Five Questions for William Morris about Dark Watch and Other Mormon-American Stories

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by Scott Hales:

William Morris is one of today’s great advocates for Mormon literature. Aside from founding and frequently contributing to the blog A Motley Vision, William is also a creative writer whose fiction addresses Mormon and non-Mormon subjects with depth, insight, and imagination. Recently, William published his first collection of Mormon stories, Dark Watch and Other Mormon-American Stories.

Here are William’s answers to five questions I had about the book…

Tell us about Dark Watch and Other Mormon-American Stories. What's the genesis of the project? How long have you been working on this collection?

A little over two years ago, I realized that I had enough stories that had been published in Mormon journals plus others that I had completed or would soon complete to make a collection of my Mormon-themed short fiction. At the time I had focused my writing more on (not-Mormon-themed) science fiction and fantasy, and this felt like a good project to serve as a coda to my work in the MoLit field. Wrap up in a neat package, put a bow on it and move on. I was interested enough in the idea to come up with a cover concept for it and then it sat for awhile until I finally convinced two family members who have professional-level editing experience to copyedit and from there it was simply a matter of creating the ebook files and setting up the accounts for Amazon, Nook, Kobo, etc.

And, as it turned out, in the process of putting the collection together, I found myself re-engaging with the issues and imagery and experiences that had caused me to write the stories in the first place, and so as much as I enjoy writing science fiction and fantasy aimed at the mainstream market and will continue to explore that part of my creative life, I'm actually not yet done with Mormon literature. I now look at it less as the end of my engagement with the field and more like the beginning of a new phase.

It's interesting that you call your stories "Mormon-American." What does that term—or label—mean to you and your fiction?

Freetown Movie: More Reviews

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MMM Note: Freetown could be playing in a theater near you - if so check it out!

by Pete Codella:

Freetown delivers a miraculous missionary story with cinematography and music that transport you to Africa. If you enjoy faith-based movies, you’ll enjoy Freetown. I found the story remarkable, watching as the group of six missionaries make their way in a small sedan, driven by a local church member on unpredictable dirt roads, through several rebel-held check-points, across Liberia to Freetown, Sierra Leone. A mix of quick thinking and divine protection help them escape danger and safely make their way to the mission president’s home amid a civil war. Much of the story takes place as they travel in the car, making the film seem a bit claustrophobic, even though wide-angled countryside shots give you a good sense of the beautiful African landscape. I felt like some of the acting could have been stronger, and my nine year-old son asked a couple of times for a translation of what was being said due to the strong African English accents. Still, the film is well-made and the message of good Christian living is certainly worth two hours.

by Pete Busche:

The film Freetown tackled intense subject matter and relayed important messages about faith, doubt, and race. It's encouraging to see filmmakers seek to create or recreate authentic Mormon stories, of which Freetown was a great example. The story in this case was an important history, probably wholly unfamiliar to the audience who will see the film (American Mormons?). The acting was certainly amateur and leaves one wanting for more believe-ability at times. However, it is felt far more genuine to have African actors in a believable setting (hopefully gone are the "Testament" days of "dark-skinned" people being played by white actors with too much tanning-oil) which felt overall more "real" than the run-of-the-mill Mollywood film.

The film presented the theme of cognitive dissonance as relating to the tribal violence in Liberia, as well as within the LDS Church's history. With the recent surge of membership in Africa, the Church's Priesthood ban for African descendants will have to be addressed. One of the missionaries in the film provided this explanation: we all make mistakes; even prophets and institutions, and all have need of Christ's Atonement: God rejoices in our repentance, regardless of who we are or what we did in the past.

As one who listens to more soundtracks than movies, I was disappointed in Robert Elliot's work in this film. I enjoy his style: he fits in with the major prolific contemporaries like Hans Zimmer, Alexander Desplat etc. and worked wonders with creating the anxious, unsettling mood in The Saratov Approach. Freetown required a much different tempo, style, and mood-based on the subject matter. Elliot relied in similar musical patterns (even used redundant chord progressions from The Saratov Approach), and didn't quite make the necessary change I would've hoped for.

by Theric Jepson:

I expected to be more thrilled than moved by Freetown. In fact, I was more moved than thrilled. The thriller aspects of the film are competent but not extraordinary. What is extraordinary is the sense of hope and joy the film imparts in balance to the despair and danger. And make no mistake: even though we expect the miracles the missionaries promise and all bloodletting is done offscreen, the reality of the violence and death and finality that was Liberia's civil war is utterly plain. One of the smart choices of the script is making the protagonist someone other than a missionary. Henry Adofo who plays Philip Abubakar is a powerful lead. He teeters between being a nobody and a hero---or, in other words, he's fully human and accepting of that. Something about being twenty and wearing a black tag that Broadway doesn't understand is the attendant joy of being nothing, and how being nothing leads to complete reliance on God and the ability to see all things as possible. Abubakar doesn't have the luxury of a black tag to render him nothing. Sure, death is no more real to him than it is for the missionaries, but he feels the weight of death differently, being the only adult in the car (which may be why, in the end, it will be his faith that's necessary if they are to survive). The film presents language intelligently, as we should expect when the words are penned by AML Award-winning playwright Melissa Leilani Larson. The film's score by Robert Allen Elliott is likewise suitable and intelligent. The problem is that these two strengths can bump into each other. Sometimes, what Freetown really needs, is some more faith in silence. That said, I think the best way to enjoy the film is to take a crowd to the theater. If it makes it to the East Bay, I plan to invite a lot of people. This is a movie that should be experienced communally.

