Contributors

Adrienne Cardon’s creative wanderlust has resulted in stints as a creative director, graphic designer, joke writer, jewelry designer, and essayist. She has spoken at BONCOM New York, ALT Summit, Listen to Your Mother, and has contributed to Times and Seasons. She lives in Utah with her two sons, newborn daughter, and filmmaker husband.

After thirty years of motherhood, Alisa B. Bates is learning to embrace life after child rearing. In addition to music, she dabbles in creative writing, gardening, photography, family history, hiking, and camping. She values the time she spends with family. Various magazines have published her poetry, articles, and children’s pieces. Alisa lives in Wellington, Utah, with her husband, Bill, and twin eighteen-year-old sons. Bill and Alisa also have five married children and six grandchildren.

Alizabeth Worley is a BYU Human Development major with an English minor. In addition to an English major and many theater and media arts classes, she works at the BYU writing center. Her husband, Michael, is a new attorney practicing in religious freedom and family policy litigation. Alizabeth graduates in one semester, after which she will continue writing and hopes to work in the hospital as a child life specialist.

Amanda Hamilton Roos was born a little bossy and always really liked school. So naturally she became a teacher. Now that she’s also a mother, she has found her passion is helping schools and families work together to help kids learn better. She investigates the nitty-gritty of school/family partnerships at Building the Bridge. Also, since she was 10 years old, Amanda has wanted to be a writer. So she blogs sporadically at Call Me Mandy. She hopes you’ll make your 10-year-old dream come true, too! This essay is part of a collection of essays entitled Spanish Lessons. You can read the more essays in the collection at https://callmemandy.blog/

Amy Coray has had a lot of jobs over the years, but never wanted to be anything more than she wanted to be a mom. In high school and college she dreamed of having a girl and two boys. She feels fortunate to have her “dream children,” and tries to speak kindly to them, even if they sometimes make her want to swear. Amy works part-time for two adoption agencies. Her hobbies include playing piano and ukulele, and sewing clothing. Most of all, she enjoys spending time with her husband, their two boys, and a girl.

Amy Felix Stewart grew up in a large family in Small Town, Utah. She earned her BA in English from BYU and is an intermittent editor, technical writer, and piano teacher, but she spends most of her time refereeing her three young children and sneaking off to binge-read beautiful prose

Andrea Landaker usually writes fiction disguised as video games or role-playing games, or as bedtime stories for her three children. She resides in New Mexico.

Andrea is a native Californian who transplanted to Oregon 9 years ago. Writing has always been one of her delights, although poetry has taken a back seat in recent years while she worked on a collection of fables. This past year she has been busy creating a body of her unique fractal art, which is beginning to be seen in galleries of the Northwest. Andrea manages caring for her 84-year old mother and her own disabilities despite being tyrannized by her part-Norwegian forest cat.

Arlene is the mother of seven and grandmother of eight. She is the visiting teaching supervisor in her ward. She resides with her husband, Bill, in Cedar City, Utah

Ashley Mae Hoiland received a BFA in studio arts and an MFA in poetry, both from Brigham Young University. She published her first book, One Hundred Birds Taught Me To Fly, through the Maxwell Institute in November 2016. She served a mission in Uruguay. She now lives in Palo Alto, California with her husband, Carl, and two children, Remy and Thea. She has written and illustrated several children’s books and once headed a project that printed poetry on billboards. More of her writing can be found at www.ashmae.com

Barbara Bishop has an undergraduate degree in English from the University of Utah, a PhD in English from UCLA, and a master’s in counseling psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. She has worked as a therapist and is currently an associate professor of English at Marymount College in Palos Verdes, California, where she teaches dreams and literature. She is married to Brent Pace and has three beautiful boys, about whom she dreams regularly.

Born and raised in California, Bill Willson now lives in Logan, Utah, with Marjie, his wife of forty-five years. After his long career in land surveying, mapping, and document writing, Bill retired early to follow his dream of writing. After a short stint at newspaper journalism he decided on more fulfilling writing endeavors. He went on to obtain a degree in English from Utah State at the age of sixty-five. For now, Bill’s writing is on temporary hold, as he and his wife are preparing to serve a two-year mission in Mexico City, Mexico.

Brandy Tingey and her husband, Jake, are the parents of three beautiful children. When not at home wrestling the laundry, piles of dishes, or the wild kids, she spends her time as a full-time student at Weber State University in the elementary education program.

