The panel will be moderated by Dan Wells and feature Nathan Shumate, Eric James Stone, Jaleta Clegg, EC Buck and Steven Peck. They’ll talk about how their stories came about, the delights and dangers of mixing Mormonism with genre fiction, and more. It’s gonna be great.

Click here for conference registration details. Note that it uses UVU’s enrollment process so you will need to register for an account.

Love of Nature Nature of Love Month has arrived on Wilderness Interface Zone, and we’re looking to publish love abroad.  Do you have a message of friendship and love you’d like to send someone? WIZ is looking for original poetry, essays, blocks of fiction, art, music (mp3s), videos or other media that address the topic of amour while making references to nature.  We’ll also take the flipside: We’ll publish work about nature intertwined with themes of love.  Besides original work you’re welcome to send favorite works by others that have entered public domain.  So if you have a sonnet you’ve written to a wild thing of one species or another or perhaps you’ve composed a video Valentine or an essay avowing your love for a natural space near and dear, please consider sending it to WIZ.  Click here for submissions guidelines.

Besides rolling out a (hopefully) plush carpet of love-art, we’ll also be running two WIZ, nature-laced, romantic DVD giveaways, Typhoon, starring Dorothy Lamour and pre-Music Man Robert Preston, and a Pre-Hays Code movie, King of the Jungle, starring scantily clad Buster Crabbe as Kaspa the Lion Man.

We hope you’ll attend the month-long celebration.  Come join us at WIZ and help thaw out February.

I told him I’m intrigued by the petroglyph on the cover, which makes the design is similar to the cover of Patricia Karamesines’ The Pictograph Murders. They’re both mysteries of sorts, so I’ll be interested to compare approaches. I should have more after the event, and maybe some pictures.

This Saturday at Claremont Graduate University, Sunstone West, a small tidier Sunstone Symposium, will feature panels about two Peculiar Pages book. (Note that times and participants are subject to clarification.)

The first, Monsters & Mormons, accomplished with the help of A Motley Vision and the most fun currently available in print. Participating authors Erik Peterson (”Bichos”) and Brian Gibson (”The Eye Opener”) will be talking about their works as well as reading their own and others’ stories. Responding to their presentation will be Patrick Q. Mason, the Howard W. Hunter Chair of Mormon Studies and Associate Professor of North American Religion at Claremont, and the author of The Mormon Menace: Violence and Anti-Mormonism in the Postbellum South (Oxford University Press, 2011).

Also featured are several poets from Fire in the Pasture. Featuring editor, poet, and AMV-contributor Tyler Chadwick discussing a Javen Tanner poem, and, in a separate session, readings from Tyler, Neil Aitkin, Karen Kelsay, Elisa Pulido, Laura Stott, Holly Welker, and, we hope, more.

Sunstone West is always great fun and you’ll want to catch other panels and presentations while you’re there.

Come to L.A.!

Register today!

Rings of the Tree tells the story of Diana Applesong, a Victorian woman who has experienced tragedy after tragedy in her life. So eventually, after dealing with so much grief, she cloisters herself and her servants into her mansion, essentially cutting herself off from the world. However, a group of explorers stumble upon her secretive existence and set off a chain of events that places her face to face with that which she is most afraid of… love.

“She has experienced a lot of loss and pain in her past,” said Jaclyn Hales who is playing the lead role of Diana Applesong, “Her default reaction is living like a porcelain doll. Everything is beautiful and protected on the outside, but inside she’s nothing… she’s numb. She has nothing left to give… or so she thinks.” Hales is recently making headway in her career with starring roles in films like the upcoming Unicorn City, but she took a break from her film pursuits in LA to work on this show, for which she has expressed a lot of fondness and excitement. “As far as everyone here in the Utah audience, it’s going to be innovative,” said Hales, “It’s super creative and will keep the audiences’ attention and awe factor at a high the whole time.”