by Scott Hales:

The story FREETOWN tells is compelling. While it is based on true events, I admit that I have no clue where it takes liberties with history. Were the missionaries really hunted by a vengeful rebel? Did the ending really happen the way it's portrayed in the film? I don't know and I don't think it matters. Freetown is a story that could happen. The characters are realistically drawn and the situations they find themselves in--including the miracles they encounter along the way--seem wholly plausible. It's an excellent follow-up to The Saratov Approach.

by Carrie Stroud:

I watched Freetown with my husband and 13 year old daughter. I would say that this film could be watched by those ages 10 and up, simply because it was a violent situation and although not gory, could trouble a younger child with so many guns. Although I hesitate to write this aspect, my family had a very hard time understanding the accent and in retrospect I think subtitles would have been helpful. It made it difficult to feel emotion when we were struggling so hard to understand each sentence. I felt like the character development was definitely lacking. The story itself is very powerful and it would have been nice to understand more background into their lives. With that said, my family agrees that the overall acting was well done and we felt great empathy for each person and situation.

Questions for Angela Hallstrom, Author of Bound on Earth

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by Scott Hales:

Few recent Mormon novels have received as much praise as Angela Hallstrom's Bound on Earth, which was first published in 2008 by Parables. (You can read my enthusiastic review here.) Because the book is being republished by Mormon fiction powerhouse Zarahemla Books, I sent Angela a few questions about the novel, the change in publishers, and the state of Mormon fiction today.

Here is what she had to say...

Scott Hales: Tell us a little of the history of Bound on Earth. I gather that it began as a series of short stories about the Palmer family. At what point did you begin to think of it as a novel?

Angela Hallstrom: During my MFA program I was focused primarily on short story writing. Near the end of my program I took a point-of-view class that was very influential, and in it we read a few novels-in-stories. I was taken with the idea of exploring one Mormon family using such a method. I wrote "Thanksgiving" in that class, which later became the first chapter of Bound on Earth and the foundational story around which Bound on Earth was built.

The novel has recently switched publishers. What motivated the move to Zarahemla Books? Have you made any revisions to the novel in tandem with the move, or is the novel essentially how it was when it was published by Parables?

I enjoyed working with Beth Bentley at Parables, but her husband and business partner, George, recently passed away, sadly. His passing precipitated some changes at Parables and I found that the rights to the novel reverted to me. I've worked with Chris Bigelow and Zarahemla—they published the short story anthology I edited, Dispensation: Latter-day Fiction—and I approached him, knowing the novel would be in good hands. I knew I'd be in good company, too: Zarahemla has published some of the best contemporary Mormon fiction in the last decade. No changes have been made to the novel itself, but I'm grateful that my partnership with Zarahemla helps keep the novel in print.

Garden of Enid Comic Compilation

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Enid comics are posted on the comic homepage regularly on Wednesdays and Sundays and sometimes on days in between. You can also follow the adventures of Enid on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Trust us, this is worth reading and supporting. Some of our recent favorites are below (posted with author's permission).

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Participate in Mormon Arts Sunday!

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by Scott Hales:

Early last year, I wrote a good-natured satire of “Wear Pants to Church Day”—as well as the strong (sometimes violently-worded) resistance to it—and posted it in two parts (here and here) on A Motley Vision. In the posts, I encouraged all Mormons everywhere to wear a black beret and/or maroon clothing to church on Scout Sunday, the first Sunday in February, to raise awareness of Mormon art and its often-overlooked place in our community. While the posts were obviously tongue-in-cheek, several of us who contribute to and read AMV, realized that the idea was bigger than the satire and decided to take it seriously. On the designated Sunday, the second in February, we donned our black berets and maroon ties, snapped a few selfies for social media, and headed off to church.

This year, when February rolled around, half of us forgot about commemorating Mormon Arts Sunday while the other half kept the tradition alive. (I was among the forgetful.) Feeling like Mormon arts deserved better than that, we decided to move Mormon Arts Sunday officially to the second Sunday in June. We made the move for several reasons. First, we didn’t want Mormon Arts Sunday to conflict with Scout Sunday, even though Scout Sunday seems (in my opinion) to be mostly a relic of the last century. Second, June was the month when the first works of Mormon literature were published in The Evening and Morning Star in 1832. Third, June marks the anniversary of the founding of A Motley Vision in 2004. The move to June seemed right.

This week, in preparation for Sunday, AMV founder William Morris has published a list of things you can do to commemorate Mormon Arts Sunday and show your commitment to Mormon art and solidarity with Mormon artists. I have little to add to his excellent list aside from my support and endorsement. In my opinion, giving Mormon art and artists recognition is one of the most important things we can do for Mormon communities around the world. Too often, after all, we feel as if we have to apologize for Mormon art—or dismiss it for being sentimental, didactic, kitschy, and amateurish—forgetting that Mormon art is not simply what we see on shelves at church bookstores, but also that which we create as Mormons with our own hands. In other words, Mormon art is the creative work we do on a daily basis—in all its forms and mediums. Whenever we do something creative with our Mormon perspectives—through writing, singing, scribbling, drawing, dancing, etc.—we are making Mormon art.