Brecken lives in Greenbelt, Maryland with her bishop and two lovely cats. She is currently working as a TV producer for the Mandarin Chinese Service of the Voice of America, the United States’ international broadcast network, while slogging wearily up the never-ending mountain of a PhD in communication. She is adamantly opposed to becoming a writer unless she can write emails for a living.

Brenda and her husband, Stan, served a mission in the Brazil Porto Alegre South Mission and returned in June 2005. They have been blessed with seven children and fourteen grandchildren, (five of whom were born during the mission!). Serving a mission is a lot like being a mom, says Brenda, “It is the best, easiest, hardest, most amazing, joyful, work there is!!! I am so grateful. (Eu sou grato!).”

Candance enjoyed her life growing up as an Air Force brat, reveling in exotic locales such as NYC, rural France, Okinawa, and Montgomery AL. She later attended BYU, where she graduated in French Education and met her husband, John. Now in Ramona, California, Candy and John enjoy a life with fewer loads of laundry after raising six children and assisting in a cumulative seventy years worth of homework. She divides her time between family, Church service, creative writing, and long walks with her faithful Belgian Shepherd, Puma, who still doesn’t understand why Candy didn’t learn more at that obedience class a few years back.

Cara Elliot lives on the East Coast with her husband and two children. She has an MA in English and has taught first year and advanced writing at a community college and at a university. She runs and reads a lot, sometimes at the expense of the laundry.

Carly Cahoon is a full-time nonprofit professional, as well as working for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Salt Lake. Her undergraduate degree in Experiential Education from the University of Utah helped shape her career and passion, leading her to pursue a Masters in Community Leadership (Masters of Art in Community Leadership) from Westminster College. Her thesis focuses on building body image resilience through a connection to Nature. In her spare time, she loves to garden and spent time with green things outside. Carly recently started a website called Amethyst & Aspen (amethyst are a healing stone and aspen trees are the largest living organism) – a healing community and space for women to tell their stories and have their voices heard.

Carol is the mother of four and grandmother of thirteen, a temple worker, and member of the Washington D.C. Temple Visitors’ Center Cultural Arts Committee. She resides with her husband, Gary, in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Caroline Tung Richmond is a writer living in the Washington, DC area. Her novel THE ONLY THING TO FEAR is out now from Scholastic Press, and her second book will be published in Summer 2016. In her free time she enjoys reading, spending time with her family, and plotting ways to adopt a baby sloth.

Carolyn Davis currently lives in Utah Valley and works as an SEO specialist, but she would rather spend her time writing and reading. Last July, she graduated from Brigham Young University – Idaho with a degree in English. Her work has been previously published in JuxtaProse Magazine.

Cecilia Wilbur graduated in August with her BA in English. She lives in a teeny tiny house in Provo with her husband and one son, James. When she isn’t attempting to make the best cake or plan the best parties, she can be found digging in the dirt with her little boy. This is her second publication, after an article in the New Era, and she plans to keep enjoying writing for a long time.

Cherie is a writer living in south central Pennsylvania whose passions include traveling the world, either in person or through books, and staying connected to her beautiful family.

Christine was born in Switzerland, raised in Orem, Utah and is now settled in Massachusetts with her husband and three children. She has a BA and MA in English from Brigham Young University. Someday she’d love to get a PhD and take a professional pastry course.

Christy Hiniker lives happily on the surface of the sun (also known as Phoenix, Arizona) with her hilarious husband and three lovely daughters. She is horribly addicted to Audrey Hepburn movies, stripes, and sugar. Christy feels blessed to share her life-long passion for the arts as a musical theater director/writer for Spotlight Entertainment Youth Studios.

Cindy Clark lives in Provo, Utah. She is the mother of nine children and twenty-eight grandchildren. Currently, she is working toward a degree in American studies at Brigham Young University. She loves to travel with her husband and gets really nervous when the Yankees are playing.

Corinne Cahoon Edwards comes from a long line of compulsive readers. After growing up in Utah, she’s now been in Maryland long enough to feel like a true Easterner. With a BS and M.Ed from the University of Maryland, she’s opted to pursue further learning (and gain some unpaid experience) by both staying at home and traveling the local sites with her three children. Her adventures are recorded at www.crayolabird.blogspot.com.

