Contributors

Johnna Ferguson joined Segullah in 2005 and designed and managed all its websites until 2010. Any day she rides her bike is a good day.

Judith Curtis lives in Phoenix, where she volunteers at the Desert Botanical Garden and tries to beat the quail to the lettuce in her vegetable patch. She composes poetry, essays, and stories for her grandchildren, featuring them as the main characters. This poem was written for a dear friend when she lost her husband after only five months of marriage.

Julianna Kelly Bratt grew up in New England and came to Utah for school. She graduated from BYU with a degree in family history and a minor in English. Since graduating, she has worked several jobs, including professional family history research and as a conservation tech at a book bindery and repair shop. She is interested in the ways that material culture and preservation intersect with place and the past. She loves her wet and forested New England home and has been trying for several years to adapt to desert life.

Julie Donaldson grew up all over the world as the daughter of an Air Force fighter pilot. She earned a BA in English from BYU after serving a mission to the Philippines. When she’s not consumed by full-time motherhood, sheÊis anÊaspiring ballerina, aÊprofessional accompanist, a clumsy quilter, and an ambitious story-teller. Julie lives in Salt Lake City with her husband and three children.

Next to Julie’s bed you’ll find an eclectic, waist-high stack of books, all of which she insists she’s “right in the middle of” reading. She is also currently in the middle of her seventeenth year of marriage, her fourteenth year of teaching humanities at BYU and her thirteenth year of motherhood. She writes about art and parenting at mentaltesserae.blogspot.com.

Julie is a recovering Air Force Brat currently living in Bellevue, Nebraska. She attended Brigham Young University and graduated with a BS in secondary education from the University of Nebraska-Omaha. She teaches journalistic writing and contemporary media issues, coaches the speech team, and serves as Communicative Arts Department Chair at Bellevue West High School. In her few hours of spare time, she enjoys reading, playing the piano and watching sports.

Karen Kelsay, a native of Orange County, is the owner of Aldrich Press and White Violet Press, two small indie presses that publish formalist and free verse poetry. Some of Karen’s recent poems have been published in Mezzo Cammin, The Raintown Review, and The Pennsylvania Review. In 2012 she received the Fluvanna Prize from The Lyric, and is the editor of the online poetry and art journal, Victorian Violet Press.

Karen McKnight completed her BA in English teaching at BYU in the spring of 2008. She recently started her dream job: teaching English at Independence High School in Provo, Utah. Her classroom is decorated to replicate ancient Greece. Sometimes she thinks she is Socrates.

Kate Hansen lives in Rexburg, Idaho with her husband, Jake. She recently graduated in English from Brigham Young University–Idaho and currently works as a technical writer. An Idaho girl at heart, she loves the outdoors and takes any opportunity to mountain bike or rock climb. Kate also loves running in the early morning, cooking (and eating) exotic food, and playing music.

Katherine Morris is the current managing editor of Mormon Artist (mormonartist.net). In her spare time, she writes fanciful stories, draws whimsical creatures, advocates Mormon arts and letters, and pursues a master’s degree in communication disorders at Brigham Young University.

Katherine Parker Richmond aspires to be the poet laureate of cheapskate moms. She lives in a big red ramshackle house in Ellensburg, Washington, with her husband, two sons, one daughter, and a pair of long-suffering cats. She homeschools, reads, writes, quilts, cans, takes long walks, and bakes her own bread—but not necessarily in that order.

Kelly Moore earned her BA in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from BYU-Idaho in 2004. She is a youth services specialist at Campbell County Public Library and lives with her husband and two sons in Gillette, WY.

Kelsey Petersen is from Dallas, Texas and will graduate from BYU-Idaho in July with an English degree. Besides writing creative non-fiction, Kelsey enjoys hiking, camping, running, and taking as many naps as possible. Kelsey is currently living the dream in an unfinished basement apartment with her husband, Michael.

Kerry teaches writing at Brigham Young University. She grew up in California and now lives in Utah with her husband and two babies.

Kessia Robinson is an English teacher who takes a book and a notepad with her everywhere, especially while hiking. On the trail, she likes to pause and be still at some point, writing down a poem like a footprint to mark her passing. Her trail notebook is usually wrinkled, battered, and mostly filled.