Rings of the Tree is not a new story to Utah audiences. It was originally produced at Utah Valley University to very positive audience and critical reaction, and Stewart’s screenplay version of the story won first place in last year’s LDS Film Festival’s Screenplay Competition (which screenplay Imminent Catharsis Media has optioned and plans on making a feature film, once funding is in place). This production of the play, however, is very different than the one that premiered at UVU. Zion Theatre Company and Imminent Catharsis Media are taking a multimedia approach with the show, meaning that in staging it they are also incorporating film and other mediums. The production has required several film shoots, the composition of original music, the use of projection, digital devices and theatre magic.

“This version of the script is much closer to the screenplay than the original stage play,” said playwright Stewart, a Utah native who is currently getting his MFA is Dramatic Writing at Arizona State University. “There is a lot more emphasis on the visual element, the spectacle, the magic. In the past, I’ve focused on language. This time around, although that beautiful language is still a vital component, yet I tried to make room for spectacle… for visions.”

Utah film actor, Danor Gerald, is taking one of the starring roles in the multimedia production, but is also one of the show’s producers. Along with the production’s director Jyllian Petrie, they are creating the show’s film elements and creative multimedia effects. “Rings of the Tree pushes the creative boundaries of theatre, and narrative cinema.  Zion Theatre Company and Imminent Catharsis Arts & Media are working together to develop this groundbreaking work of art,” said Gerald, “After doing so many movies in Utah, this project excites me as an actor, and as a producer because it brings me back to my roots in classical live theatre.  That’s my first love, plus I get to integrate my new zeal for digital cinema and web-based media to tell this story.”

As indicated, there is a digital, intermedia element to the show which will surprise audiences. “We’ve all been warned at the movies or theatre to turn off our mobile phones and silence our devices,” said Gerald, “But in this show we expect and encourage the audience to bring your web-enabled tablets and smartphones.  Bring your headphones, and a splitter for your date.  You will want to take the chances we give to you to use them… We aren’t using these as gimmicks.  We are making creative technical choices to deliver each part of the story in the most valuable and enjoyable way.”

Director Petrie has both been invigorated and challenged by the production. “It’s been an eye opening experience. I’ve worked for years in theatre and years in film, but I’ve never had to do both at the same time. It’s been very difficult, but very rewarding, but we’re doing the impossible—we’ve basically filmed a movie and rehearsed a play in a matter of weeks! But I’m very excited, because when it all comes together, it’s going to be mind blowing.”

The Off Broadway Theater is located at 272 South Main Street, Salt Lake City. The Grove Theater is located at 20 South Main Street, Pleasant Grove. All performances of the show will be at 7pm. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students/seniors. Tickets for the Salt Lake performances can be purchased at http://theobt.org/ or by calling (801) 355-4628. Tickets for the Pleasant Grove performances can be purchased at www.ziontheatrecompany.com .

iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch (iOS devices)

Edit to add: the Dropbox + Bluefire method in the comments below also works quite well. I’ve used it myself.

iBookstore is difficult to work with for small publishers, so you won’t find it there and Apple doesn’t let other apps buy directly in-app so you’ll need both your computer and your iOS device. So fire up your laptop or desktop and click here and buy the ebook directly from B10 Mediaworx and download it to someplace where you easily find it (desktop, your documents folder, an ebooks folder). Your best bet is to buy the epub version (click on the “epub” button). The only exception is if you are already using the Kindle app on your iOS device, in which case, click on the “kindle” button.

Next, you need to install an ereader app on your device.

1. If you went the Kindle route, use the Amazon Kindle App.

2. If you went the epub route, use Bluefire Reader.

Open up iTunes on your computer and connect your iOS device to your computer. When your device shows up on the left nav in iTunes, click on it. You should see a new navigation show up in the main section of iTunes. Find the “Apps” button and click on it. Scroll down to the bottom to the section that says “File Sharing”. Click on the Kindle or Bluefire icon. You should now see the list of files in that app (or none if there aren’t files in it yet). At the bottom of that section (which will either say “Kindle Documents” or “Bluefire Documents”, you’ll see a button that says “Add”. Click on that button, navigate to where you downloaded your .epub or .prc (Kindle) file, select the file and click “open”. The file should now show up in the Documents list on iTunes. Sync your device, eject it and it should show up on your iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch your Kindle or Bluefire app.

