Staff Bios

Brooke Benton (Assitant Blog Editor) is attempting inner om with this writing stuff. Proud to claim three loud children, a patient husband and a fat black cat as family, she feels blessed to be their mommy– their giver of kisses and baker of cookies. She is ever seeking a good novel and wishing for the sand between her toes, palm trees, the ocean.

Heather L. Harris Bergevin (Poetry Editor) majored in journalism at BYU in the early nineties, and hopes someday to finish up. Most of her ideas appear in the wee hours of the morning, when she can hear herself think for minutes at a time, and when the only sleepy whining is her own.

Jennifer Boyack (Editorial Board) lives in southern California where she was raised. She loved attending BYU and in 1993 she graduated with a BA in English Teaching. A week after graduation, she married her best friend, Andrew. Together they have seven children. Most of her days are dedicated to caring for family and the attempt to tame clutter and chaos. Jennifer adores good books, interesting conversation, and tasty food which explains why she eagerly awaits book club each month.

Michelle Bridges (Graphic Design). When a life-coaching friend of mine wrote Life is a Do-Over, she put forth the idea that in order to have one all you needed to do was simply ask yourself for permission. Well, I did, and at 45, I’m starting over. After nearly 10 years among the red rocks of Southern Utah working as a magazine editor for the local newspaper, I quit my job, sold my house and moved back to the mountains of Utah Valley. Now 18 months later, I’ve settled into my parents’ basement and am working on a new bachelor’s degree in digital media at a new university (Utah Valley University, formally Utah Valley State College), experimenting with new ideas in blogging, podcasting, journaling; rediscovering interests in reading, crocheting, volunteering; and reconnecting with family, nature and myself. So buy into the old cliché, Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it. I know, I did.

Melonie Cannon When not reading or beading, Melonie tries to catch the unexpected whiff of lilac in the air. She is married to Col. James Uhl of the U.S. Army. They have four beautiful children who all still believe in the tooth fairy.

Johnna Benson Cornett (Web Design/Webmaster) took an undergraduate degree in Linguistics from UCLA. She taught herself css/html because she likes systems, languages, and color. She recommends Stanford Guidelines for Website Credibilty from the Persuasive Technology Lab, A List Apart and the CSS Zen Garden.

Justine Dorton (Managing Editor) was raised in the Midwest (read: the land of bliss and mirth). She now lives in Utah with her husband and four children. She stays at home with her little munchkins, and is actively involved in local community affairs, as well as writing. In addition to these, she spends most of her days doing laundry, teaching children, and making her kitchen floor shiny. Someday, she would like to leave the kitchen floor dull, not make noodles for lunch, and write a book. Or maybe she would like to travel to exotic places. Or maybe run for city council. Or maybe just play all day with her kids.

Sharlee Glenn (Editorial Board) has an MA in humanities from Brigham Young University. She taught at BYU for a number of years before giving up academia for the writing life. She has published essays, short stories, articles, and poetry in The Southern Literary Journal, Women’s Studies, Irreantum, Wasatch Review International, and BYU Studies. She has also published a novel and three picture books for young readers. Sharlee lives in Pleasant Grove, Utah with her husband, their five children, a very literary dog named Kipling, an escape-artist cat named Houdini, and a stuck-up beta fish named Flame.

Marianne Hale (Editorial Board) Marianne grew up in western Washington among the green and the rain and would love to take her husband, Douglas, and four children (fifth due in May 2008) back there for good someday. She graduated from BYU with a BA in English Teaching. She is using that degree to teach her little ones at home and to begin a new exciting career as adjunct faculty teaching ESL at Yakima Valley Community College, which is only a few blocks from her new home.

Emily Halverson (Editorial Board) her husband Jared, and their three preschoolers, Eden, Jacob, and Madeleine (and another boy due in May), are currently living in Provo, Utah, but will move this summer to Nashville, Tennessee. Emily grew up in Penryn, California (with nine siblings she considers her best friends), graduated from BYU with a B.A. in English, and spends her days freelance editing, writing, reading, exercising (preferably all of these outdoors) and becoming a Christian through motherhood, which she adores.

