According to the Book of Heidi

Recently my blog posts have been spotty at best. And I have loads of excuses, the chief of them being that my children have been out of school for the summer and I rarely get work done when they are home watching and listening to and playing things. I'm also a Relief Society president and work for the Boy Scouts. And I've been trying to get one of my books published while simultaneously writing on several of my other books and editing a couple of other people's books. I also do reviews for the local church book store. So that and wasting time on the Internet means I don't write much.

Picture of other golden plates.

But today, as I got out my scriptures to read, it occurred to me that we have it so easy. So in the interest of less whining, for the rest of this blog I shall pretend to write in the manner of prophets of old. (Though I am no prophet and these are not inspired scriptures.)

1. Therefore I, Heidi, did endeavor to keep a record of my people. 2. Having not the papyrus of the Egyptians nor the ink on which to inscribe, I did travel for three days into the mountains round about the desert and mine ore therefrom and did lug it homeward on the back of a donkey.
3. And it came to pass that I did molten out the ore and formed molds from which I might fashion rings and pages of gold. I endeavored to make the pages flat and uniform and not ragged on the edges that they might catch and cut. I did punch the holes for the rings that the malleable pages might be kept together in one book and in good order.
4. And I did shine the pages and render them smooth that I might write upon them with a stylus.
5. And I did write much that is worthy unto my children and husband and friends and family and far-away passing acquaintances.
6. And I did hope exceedingly that my family and passing acquaintances might read of my words and gain a more firm understanding of life and of silliness and fiction and ultimately of our God.
7. And because of the great amount of verbiage, I did make my way again unto the mountains to mine more ore therefrom. And once more did I devise pages of gold. And I did repair those pages which had been torn or broken.

Same here.

8. And I did employ a servant to carry the book about from town to town in order to show it unto the people that they might learn of it in great numbers.
9. It came to pass that upon waking from my vision, I did appreciate the ease with which my life has proceeded unto this point. And I did rejoice exceedingly that I needs not indeed molten ore from the mountains.
10. And it came to pass that I did thank my Heavenly Father for devices which fling my words into the air for my family and friends and passing acquaintances to read. I did thank Him for those devices which dispense knowledge unto me at an amazingly speedy rate, and that I might pluck a likeness from the air and apply it unto my finished page.
11. And I did recognize that it was good.
12. And also I did know for what reason the scribes had in times past kept their verbiage to a minimum. For I was exhausted merely from the vision thereof.
(This is not meant in any way to be sacrilegious.)

What Are the Whitneys?

 by Lucinda Whitney


Are you familiar with the  Whitney Awards?


 

No, there is no association (at least, not yet!). It's just a coincidence of name. You may click on the logo, it will take you to their site.

According to their website, "The Whitneys are an awards program for novels written by LDS authors. Elder Orson F. Whitney, an early apostle in the LDS church, prophesied “We will yet have Miltons and Shakespeares of our own.” It is our hope to be a part of that journey toward excellence by honoring the LDS writers also working toward that goal. The Whitney Awards honor novels in the following categories: General Fiction, Romance, Suspense/Mystery, Speculative Fiction, Speculative Young Adult Fiction, General Young Adult Fiction, Middle Grade, Historical, Best Novel of the Year, Best Novel in Youth Fiction, and Best Novel by a New Author. Novels can be nominated by any reader (via this website or by mail), and nominees are voted on by an academy of industry professionals, including authors, publishers, bookstore owners, distributors, critics, and others. The awards were founded in 2007 and operate as an semi-autonomous subsidiary of LDStorymakers."

 I can't remember when I first heard about the Whitney Awards. With a name like that, and with such a cause, this reader was very interested in supporting LDS authors by nominating their titles for a Whitney. If you're not sure whether a title is by an LDS author or not, I recommend you visit the New LDS Fiction Blog

 

 Just look up a title or author name in the search box, and you'll get your answer. The Whitney Awards website is currently accepting nominations for 2014. This means you can nominate any fiction book (that fits the categories) by an LDS author published in 2014, between January 1st and December 31st.

Here is a link to their FAQ page: http://whitneyawards.com/wordpress/faq/
And their rules page: http://whitneyawards.com/wordpress/rules/

There is plenty of time to nominate your favorite books by your favorite LDS authors. You have until the last day of the year, which I think is what I did last year, racing the clock.

Here's the link: http://whitneyawards.com/wordpress/nominate/

So now that you know what the Whitneys are, you have no excuse—go nominate a title!

Last First Day

By Stacy Johnson

Today is the last first day of school for my third eldest child. I call him Drewby (Drew + Baby = Drewby). I remember sending him off to kindergarten, so excited to learn, make new friends and adjust to a world outside of our home. He didn't do preschool that I can remember but he had good friends he played with regularly.

He has always been an active kid. He has played basketball and football since before he started kindergarten actually. He stopped playing football his sophomore year and hasn't regretted it, he coaches with his dad instead and he loves that. Last year his basketball team made it to the playoffs and lost in a very close game. This year I think will be their year to make it to the finals and maybe even win.

Drew is my quiet child, very introspective, always thinking. He is very careful to choose good friends even if very few of them are LDS. He is a home-body sometimes too and loves to talk sports with his dad.

I've been sending kids off to their first day of school for 17 years now and kindergarten doesn't phase me. I get a little teary as I think of the exciting things that are about to happen for my kids but my tears are those of joy, relief and anticipation.

On the other hand, when I send my seniors off on their last first day, I am very emotional.  I will be a wreck today as I think of how much I will miss him when he steps out into the world around us; jobs, mission, college, marriage and more. My heart already aches for him and his hugs, his texts telling me he loves me and his honesty although sometimes brutal.

So don't mind me, I'm taking my babies to the park where we will kill some time before afternoon kindergarten starts. My daughter will think I'm a mess and she will think it is all because she is leaving but you and I will know that that's only part of the reason I'm crying today...that and I have one more kindergartener next year so I will cry about every other year for another 18 years...oy.

Are You a Reader?

Cindy R. Williams

Are you a reader? If so, good on you!  Reading not only takes you around the world without leaving your armchair, but if you pay attention to style, grammar, descriptors, and how the author uses dialog etc to make their points and tell the story, each book can be part of your own "Continuing Education" or "Writers University."  As a middle grade fantasy author, I find J.K. Rowling's HP Series about the best of all teachers. For romance, Donna Hatch does it well. For historical romance, Joyce DiPastena is Queen. For books set in the wild west, Marsha Ward. For humor, I get a kick out of Janette Rallison's books. Sarah Eden cracks me up too.

There are also many "how not to write" books out there. But even these are great to read because they teach you what not to do . . . So don't feel guilty when you open a bag of Cheetos or M&M's and loose yourself in a book. After all it is research.