Kimberly McKell is a graduate of BYU-Idaho, currently getting an MA in Teacher Education at BYU, while she teaches English at a charter school in Alpine, Utah. She is married to the man of her dreams and they have two fur babies.

Kimberly Parry received her BA and MA in English from BYU and has taught religion and English courses at BYU and UVU. Currently, she spends her time writing and being a stay-at-home mom.

Krista Clement worries that her life mirrors her favorite childhood novel, Little Women. While pursuing an English literature degree she met and fell in love with a German man who now makes his career as a professor at BYU. And, like Jo, she has literary aspirations. Her short fiction has appeared in several online literary journals and she has also done nonfiction and creative freelance writing assignments. After moving back and forth between Germany and the United States the past eight years, she is finally ready to feather a permanent nest and spend most of her time homeschooling her five boisterous children in Santaquin, Utah.

Kristen Carson is in the middle of moving from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to Indianapolis. Her work has appeared in Indianapolis Monthly, Fourth Genre, Gettysburg Review, and Dialogue.

Kristen Ott Hogan lives in Syracuse, Utah with her husband, Wade, and their four children. She received her BA in English from Brigham Young University and served a mission in Manchester, England. She loves to read more than anything—her favorite novel remains Jane Eyre. She wrestles to write every day despite plenty of interruptions. Her children ground her in the moment so she won’t spend too much time in her head. Her husband is waiting (patiently) for her to write a bestseller so he can quit his job.

Lani Axman received her BA in English (with an emphasis in editing) from Brigham Young University in April 2003. She now resides just outside of Phoenix, Arizona, where her life is filled with mothering her two daughters, teaching a preschool co-op one week a month, distributing and tracking Primary attendance rolls, blogging in too many virtual spaces, trying to grow food in the desert, cheering her husband as he pursues his running goals, and preparing for the home birth of their first son. She still hasn’t given up on that doula dream.

LANI WHITNEY lives with her husband Lance and their five children in Twin Falls, Idaho. She earned an English degree from BYU, and is currently a busy and happy full-time mother. She loves waterskiing (between pregnancies!), journal writing, learning about healthy eating, trying to parent better, and walking for exercise.

Laura Hilton Craner is wife to Jeremy and mommy to four kids. She is a blogger at A Motley Vision and Depressed (but not unhappy) Mormon Mommy, and a lover of Mormon literature. In her “spare” time she writes, reads, and occasionally sleeps. She currently lives in Colorado and was delighted to discover there is a smaller version of the Christus at the Denver temple.

Laura, her husband, Jared, and their three sons continue their journeys and are now in Warsaw, Poland. While she loves writing, yoga, real food, and friends, her most favorite thing of all is to hang out with Jared after the kids are in bed and the dishes are done.

Laura Sheffield Dutson lives—and loves living—with her husband, Jason, in the Oak Hills neighborhood in Provo, Utah, a few blocks from where she spent her teenage years. Currently an MFA student in Brigham Young University’s creative writing program, she wishes she could pursue degrees forever and spend months at a time traveling abroad. Even more than she loves writing, Laura loves to dirty a clean kitchen with good food.

Lauren is a doodler and a soccer-playing mom. She cherishes her children’s nap times as moments where she can sip Dr. Pepper, eat chocolate, and write. She is a published author in a range of genres and subjects including poetry, finance, blogs, social media content, book reviews, and even book illustrations. One day, she hopes to finish her memoir, but nap times are only so long.

Laurie Andrews earned a bachelor’s degree from BYU in marriage, family, and human development. A recent transplant to Butte, Montana, she returned to the Mountain West by way of Iowa City, Iowa, and Columbus, Ohio. Having grown up in Hawaii, she spends her time seeking out sunshine, often in the form of loving her sweet husband and four little “bugs,” making pictures, riding her horse Ty, nurturing friends, and finding new things to do with Italian cheese and vanilla beans.

Leah lives in Ashton, Idaho, where she fully appreciates the beautiful colors of every season there at the base of the Tetons. She is attending BYU-Idaho and majoring in English education. She has arranged to fly to Guatemala in January to teach English. She plans on writing her heart out while she is there.

Lee Ann has published fiction for adults and children, and nonfiction for children in the LDS market. Her motto, borrowed from a hot dog stand in Provo, is “famous by noon tomorrow.” She lives in Utah with her husband, three children, and two cats.

