah Valley, and was always taught by my diction-conscious mother that "Amercan Fark is where you git up in the marnin, put on yer sharts, and feed carn to the harses with a fark." [Scott Tarbet] - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 10:26:49 -0700 From: "Christopher Bigelow" Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Dialogue I got my bachelor's degree at a small communications college called = Emerson College in Boston. It started out as a school of oratory, and as a = holdover from that origin all students were still required to take Voice = and Articulation in 1988. In introducing ourselves, when I said I was from = the Salt Lake City area, the teacher said I would probably get an A, = because there's almost no urban Utah accent--it's the closest thing to a = clean, standard American accent. I don't think he meant that as exclusive = to Utah but probably applying to many midwestern states (most of which = start with a vowel). And I agree--except for some occasional Mormon smarmy-ness (and of course = transplanted accents from elsewhere), Salt Lake county has a very clean, = indistinguishable, vanilla accent. However, it starts to warp once you get = very far into Davis and Utah counties. Chris Bigelow - -------- For a sample copy of IRREANTUM, a Mormon literary quarterly, send $4 to = the Association for Mormon Letters, 262 S. Main St., Springville, UT = 84663. - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1904 10:55:10 +0800 From: "Eric D. Snider" Subject: Re: [AML] Year in Review, Pt. 3 (Drama, Essays) >Andrew asked, ><< Wow, who is doing the programming at >Little London? Has it been getting good audiences? >> >During the year in question, I was the artistic director of the Little London >Dinner Theatre. That's the simple explanation why nearly all of the plays >were written either by me or my buddies. Turnouts have been astoundingly >good. At the end of the year, I retired from that exalted position. First >play of the new season: Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. And coming up ... a couple Neil Simon plays, "The Wizard of Oz," and some other old chestnuts. This after I publicly praised Little London for doing shows that were new and different. Oh, well. Eric D. Snider - -- *************************************************** Eric D. Snider www.ericdsnider.com "Filling all your Eric D. Snider needs since 1974." - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 17:51:24 GMT From: cgileadi@emerytelcom.net Subject: Re: [AML] Editing Changes > > --- Linda Adams wrote: > > > What do you do with > > editors who mess up, rather than improve, your > > writing? In your opinion? > > Who's right, and how can you tell, as the biased > > author? > As a freelance editor, my experience has been that writers almost always love what I suggest. I think if an editor seems to mess up your writing, you need to talk face to face or on the phone to understand why she made the changes. If her reasoning doesn't wash for you, then you know you've got a crummy editor. But I can say as a writer that sometimes I just love things I've written, but they're really not that good. THEN I need that editor. Cathy Gileadi Wilson - --------------------------------------------- This message was sent using Endymion MailMan. http://www.endymion.com/products/mailman/ - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 12:31:01 -0700 From: Jacob Proffitt Subject: Re: [AML] Faith(fu)less Fiction On Tue, 23 Jan 2001 23:13:17 -0800, harlowclark@juno.com wrote: >January 20, 2001. I was reading Linda Adams 1/17 post, "Dealing with >Mormon History," and saw her comment, "That said, I'm also on the side >that is tired of reading faithless stories, stories critical of the >Church, its doctrine, policy, or leaders. But I'm also tired of reading >fluff."=3D20 > >It occurred to me that some people think anything negative is faithless, >and I realized that Peter rebukes Jesus after the Transfiguration = because >he thinks Jesus's prophecy about going to Jerusalem and being killed. is >telling a faithless story. (A bit like the woman I met on my mission who >told me she had always been a bit disappointed in Jesus for saying, Eli, >Eli, Lama Sabacthani. "He should know that God is always with us.") I think this is a common misperception. Speaking for myself, I can say = that I don't care if a story has negative elements or not. The gospel has negative elements (as you point out). The negative has to exist for opposition and contrast. I don't want stories that have no negative content. What I am tired of is content that is antagonistic to the = church or gospel. Note, I don't even care if it is antagonistic to individuals unless those individuals are set up to represent the church or gospel. >The idea of the Lord dying is horrifying. Think of President Hinckley >standing up in conference and saying, "I'm going to Jerusalem next week >without my bodyguard and I'm going to be scourged and nailed to a = cross," >and you get some idea of how Nephi felt to have a vision and learn what >few people knew, that his God would be tortured to death, some idea of >how Alma felt reading the prophecies to learn that the Savior of the >world would be nailed to a cross. Yes. That is horrifying. And stories about that should be disturbing. Scott