1. When I was a kid, I was a hand-raiser. I remember once in the 4th grade almost bursting out of my seat, palm flailing, wanting wanting wanting Mr. Poulsen to call on me. His eyes kept scanning the classroom from one end to the other, settling on my eager face for [...]

I sat in my car, my hands gripping the steering wheel, glaring at the front end loader inching its way across the road. Perhaps the sheer force of my gaze could speed the thing up? But no. It lurched forward, then back, then forward, then back, performing what appeared to be a [...]

I‘m a traditional kind of girl—you know, one who puts off her Christmas shopping until the day after Thanksgiving and then spends December in a frenzy of list-making, bargain-shopping and gift-wrapping. Although I wish I could be one of those women who creates dozens of heartfelt handmade gifts, alas, craftiness is not my thing. [...]

I just settled into my office chair to write this blog post. It is 10:52 p.m. I realize that I need to get up by 6:45 to get my oldest son off to Jr. High, but with an out-of-town husband and a long day of kid-shuttling, laundry-folding, assignment-grading, journal-editing and potty-training (yes, I [...]

The title of this post is a Spanish proverb I encountered in a really good book I just finished reading, a literary mystery/thriller by Irish writer Tana French called The Likeness. (LDS Reader alert: It’s an excellent novel—both suspenseful and gorgeously written—and there’s no sex and surprisingly little violence, considering it’s a thriller. [...]

Note: This piece is a discussion of the literary genre of the personal essay. While I’ve posted it here on a blog, what I’ve written is not a good example of the genre of the blog post. For one, it’s waaaaaay too long. Hope you enjoy it anyway.
One of the things we [...]

Tomorrow my husband and I celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary, a milestone that makes me feel both proud (still goin’ strong!) and old. We celebrated an anniversary last year that made me feel even older, though: in November of 2008, we’d been “together” for 20 years, which freaked me out a little because, in [...]

A couple of weeks ago I did an interview with the Magna Times, my “hometown” newspaper. And by “hometown,” I mean “town of my youth.” And I don’t mean “town of my youth,” really, either, because I grew up in West Valley City, not Magna. I did go to high school in [...]

A few Sundays ago, a group of us was brainstorming ways we could help the sisters in the ward live more providently in light of the current economic crisis.
“Teach them to can!” a person offered.
“Create a Relief Society recipe book!” another said.
“Tell them to stop applying for secret credit cards and then hiding the statements [...]

I recently finished a really lovely book–Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. It’s a novel-in-stories—and yes, I’m partial to novels-in-stories—and as I was reading I kept finding myself thinking, “Daaaaaang, I wish I could write like Elizabeth Strout.”
But this post isn’t about my own author jealousy, or Elizabeth Strout’s prodigious talents, or even the merits [...]

When I was a little girl, my aunt gave me a copy of Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tales. It was a big book with a beautiful blue binding and full color illustrations, and I spent a couple of years with that book on my nightstand so I could read and re-read it. Not [...]

You all know Kathy Soper, right?
Kathy Soper, founder of Segullah? Kathy Soper, writer and editor extraordinarie (see here and here for proof)? Kathy Soper, blogger to beat all bloggers? Kathy Soper, mother of seven? Kathy Soper, really great friend?

The Association for Mormon Letters’ Annual Meeting is taking place on Saturday, February 28th 9:00 a.m. at Utah Valley University. The keynote speaker is Terryl Givens, author of the acclaimed People of Paradox: A History of Mormon Culture.

Christmas is a season to be jolly, right? Looking around me, though, I see lots of people who are feeling anything but cheerful. Times are tough. With financial meltdowns, wars, terrorism, and corruption filling up our newscasts, it’s easy to see why the future seems a little, well, rickety. I know [...]

Here’s your answer: yes, creative writing can be taught. Kind of. Except when it can’t.
I’ve asked myself whether or not writing can be taught many times over the years. I asked it when I was an undergraduate English major and couldn’t figure out how in the world to get my pioneer [...]