Leslie Lords Robbins is a professor of English and teaches writing and literature in Salt Lake City, Utah. She is married to her kindergarten sweetheart and they have three daughters who take their breath away every day. With twenty marathons behind her, including two Boston Marathons, she now finds new energy as she competes in team triathlons with her daughters. Every decade she discovers something new about living life in the gospel and believing in Jesus Christ.

Lila King lives in Texas with her husband and three children. Her days consist of helping with homework, feeding the dogs, doing the laundry, and loving her family. She considers herself to be the luckiest girl in the world.

After nearly forty years of marriage, Linda Lay Eldridge (along with “Mr. Right”) is now settled in Utah. They have lived across the country, being spiritually led to gather their five birth children and six neglected/abused adopted children. As a sheltered only child, she was naive about what this motherhood thing would involve. Changing children’s names to protect the innocent and disguise the guilty, she writes about the strong currents of family life. She’s a bit wrinkled from the water, but manages to stay afloat.

Lysa Ficlek wrangles three girls and one boy in the Wild West of central California. She spends most days with her trusted steed, Toyota Sienna, herding those children around. When she’s not out on the range, she can often be found typing with a small child in her lap. Lysa patiently awaits the day when she can retire from child herding and buy a Prius.

Lisa Ottesen Fillerup lives in Heber Valley, Utah, where she is best known for speeding while delivering hot cinnamon rolls to friends and neighbors. Though she handles a mean red KitchenAid mixer, she also loves to hike, read the funnies, write poems, and find treasures at the local thrift store. She and her sculptor husband, Peter, are the parents of six children.

Lisa R. Harris holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in English from BYU. Since Fall 2000, she has taught both honors and advanced writing classes at BYU, in addition to teaching BYU’s ACT prep course. In her spare time (what is that?), she writes short stories, personal essays, and novels. In 2006, her essay “Honor in the Ordinary” won the Heather Campbell essay contest, and was published in Segullah. In November 2012, her first novel, The Unlikely Gift of Treasure Blume was released by Cedar Fort. Right now she is working on her new middle-grade novel about funeral singers, time-travel, and thrift stores.

In November 2012, her first novel, The Unlikely Gift of Treasure Blume was released by Cedar Fort. In 2013, she wrote the titular essay for the beauty anthology Why I Don’t Hide My Freckles Anymore released by Deseret Book. Right now (in between raising children and teaching classes) she is polishing her YA fantasy novel, The Phoenix Sisters, and working on her new middle-grade novel about funeral singers, time-travel, and thrift stores.

Lisa Renee Valantine is wife to Dan and mother to Brett and Carrisa. She has a degree in English literature and a master’s in education. Her poetry has appeared in a variety of publications. When this California native is not hiking in the local hills, practicing a yoga stretch, or foraging at a farmer’s market, she is working in the art department of her family business.

Liz Busby and her husband George usually live in Provo, Utah, but will be residing in Seattle this summer. They are expecting their first child in October. Liz graduated in April with a BA in English from Brigham Young University. In her spare time, Liz enjoys knitting, blogging, and collecting random facts from educational television.

Lori Nawyn is a mother of four and has two granddaughters. Following the example of her preemie daughter—who, despite challenges, excelled in life, served a mission, and married last summer—she looks for the silver lining in every cloud. Lori blogs at heartsandhands.blogspot.com.

Luisa Perkins loves abandoned houses, ancient trees, and graveyards. Reading a great novel while eating homemade cookies is her idea of heaven. She and her family live in a small town in Southern California. Her latest book, Prayers in Bath, was released in 2017.

Margaret Blair Young teaches creative writing at Brigham Young University. Her ancestors Ira and Angeline Noble Hinckley were in Jane Manning James’s ward (the First Ward) in Salt Lake City.

Margaret Everton is a freelance writer who received her MA and BA in English from BYU. When she mentioned this essay to her husband, he asked if she was including the part about her family busting a SpongeBob piñata on Easter. When she said no, he asked, “Are you including you in it? As in, the definition of ‘irreverence’?” Apparently she personifies the word. There are worse things.