Bronson's _Stones_ was very disturbing. And very intense because = it showed and humanized some very disturbing aspects of the gospel. But it = was ultimately faithful because it comes from the standpoint that the gospel = is true--that people can and do follow God, even when it hurts. Pain in the service of God is disturbing, but necessary in many ways. My positions against the faithless hogwash I see so much of is in no way = a denial of the negative aspects of Earthly life. I just want stories that explore issues from a position that Christ lives and is active in our lives--not that life is beautiful and trials don't exist. That = *shouldn't* be too much to ask. >Then I realized I had said all this in a story I wrote for Christmas. >It's very short, so I'll include it. It grew from a long discussion with >D. Michael Martindale and Scott Parkin at the Writers' Conference about >the ethics of writing fiction from the POV of historical people. I liked your story. I didn't find it disturbing or faithless in any way. It assumed that Christ is God. That He knew and accepted His sacrifice. = It showed that he cared deeply about his apostles and worried about them. = What is faithless about that? And I'd kind of like to take this moment to tie in a post by Eric = Samuelsen about his student who wanted to relate her personal story. Frankly, I = don't think it is even important if her experience is true, it is still her experience. I would like to see the play she ends up writing. I am glad that she is concerned that "it might make the church look bad". I think that if she is concerned with that, she can take steps to make sure she deals with individual choices and their ramifications. Our leaders have = no claim to infallibility. I have profound personal experience with the reverse situation where a church court wrongly cleared an individual and = the devastation that caused for whole generations. Both stories *should* be told--as warning, as aid in understanding, as comfort to the suffering, = and even as accusation. But the target needs to be the individuals, not the gospel. Jacob Proffitt - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 10:48:49 -0800 From: Jeff Needle Subject: Re: [AML] (Andrew's Poll) Religious Stories At 10:51 PM 1/23/2001 -0800, you wrote: >On Wed, 03 Jan 2001 Andrew Hall writes: > > What are your favorite non-Mormon stories about faith and/or religion? > > What was it about it/them that you liked? > Graham Greene's "The Power and the Glory." Wonderful story about an alcoholic priest in search of redemption. Also his "Monsignor Quixote." - --------------- Jeff Needle jeff.needle@general.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 12:49:49 -0700 From: "Jim Cobabe" Subject: RE: [AML] Mormon Dialogue When I lived in central Utah, to hear someone pronounce "CARN", "FARK", etc, was always a fascination. I have long wondered, how is such local affectation introduced into language? I heard similar local color living in Huntsville, Alabama for a couple of years. In the kindergarten class, terms like "fixen'" and "fetch" were used to illustrate proper grammar. And of course, "y'all" is ubiquitous. - --- Jim Cobabe _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 12:56:01 -0700 From: "Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] First Attempts to Be a Writer I just think "Big King Plumb from Planet X" has the greatest sound to it! Yes! Please repeat three times rapidly! Aren't your lips having fun! I wouldn't mind hearing more about Plumb! Marilyn Brown - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 12:58:45 -0700 From: "Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] Faith(fu)less Fiction So nice, Harlow. "Breaking a crumb of his flesh." Beautiful. Thank you. Marilyn Brown - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 09:14:42 -0700 From: "Sharlee Glenn" Subject: [AML] First Attempts to Be a Writer I wrote (or rather, started writing) my first novel at age 11. It was, of course, pure drivel. But I thought it was wonderful. My mother had told me that when O' Henry first submitted some of his stories to a publisher, they were rejected because of spelling errors and general sloppiness. Eventually he found an editor who was able to look past all that to the masterful storytelling beneath. Now, I don't know how much of that story is true, but I was very inspired by it as a child who was not the world's greatest speller--so inspired, in fact, that when I wrote the cover letter to the editor which was to accompany my manuscript (oh, yes--I was that determined), I ended it with the poignant plea to "Remember O' Henry!" My favorite piece of early writing, however, has to be the poem I wrote at age 15, apparently under the spell of some zealous seminary teacher. :-) Oh wicked world! Entreat me not For I have seen the better part And cannot, but there, at peace reside. Oh wicked world! I scorn thy ways Thy lusts and passions wither cold . . . For the life of me, I couldn't figure out where to go from there. I mean, how do you top "wither cold"? Ah, well. What a fun romp down memory lane! Sharlee Glenn glennsj@inet-1.