Courtney lives with her family (husband, two children, and a dog) in Memphis, Tennessee. She is not natively Southern, but has fully embraced “y’all” and the deep literary traditions of the Mississippi Delta. She recently started the MFA program in creative writing at the University of Memphis.

Dawn Baker Brimley was born in Monroe, Utah, and draws insights from a childhood spent near the mountains and lakes of Utah. She is a graduate of Brigham Young University in sociology and psychology and also has the equivalent of a major in English. A former faculty member at BYU, she has taught children’s literature there and elsewhere. She has won several awards for her poetry, in the BYU Eisteddfod Crown Competition, in the Ensign’s Eliza R. Snow poetry competition, and in the BYU Studies poetry contest. She served on a general Church writing committee, writing lessons for the Relief Society manuals. She has written several sets of song lyrics, most notably, “Thy Will and Work” with composer Newell Dailey. Her published book of poetry is entitled Waking Moments. She has had two poems published in Dialogue and has two poems in the current book Discoveries: Two Centuries of Poems by Mormon Women. Dawn is married to Dr. Vern Brimley and is the mother of three daughters, grandmother of ten, and great-grandmother of nine.

Dayna Patterson is the editor of Psaltery & Lyre. She received the Dialogue Award for Poetic Excellence for her poem “Eloher,” which won first place in the “A Mother Here” Art & Poetry Contest. Her chapbooks, Loose Threads and Mothering, are available from Flutter Press. She lives in Bellingham, Washington with her husband, Charles, and their two daughters.

DeAnn Campbell grew up on a dairy farm just outside Preston, Idaho. She earned a BA in English from BYU. Because she served a mission to the Netherlands, she loves red tulips and Gouda cheese (she already loved Dutch chocolate). She also loves reading, writing, hiking, and Nordic skiing. She lives in Mapleton, Utah, with her husband and two daughters.

E.B. Wheeler studied history and English at Brigham Young University and received an MA and an MLA from Utah State University. She is the author of several short works about history and the Mormon landscape. Her first novel, The Haunting of Springett Hall, comes out July 2015. She lives with her husband and daughters in northern Utah, where she enjoys gardening, folk music, knitting, and walking canyon trails with her family (though she does this with a slight limp).

E.K. Beck lives in the Pacific Northwest, where she tries to garden when it’s not raining and read when it is. With four kids attending four different schools, she’s often confused by her own calendar and delinquent with field trip forms. But serving in Primary, she always knows what song to choose when it’s her turn: “I Am a Child of God.”

Elaine has a BS in math from BYU and an MA in math from California State University, Fresno. She has four boys, one girl, one wonderful husband, and two very fluffy cats. After ten years in California, she is getting used to Idaho winters again.

Elizabeth Wolfe spends her days reviewing tax returns and her nights trying to forget what she does for a living. She induces this forgetfulness by reading an eclectic selection of books, writing a never-ending short story, and watching her turtle swim.

Ellen Kartchner Gregory was born and raised in southeastern Arizona. She now lives with her husband and their five children in southeastern Idaho, where they garden, cook, eat, and hike.

Elona grew up near the small farm community of Moore, Idaho. She and her husband live in Orem, Utah. If you would like more details about her experiences, please go to her website at www.ourfamilysaga.byu.edu. You may also contact her at ourfamilysaga@hotmail.com.

Emily Harris Adams has a penchant for toying with “what if’s” for so long that they ferment into poems, essays, short stories, and even books. Though she and her family have never been to Tintagel, they do enjoy exploring the wonders of the places they have lived. So far they have seen the wilds of Washington, Utah, California and are currently exploring Kansas. Emily is a two-time winner of the Mormon Lit Blitz. Her book For Those with Empty Arms was published by Familius and is available through their website, Amazon, and Audible.

Emily is a freelance writer living with her husband and their four children in New York City. She always thought it would be cool to call herself a freelance writer and now she can. Thanks Segullah!

Emily Summerhays is a transplant from beneath the shadow of the everlasting hills to the urban wilds of New York City, where she lives relatively peaceably with her husband, her books, and various musical instruments. By day, she writes grants for the American Museum of Natural History on subjects ranging from the evolution of infectious diseases to the Kwakwaka’wakw culture of the Northwest Coast. By night, she writes posts for feministmormonhousewives.org, has musical jam sessions with her husband, attempts to lengthen her hamstrings through the magic of yoga, and even occasionally works on her novel.