So, to raise awareness for Mormon arts everywhere, don your artsy black berets, wear your maroons and dark reds, and show your support for our artists. And don’t forget to post your Mormon Arts Sunday selfies on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, or anything else that helps you show your commitment to Mormon Arts. And use #MormonArtsSunday—‘cause we Mormons are all about our hashtags!


Scott Hales lives in a small house in a suburb of Cincinnati with his wife and three daughters. He spends a lot of his time reading Mormon fiction and trying to come up with original things to say about it. On weekday mornings, he gets up at 4:40 to teach seminary. On weekday evenings, he and his wife watch network television and wonder what it must be like to have a satellite dish and 400 channels. During the daytime, he is a graduate student in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Cincinnati. He doesn't like pets or home repairs. He always likes to watch superhero cartoons with his kids. Sometimes he rides a mountain bike in the woods behind his neighborhood. When he's feeling particularly nostalgic, he'll pull out his masterfully written mission journals and remember the days when he didn't sport sideburns. Twitter: @TheLowTechWorld. Blog: low-techworld.blogspot.com.
 Image credit: Scott Hales (used with permission).

Three Recent Winners of Mormon Literary Awards

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by Scott Hales:

Something is always happening in the Mormon literary world, yet lately it has seemed that things have slowed down on the "literary" fiction front. I know of several authors—William Morris, Steven Peck, Mahonri Stewart, and Douglas Thayer—who have lit fic that is either almost ready to be published or well on its way, but for now, Mormon lit enthusiasts have to sit tight and catch up on what they've missed.

I have my own backlist of Mormon novels to read. Most of them have been sent to me by authors and publishers looking for reviews. The two I'm most excited about right now are Ryan Rapier's The Reluctant Blogger, which I was reluctant to read until everyone I know started recommending it to me, and Jennifer Quist's Love Letters of the Angels of Death, which I also initially blew off until the Deseret News gave it an unfair review that stirred up a small controversy (see here and here). I've already started Love Letters, and I am ready to proclaim it the most beautifully-written Mormon novel since Angela Hallstrom's Bound on Earth.

Also on my to-read list are three recent winners of Mormon literary awards. The first is Sarah M. Eden's Longing for Home: A Proper Romance (Shadow Mountain), a series romance novel that surprised everyone by taking home the Association for Mormon Letter’s 2013 novel award. I know practically nothing about this book, except for Amazon's description of it, so I'm curious to see how it fits in with past award winners like Steve Peck's The Scholar of Moab and Brady Udall's The Lonely Polygamist.

The second is Sarah Dunster's Mile 21 (Cedar Fort), which recently took home this year's Whitney Award for Best General Novel. I've been a big fan of Dunster's work since reading herhistorical novel Lightning Tree last year, and I'm interested to see how she handles the story of a modern-day twenty-something Mormon widow in the always-awkward LDS dating scene. So far reviews of Mile 21 have been good, and it doesn't hurt that it takes place in Rexburg on the BYU-Idaho campus, where I made a lot of good memories back in the day.

Finally, I'm interested in Julie Berry’s All the Truth That's In Me (Viking), the winner of the 2013 Whitney Award for Best Young Adult General Novel. Like Longing for Home, I know next to nothing about this book except for Amazon's description of it. However, my fellow MoLit enthusiast Andrew Hall recently raved about it on a recent episode of The Good Word podcast, and I've been interested in it ever since. Plus, it's a vaguely historical novel about a rigid, secretive community ... which is enough to get me interested.

The Restoration as an Adventure: L. T. Downing Talks about Get That Gold! and Her Adventures of the Restoration Book Series

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by Scott Hales:

I first became acquainted with Lisa Torcasso Downing through her insightful posts and comments about Mormon literature and creative writing on Dawning of a Brighter Day, the blog of the Association for Mormon Letters. Later, I had a chance to teach her short story "Clothing Esther" in a class I taught on religious fiction at my university. While none of my students was Mormon, nearly all of them voiced appreciation for Lisa's story--which, in my opinion, is a great testament to her gifts as a Mormon writer.

Lisa has recently published two novels (see here and here) for children under the pen name L. T. Downing. The most recent, Get That Gold! (Zion BookWorks, 2013), is the first book in an ongoing series called The Adventures of the Restoration. Based on early Mormon histories like Lucy Mack Smith's biography of her prophet-son, the novel is about the Smith family's struggle to get the plates from the Hill Cumorah to the safety of their home--without Joseph getting waylaid by scheming men who want the gold plates for their own. It's a suspenseful children's novel that lives up to what any kid (or parent) would expect from an adventure story.

Since children's literature is not my forte, I enlisted the help of Connor, my book-addicted nine-year-old daughter, for this interview. We read the novel together--at 131 pages, it's a quick read--and then came up with questions for the author. 

Here is what Lisa--that is, L. T. Downing--had to say:

Connor Hales: How do you come up with ideas when you write your books?

L. T. Downing: The ideas for the Adventures of the Restoration series came because I love history and storytelling. I have read a lot of history books about the early days of the church, but those books were too boring to read to my own children. So I began telling them about the really amazing things that went on during the Restoration period. Next thing I knew, I was writing those stories down.

CH: When did you decide that you were going to become a writer?