Marie Brian lives in Woodland Hills, Utah; is married to a bespectacled redhead; plays the guitar badly; suffers from nose-in-a-book syndrome; and wishes that her three children had British accents.

Marilyn Nelson Nielson graduated from Brigham Young University with degrees in music and home economics, and a minor in English. As a pianist, she has performed throughout Utah, and currently accompanies the Utah Children’s Choir. She has also played percussion in the Timpanogos Chamber Orchestra. Her poetry and personal essays have appeared in Inscape, BYU Magazine, and BYU Studies. Marilyn lives in Utah with her husband, Sam, and their five children.

Mary Joanne Bell lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and their seven children. She received a bachelor of science degree from BYU. She loves to laugh with family, friends, and sometimes, random strangers. Singing, dancing, writing, learning, reading, serving, cooking, and fiddling around in her room for improvement brings her joy. Dream opportunity she might not turn down? Guest chef on the Food Network.

Mary Leah Hedengren is five foot two and 3/4 inches tall. A native of Provo, Utah, she is currently serving in the Russia Saint Petersburg Mission. When she returns, she will continue studies at Brigham Young University, where she is involved in the April Literary Group, Inscape Magazine, and Divine Comedy.

Meg Conley is a writer, speaker, wife and mother. She mostly procrastinates, except for when she just falls through. Connect with Meg on Twitter, Facebook ), Huffington Post page and MegConley.com.

Meg Gibson Singley is not a runner or a morning person, but aspires to be both. She has a BA in film studies from Brigham Young University and likes finding patterns, collecting beautiful things, working on artistic projects with her husband, singing Beatles music with her three young children, baking goodies she shouldn’t eat, and exploring the Pacific Northwest with her family.

Melanie and her husband, Rob, live in Utah with their four daughters. She loves the magnificence of the sunrise and the beauty of daisies.

Melinda Morley is the mother of five beautiful, talented, and too-smart-for-their-own-good children. She has tried to trick them into believing that her laptop is a permanent attachment, as she is an avid writer, blogger, student, and reader, and really can’t help it if dinner is late. Melinda is pursuing her BGS degree through BYU and has finally reached senior status. On snowy days she is walked by her dog, a large Samoyed, through the icy streets of Kaysville, Utah.

Melissa Leilani Larson’s plays include THE EDIBLE COMPLEX (seen by 15,000 children in 40+ Utah schools), PILOT PROGRAM (Plan-B Theatre), LITTLE HAPPY SECRETS (Salt Lake Acting Company Fearless Fringe), MARTYRS’ CROSSING (Edinburgh Fringe), and PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (Miami University Ohio; first commissioned by Brigham Young University), among others. FREETOWN won the 2015 Ghana Movie Award for Best Screenplay and the Utah Film Award for Best Picture. Mel’s current work-in-progress, SWEETHEART COME, was a 2016 O’Neill National Playwrights Conference semi-finalist. Mel is the Dramatists Guild Ambassador for Utah, a member of the Plan-B Playwrights Lab, and a 3-time Association for Mormon Letters Drama Award winner. She holds a BA in English from BYU and an MFA from the Iowa Playwrights Workshop.

Mendy Waits has a bachelor’s degree in social work and a background in child welfare. She is a wannabe writer, knitter, baker, and photographer. Mendy lives in Pittsburgh (the nation’s most livable city) with her three crazy kids, her husband, and a very loose grip on her sanity. Need to know more? 5waits.com.

Merrijane Rice received a BA in English from Brigham Young University, and then served in the Washington D.C. North Mission. After returning, she married Jason Rice and together they are raising a family of four boys in Kaysville, Utah. She currently works for Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators as a technical writer and editor. In her spare time, she likes to write, sing, arrange music, cook, read, and occasionally sew.

Michele H. Mirabile enjoys a stunning view of Mount Timpanogos from her home in Utah County. A grandmother and veteran of the United States Army, she loves Stephen King, Elton John, and visiting exotic ports. She has authored many short stories, travel articles, and a nonfiction book entitled Your Mother Wears Combat Boots: Humorous, Harrowing, and Heartwarming Stories of Military Women. Her greatest source of joy is the unwavering love and support of her husband, Lou, and her beautiful children, John and Vanessa.