Kindle/Kindle Fire

There are two ways to go here:

1. Buy directly from Amazon and have it automatically sent to your device via Whispernet. This is easier, but we (the publisher, editors and contributors) get less money. But hey, it’s easier so we don’t mind if that’s way you gotta go.

2. Buy directly from us and sideload the Kindle file onto your Kindle device. Here’s how you do that: from your laptop or desktop, click here. Click on the “kindle” button and go through the check out process. When you get to the point where you can download the file, save it somewhere where you will be able to easily find it.

Next, click here for information from Amazon on how to transfer content via usb. Because you’ve already downloaded the content to your computer, you can skip the first section in the guide and following directions for “Connecting your Kindle device to your computer” and “Transferring Kindle content”.

Nook (or Kobo or Sony Reader)

For non-Kindle ereaders, you should click here and buy the “epub” version of Monsters & Mormons directly from B10 Mediaworx and download it someplace where you can find it.

To load the file onto your Nook, click here and follow the instructions. Note that you can also manage this via Adobe Editions if you already use it to load books on to your Nook that you don’t purchase directly form B&N.

To load the file onto your Kobo, connect it to your computer using the USB cable that came with it. Tap “Connect” on your Kobo eReader’s screen. Your Kobo should now show up as a connected device on your computer. Open it up and you should see the contents of the eReader. Open up another explore window (PC) or finder window (Mac) on your computer and navigate to where your Monsters & Mormons epub file is. Drag it to the eReader window and drop it in. Eject your Kobo and you should be good to go.

For the Sony Reader, connect it to your computer using the USB cable. If you have a Sony Reader, chances are you already have Sony’s eBook Library installed on your computer and know how to use it. Do that. There are other ways to go but they aren’t as easy to explain.

Mac, PC or Linux laptop/netbook/desktop

There are quite a few ereader software options. The best, imo, is Calibre. Download Calibre here. Install it. Buy the “epub” version of Monsters & Mormons directly from B10 Mediaworx and download it someplace where you can find it. Open up Calibre, click on “Add Books”, navigate to where you downloaded the file and select it. Calibre can also help you load books to almost other devices you might have, including Kindle, Nook, iPad, Sony Reader, Android smartphone/tablet and Kobo.

Android Smartphone or Tablet

Edit to add: the Dropbox + Bluefire method in the comments below also works quite well for those who are (or are willing to be) Dropbox users.

I don’t know the Android world very well. If you already use the Kindle app on Android, it’s probably easiest to buy direct from Amazon. But if you really want to have the epub version and not be tied into Kindle (a sentiment I fully understand and support), then it looks to me like your best bets are either the Kobo app or the Aldiko app. Click here for details on how to load books using the Aldiko app. For the Kobo app on an Android table the best bet is to load the epub file onto the SD card for your tablet and then follow these linked instructions.

MORE OPTIONS

If none of the above work for you, you can always purchase the PDF or HTML version of the anthology and use your favorite PDF reader or browser/html renderer.

I hope this helps. If you have questions, leave a comment below or email monsters AT motleyvision DAWT org, and we’ll do our best to help you out.

A New Plea for Fiction

by Scott Hales

The other day, I posted on Facebook that the publication agreement for a review I wrote of Angela Hallstrom’s Dispensation: Latter-day Fiction had come in the mail. Among the comments that followed was one that suggested the book should have been called Latter-day Fiction: Disposable.

Now, I doubt the guy who made the comment had ever read the book—even though I know he’s no stranger to Mormon studies. More likely, his comment sprang from the common misconception among Mormons—and we all know it’s there—that fiction written by Latter-day Saints about Latter-day Saints and for Latter-day Saints isn’t worth reading. Not by anyone over the age of fourteen, at least. And even then, it’s still disposable.