LTD: I remember the moment I decided to be a writer like it was yesterday. I was four years old. When I was a baby, I never learned to crawl and a very famous baby doctor had written a book that claimed that babies who never crawl are likely to have trouble learning to read. My mother was worried I wouldn't be a good reader so she started teaching me as soon as I turned four. To her surprise, I took to it very quickly. One day I was sitting with her on the edge of my parents' bed, reading a story that had a big red can in it. My mom kept telling me there was no red can in the story. I got mad and kept pointing to the word. "C-A-N," I said. Then she pointed to the last letter and asked me to look again. Well, can you believe it? The word was spelled "C-A-R." The big red car. Not can. I was astonished that changing one little letter at the end of word could change the entire meaning. That's when my mom said, "When you grow up, you can go to college and study English. And if you want, you can become a writer." Bam! Decision made. At the age of four, I couldn't imagine anything more wonderful—and powerful—than creating meaning by arranging letters into words and words into sentences and sentences into books. I still think that.

MMM Library: The 5 Mormon Books Every MMM Should Read

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by Scott Hales (bio)

This post was originally published on July 22, 2011.

Back in May, Esquire put together a list of “The 75 Books Every Man Should Read.” Not surprisingly, no Mormon writer made the list. I mean, who reads books by Mormon writers, anyway? Probably not anyone who writes for Esquire.

Of course, Mormons writes books. If you live in Utah or subscribe to the Deseret Book catalog, this comes as no surprise. They tend to be of the inspirational sort. Hardcovers. Glossy dust jackets tagged with fancy gold lettering. Familiar images by Greg Olsen or Liz Lemon Swindle draped across the covers.

You know what I’m talking about.

But Mormons also write fiction - serious fiction - and it’s just as good as most of the stuff on Esquire’s list. The problem is, it’s not something many people - including Mormons - know much about.

So, with due respect for Esquire’s 75 books, I’ve drawn up my own list of “The 5 Mormon Books Every MMM Should Read.” Like Esquire’s list, mine is made up of novels by and about men.

1. Dorian by Nephi Anderson (1921)
Once upon a time, Mormon men were defined by wives, crops, and kids. Then polygamy ended and agrarianism waned, and Mormon men were faced with a kind of identity crisis. Enter Dorian Trent, a Mormon man for the twentieth century. Intellectual, compassionate, courageous, and tough, Dorian showed readers that you didn’t need to be a pioneer to be a real Mormon man.

2. The Backslider by Levi S. Peterson (1986)
Often heralded as the best Mormon novel ever written, Levi S. Peterson’s The Backslider is an irreverent -- and frequently bawdy -- celebration of the Mormon man’s struggle against the Natural Man. While its relatively explicit content (for a Mormon novel) has offended no small number of readers, its ultimate message of atonement and grace speaks to the souls of saints and sinners alike. And Peterson’s vision of the Cowboy Jesus is the stuff of legends.

The Saratov Approach

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In 1998, two Mormon missionaries were kidnapped and held for ransom in Saratov, Russia. The Saratov Approach opens in Utah theaters October 9th. Watch the trailer and visit the Facebook page.

Recently the MMM team was given the opportunity to view an advanced screening of The Saratov Approach. Here are our reviews.

Scott Hales
Mormon cinema, like Mormon literature, doesn't have a great reputation. Sometimes it surprises us with a really fantastic film, like Napoleon Dynamite or Brigham City or Saints and Soldiers, but most of the time that's not the case. Most of the time we get a comedy or a pioneer movie that seems like a roadshow with a budget. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but to be honest, I've been a little underwhelmed by a lot of recent Mormon films.

When I got the chance to preview The Saratov Approach, a recent film about the real-life 1998 kidnappings of two missionaries in Russia, I worried that it would leave me underwhelmed as well--despite its compelling premise and fantastic trailer. I'm happy to report, though, that The Saratov Approach gives me hope in the future of Mormon cinema. Like the best Mormon films, it strikes a nice balance between the gritty and the uplifting. It testifies of gospel principles without detracting from the realities that make life challenging for peoples and communities. It also reminds us that life is the outcome of an ongoing chain of choices that asks us what kind of person we want to be. In this film, we get characters--kidnappers--who make terrible choices even though they are initially motivated by righteous desires. We also get Missionaries who struggle to be Christ-like to their captors when every instinct seems to compel them to do otherwise.

Mormon films like The Saratov Approach are not made very often. However, when they are, they remind us of the great things that can happen when we take ourselves, our stories, and our faith seriously.

Kyle
Whenever I hear about a "Mormon movie" I groan and roll my eyes, and with good reason. The catalog of Mormon-themed movies isn't exactly spectacular/award-winning and leaves much to be desired in both script and production quality. So, when I sat down to watch this movie, I braced myself for another eye-rolling experience. I couldn't have been more wrong.

"How Amazing to Picture These Things": Questions for Sarah Dunster, Author of Lightning Tree and Mile 21

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by Scott Hales (bio)

Last year, Cedar Fort published Lightning Tree, a coming-of-age historical novel about a teenage girl who is haunted by chilling memories from her past. Set in Provo shortly after the Mountain Meadows Massacre, the novel treads boldly through a era of Mormon history many of us know little about--and does so in a way that help us, as a people, begin to contemplate and come to terms with the parts of our past that hurt the most.

Recently, the author of Lightning Tree, Sarah Dunster, agreed to answer a few questions about this novel; her latest novel, Mile 21; and the challenges of creative writing. Here is what she had to say ...

Scott Hales: Let's say you’re in a room full of strangers and you're in the mood to brag. How do you introduce yourself?