Emma Shumway lives in Provo with her family. She enjoys making soup, knitting, and watching obscure movies from Netflix with her husband.

Emmelyn Thayer is a Utah native who currently resides in San Diego with her husband and daughter. She loves Shakespeare, the Wasatch mountains, long lunches with friends, and any British mini-series she can get her hands on. When she’s not chasing after her four-year-old companion, she teaches acting classes for the UCSD Extension Program and San Diego Mesa College, and works as a voice and dialect coach for several local theatre companies.

Erica has a degree in international relations from BYU and met her husband while they were studying Arabic in Jerusalem. They both enjoy studying the Muslim world and living in interesting places. She likes to read, do traditional handicrafts like spinning and hand quilting, and watch geysers erupt.

Erin Brannigan was born and raised in the western United States. After her mission, she married her high school sweetheart and finished up her degree at BYU. Erin currently lives in Utah with her husband, growing family, and three cats all named “Hey You.” In her spare time, she loves to play with words, her kids, and bubble wrap.

Faith Kershisnik is a Texan transplant who has taken happily to her desert home in Utah. She studied psychology at Texas A&M University and marriage and family therapy at Brigham Young University before beginning her career as a systems therapist. Not far into her practice, she felt the disquieting call of the arts and course-corrected to allow for more time in the studio, drawing, painting, and writing. She now divides her time between therapy and her expanding creative practices.

Gail Braithwaite Howick is the mother of six and the grandmother of ten. When the children were raised, she earned a BS in English at the University of Utah and recently moved to the beautiful Silver Valley with her husband. She is currently the editor-in-chief of WindRiver Publishing and is serving her fourth term as a Relief Society president. Life is good in northern Idaho.

Heather Halcrow lives in Utah,where she is a technical communicator. She received a bachelor’s in English from Utah Valley University. She was a finalist in the Writer’s Digest annual writing contest for poetry and was awarded the Edna Meudt Memorial Award for her chapbook, Floodplain. Her work has appeared in The New Era, Irreantum, and Touchstones.

Heather Holland Duncan is studying literature, anthropology, and creative writing at Utah Valley University. She is currently serving as Editor in Chief of Touchstones. Her chapbook, Mastering the Art of Joy, was published in 2011 by NFSPS. Her work has appeared in The Found Poetry Review, Encore, Touchstones, and Weeds. Heather lives in Provo, Utah with her husband and five children. In moments between mothering, school, and writing, Heather enjoys yoga, running, family hikes, and music.

Heather Sullivan and her husband are lucky enough to live in Utah on the Wasatch back, where among the mountains and trails they are discovering their inner granola. Heather spends her time trying to hold her own with the three superheroes-in-training who call her mom. With what energy she has left she likes to garden, cook, and dance in the kitchen to eighties music.

Heidi Glyn Barker, her husband, and their two children currently live in her childhood home in Sugar City, Idaho, having recently moved from Novelty, Ohio. She has had a lifetime interest in literature and languages, and hopes to finish her MA in Slavic Philology at some bright, distant, future time. Whenever possible she is involved with One Heart Bulgaria, an organization which works with children living in Bulgarian orphanages.

Heidi Wessman Kneale is an Australian of moderate repute. She lives in Perth, Western Australia, which is about as far away as one can get from Salt Lake without leaving the planet. By day she works computer miracles for the local library. The rest of the time she writes books and raises babies, and she does it all with the help of a really strong corset.

Holly is married to Michael Jones and they have four children. They currently enjoy living in Germany, where Holly served her mission approximately ten years ago. Holly loves mountains, old friends, libraries, her heritage, budgeting, tall sizes in clothes, Scrabble, New York City, and Scarlatti.

Janae Hutchison’s favorite writing tools are a green fine-tip Sharpie and a lined 5×7 card, which she uses frequently to catalog everything from her dreams to grocery lists. She relishes catching up on beauty sleep, collecting fall leaves, and exploring desert canyons, only when she is not working at her regular day job, of course. She currently resides in Provo, UT, where, among other things, she is still hoping to secure a middle name.

Jean is the wife of one, and mother of two amazing children. Following years as a stay-at-home mom, she recently went back to school, completing a degree in English with plans to continue on to law school next year. In her spare time she loves to read and be with her family; but wishes there were much, much for time to do just that.

