So, I'm working on a Mormon-themed novel with some bad guys in it, one bad guy in particular. I know this isn't a totally new discussion, but right now I'm in the thick of the issue of realistic language. I'm at the point where sometimes I delete the F-words and sometimes I add them back in or substitute "softer" crudities. But the bottom line is that my bad guys say F-words; they just do. And at least one of these guys is a very important point-of-view character who I just don't feel I can sanitize, and plus his use of profanity helps differentiate him from the other main POV character, who is of the same age, gender, and similar background. More...

I'm into middle age now, but I apparently haven't decided yet if I'm primarily an editor, publisher, or author. Lately, I've been doing mostly just editing, publishing, and noncreative informational writing, but I still harbor a deep inner desire to do original creative works, and I often find myself thinking of all this noncreative breadwinning and volunteer stuff as hindering me from doing some "real" work. More...

I haven't been doing much blogging or posting in any social forums lately, mainly because I'm trying to finish up one big book project and gear up to start the next, so I don't have much extra literary energy to spare these days (and I'm not even talking about Zarahemla projects but projects I'm authoring and/or editing for other publishers, whether contracted or on speculation). And I have to admit, the blog discussion I got into here a couple of months ago about Zarahemla Books threw me for a loop. But it caused me to do some thinking and evaluating, and I came up with some new author guidelines that I thought I'd share, not least because they include some realistic thinking about Zarahemla's niche. So without much further ado, here are the new guidelines, and if they prompt any comments, fine. Deep down, I hope some author out there comes up with such a great book in Zarahemla's niche that I absolutely MUST publish it simply because it's so exquisite. More...

It's Saturday afternoon, and I've just finished preparing the 2009 royalty statements and checks for Zarahemla Books authors. Sometimes I wonder about spending so much time on this endeavor, but I felt good today when I totaled up the grand total of books sold since Zarahemla started in 2006: 4,000 copies of 11 titles, with revenues totaling over $30,000. So that's not nothing. And just yesterday I spent two hours on the phone with a non-Mormon Salt Lake Tribune reporter who is very interested in Zarahemla and is preparing a feature article. Other times, however, it seems like weeks go by without so much as a single book order coming in, and I start to wonder... More...

Right now, Jonathan Langford and I are collaborating on a volume tenatively titled "The Latter-Day Saint Family Encyclopdia," which will be published this fall by Thunder Bay Press and sold fairly widely. As you might imagine, we're taking advantage of the opportunity to write a good, meaty entry on Mormon literature, and I've included Jonathan's draft below. May we invite you all to review the following text and, in this post's comment section, let us know any clarifications or enhancements that come to mind. We can't let this entry get any longer, but we can certainly refine what's here. Thanks in advance for your help! More...

This is an essay about how I’ve personally grappled with the modern-day same-sex dilemma and how I’ve looked to literary self-expression as a form of soothing balm for what I believe is one of the most dangerous issues of our generation, with the potential of dividing our society as catastrophically as the slavery issue did back in the nineteenth century, if not more so. Fortunately, with the recent heartening victories against same-sex marriage in California, New York, and Maine, it doesn’t look like that will happen anytime soon, but the fight is far from over, obviously.More...