From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #339 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 Tuesday, May 29 2001 Volume 01 : Number 339 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 12:08:15 -0600 From: Terry L Jeffress Subject: Re: [AML] Female Writer Wanted On Thu, May 24, 2001 at 01:36:42PM -0500, REWIGHT wrote: > I once wrote a poem on giving a child up for adoption. I was told > by people who had gone through this, that it was exactly how they > felt. But I don't really know what it's like to give up a child for > adoption and I'm not going to say I do. I only imagine it, based on > my feelings for my own children. Someone with good writing skills > who has experienced it, could probably do a better job. Christ was never a woman. He never gave up a child for adoption. And yet we all accept that he can understand the pains we experience in our lives. And we all accept that we should strive to be like him. So I would conclude that we all have the capacity to feel what others feel. I think you give too much credit to gender and personal experiences and too little credit to human imagination and empathy. One human's experience is vastly similar to another's. Sure, one may have lost a child the other lost a job, but we all have had experienced loss, sin, grief, redemption, joy, and the full range of human emotion. I think many people take the adage "write what you know" too literally. I hope I never have to endure another Albert Brooks movie about the comic tragedy of a writer. He seems to only write scripts about people who write. We all know how it feels to live as a human being. We all understand love, longing, jealousy, and fear. We may exist in vastly different circumstances, but we all have the same equipment for dealing with those circumstances. On many occasions, I have heard people say, "I could never have lived in the times of the early saints. They had to endure so much." But do you really believe that the saints in the 1800s had something different than we have? Do you believe that they had a different physiology or that their spirits somehow gave them different qualities than available in spirits of today? Don't you think that those early saints would look at the trials of our day (drugs, media influences, peer pressure, promiscuity) and give a prayer of thanks that they don't have to endure such trials. I believe that human beings each have generally the same equipment for dealing with life. We profess a doctrine that God will not try us beyond our means. But I maintain a private heresy (to co-opt Scott Parkin's phrase), that God has created human beings so that they can endure _all_ things. No matter what life, fate, God, the devil, or your mother-in-law, throws in your path, you already have the innate ability to deal with the situation. And we all have the same emotional pallet with which we color our experiences. We also all have the same set of human emotions to express the feelings we have in relation to the events in our life. I believe that grief, regardless of the cause, feels the same for everyone. I may not have lost a child, but that possibility exists, and I can certainly apply my understanding of my love for my children and my experience with other losses to produce empathy. As you can tell, I react pretty strongly when someone tries to tell me that as a man I cannot write a convincing birth scene, or that as a white man I cannot write a convincing scene of oppression. I personally may not have the skill to write a convincing scene, but I don't think that you can exclude an entire class of the human race as unable to share in the experience of some other class. And someone, somewhere will write the scene you though could not be written. - -- Terry Jeffress | It is a good rule, after reading a new | book, never to allow yourself another new AML Webmaster and | one till you have read an old one in AML-List Review Archivist | between. -- C. S. Lewis - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 14:30:57 -0600 From: Terry L Jeffress Subject: Re: [AML] WEYLAND, _Ashley and Jen_ (Review) On Thu, May 24, 2001 at 02:12:19PM -0500, REWIGHT wrote: > Frankly if someone droned on and on about the intellectual > aspects of something I wrote, and didn't mention the emotional, then > I would feel that I had failed. If someone takes the time to write an intellectual treatise on your work, you have moved that person -- one way or the other. You have either inspired someone to take the time to see why your words created such a positive effect, or you have disgusted someone so thoroughly that she wants to analyze how your book creates the desire to fling the work against a wall. The entire field of literary criticism exists to argue about what works and does not work in fiction. In spite of what prescriptive critics purport, without the text, the critic's job doesn't exist. So even if you don't take intellectual musings as the highest compliment, you should still accept the compliment. - -- Terry Jeffress | I have never met an author who admitted | that people did not buy