Sarah Dunster: Thank you very much J Bragging is my favorite thing in the world to do …

Hmm. I think I'd probably start with stuff like, I have seven children, two are adopted from a foreign country, I've published poetry and fiction and I know how to make sushi, Ethiopian Injera and Dura Wat, and a mean veggie enchilada casserole. Oh. And I'm Young Women's president. Because if we're bragging, callings are the thing we should brag most about, right?

SH: You've written two novels, including Lightning Tree, which is one of the best Mormon historical novels I've read recently. What do you like about the novel form? How would you characterize the experience of writing a novel?

SD: Wow. Thank you for the compliment. I always feel a bit uneasy when people tell me they love my books, like … guys. Did you not *notice* the missing page break and the several misplaced commas? We're so critical of our own work.

But anyway. I think I'm just a natural novelist. I've written since I was a kid, and I never thought of writing anything but poetry and novels. I have tried to write short stories and I'm just not that great at it. I don't find my pace or characters until about 75 pages into my story. And then I have to go back and rewrite those 75 pages several times to get it to match where things started to flow. I'd have to write 75 pages of a story, do all those rewrites, then condense it down to the 10,000 or 5,000 or even 1,000 (thank you James Goldberg!) words. I figure I might as well write a novel if I'm going to go that far anyway. I love novels because I feel there is appropriate room for the intermingling of plot and character development. You really get to know characters in a novel. You can in a short story as well, but you don't spend as much time with them, and I'd argue that you are less loyal/caught up in their lives as a result.

Rethinking Mormonism's Racial Narrative: Questions for Russell Stevenson

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by Scott Hales (bio)

Several books about the little-known, little-understood history of black Latter-day Saints have hit bookstores and e-readers this year, including two revised volumes of Margaret Young and Darius Gray's Standing on the Promises novel series (published by Zarahemla books) and W. Kesler Jackson's Elijah Abel: The Life and Times of a Black Priesthood Holder (published by Cedar Fort).

The latest from this group is Russell Stevenson's Black Mormon: The Story of Elijah Ables, which is now available for the Kindle. I had the chance recently to ask Russell a few questions about his book. Here's what he had to say:

Scott Hales: For those who don't know, who was Elijah Ables? What makes him an important figure in Church history?

Russell Stevenson: In some ways, this is the question. That he existed at all forces the Mormon people to revisit—and probably overturn—their assumptions about Mormonism's racial narrative.

Elijah Ables was an African-American man born in western Maryland. Census numbers suggest that he was a slave at one point, though we can't be certain of that. As a young man, he left Maryland and made his way to the river city of Cincinnati where he came into contact with Mormonism. He joined the Mormons in September of 1832 and went to Kirtland in 1836 where he was ordained an Elder. Later documentation suggests that he was ordained "under the hand of Joseph the Martyr" (Eunice Kinney, Letter to Wingfield Watson, July 5, 1885). He served a mission to Canada, lived in Nauvoo, served a prolonged mission in Cincinnati where was later ordained to be a Seventy. Ables was one of the highest ranking leaders in the branch. Ables came to Utah in 1853 and stayed committed to the faith for the remainder of his life.

SH: Generally, in Church histories, Elijah Ables is known as Elijah Abel. Why favor this less common variation of his name?

RS: This is perhaps the most commonly-asked question. The short answer is that "Ables" is the earliest documentary evidence of a signature (from a letter to Brigham Young) that can be credibly traced to Elijah's own person. There is later evidence—an invoice—that suggests an "Able" spelling. However, his name was spelled in every conceivable way in the nineteenth-century: Able, Ables, Abel, and Abels.

SH: What does Black Mormon reveal about Elijah Ables that other studies of his life do not? How does your research change what we know about the man and his work?

RS: The few works there have been on Elijah's life have been very "Mo-centric," relying exclusively on Mormon sources and placing him within a Mormon context. But no one has ever been so one-dimensional. My work suggests that Elijah was a socially agile figure--capable of navigating a number of contexts. Whether he lived in the urban black community of East Cincinnati, the runaway slave population of Upper Canada, or the heavily Yankee scene of northern Ohio, Ables had to work with a wide variety of social networks, each with distinctive values and cultural systems. There are government documents and contemporary correspondence illustrating how Elijah Ables helped the Saints escape a rebellion in Upper Canada. Some of the earlier works do not address Elijah's commitment to upholding the institutional church, even when he was clashing with some of its highest leaders.

A Modern Mormon Book: A Review of Aleesa Sutton's Diary of a Single Mormon Female

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by Scott Hales (bio)

There have been times in my life when I've been good at keeping a journal. As a teenager, I wrote weekly if not daily about the stuff that interested me: movies, music, books, girls. Sometimes I wrote profound things. Most of the time I was angsty and melodramatic. I thought of myself as a great writer back then, and I fully expected my journals to make it into print. Fifteen years later, they are still on my shelf, unpublished.

And I think they'll stay that way.

Mormons have a long history of publishing journals and diaries. Joseph Smith's diaries became the basis for the History of the Church and are currently accessible in the original through the Joseph Smith Papers project. William Clayton's journal is one of the best primary documents about the trek west. Wilford Woodruff's journals are legendary for what they tell us about Church history and the character of early leaders.

But let's be honest. Most of us aren't writing journals of that caliber. Heck, most of us aren't even writing journals. We're blogging, tweeting, Instagraming, Facebooking, and—if we really get desperate for a social media fix—Google+ing. The print journal or diary is on its way out as our life's records becomes increasingly digitized and pixelated and confined to 140 characters or less.