A lot of reasons have been tossed out there for why this misconception exists. Typically detractors reference Mormon fiction’s apparent predilection for cheese, sentimentality, and didacticism—not to mention its “unrealistic” depiction of the world and the easy way it resolves the conflicts (or non-conflicts) that fuel its plots. As proof, they point to the work of someone like Jack Weyland, Mormonism’s great literary scapegoat, and novels like Charly, his supposed magnum opus horrendus.

Now, I may be wrong, but I have a theory that most of these detractors—these dear brothers and sisters who conflate all Mormon fiction with Weyland and Charly—have never read a word written by the guy. More to the point, though, I’d be willing to bet that even if they have—and loathed it—they’ve still never taken the time to see what else Mormon fiction has to offer. In this respect, they’re not unlike teenagers who refuse to watch Raiders of the Lost Ark because they thought Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls sucked fry sauce.

Of course, we can’t blame Mormon fiction’s detractors for their ignorance. It’s not like the best Mormon fiction is on the bookshelves at any of the Barnes & Nobles in the Cincinnati area, where I live, or advertised on Amazon.com’s main page. Nor is it always found on the shelves at Deseret or Seagull Books. Too often, great Mormon fiction goes unread because its primary audience does not know how and where to find it.

So the misconceptions persist, and Mormon fiction remains disposable.

But it doesn’t have to—not if we all do our part to bust the Jello mold Mormon fiction has been trapped inside since Sam first kissed Charly. As stated in its Call for Submissions, the upcoming Mormon Lit Blitz has been designed specifically to carry Mormon fiction to the Latter-day masses, the “people who love Mormonism and”—believe it or not!—“love great writing.” What better chance is there to bring great Mormon fiction to readers than a contest that seeks to flood the Bloggernacle with Mormon literature?**

Already we’ve received nearly forty submissions, and we fully expect to receive many more before the January 15^th deadline.*** Today, however, I am making a special plea for fiction submissions that depict contemporary Mormon life—fiction that mirrors the lives of its readers.

Yes, the Blitz accepts—and has already received—poetry and speculative fiction submissions, which I imagine will have a prominent place among the finalists.**** But I’d also like to see the work of some of our best practitioners of “Faithful Realism”—or whatever it is you want to call it—featured as well. So often, Latter-day Saint readers know the Orson Scott Cards, Stephenie Meyers, Ally Condies, and Brandon Sandersons, but they do not know the Douglas Thayers, Todd Robert Petersens, and Angela Hallstroms out there.***** My hope is that the Mormon Lit Blitz will help even out the playing field.

In 1898, Nephi Anderson made a similar plea to readers of The Improvement Era. At the time, members of the Church were largely suspicious of fiction, particularly novels, and worried that it had a negative effect on society. Anderson boldly argued otherwise, challenging the sermonly notions of “the spectacled fathers and mothers” of the day, and praising fiction for its ability to speak to the minds and hearts of the rising generation.

In many ways, Mormon culture is now at a crossroads. Not since the days of Anderson and the Home Literature crowd has Mormon creative work been more accessible to the reading masses. True, official Church publications and printing presses have largely steered away from fiction, but small presses, independent journals, and blogs have done their best to pick up the slack. Sadly, their efforts—and the efforts of talented Mormon writers—go unnoticed all too often.

So, if you write stories about contemporary Mormon life, I plead with you to submit to the Mormon Lit Blitz. We need your work, along with the work of our talented genre writers, to prove that Latter-day fiction is not disposable, is not some reeking piece of candy stuck to the underside of a table in the Cultural Hall.

Through the Mormon Lit Blitz, we have a chance to introduce Mormon fiction to a wider audience. As I see it, we can either seize that chance, however great or small it may prove to be, or let people like the guy on Facebook continue to revel in their misconceptions of and faithlessness in Mormon culture.