his book because AML Webmaster and | it was dull. -- Somerset Maugham AML-List Review Archivist | - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 14:30:56 -0600 From: Thom Duncan Subject: [AML] Hale Theater (was: Variety of Writers) Nan McCulloch wrote: > > It is interesting to me, an actor > in the play, to greet an appreciative sold out house every night since we > opened--and hear the comments from hundreds of people telling me how much > they enjoyed the play and how funny they thought it was. These theater > goers seem to be reasonably intelligent somewhat sophisticated folks. The majority of theatre-goers of the Hale Center Theatre never darken the door of other theatres. They are not theatre-goers per se, but are Hale Center Theatre goers. Their plays appeal to a certain kind of person and as long as they continue in that vein, they'll have audiences. They don't love theatre as much as they love laughing and being heart-warmed. Nothing wrong with that, in my estimation, by the way. > A > Ruth Hale play is a Ruth Hale play. I did my first RHP in Long Beach, > California in 1960. These farcical type plays were common in the '50's and > '60's. My husband and I are probably as active as any theater goers in the > *Valley.* We do Pioneer, Salt Lake Acting Co., SCERA, Castle, Villa, > Draper Historic, Desert Star, and Hale Center--just to name a few. I suggest you are in the minority of people who attend the Hale Theater. - -- Thom Duncan Playwrights Circle an organization of professionals - -------------------------- Shameless Plug - ------------------------------- Don't miss the Playwrights Circle Summer Festival at UVSC! *J. Golden* - a one-man play by James Arrington, starring Marvin Payne *SFX5* - 5 original short science fiction plays *Peculiarities* - a new full-length play by Eric Samuelsen For more information about the Playwrights Circle and our summer festival: http://www.playwrightscircle.com - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 14:38:55 -0600 From: LuAnnStaheli Subject: [AML] Gay Agenda (was: Mormon Cinema) Not only does Hollywood promote it, but some YA authors do as well. Two years ago I attended the ALAN (for adolscent literature) meeting which followed NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) in Denver. The first day of meetings was wonderful. The second day quickly denegrated into an "I'm gay and your students should read my books to understand what it means to be gay" themed coming out party. The first speaker was interesting; the second tolerable; but by the end of the day, I was really tired of hearing about the agenda and had lost any patience I might have had with the topic and its supporters. Too bad they all seem to believe in over-kill. Lu Ann Staheli Gary Davis wrote: > Thom Duncan wrote of Kieth Merrill: >This is a man who said that the > film "In and Out" is bad because it promotes the gay lifestyle. Nothing > could be further from the truth.< > > Oh pleeeze! Anyone who doesn't recognize that Hollywood has a big time > gay agenda is simply not paying attention. Check out "Victor Victoria", > "My Best Friend's Wedding", "Big Daddy" or any of a dozen TV shows this > past season with major gay characters. Plain and simple, they assault > our values at every turn. That's precisely why we need people like Mitch > Davis and Richard Dutcher. > > Gary Davis - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 14:45:02 -0600 From: LuAnnStaheli Subject: Re: [AML] WEYLAND, _Ashley and Jen_ (Review) Is anyone taking into account the fact that Weyland himself admits in today's market he wouldn't get a book accepted or published if he hadn't already established a track record? I've heard him speak at a couple of writer's conferences and he always credits his editor for patience as he writes, then rewrites, then rewrites again and again to the suggestions she gives him. Weyland was among the first YA LDS authors and it seems many of his readers of today are the children of the original readers. As for parents directing their children to other books, sometimes they do, but usually peers have a bigger influence on what kids read. And honestly, I've found that my student's parents are the ones who suggest books by Jack Weyland, Anita Stansfield, Rachel Nunes, Lee Nelson, etc. (including authors from this listserve) because they have read and loved the stories themselves. Each of us is entitled to his/her own personal taste in reading, and no one has the right to tell anyone their taste is wrong. Lu Ann Staheli - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 15:08:02 -0600 From: Barbara Hume Subject: Re: [AML] Female Writer Wanted At 09:23 AM 5/25/01 -0600, you wrote: >What if he, say, is a guy like me whose been on a mission himself, has >had two daughters go on missions. Isn't it possible that a man could >get enough information to write convincingly about the life of a sister >missionary. Let's say this male writer does that, and then has a bunch >of female returned missionaries read what he wrote, and he finds that >they mostly agree. That certainly seems