JeaNette is a licensed marriage and family therapist in private practice and the author of the Deseret Book publication, Side by Side: Supporting a Spouse in Church Service. She and her husband, Bret, are the parents of four children, and they reside in Florida.

Jenn Lee Smith is a writer and film producer who focuses on stories of the marginalized. She produced and co-directed the short documentary, Faithful, which premiered at UN Women Global Voices Film Festival. She is currently producing two feature films. Bombero is a docufiction about young firefighters in Nicaragua. Jane and Emma is a historical drama about LDS pioneer Jane Manning James and her friendship with Emma Smith at the time of Joseph Smith’s death. Both films are anticipating a 2018 release. Jenn Lee is an active contributor to Asian American magazines and media. She and her family attend a Chinese Mandarin-speaking ward in northern California with her devout nonagenarian grandmother and fourth auntie.

Born the oldest of nine children to hippie parents on the East Coast and now transplanted to the West Coast, Jenna spends her mental energies trying to unravel the mysteries of marriage with husband number two, who fortunately has the same first name as husband number one. She likes all things home, including homeschooling and homebirthing, and gets to try them out on her four children. She is a bumbling stepmother to two more, plus she’s a college student again and a piano teacher. She serves the young women in her ward, and really wishes there was more time to just read, write, garden, and bake. She also wishes someone else would clean her house.

Jen Pocock is an artist, but recently realized that her sketchbook has more words in it than sketches. She’s been blogging since 2008 and was a staff writer for mormonwoman.org. Soon she’ll complete her bachelor’s degree in psychology and should be ready for grad school when her oldest child starts college. Although she now lives in Iowa, her heart has spread across the US through many moves. Her addictions are chocolate-covered almonds and reading, usually together. Read more of her journey at jendoop.blogspot.com.

Jennifer lives in Provo, Utah, with her wonderful husband where they both attend Brigham Young University. She enjoys dancing with BYU Dancers’ Company and moving through all that life brings

Jennifer Quist is a journalist, poet, novelist, and author of Love Letters of the Angel of Death. The book was a Whitney Award finalist, winner of the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award, and is currently long-listed for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Her second novel, Sistering, is due to be released Fall 2015. She lives in Canada with her husband and five sons.

Jennifer has moved twenty-one times during her thirty-something years of life, calling wherever she is currently living home. A born wanderer, she dreams of travel, and finds the world with its history, people, and places endlessly fascinating. In between managing her household, caring for her six children, and working as a freelance editor, she enjoys ethnic foods, reading, writing, gardening, sewing, home decorating, and dates with her husband.

Jennifer Smith graduated from BYU in English and spent time living in Portland and Pheonix before heading back up to Washington—one husband and three impossibly cute kids later—to be close to family. Her hobbies include reading, writing, running, cooking, opening fruit snacks, and going to Target. She feels weird writing this bio in the third person, and hopes it will make her sound intelligent but cool. (You can let her know how she did at ginnysee.blogspot.com.) Besides people, books are her favorite thing in the world.

Jennifer Swenson is a Virginia native who is living in St. Paul for one year, in what she calls her “Minnesota experiment.” Since quitting ballet, she has taught dance to young children and has dabbled in ballroom, modern, and folk dance. Nowadays she still dances—mostly in her kitchen, with her five children swirling around. She graduated from BYU with a BA in English, and she loves to read, quilt, wander museums, blog, and avoid yard work.

Born in Wyoming, Jessica grew up expecting the world to be wide open and continually finds that it is. She earned a BA in Humanities from BYU, served a mission in Poland, and recently moved to California where she instantly fell in love with the ocean and artichokes. She currently works at Threestory Studio in graphic design, and looks forward to a long, adventure-filled life.

Jessica is a homeschooling mother of four who seeks the guilty pleasure of reading and writing in the small spaces between lessons and mothering. When the snow melts and she’s not pregnant, she is much happier in the garden than the laundry room. Her family recently spent a year in England where her husband completed a master’s degree. Having grown attached to England during her mission, she’d love to do her own schooling there, but she’s much more likely to find a degree in Utah just as soon as her husband finishes his eternal PhD.

reminds us to feed our muse.
Raised in the northwoods of Canada without electricity or a phone, Johanna’s 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 daughter on five weedy, beautiful acres.