But it's not dead yet. Private journals—whether written on paper or tapped out on a word processor—still fill a void. When we don't want to share our latest disappointment or heartbreak with the world—when what we have to say is still too embarrassing to share with our 589 Facebook friends or 239 followers on Twitter or the 97 people in our Google+ circles—we turn to the journal. We write in it because we know no one else will read it.

Unless we publish it. Then it becomes something else, something hybrid and rare: a book written in secret, but shouted from the rooftops.

Aleesa Sutton's Diary of a Single Mormon Female is such a book. Begun, in a manner of speaking, when Sutton was eleven, it follows her life from the manic idealism of adolescence to the frustrations of post-BYU Mormon single life. Much of the book is composed excerpts from the her many journals intercut with snarky or reflective commentary from her older, wiser (but still single) self. Sutton's main focus is on the many relationships and non-relationships that have helped define her identity as a "Single Mormon Female." However, her focus is not solely on men and failed relationships. Along with accounts of awkward first dates and sloppy first kisses is a portrait of Sutton coming of age and discovering herself, her dreams, and her faith.

Mormon Lit Blitz: Call For Submissions

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There are two weeks left to enter the Second Annual Mormon Lit Blitz Writing Contest. Send up to three submissions by 27 April 2013 to everydaymormonwriter@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, comics, playlet, etc. 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 publish six to twelve finalists' pieces and then ask readers to vote on their favorites. (For more details on the publication side, check here.)

How to Be A Modern Mormon Man ... A Century Ago

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by Scott Hales (bio)

Being a modern Mormon man is tough—even with blogs like this to help you do it right. Imagine what it must have been like for our manly Mormon forbears a century ago, those grim-faced dirt farmers who spent half their time irrigating fields and the other half attending meetings without air-conditioning and smart phones. Where did they get the know-how to be the best kind of Mormon men?

The Improvement Era and General Conference, of course!

In fact, for a while, the Improvement Era ran a series of talks for young men on how to be the kind of guy that would attract a nice Mormon girl. Take this snippet of advice from a 1903 issue:

Some young men greatly impair their opportunities in matrimony by being gad-flies of instability. What a woman admires in a man is manliness. When he is a certain given quantity and that quantity is good character, he immediately commands respect. Sensible girls don't marry men they cannot respect. Women have much keener insight into human nature than men, as a rule. And when these gad-fly-men pay them their passing attentions, women permit it and invariably put the right estimate on those attentions. Such men are constantly used by women, for really most women have a use for men in some way or other. But when those men who have been used by women as social caddies feel that it is time to be serious, their troubles begin. They find they have made themselves altogether too cheap, and it is pretty hard to find a purchaser. This is the retribution of flirting. No woman, and by no means a flirt, cares for a fickle man. The true woman wants a true lover, and one that will remain so through all their married life.

The message is clear: if you want to be a real man—the kind of man that doesn't get "constantly used by women"—don't be a Mormon gad-fly! It will only make things worse when you try to get serious! A true woman wants a true lover! Be the true lover!

In 1904, one of the talks to young men was written by a few young women with strong opinions on what a real Mormon man should be. Here is what they said:

The physical must stand first. Without a good body, all the powers and faculties will be blighted. As well might we expect to obtain luscious, beautiful fruit from a tree whose roots were poorly developed, or a rich harvest from an impoverished soil, as to anticipate rare intellectual and spiritual results from a diseased body. The ideal young man, then, must be strong in body, and as near as possible physically perfect.

***

To have a splendid physique, embraces many virtues. It is brought about by right living, for one thing. The ideal must have trained his appetite so that it is perfectly under his control; so that it will not crave food or drink that destroys or emaciates the body, or wrecks the nerves. That means that he must eat and drink in conformity with the wise counsels of the Lord, who has given us splendid pointers in modern revelation touching our mode of life, in this respect.

Ouch! As a guy who did not have a "splendid physique" as a teenager, I fear I would not have fared too well in 1904. But I should say, as a testimonial, that my wife and I have nevertheless obtained "luscious beautiful fruit" despite the "impoverished soil" that is my less-than-splendid physique. (As long as my kids can be considered "luscious beautiful fruit," at least.)

Here's some more from the young women:

"A Much Bigger Vision": Questions for Margaret Blair Young

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by Scott Hales (bio)

Recently, I sent Mormon novelist, filmmaker, and blogger Margaret Blair Young a list of questions about her current projects with Darius Gray--a revision of their Standing on the Promises novel series and the feature film The Heart of Africa--as well as her own work as a creative writer and president of the Association for Mormon Letters. Kindly, Margaret took time away from her busy schedule to answer them for me. 

I've split the Q&A into two parts. Answers to the questions relating to Standing on the Promises and The Heart of Africa are featured here on Modern Mormon Men. Margaret's thoughts on her work, Mormon literature, and the Association for Mormon Letters are featured on A Motley Vision.

Scott Hales: The original Standing on the Promises trilogy was published a decade ago—which doesn’t seem that long ago to me. Why did you and Darius choose to revise and expand them now?

Margaret Blair Young: We have realized that Mormons aren't our main audience. We learned that LDS readers, those who frequent Deseret Book, are looking more for a feel-good book than for the hard (but inspiring) history we tell. So we have revised for greater accuracy, to include new information, and to go about marketing not only to the LDS audience but to a wider one.