possible. I've noticed that in the romance genre, we can generally identify books written by men, even though they use a feminine nom de plume. But I've certainly read writers who do a great job of writing from the POV of the other gender. I think a lot of it has to with observation rather than assuming that other people think like you do. Some of it has to do with getting input from members of the opposite gender: "You have to change this. A guy wouldn't do this in a hundred years. You character will come across like a dork if he acts this way." You can get some basic hints from writers like John Grey, also. You may not agree with everything he says, but he does bring up some issues you may not have considered just because you think the way you do and not like someone else. barbara hume barbara@techvoice.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 16:30:05 -0600 From: Melissa Proffitt Subject: Re: [AML] WEYLAND, _Ashley and Jen_ (Review) I don't think Anna has had any problems jumping right into the fray here. Glad to see you here! I wrote this part: >All they are interested in is whether or not the story moved them (I = know >one woman whose criterion for a "good" book is "It made me cry"), or if = it >contains questionable material or profanity, or if it's about people = they >identify with. Larger questions of how the words are strung together = don't >even enter the picture. On Thu, 24 May 2001 14:12:19 -0500, REWIGHT wrote: >As a writer, the highest compliment that could be paid to me isn't "This= is >well written". It's "You made me cry (laugh, escape, imagine, see, = feel, >etc.)" I write to move the reader. I don't write for literary = achievement. >That's not to say that both can't be accomplished. But when someone = reads >my work, I don't want them looking to see how the words are strung = together. >I want them to read to feel something. For me, that is the larger >question. Did this move you? Does it speak to you? Do you recognize = the >characters? Which character do you relate to? What made you cry? What = made >you laugh? Did you enjoy the adventure? Could you see what I wrote? I think you've identified your audience and your purpose. The point I = would like to make, however, is that there are readers who *won't* be = emotionally moved if they don't like your writing style. This is not to say you = should be writing to them, but to remember that if you don't think they should criticize your writing on an intellectual basis, you shouldn't criticize them for not having the reaction you want. I hope you have great success with your writing! Selling a novel would = be great. Good luck! Melissa Proffitt - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 16:46:16 -0600 From: "ROY SCHMIDT" Subject: Re: [AML] Child-Appropriate Art Nah, Foghorn Leghorn has to be Moroni, "I say boy, pay attention, I say I've told ya three times already, and ya still don't get it. Here I Monday the fourth time, son. Ya gotta keep focused! Ya gotta keep your eye on the ball, son. Eye! Ball! It's a gag, son, don'tcha get it?" Roy Schmidt >>> Frank Maxwell 05/24/01 11:20AM >>> Warner Bros. could do this, too. They could do an animated feature on Mormon history. It could star the Tasmanian Devil as Gov. Lilburn Boggs of Missouri, Sylvester the cat as the treacherous John C. Bennett, Foghorn Leghorn as blowhard Illinois Gov. Thomas Ford, and Wily Coyote and Elmer Fudd as assorted mobsters. Yosemite Sam could play Porter Rockwell, if he promises to not cut his hair and to be more careful where he points his guns. - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 22:46:52 -0500 From: Larry Jackson Subject: [AML] Is It Good? (was: WEYLAND, _Ashley and Jen_) "Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?" asked Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. I enjoy quality in writing, and poor writing can be a big distractor. Yet, when it comes down to whether or not I enjoy a book or film, I have very basic criteria. If I am reading for pleasure and the book touches me, it is a good book. Keith Merrill shares my feelings about what makes a good book or a good film. He wrote a sneak preview review for Meridian Magazine. He is talking about the new film directed by Mitch Davis, _The Other Side of Heaven_: "I loved this film. It touched me. It entertained me. It took me on a journey to a place I have never been. It enlightened me, and inspired me. It touched my heart and made me cry. What else could you want from a movie?" Or a book? Those are the things that make it good for me. Larry Jackson ________________________________________________________________ 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: Fri, 25 May 2001 02:25:30 -0600 From: "Eric D. Snider" Subject: [AML] Hale Theater (was: Variety of Writers) >Eric Snider, >not being very fond of Ruth Hale plays, gave the play a scathing review with >absolutely nothing good to say about it. I wouldn't say "absolutely nothing good to say about it," since I spent a few paragraphs talking about the good acting. But the play itself, as a script? Yeah, terrible. 