Is it not time to stick it to the “spectacled fathers and mothers” of our day?

Notes:

**That’s right! We want to get the entire Bloggernacle involved in spreading the words about the contest. If you write a Mormon-themed blog—no matter the size—and would like to advertise the Blitz in February, contact us at Mormonlitblitz@gmail.com and we’ll put you on the list.

***Contest co-coordinator James Goldberg has already called for a “poetically appropriate one thousand and one” submissions. Do you want to let him down?

****I say “I imagine” because I haven’t read any of the submissions yet.

*****Before I get mauled by all the SF&F folk out there, I should also say that Latter-day Saint readers also ought to know more about the Eric James Stones and Lee Allreds out there.

I know that many of you are anxiously awaiting the print version of Monsters & Mormons. We are too. Unfortunately, the vendor that Peculiar Pages/B10 Mediaworx is getting the trade pub editions from isn’t moving as quickly as they have in the past. See, we knew the schedule would be tight. But the order went in 10 days ago and Lightning Source, a print on demand company that works with small publishers,  hasn’t printed and shipped the print run yet to Elizabeth so that she can fulfill your orders. This delay is unusual. We don’t know yet when it might arrive. We very much hope that it can happen in advance of Christmas.

B10 does have your orders on file if you’ve already ordered the print version. And, of course, the ebook version is available to download now. Or you can get it directly for the Kindle here. As soon as the shipment comes in, we will let you know.

CALL FOR CONTEST SUBMISSIONS

Now announcing the first ever Mormon Lit Blitz Writing Contest organized by James Goldberg and Scott Hales. Send up to three submissions by 15 January, 2012 to mormonlitblitz@gmail.com for a chance to win a Kindle and more.

What we want:
Short work for Mormons to be published and read online.

The details:
“Short” means under 1,000 words.

“Work” means creative writing in any genre, from literary realism to far future science fiction, and in any form: fiction, essay, poetry, even play or screenplay if you can keep it under 1,000 words. Give us a tiny, polished gem we can show off to people who love Mormonism and love great writing but  “know not where to find” a place where the two meet.

“For Mormons” means for committed Latter-day Saints. Yes, that’s an extremely diverse audience (see the “I’m a Mormon” campaign — and your ward members), but it’s also an audience with distinctive shared values and history that don’t often get attention in creative work. We want you to write something that will appeal to us as people who believe in the sacred, who have ridiculous numbers of brothers and sisters we see every week, who worry about being good and faithful servants no matter what our day jobs are and wonder what it will be like to meet our grandparents’ grandparents in heaven. We don’t need your pieces to preach to us. We do need them to combine your creativity and religious commitment in a way that excites us and gives us something cool to talk about with our Mormon friends.

“To be published and read online” means we’re going to post six to twelve finalists’ pieces on Mormon Artist magazine’s blog (www.mormonartist.net) and then ask readers to vote on their favorites.

One catch: since even 1,000 words can be intimidating on a screen, your piece needs a strong hook of no more than 120 words (or eight lines for poetry) to be visible on the main blog page. Mark the end of your hook with [MORE]. Even our editors will only read further if you’ve piqued their interest.

Submission Guidelines:
Submissions must have fewer than 1,000 words with a hook no longer than 120 words (or eight lines for poetry). Submissions must be engaging to Latter-day Saints and engage with their Mormon identity in some way.

Authors may submit up to three works. Each submission must be attached to an email as a .doc or .pdf file. The selection process is blind, so the author’s name should not appear on the document.

Email any questions and your submissions to mormonlitblitz@gmail.com. Submission emails should contain the author’s name, the titles of each submission, and contact information (telephone number or email address).

By submitting, authors give us the one-time rights to publish their work electronically. Previously published work is OK if you still have the rights to the piece and if it meets the above contest requirements (don’t forget to add a [MORE] tag to the end of your hook).