Heather Herrick (Editorial Board) originally from Orem Utah, now resides in the center of the world, New York City. On days she can’t get in a proper bit of exercise she’s glad she gets to carry her strollered son up and down subway stairs, while making sure her daughter stops at every corner and holds the railing while maneuvering those same steps. Heather earned a BA in English Teaching from Brigham Young University and put her husband, Matt, through his graduate acting program by teaching Middle School English in Texas for three years. Now she “stays home” with her kids, writes a lot of first drafts, teaches preschool, falls asleep reading, and loves cooking (especially when she’s alone).

Emily Milner (Editorial Board) lives in Utah with her husband and three kids. She graduated from BYU in Comparative Literature, and enjoys reading, singing, and blowing raspberries on her baby’s tummy. She spent much of the last year nursing a baby while reading the Wall Street Journal.

Adri Murdock (Editorial Board) graduated with a degree from BYU in Art History and Curatorial Studies, and then promptly spent 4 laborious years working in corporate America. Thankfully, she was able to also work a stint in the 'art' world doing development, marketing, and grant writing for the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft before retiring to her real job of being mommy to two wonderful children. She and family currently live in Utah, where the mountains and extended family are both large and near by. In addition to art, Adri enjoys writing, photography, reading, organizing, gardening, making dinner, playdates at the park, reading my friends’ blogs and planning parties.

Maralise Petersen (Art Director) graduated from BYU in Humanities and History, currently works as a freelance photographer, and lives in Richmond, Virginia. She has two small children each of whom took a piece of her sanity and a husband who, unfortunately, has to deal with what is left. She loves to read, paint the walls (anyone’s walls) very bright colors, and would like to learn how to blog, read, be actively attentive to the kids, and sleep all at the same time.

Dalene Rowley (Editorial Board) Dalene began blogging in 2005 as a legitimate way to avoid housework and to keep a journal of sorts. In her other life she wants to be excellent at a number of things, but in this one she’s settling for baking a mean sour cream lemon pie, keeping most of the points on her quilt blocks in line, being a loyal friend and aspiring to moments of goodness as a wife and mother.

Angela W. Schultz (Prose Editor) is a born-again Mormon, a wife, and a mother of 5. Her hobbies include vacuuming, rotating her food storage, potty training, breastfeeding, and homeschooling. Oh, and She’s really good at laundry. She used to be a clinical social worker, and she also has a degree in English. Angie dreams of living a self-reliant, off-the-grid lifestyle, and she loves to belly dance.

Allyson Smith (Assistant Prose Editor) now calls the Cornbelt home, after thirty years in the mountainous west. She lives in South Bend, Indiana, with her husband Bryan and their five children. An historian by training, she spends the bulk of her time writing non-history and trying to keep the home front intact.

Johanna Buchert Smith (Features Editor) was raised in the northwoods of Canada without electricity or a phone, so her biggest challenge when she moved to Utah to attend BYU was falling asleep with the sound of the refrigerator humming. She has a BA in Linguistics, dreams of making her own artisan cheeses, and refuses to let her husband spray chemicals on the lawn. She lives in Pocatello, Idaho, with him and their five-month-old daughter on five weedy, beautiful acres.

Kathryn Lynard Soper (Editor-in-Chief) grew up in Silver Spring, MD. When she headed for BYU in 1989, she vowed to remain untouched by campus culture, but had to recant when she married her home teacher, Reed. After earning her English degree Kathy began a fruitful mothering career. Her seven human births have been the most momentous experiences of her life, but she’s also enjoyed her part in giving birth to this journal. She lives with her crazy family in South Jordan, Utah.

Kylie Turley (Advisor) grew up in Cody, Wyoming and can’t quite admit that she’s from Utah, even though she’s lived there since her BYU days. She has one BA (political science), one MA (American studies), five kids, one husband, no pets, one house to clean, one garden to grow, and hundreds of unfinished projects to do. In all her spare time she teaches honors writing at BYU and researches Mormon women’s history.

Melissa Young (Assistant Editor) is a native of Utah and currently resides in Smithfield with her husband and four children. She graduated from BYU with a degree in communication studies and a music minor. She enjoys writing, reading, music, gardening, painting, and being a full-time mom.