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: Sat, 26 May 2001 09:05:56 -0600 From: "J. Scott Bronson" Subject: [AML] Posting Stories (was: Mormon Literature as Distinct?) On Thu, 24 May 2001 19:52:51 -0400 "Tom Johnson" writes: > --re the guy who can't sell his novel b/c it gives us too much info > about ourselves, would he please post it on his website or > something so I can find out some things about myself? I wouldn't mind doing that -- much the same way plays have been posted in the past for discussion -- as long as I don't lose any of my copywrights. Anyone know what is possible? scott - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 May 2001 14:00:40 -0500 From: James Picht Subject: Re: [AML] WEYLAND, _Ashley and Jen_ Beth Hatch wrote: > [M]y mother-in-law... has a great deal of music education... She pointed > out that the harmony had been off in one song, the soloist on another song > had done something wrong, etc.... > > People with literary education see the faults in [Weyland's] writing. > People without the education find great pleasure in his stories. This isn't entirely a matter of education. I have a fair amount of music education. I rarely turn my nose up at amateur performances, because they're often the work of people who perform for the joy of it, a gift to the listener. I accept gifts with gratitude, even hokey home-made gifts which I often treasure for years. My standard is different for performances for which I pay. There I expect a degree of professionalism, unless I know I'm going to a performance of grade-schoolers that's meant to raise money for a worthy cause. But even then I expect something that's been thoughtfully prepared, diligently rehearsed. I've read a couple of Weyland's books and found them clumsily touching. They were well-intentioned, contained some worthwhile ideas, but were clearly not the work of a literary titan. Fine. As long as I know what I'm getting and I don't mind the price, I'm willing to buy. I sometimes prefer cheetohs to K-Paul's creme brulee, but at K-Paul prices, I'd be pretty offended to be offered cheetohs. I don't lack a certain amount of literary (and culinary) sophistication and training. Even so, I'm not bothered by the sale of books like Weyland's, and I'm even willing to consume them on occasion. That said, amateurs and professionals alike have a duty to get better over time. I've performed in piano recitals at age ten and at age 30. I was much better at 30, and would have been horrified after 20 years of study to be at the same level. I eventually took a year of lessons from a teacher at the Moscow conservatory who specializes in preparing professional concert pianists for performance. (I must note that she didn't take me on because of my pianistic brilliance, but because of my cold, hard western currency.) Even Horowitz said that he always had to grow as a pianist, or he'd shrink as an artist. Stagnation just isn't a valid option for someone who cares about his craft or his art. If Weyland isn't getting better (assuming he's still alive - I was out of town for a couple of weeks, I'm not up on the history of this thread, and I don't know whether we're flogging a dead horse or a live one), critics have an obligation to tell him so, the more so since he writes for sale, not just to hand out his stories as gifts for friends. It doesn't matter whether his readers are educated/sophisticated or not. His stories may have a primary audience, but given the right time and mood, we sophisticates can enjoy him, too. But that's seperate from the issue of criticism. Even as I'm enjoying a cheetoh, I don't forget that it's still a cheetoh. If only cheetohs could get better with time. But then, they wouldn't be cheetohs anymore, would they? Jim Picht - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 26 May 2001 20:31:51 -0400 From: "Tom Johnson" Subject: [AML] Brady UDALL Hi, I'm quite ignorant about Brady Udall's lds background--is he mormon? = I just finished his latest, and had read hounds last year and fell in = love with buckeye the elder and beautiful places. Has the discussion of = edgar mint already occupied a stream of posts on this list, or not? Can = anyone refer me to some links with udall interviews and other = information (besides the www.edgarmint.com page)? Thanks Tom (note to Thom: I was just kidding about the h thing. When I was little = I spelled my name that way for fun, and everyone pronounced it with the = h, frustrating me until I gave up and just spelled it normally. good = luck to you, though.) - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 May 2001 17:30:25 -0600 From: "Cathy Wilson" Subject: Re: [AML] Female Writer Wanted It's an interesting mix. I'd like to do this novel . . .I've never been on a mission, yet my kids have, and I've been close to female and male RM's. Still, the bottom line is a good writer being able to create a world. As a ghostwriter, my work takes me places I've NEVER been, yet people say that I render their voice as if it were they speaking themselves . No doubt about it--a writer has to