Blog Posts
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Weevils.
I left The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on January 1st, 2020. On Friday, January 3rd, I had this dream: My parents are visiting me and my family in our big yellow house in Japan. My dad has gone to the little grocery store at the bottom of the hill, and brought us everything that looked delicious. We spread all the food out on the table in my kitchen like a banquet and start sampling our feast. We’re sharing what we love, recommending what we find particularly delectable, and just having a great time. But then, I look down at my food and notice it has a weevil…
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I’m Ripley, Believe It or Not! (Alien Cosplay)
Last autumn I finally watched Alien (1979) for the first time, and I imprinted onto it like a baby duck to its mother. I loved the story, I loved the sets and costumes, I loved the masterfully rendered terror of the unknown, but most of all, I fell in love with Ellen Ripley. Now, I’ve wanted to cosplay for a long, long time, and it just so happened that Ripley wears a cool costume, carries a sweet flamethrower, and has the same exact hair texture as me. I went on Etsy, bought myself a 1970s vintage flight suit, and the plan was hatched. It took me a year of planning…
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2019 Storymakers Report
Oh my goodness. Life is a whirlwind right now, especially when it comes to writing. I have some really good news to share later this week, but first things first, I have to catch you up on how my absolute favorite writing conference went this year! Storymakers in Provo, Utah! At other conferences, I’ve felt like people didn’t want to get to know me, they just wanted to be able to hand me a business card. Writing conferences can feel like competitive, every-man-for-himself kinda shindigs. Not Storymakers. At Storymakers, you can find people who aren’t just looking to network, but to make friends. They remember who you are, year after…
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Going Dark
Fact 1) Ten years ago, I set out to finish my historical fantasy series. Fact 2) Ten years ago, I also got a Facebook and Twitter account. At the time, it seemed like everyone was telling me how important social media was to my career. And in many ways, it’s actually helped a lot. Facebook has facilitated meaningful relationships, connected me to critique partners and beta readers, and introduced me to some incredible groups of readers, writers, and friends. Twitter has been less personal, but I have learned a lot by following and occasionally interacting with authors, advocates, and artists. It’s allowed me to be “in the know” on newly…
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What I’m Working On: Winter 2019
It’s 2019 and time for a new update! Next week I’ll be talking about my goals and resolutions for the year, but I haven’t done a “What I’m Working On” post since September, and I wanted to make sure you’re all up-to-date on my plans to take over the world latest writing projects! IN DEVELOPMENT:“ NEW! Math 125: Quantitative Reasoning and Problem SolvingCollege class for my Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing/Screenwriting. Class ends: March 2019 “Space Circus”Sci-fi novella (20-40k words) about a girl who joins a futuristic circus. Draft due: May 2019 DRAFTING PROCESS: “The Island Book”Historical fantasy (100k words) about a dryad warrior who teams up with a too-brilliant-for-his-own-good scientist in order to save their…
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I Got Five MORE Rejections! (16-20)
The holidays are here and the editor’s are all trying to clean out their submission boxes, so the rejections are rolling in! This is an especially fun batch, as I have a personalized rejection, an embarrassing goof on my part, and even one rejection that made me think I might die unpublished. If I sound a little sardonic today it’s because I am. #16 Dear Christine, Thank you for giving me a chance to read [story]. I thought there was an interesting premise here, but overall the story didn’t quite win me over — I thought the narrative needed to be tighter and the POV needed to feel more non-human,…
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Prophecies of Christ in the Bible and Book of Mormon: A Downloadable Christmas Program
One of my very favorite Christmas traditions is gathering as a family on Christmas Eve and reading the story of Christ’s birth. Growing up, my dad always read from the book of Luke in the Bible. A few years ago I was asked to put together a church Christmas program, and it struck me that while there are plenty of prophesies of Christ’s birth in the Book of Mormon, most members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints mimic the programs of other Christian faiths who believe the Bible to be the only word of God. Why do we do this? Directly under the cover title of…
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I Got My Worst Rejection Yet! (11-15)
Feel free to skip to #15 for THE WORST ONE, hahaha. Otherwise, here are rejections 11-15 for your voyeuristic viewing pleasure. #11 Dear Christine Tyler, Thank you for sending [poem] to [venue] for consideration. We appreciated the chance to consider your poetry, but unfortunately this isn’t for us. We know that poetry comes from deeply personal and emotionally significant places, and we appreciate the care and effort that goes into writing and submitting. We relish the chance to read each submission we receive. Even though this poetry wasn’t right for us, we’re honored that you took the time to send it our way, and we wish you all the best.…
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Quick! I Need Help Choosing Some Art!
I’m currently commissioning some art from the unfathomably talented Ejiwa “Edge” Ebenebe, and she’s sent me four thumbnails to choose from! It’s a portrait of my dryad character, and these are the four composition options. Use the poll below to vote and help me decide! Click on your favorite thumbnail and then submit your choice. [wpforms id=”1163″ title=”false” description=”false”] If you have some detailed opinions, I’d love to hear about them in the comments section. Such as, “do you like the overall composition better in one picture, but you like the facial features better in another? Do you like the angle of the face in one but the amount of…
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NaNoWriMo Week 4: The Wrap-Up!
November is officially OVER and that means NaNoWriMo has come to a close. It also means I just completed my last “foundations” class for aerial fabrics. Gotta say, I’m more happy about one of those things ending than the other, ahhhhhhh. For those of you who have been following along, you know that “Space Circus” was the project I was working on for NaNoWriMo this year, and if you know that much, you also probably saw this coming: I didn’t get it written. Like, at all. I busted out about ten thousand words in the first few days of November and then got frustrated because they’re not just not good,…