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 15:17:25 EST From: Paynecabin@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] First Attempts to Be a Writer Why write about the first attempt when you can just publish it? This was composed when I was about eight, and therefore, unfortunately, accountable. I think I had film rights in mind, because the title page says the Laste Gunfire script At the starting of our story there are tow pals thay were both crooks. Lets look in on them and see whats going on. Thay are robing the bank after they robed the bank thay ran off in a clowd of dust and ran into the forest there thay broak camp. by and by thay hered foot beats it was a possie. and they neuw what that ment so thay paked up and ran off. the next day thay were out scouting and low anbehold Indians ataket them. Thay ran and ran ontill the Indians lost their trail. Prety soon one of the two pals realised that it was wrong to be a crooke so he cwit doing wrong soon he liked doing good so much that he didint want the bad around. word got to his pal about this so he sent aman to tell the good pal that he wanted to have a showdoun so the good pal met the bad pal in the street thay moved far apart then drawed the good pal won and that was the last gunfire. the end Marvin Payne - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 15:30:29 EST From: MarieUtah@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Dialogue In a message dated 1/24/2001 10:09:28 AM Mountain Standard Time, dwager@vii.com writes: << Debbie Wager (who still wishes from time to time that the job offer that brought her to Utah had been somewhere else). >> Is it because we have a regional accent? Or quaint speaking mannerisms? I wouldn't dream of moving to another part of the country, then berate the inhabitants for speaking in a manner that *I* personally find laughable. How do you speak? Where were you raised? Were the folks in your state all Shakespearean orators? I'm a bit offended, but I'm not going to apologize for it (even though we are taught to play nice and try not to offend with our opinions). I grew up in Utah County, my ancestors were pioneers (like those of many on this list) They came from different states and countries. Each settler brought a little bit of his/her home in the form of traditions, folk practices, superstitions and speech. We're a mini-melting pot. The little quirks in our speech, the words we use, the way we pronounce them...these things help make us the unique and (I think) interesting people that we are. I realize that I sound like I lack a sense of humor. I usually love to laugh at our shared foibles--Mormon humor can be really fun. But for some reason, this topic was starting to touch a nerve. Shirley Hatfield (who pronounces creek as "crick" and says "Amer'can Fork.") - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 15:48:09 -0500 From: Tony Markham Subject: Re: [AML] ADAMS, "Elsa at the Pool" Published Online Linda Adams wrote: > Hi all, > > My short story, "Elsa at the Pool," has been reprinted online in _Friction_ > magazine. (I believe it will also appear in their upcoming print version.) > It first appeared in _Lynx Eye_ last year, and I thought some of you might > want to take a look at it. > > http://www.frictionmag.com/ The story pales to the photo--lovely! Tony Markham - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 14:03:08 -0700 From: LuAnnStaheli Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Dialogue Deborah, Which district? I'm in Nebo. I did a practice spelling bee in my classroom and some of the students had trouble with my Indiana accent (despite the fact that I've lived in Utah 17 years) Of course, they also seemed to have some question in the school spelling bee where the pronoucer was a Utah native. Go figure! Lu Ann Staheli Deborah Wager wrote: > True story: > > This morning I went to the district spelling bee (where the winners of the > school bees compete on their way to the state bee--my son came in fourth, > btw). The pronouncer, in explaining the rules before the bee began, said > that he would pronounce some of the words "better" than the dictionary > pronunciation because dictionaries use a lot of schwas to account for > regional diffferences in pronunciation, but *here in Utah we use purer > vowel sounds than in other parts of the country*!!! This is not an exact > quote but accurately represents what he said, I believe. However, there > were only two words he pronounced differently that I would have expected. > > Debbie Wager (who still wishes from time to time that the job offer that > brought her to Utah had been somewhere else). - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 14:14:20 -0700 From: LuAnnStaheli Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Dialogue I've always wondered if I'm supposed to salute my "patriotical blessing;" display the team I "won" on my mantle, consider morning dew as the "moisture" that was prayed for, and use my "bat tree" as a Halloween decoration instead of to run my car. Maybe they can tell me "down to the BYU." We talk about this very subject quite a bit in the English/writing classes I teach. Oops. Have to go--a "sliver" in my finger. Hoosier translations: patriarchal blessing; beat the team; rain or water content; battery; at BYU; splinter. Right, Eric? ; ) Lu Ann Staheli - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 17:58:57 -0600 From: "Darvell" Subject: [AML] Duplicate