have material, something she's writing about. Yet her skill is what turns that material into believable art. [Pronoun apologies to all the fine male writers out there]. Cathy Cathy (Gileadi) Wilson Editing Etc. 1400 West 2060 North Helper UT 84526 - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 27 May 2001 11:52:02 -0600 From: "Eric D. Snider" Subject: Re: [AML] DUTCHER, _Brigham City_ >[MOD: This is my compilation of three posts from Travis.] > >Travis Manning wrote: > >> > Is Dutcher proselytizing in his movies? We discussed the effectiveness of >>> proselyting through this medium, and I believed, yes he is. > >D. Michael Martindale wrote: > >>I don't think he's proselyting, any more than I'm proselyting when I'm >>offered a drink at a party and turn it down. That could lead to the >>quesion of whether I'm a Mormon, which could lead into a discussion >>about the Gospel, which could eventually lead to a baptism. But I >>wouldn't call it proselyting. I was just being a Mormon and doing what >>Mormons do. >> >>Dutcher is just a Mormon telling stories that a Mormon would tell. If >>that leads to some baptisms, great. But I don't think it qualifies as >>proselyting, any more than the mere act of living the Gospel from day to >>day is proselyting. > >Michael, >I disagree with you, I think "living the gospel day to day" is proselyting. > >What we do and say in our every day lives impacts people and >"letting our light so shine" is a way, or form, of proselyting. >There's no question in my mind. Going out on the streets >door-to-door as a missionary is not the only form of proselyting, if >that is the definition you are looking at. > >"Dutcher is telling stories that a Mormon would tell," but it is a >form of proselyting. I don't believe we can disregard Dutcher's two >films as a way of proselyting. > >Turning down a drink at a party is also a form of proselyting. It's >all part of setting a good example. It's subtle, but it is >proselyting, IMO. > What we have here is two different uses of the word "proselyte" (or "proselytize," both of which mean pretty much the same thing). The dictionary definition has to do with actively trying to convert people to one's beliefs. By that definition, turning down a drink at a party is not proselytizing -- unless you make a big show of it as a way of teaching a lesson, getting people's interest, and then sharing the first discussion with them. And also by the definition, Dutcher is not proselytizing. His films aren't made JUST for the purpose of converting people. If people come away from them with a more positive attitude toward the church, which eventually leads to being baptized, I'm sure Dutcher would be grateful and humbled and happy. But it would be a pleasant by-product of the movies, not a realization of what he set out to do in the first place. 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: Mon, 28 May 2001 10:54:05 -0700 From: "Jeff Savage" Subject: Re: [AML] Influencing Mormon Culture > Perhaps the most ridiculous manifestation of this cultural bias is the > back-slapping, post-ordinance embraces I see regularly in priesthood > meetings. Personally, I feel like a baby being burped on those rare > occasions when I get a hug from a Mormon man. > > I contrast that to a friend I once was having a deep conversation with about > his father who had abandoned him as a child. He was not a member of the > Church, but was a man of faith and active in another church. As we stood > talking, he rapidly became emotional. I don't remember the comment I made, > but it evoked a torrent of tears from him as he wrapped his arms around my > chest and back and pressed his soggy face against my shoulder. There were no > slaps against each other's back, no conscious effort to make sure that all > contact points where above the waist, no side-saddled avoidance of a > full-length connection. With my penchant for empathy, I began to cry too, > and fifteen to twenty minutes later, we separated. The entire right half of > my shirt was drenched and his was similarly wetted. I agree that there are a lots of wierd cultural biases in almost any religious or cultural group. But I think what you are describing here may be a regional phenomenon as opposed to a a religious one. Other than in youth dances, I don't think I've ever been counseled either directly or indirectly about full body contact. I've received bear hugs from other LDS men before. I also think though that the difference between congratulating someone at the end of an ordinance and comforting someone who is pouring a torrent of tears is pretty wide. > In a story I've begun, put on hold, begun again, and is now currently on > hold, I've tried to challenge a number of cultural attitudes and beliefs. I > fear I am taking on too much in one story. Perhaps it is not truly artistic > to even have a motive to influence Mormon culture, yet I scoff at people who > extol the virtues of pure, unintentioned art. I don't believe there are > artists that have risen above agendas. This is the big compliant I have though. I am far more likely to scoff at