The prize:
The contest editors will select six to twelve finalists. All finalists will have their short works published online starting in mid-February 2012 and actively promoted across the LDS blogosphere by the Mormon Lit Blitz team.

After all pieces have been published, readers will vote on a single Grand Prize Winner, who will receive a Kindle pre-loaded with LDS literary works, including Parley P. Pratt’s classic short “A Dialogue Between Joseph Smith and the Devil,” Peculiar Pages’ recent Monsters & Mormons anthology, Zarahemla Books’ Dispensation: Latter-day Fiction, the poetry anthology Fire in the Pasture, and recent issues of Mormon Artist magazine.

Facebook Page first line contest
Theric and I will each choose our favorite Monsters & Mormons-themed first line from those posted to the Facebook page. The two winners will each receive a free e-edition of the anthology. We’ll also announce the other activities as they happen to the page so it’ll be a virtual launch central where you can be entertained by the first lines and see what’s going on elsewhere.

How to Participate: like our Facebook page and check in between 9:00 and 10:10 pm (central) and post your entry/entries to the wall.

Twitter frivolity
Theric will be posting stuff to Twitter. He’ll share a load of links to excerpts and illustrations from the anthology that you may have missed. He will also reprise the game that started the anthology (monster-izing Mormon fiction titles). And whatever madcap-ness we can come up with.

How to Participate: follow Peculiar Pages on Twitter and if you post something use the hashtag #MonstersandMormons

WriteChat.net Contributor Panel Discussion (via group IM)
A year or two ago Elizabeth Beeton, our publisher, created an online chat system specifically for writers called WriteChat. It’s like doing a group Instant Message, and writers hang out there to challenge each other to writing sprints, talk shop, etc. We’re going to use it as a platform to do interviews/panel discussions with our contributors. If there is interest and time, we’ll also take questions from you.

How to Participate: Go to WriteChat.net and sign up for an account (it simply requires a username, email and password and it’s only to be able to log in and chat — you won’t receive emails or anything like that). Please note that it is a Java applet so you may need to install a fresher version of Java and/or approve the running of the applet that runs the chat rooms. If your browser auto-blocks pop ups or certain scripts, you’ll want to look for that and turn that off specifically for that site. I should add that I have tested this, and it’s very cool. And the current denizens are very welcoming and they have been warned of Friday night’s invasion.

If you run into issues: Basic help guide for how to use the chat software | Tech support for the chat software

Google+ Hangout Author Reading/Storytelling
A Google+ Hangout allows for up to 10 people to do a video chat together. Throughout the launch, I will be hosting various contributors and inviting you to join the Hangout. Unfortunately, Google doesn’t yet let us stream the proceedings, so we’ll be limited to 8 of you per Hangout. I will have the contributor read an excerpt from his or her story. We’ll do an interview, maybe take some questions, and then if there’s time, we’ll tell scary/creepy/humorous mission/family/pioneer/folk tales. You know, campfire kind of stuff. This will require a Google+ account, a computer with a webcam, and a decent high speed internet connection. I’m sorry we have the limits. We’ll do as many as we can and get as many of you in as we can.

How to Participate: Circle Monsters & Mormons on Google+. I will circle you back so that you can be notified of and invited to the Hangouts as they occur. If you need to sign up for a Google+ account, you can do that here. Don’t tell Google I said this, but you could sign up just for this event and then not use it otherwise.

Finally, I’m sorry to report that the print version has been delayed. Our publisher Elizabeth Beeton and her family all came down with that evil sickness that’s been going around (or at least one like it has been going around here in Minnesota) and she is down for the count. Now, we are still taking preorders for the trade paperback and this shouldn’t be a huge delay, but it won’t be ready in time for Friday. If you pre-ordered the print version you will definitely receive it soon — we just won’t be able to send them out this weekend like we had hoped.

Thanks again to all of you who have bought the ebook or pre-ordered the trade paperback. I hope you’re enjoying the stories. Please do join us for our virtual launch — it’ll be so much more fun if you participate. See you Friday evening!