Book Title Names I've got a question concerning the title to my current novel, which I hope to be submitting to LDS publishers soon. I had it finished a few years ago as a novella, but decided to rewrite it into a novel after comments from a few friends. Today I noticed on Horizon Publishers' web page that they already have a book by the same title, tho it's not a novel. I was quite disappointed to see that. I know that you can't copyright a book title name, but duplicate titles can lead to confusion. The title of my novel is _The Fingerprints of God_. The name of this new book by Horizon is _Fingerprints of God -- Evidences from Near-Death Studies, Scientific Research on Creation, and Mormon Theology._ Is this title conflict going to bother anybody, particularly an editor of a prospective publisher? Changing the title of my novel is just not an option. The story is based on the title, which is patterned after a poem of the same name that I wrote back in college in 1987. I could never convince myself to change the title. Darvell Hunt Pleasant Grove, UT _____________________________________________ Free email with personality! Over 200 domains! http://www.MyOwnEmail.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 20:16:02 -0600 From: Linda Adams Subject: Re: [AML] ADAMS, "Elsa at the Pool" Published Online >Linda Adams wrote: > > My short story, "Elsa at the Pool," has been reprinted online in _Friction_ > > magazine. > > http://www.frictionmag.com/ > >The story pales to the photo--lovely! > >Tony Markham Thank you, Tony. I was, BTW, five months pregnant at the time of that photo. Linda ======= Linda Adams adamszoo@sprintmail.com http://home.sprintmail.com/~adamszoo - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 20:56:39 -0600 From: Linda Adams Subject: Re: [AML] Editing Changes At 07:57 PM 1/23/01, you wrote: >Sometimes there is a serious problem to be solved. The >writing ... >may have peculiar connotations beyond the author's >intentions. I'm happy to report that we've solved the problem without too many ruffled feathers. Turns out the above was indeed my problem, in the sentence where I had the biggest problem with their changes. Which was: my sentence: She looked at him, staring, her eyes helplessly falling all over his person. edited version: She looked at him, staring, her gaze running over his strong body. The editor felt my sentence could be read as real eyeballs dropping everywhere, which is a valid observation. He also apologized for fixing it to a phrase that didn't work well. (The second sentence doesn't convey all the nuances of meaning the sentence needed.) We've worked out something together which is better, I think. The surprising part was finding it in print that way; the editors I've worked with before would have passed this significant of a change on to me before printing their edits. (I suppose I've been spoiled.) I really appreciate Vallerie's and Cathy's information on the editing side. Both posts made a lot of sense. I'm always willing to change my wording, but I do like to know why sometimes. Or at least have the opportunity to approve changes or suggest my own. I'd agree it's good advice not to go running around saying, "Change it back! Change it back!" If there wasn't something wrong in the first place, the editor would have left it alone. That said, some changes can be largely personal preference. These I didn't even bother fighting over, although I still like my way better. Such as: My Way: "Oh?" she said, raising her brow. Her turn to be amused. Their Way: "Oh?" she said, raising her brow, her turn to be amused. The second is more grammatically correct, I suppose, but A) I've been sick and I can't diagram this sentence right now to figure it out, it's making my head hurt, B) on the surface it appears to be mainly a change in rhythm, and C) even if my way is less grammar-friendly, I was aware of that when I did it and I retain the right to like it better. But it wasn't worth the effort to go ask why they did that. In fact, I'm pretty sure it wasn't worth the effort to go over it just now, either. Let's all hope my antibiotics kick in soon so I can write posts that make more sense. Or at least are more worth the trouble of reading. :-) Linda ===== Linda Adams adamszoo@sprintmail.com http://home.sprintmail.com/~adamszoo - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 20:11:07 -0700 From: LuAnnStaheli Subject: Re: [AML] Duplicate Book Title Names Book titles are duplicated all the time in the massive publishing world, but it might cause a bit of a problem with a market as small as the LDS market still remains. Of course, anyone who was looking for the book would check the book description to see if it was fiction or non-fiction. Hopefully they will also know the author. With what I've learned of the publishing world, I wouldn't feel so strongly about my title that I'd NEVER give it up if I were you. Those feelings just might lose you a book contract. I've seen many talented writers never get published because they were adamant about titles, content, length, character names, etc. to the point the editor/publishing house decided they weren't worth the trouble to deal with. The title can still serve as a theme, even if your publisher prefers to drop it as the actual book title. Good luck! Lu