someone who extols fiction as a way to push their agenda. I actually read a quote from an author who said "I don't write to entertain anyone." I think that the best writers tell the story first and that the themes or "morals" show up later. (With the exception of Aesop. But short stories are another beast.) If a writer decides that the foibles of LDS culture getting in the way of doctrine would be a great starting point for a novel, I agree completely. But if they write the book to prove their point and change people's cultural attitudes, they should write a pamphlet. - -Jeff - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 May 2001 12:02:39 -0500 From: "REWIGHT" Subject: Re: [AML] WEYLAND, _Ashley and Jen_ (Review) > > To me, it would depend on how I made the reader cry as to whether I > would consider it a compliment or not. It's the difference between > bathos and true emotion. For instance, everybody likes babies. Put > them on stage or in a film and you have won the audience over before a > single word is said. Have something happen bad to that baby, and you > make people cry. But are they crying because of what your writing or > because of the universal love we all have for babies? Now, introduce a > serial-killer into your book or film, and than have something bad happen > to him at the end. THEN, if your audience is crying, you've > accomplished something as a writer. If you can make people cry over a serial killer, then you certainly have accomplished something as a writer. But as a writer, I like to write things people can actually relate to. People can relate to a baby dying. Does that make it bad writing? Of course not, because infant deaths are a part of life. And there are writers out there that can make something like a baby dying, mundane and ordinary and not worth a tear. Not every book I've read has stirred emotion. These books are forgotten. The ones that are remembered are the ones that have touched me in some way, whether negatively or positively. Anna [Wight] - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 May 2001 13:07:47 -0500 From: Craig Huls Subject: Re: [AML] Influencing Mormon Culture > Perhaps I presume too much to want to change our culture, but surely the > purpose of literature is not to simply capture culture. If our culture is > what it is because our doctrine is what it is, do I really think that when I > see the Savior, I'll give him a firm handshake and a heartfelt, "Thank you?" > I hope our meeting will be more like with the man who soaked my shirt, that > I'll want to linger. I doubt he'll have dirty feet, but I know I'll have > enough tears in store to wash them. > > Rex Goode > I take hugs anyway I can get them, burping or not! :-). People who know me know they are going to get a hug. Regardless of gender. Perhaps it is that I am 60+ and have decided that culture is not as important as people. We all need hugs. I can't tell you how many young men have in a moment of a hug after a serious conversation. something to the effect: " I wish my Dad would hug me like you do". My Dad hugged me. I am grateful for that. I hugged my children, particularly after discipline. My wish would be that whoever decided that hugs were "unmanly" could be hugged by us all, that they might know the power of a healthy hug! Rex, write your book, but more importantly set an example by hugging unashamedly all who influence and effect you for good and those you can have an influence upon. If enough of us do so the culture will change and the environment we live in will be so much the better for it. I send all on this list a big hug from Texas! [Even the critics!] - -- Craig Huls mailto:dcraigh@onramp.net - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 May 2001 14:10:25 EDT From: RichardDutcher@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] Female Writer Wanted So now here's the reason I've asked for female return missionary writers to submit samples of their writing for consideration for the upcoming GOD'S ARMY novel from Sister Fronk's p.o.v. : Although I do believe in the remote possiblility that a non-missionary, non-Mormon, black Norwegian male midget in his seventies could write a great version of this story... In the interest of time, I think my best chance is to give the female return missionaries the first shot. I have the strange suspicion that one of them may know the heart of this character better than the rest of us will. But if you happen to be that Norwegian midget, knock yourself out. We'll read any sample. Seriously. Richard Dutcher - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 04:16:32 +0900 From: "Andrew Hall" Subject: [AML] (Andrew's Poll) Mormon Juvenile Literature Question for the group: What are your favorite pieces of Mormon juvenile (or young adult) and children's literature? Please tell us what impressed you about your choices. By Mormon literature, I mean works either written by Mormons (of any kind), or works about Mormons (by anyone). Sorry I haven't done a poll in a few months. I was interested in the strong reaction to AML's failure to award prizes in children's and juvinile fiction over the last two years. And I was fascinated by John Bennion's essay in the Summer 2000 Irreantum ("All Is Well in Zion"?