SH: You originally published the trilogy through Bookcraft, an imprint of Deseret Book. Why did you switch to Zarahemla Books for the new editions?

MBY: We have freedom to direct our publicity with Zarahemla, and far more freedom to get our books into places where people are yearning for new information. Black LDS history is American history which few know about. We consistently find that our black audiences are very receptive to our work. They are not threatened at all by it but grateful to learn the stories.

SH: Zarahemla Books is known for publishing “unorthodox but not apostate Mormon fiction.” Did that branding affect your approach to the new editions? Did publishing through Zarahemla Books allow you, in other words, to tell your stories in a way that you were unable to do under the Bookcraft label?

MBY: Honestly, we were looking for a press which would work well with us, treat us respectfully and with full honesty, and be with us to get our stories out. We're able to direct things in a more hands-on way with Zarahemla than elsewhere. The realization that these stories matter more outside the Mormon belt than within it is a big impetus for us. Of course we'll market within Utah, but we have a much bigger vision which goes beyond the LDS bookstores on the Wasatch Front.

What I'm Reading

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by Scott Hales (bio)

There never seems to be a time when Mormon authors aren't publishing something worth reading. Over the past couple of months, for example, I've enjoyed Steven Peck's recent novella A Short Stay in Hell, Sunstone's Stephen Carter's essay collection What of the Night?, and Theric Jepson's debut novel Byuck—all of which I'd not hesitate to recommend. This year I've also tried to tackle a few classic Mormon novels, like Susa Young Gates' John Stevens' Courtship (1909) and Nephi Anderson's Dorian (1921). Sadly, I can't say I'd recommend John Stevens' unless you're interested in its historical-cultural significance, but Dorian is definitely worth your time—despite its many weaknesses. I like to call it the first modern Mormon novel.

Right now I'm on a non-fiction reading binge. I recently received a copy of Terryl and Fiona Givens' The God Who Weeps: How Mormonism Makes Sense of Life (Ensign Peak, 2012) in the mail. In this book, the Givens explore the beauty of Mormonism's understanding of a compassionate God—a God who is, despite popular belief, not particularly interested in punishing the wicked and condemning them to Hell, but rather in doing what He can to bring His children home to become as He is. After having listened to John Dehlin's excellent Mormon Stories interview with Terryl Givens (I haven't had the chance yet to listen to his interview with Fiona), and having had some limited interaction with Givens myself, I am convinced that he is one of the greatest—and most faithful—minds in the Church. The God Who Weeps is simply a fantastic book—and I'm still only halfway through it.

I’m also reading Aleesa Sutton’s self-published Diary of a Single Mormon Female, a memoir about being—you guessed it—a single Mormon female. Now, I admit that I did not begin this book thinking that I would like it. I mean, memoir is not my favorite genre, and I usually only make it about ten pages into a memoir before I have scoffed myself hoarse and tossed the book into the discard pile. So, I worried that my general distaste for the genre would tip the scales against it. But I was wrong: Diary of a Single Mormon Female is a fun book with a lot of insight into the lives of single Mormons. The book is made up of excerpts from Sutton's journals since the time she was a starry-eyed (and boy-crazy) preteen intercut with snarky bits of commentary from her older and wiser self. The combination is hilarious and heartbreaking. An added bonus—for me, at least—is that Sutton and I are the same age, which means her diaries cover a time I look back on with Uncle Rico-like nostalgia.

"I Knew I Had a Great Book": Theric Jepson Talks About Byuck

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by Scott Hales (bio)

Theric Jepson's new novel Byuck should be required reading for BYU students, alumni, and basically everyone else who appreciates good fiction with a healthy dose of quirk. It recounts the adventures of David Them and Curses Olai, two BYU roommates who defy Brigham Young's call to "get married to a good sister, fence a city lot, [...] and make a home" by writing a rock opera with an unpronounceable name.

Theric recently was kind enough to answer my questions about Byuck, his first novel. He also offers some keen observations on the value of Mormon Art and why Billy Joel makes such an excellent punchline.

Scott Hales: I think we ought to get this question out of the way first: How do you pronounce Byuck?

Theric Jepson: As for me, I rhyme it with yuck, but I don't really feel it's my job to tell people how to pronounce it. I'm the numbskull who gave my novel a ridiculous name. Now I must live with the consequences.

SH: What is the origin story of Byuck? If I understand correctly, you wrote Byuck a while ago, but shelved it after you were told that is was basically unpublishable? Is that right?

TJ: I started Byuck as a play back in 1999. I had some problems developing it and shared what I had with one of my professors at BYU, Donlu Thayer. She liked what I had fine, but gave me some stellar advice. She told me I wasn't ready to write this story yet, that I needed some distance. So I set it aside.

I picked it up again sometime after I graduated in 2002 (by which time I was also married). By 2004 I had a working rough draft which Fob(of The Fob Bible) helped me polish.

My original plan was to try and sell the book outside the Mormon ghetto, but I did have a weird history with Deseret Book, so I decided to try them first. Which is where the comedy started.

"A Good Match": S. P. Bailey Talks About His Novel "Millstone City"

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by Scott Hales (bio)

S. P. Bailey's novel Millstone City was published by Zarahemla Books earlier this year. It's a thriller about Mormon missionaries in Brazil who have to run for their lives after one of them witnesses a murder. Recently, S. P. was kind enough to answer a few of my questions about the novel. What follows are his thoughts on crime fiction, missionary stories, and much more.