Ann Staheli - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 22:28:48 -0500 From: Richard Johnson Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Dialogue At 02:14 PM 1/24/2001 -0700, you wrote: >I've always wondered if I'm supposed to salute my "patriotical blessing;" display the team I "won" on my mantle, consider morning dew as the "moisture" that was prayed for, and use my "bat tree" as a Halloween decoration >instead of to run my car. Maybe they can tell me "down to the BYU." We talk about this very subject quite a bit in the English/writing classes I teach. Oops. Have to go--a "sliver" in my finger. Hoosier translations: >patriarchal blessing; beat the team; rain or water content; battery; at BYU; splinter. Right, Eric? ; ) >Lu Ann Staheli I'm sorry, but I have lived in eight states since I was married and have traveled as an actor or director or teacher or convention goer to another fifteen or so. Every one of those states had distinctive speech patterns or dialects. In most of those states citizens of the state feel free to make jokes about their own dialects. Here in the South, performers and writers from Andy Griffeth to Lewis Grizzard have had great fun with the different state dialects. (And be aware that there is no such thing as a "Southern Accent", the accent is West Virginia is as different from Georgia or from Louisiana as it is from Utah) Having said that, I really feel that for anyone (outsider) to come into an area and make fun of the regionalisms in that area shows a degree of smug parochialism that is really embarrassing. Be aware that you (the outsider) sound as ridiculous to the locals as they sound to you. I don't care where you are from, you have linguistic quirks that identify you as a resident of that area. By the way, the comment, that Salt Lake City has a very clean Midwestern American accent (What is striven for on television) is accurate. The saddest thing about dwelling on the regionalism is that one builds a wall that prevents real communication at a variety of levels. Richard B. Johnson Husband, Father, Grandfather, Puppeteer, Playwright, Writer, Director, Actor, Thingmaker, Mormon, Person, Fool I sometimes think that the last persona is the most important http://www2.gasou.edu/commarts/puppet/ Georgia Southern University Puppet Theatre - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 22:24:16 EST From: Paynecabin@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Dialogue I've enjoyed the humorous aspects of everyone's reports on the way central and southern Utahns speak. But I wonder if anyone has gotten serious and actually researched where "mell" (what the postman delivers) and "harse" (what he used to deliver it on) come from. Different parts of the state were settled, all within a rather short time, by very specific nationalities of emmigrants. And it's all astoundingly well documented. There has to be some reason why we talk the way we do, other than that we're bumpkins. I don't know much about the development of dialect, but I'm pretty sure nobody ever called a meeting and said, "How about if from now on we all say 'fell' instead of 'fail.'" And I can't imagine one hugely influential wooden-eared individual mispronouncing a particular vowel and having it catch on generally. One shot in the dark at how certain rhythms and intonations developed in "religious" discourse would be that some of us are imitating favorite general conference speakers. This is easy for me to imagine. But Elder L. Tom Perry (one of my favorites) learned from the people he grew up with to say "harshoe bend in the Mississippi" (he was talking about the site of Nauvoo, and I thought he meant "harsh 'U' bend"). Where did his people learn it? A side question: When Elder Perry lived for a long time in Boston, taking pains to keep his sojourn there from becoming a Salt Lake colonization, why didn't he unlearn that way of speaking? Maybe it was a part of him that we should understand and try to preserve. This is hard for me to say, because people who don't talk like the guys on the news get on my nerves. But that's my problem. I once met a lady who felt passionately that we should universally adopt simplified spelling, so that "cough" would be "kof" and "bough" would be "bow." (Not to be confused with "bow," which would be "bo.") She thought it would solve lots of problems in education, particularly among disadvantaged kids. But the weird way some things are spelled is, for me, part of their meaning. On the same trip where I met this lady, one of my travelling companions was Lyle Shamo, now the head of the church's audio-visual department. I always thought, "What the heck kind of name is 'Shamo' anyway? How flat and wierd." Then I found out that his ancestors were French. Voila! The name suddenly made perfect sense to me! Rich, interesting, but somebody had tinkered with the spelling! (I don't know French--it was probably "Chamieux" or something, and meant "enchanted torrent through the black stone.") I wonder what we might lose in our language culture if we tinker with the pronunciation, "fixing" it. This is outside the world of right/wrong or even standard/substandard. Again, where's the research? Marvin Payne - - 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 #240 ******************************