--Publishing among the Gentiles"), in which he lists writing for children and young adults as one of the most promising areas in Mormon literature outside Utah. In the essay he goes through works by six excellent Mromn authors, three of whom write works for younger people. I think it is one of the best essays on Mormon literature I have ever read, and reccomend it to anyone who skipped it to get to the stories. It is apparent that some of the most exciting things going on in Mormon literature are in the juvenile area, but since many of us don't think of reading those books much anymore, we are not aware of them. Those that are aware, please clue us in. (Sorry if my terminology is off, is "juvenile literature" an acceptable catch-all phrase?) So, tell us what you think. What would you reccomend for my kids? Oh, also be sure to tell us roughly what age group the books are directed towards. I am interested in everything from picture books for small children up. Andrew Hall Pittsburgh, PA _________________________________________________________________________ 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: Mon, 28 May 2001 14:15:55 -0600 From: Thom Duncan Subject: Re: [AML] DUTCHER, _Brigham City_ Travis Manning wrote: > Thom Duncan wrote: > > >As I've said before on this list, sometimes we are own worst enemies > >when it comes to being understood by the world. On the one hand, we > >wonder why the world sees us as weird, and on the other hand, we want to > >hide those aspects of our religion that have universal appeal from the > >world. Showing a sacrament meeting on film sends one clear message to > >the world--that we aren't all that different from them, despite what > >they may have read in the history books. They're likely to think: "I > >still don't get all that temple stuff the Mormons do, but their Sunday > >services look a lot like mine." > > > >Showing missionaries relaxing may not make a convert on the spot to a > >viewer of _God's Army_, but the next time that person sees the > >missionaries riding down the street, that person is less inclined to > >think of those young men as brain-washed automatons. > > Thom-- > > Would you consider Dutcher's movie-making efforts as a form of proselyting? Probably, though I don't think that is his primary purpose, from my conversations with him and from what I've read and heard in articles and lectures. He seems to want to tell good stories within the context of Mormonism. God's Army isn't so much about Mormon missionaries as it is about men and women sacrificing for an ideal greater-than-self. Brigham City is so much about how Mormons react to a serial murder in their town as much as it is about how un-Paradise-like our whole world is becoming -- how Paradise, if we ever had it, is slowly slipping away. At the same time the movie shows us that Paradise is only a whisper away from our lives and exists in our sense of family, church, and community. Thom Duncan - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 May 2001 14:30:10 -0600 From: "Bill Willson" Subject: [AML] Submission Advice Requested I have just about finished my first effort at writing a book. I have two others under construction, but who knows how long that will take. This first non-fiction effort is by no means a work directed exclusively toward Mormons, however I am a member of the church so I guess it can be considered in this venue. I sent out a lot of e-mail and snail mail queries to agents. I have recieved several "not interested" replies, and one that said, "Please send the completed synopsis, the genere and the first three sample chapters of your manuscript." My question is, when I send the requested material to this agent, what is my ethical obligation as far as, replying to other similar requests? Just in case I should get any further similar requests 8-). Do I have to wait until I receive a reply from the first agent before submitting to the next interested agent? Do I have to let the agents know I will make simultaneous submissions? This is a very scary part of the process. I will appreciate any words of advice any of you could give to me. By the way, the reason I have only been lurking on the list instead of contributing, is because I have been working on my B.S at USU. I will finish in December of this year. Miraculously I have been able to keep my GPA above 3.5. Thank you, and I will look forward to hearing from all you good members of the list. Regards, Bill Willson Keep your hand moving and your muse alive bwillson01@msn.com - - AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature http://www.xmission.com/~aml/aml-list.htm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 28 May 2001 21:03:19 EDT From: Paynecabin@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] New Yorker Mormon Cartoon The picture better be pretty funny. 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 #339 ******************************