You can read the first chapter of Millstone City here or buy the book for Christmas through Zarahemla Books.

Scott Hales: Millstone City combines two things we usually don’t put together: crime fiction and Mormonism. What are some of the challenges that come with making that combination work?

S. P. Bailey: I read recent crime fiction. I usually enjoy it. My book could have been coarser or more violent, and some would probably say it should have been. If you were raised a good Mormon boy (I was) and you are an active, believing Mormon (I am), it is probably impossible to write crime fiction — particularly with Mormon characters — without wondering Is this demeaning to people in general? To my people? Thoughts like that probably helped shape Millstone City. It is about murder and human trafficking and Brazilian crime culture in the slums and prisons. But I think it maintains a certain dignity in its approach to individual characters. Some might put Millstone City down as old-fashioned. Depending on the context, I might take old-fashioned as a compliment. That being said, I think things like violence and coarse language can be surface issues. If you dig deeper, crime fiction is usually very moral. Good and evil exist there in completely non-abstract, concrete terms. Readers know it when they see it. They want the innocent to escape and survive. They want the detective to impose justice. They want evil vanquished and the universe set aright. In that sense, despite the potential surface issues, I think crime fiction and Mormonism are a good match.

SH: Can you trace the literary DNA of Millstone City? What other works influenced the novel?

SPB: I don't know about "literary DNA!" I didn't have any particular works in mind when writing Millstone City. I suppose the best I can do is give you a short list of things I admire that might have influenced Millstone City. I love the great American crime/noir authors: Raymond Chandler above all, but also Dashiell Hammet, James M. Cain, Cornell Woolrich, and others. I grew up watching and rewatching old Hitchcock movies. I also love Brazilian films like Central Station and City of God.

SH: Of all the characters in Millstone City, Luz is my favorite. What do you think she brings to the novel?

SPB: I like Luz too. While lots of characters in the novel display humanity (the elders, the detectives, Heitor), she is not self-interested in what she does. And, despite her obvious limitations, I think she exudes a Brazilian sort of charm: bold, big-hearted, funny ... it pained me to write her last scenes in the book.

SH: How did you research the novel? Do you have first-hand experience with Brazilian prisons, for example?

SPB: I served a mission in northeastern Brazil in the 1990s. I came home in love with Brazil, warts and all. Millstone City is a kind of love letter to Brazil — particularly the region where I served. I enjoy Brazilian music, movies, books, magazines, and newspapers when I can (not often enough!). I've never seen the inside of a Brazilian prison — not in person anyway. I became interested in Brazilian prisons when, as a missionary, I taught a few discussions to a Brazilian prison guard. His stories amazed me. They were told in the spirit of never, ever, no matter what, should guys like you do anything that would land you in a Brazilian prison. If it is possible to get even more straight-laced than a couple of Eagle Scouts from Utah in short-sleeved white shirts and neck ties preaching the gospel, this guy scared us there. Subsequently, I read various things about Brazilian prisons (articles in newspapers and magazines, reports published by human rights groups, etc.).

Also, as a trial attorney, I represent inmates and their families in civil rights litigation arising from incidents in U.S. prisons and jails (among other things). While my professional life has taught me nothing about Brazilian prisons in particular, I think there is something of that experience in Millstone City.

The Uchtdorf Meme: Part 2

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by Scott Hales (bio)

A few month ago, I posted about the popularity of the Uchtdorf meme. Since then, the Uchtdorf meme has been going strong and evolving in new and exciting ways. Brothers and sisters, let these new Uchtdorf memes--all but two of which I have found online--nourish and strengthen you. They are a fitting digital tribute to someone we all honor. 

This one was inevitable. How could you not make the comparison? Especially when the number of celebrities with German accents is what it is ...

I wonder if this one is based on a true story. Part of me believes it. 

"Our Century Needs Alternatives": James Goldberg on "The Five Books of Jesus"

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by Scott Hales (bio)

Chances are, you've read the stories of Jesus. Or, if you haven't, you've heard them in church, seen them in movies, watched them on television or Broadway, read them in comic books, reenacted them with action figures, or witnessed them live at Christian theme parks.

The stories of Jesus are everywhere. So why do we need another book about the life of Jesus? James Goldberg, author of the novel The Five Books of Jesus, answers that question.

Scott Hales: First, I’d like to clear up a matter. Were you or were you not the guy who told Joseph and Mary that there was no room in the inn? Be honest.

James Goldberg: I am indeed ... in the Church's Bible videos. I show up three times in the New Testament series: as an innkeeper who shakes his head at Joseph, as an innkeeper the wise men ask for directions, and as the innkeeper who helps the Good Samaritan. Last time I left the set, the director said, "We'll give you a call if we need another innkeeper." I like to think of it as a family business.

SH: Tell us about The Five Books of Jesus. Why this book at this time in your writing career?

JG: On its surface, The Five Books of Jesus is a lyrical novelization of Jesus’ ministry. On another level it’s a meditation on “the kingdom of God” as a radically alternative way of relating to others. It’s about people who are willing to follow a visionary out past the edges of their expectations and toward a promised land they’re not completely sure how to imagine or understand.

Why this book now? Because in its own way, our century needs alternatives every bit as badly as Peter’s century did. We need another chance to consider what stories of Jesus might mean to us today.