Michelle Gifford Owens earned her Masters of Art in English from Weber State University, and recently had her first child, a baby boy. Still unsure of what she wants to do when she grows up, she looks forward to practicing the art of parenting, along with the continued practices of speaking French, running, and playing the piano.

Nancy and her husband Don are the parents of four children and thirteen grandchildren, with another grandchild soon to arrive. Nancy has been teaching school since 1985, third through sixth grade. This will be her last year teaching as she is planning on serving a mission with her husband. She enjoys painting, sewing, and walking early in the morning.

Nanette Rasband Hilton is a daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, friend, seminary teacher, cyclist, and artist believing that her greatest role and work is to affect the quality of the day. Nanette Hilton’s writing has appeared in numerous publications, including The Decorative Painter, Gardening, Taste of Home, Ensign, and Artist’s Journal. She holds a degree in Writing from Brigham Young University and currently lives in the splendorous Mojave Desert.

Naomi White is a junior at Southern Utah University majoring in English with an Emphasis in Creative and Technical Writing and a minor in Spanish. She was born and raised in Utah, the oldest of four children. Aside from spending time with family and friends, she love movies, country music, and firmly believes ice cream is always a good idea.

Natalie is a graduate of BYU’s Creative Writing MFA program and has left the cold of Northern Utah to happily reside among the red rocks and sagebrush of Southern Utah. She teaches writing at Southern Utah University.

Natasha Helfer Parker, MS, LCMFT, is a licensed marriage and family therapist who has been in practice for thirteen years. She received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from BYU and her master’s degree in family therapy from Friends University in Wichita, Kansas. She began her career working in a drug addiction treatment center in Detroit, then contracted with the Chicago chapter of LDS Family Services while living in the Milwaukee area. She has been in private practice for the last seven years. She is a clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and a member of the American Association of Sexual Educators, Counselors and Therapists. She started her blog, The Mormon Therapist, in February of 2009 as a way to reach out to LDS members in an “advice column” format. Her blog visitors are representative of all fifty states and eighty countries. She has been married for fourteen years and has four children.

Born and raised in Manhattan, Neylan McBaine studied solo piano at the Juilliard School and then at Yale University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in English literature. She currently lives in Boston with her husband and two daughters (with a third on the way). Her writing has been published in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Newsweek, and Busted Halo, among others. She is the author of How to be a Twenty-first Century Pioneer Woman (forthcoming).

Nichole Trone is a native Oregonian who grew up in the suburbs of Portland. She has traveled from St. Petersburg to Paris, but she always loves coming home. A recent graduate from Brigham Young University, she received her bachelor’s degree in Russian with a minor in editing. Nichole’s interests include cooking, reading, writing, hiking, quilting, gardening, and playing with her dog, Mollie. Someday she would like to renovate a farmhouse and have a large family, but for now she is content to blog about it.

Noelle Carter works as an instructional designer for an educational software company and teaches English for the University of Alaska. She spends her time at home divided between chasing a small, red-haired girl and homeschooling her two nearly teenaged boys. When her kind husband, Stephen, takes pity on her, she can be seen glued to her Kindle. She has an MFA in creative writing and a PhD in cross-cultural education.

Patricia Merkley received her MSW from the University of Utah and has been a longtime therapist working in domestic violence, substance abuse, and trauma. Pat became enamored with classical literature while obtaining her BA from BYU. She experiences poetry as a thirsty need, pulling off on the side of the road to furiously scratch out her view from the trenches. Pat is the mother of six children and celebrates life with them, friends, hiking, tennis, and traveling.

Patricia Rushton is a full-time faculty member at Brigham Young University College of Nursing. She received her Bachelor of Nursing degree at the University of Utah and her Master of Science in Nursing and PhD in higher education at Brigham Young University. She is interested in history, specifically American history, and the historical aspects of medicine and nursing. She is currently researching the history of nursing during wartime, interviewing nurses who have served in the military during times of war in order to preserve these important historical accounts. She is also researching cancer pain management and aspects of end-of-life and palliative care.

Penny lives in Santaquin, Utah, with her three teenagers, her husband of almost twenty years, two dogs, and a cat. She has almost completed her bachelor’s degree in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing at UVSC, and hopes to graduate from college before her children do. She has many hobbies, but writing is the one she is most passionate about.