It’s hard to be a homemaker. It’s even harder when you have four children, one of whom is a four-year-old bent on destruction, and they’re all into Legos.

I admit, I’m not the world’s best housekeeper. Or Utah’s best, or Orem’s best … you get the picture. But I try, and there are some products I’ve discovered that help me remain just a little bit saner than I otherwise would be, and I don’t think I could live without them. (Metaphorically speaking, of course.)

OxyClean I love OxyClean. This product has saved me so many times, I’ve lost count. Consider the glass of grape juice that was dropped on my beige living room carpet the other day. (You remember the four-year-old, right?) I mixed 1 t. of OxyClean with a cup of hot water, poured it on the juice and blotted it up with a towel. It was like magic—instantly gone, with no trace of juice at all. It’s also excellent for taking care of blood stains, and with another son who gets bloody noses, we’ve had many experiences with this phenomenon. Hydrogen peroxide is also great for blood, just in case you were wondering …

Febreze This is another must-have in my arsenal. I enjoy having fresh-smelling linen all the time, but it’s not realistic to wash every sheet and blanket each morning. There’s enough sheet-and-blanket washing going on as it is. Febreze takes the odors out of fabric and doesn’t cover them up with a heavy perfume. I use it on beds, curtains, couches, and frequently on my carpet as well.

Magic Erasers If you have not yet tried Magic Erasers by Mr. Clean, you are missing out! These incredible gizmos take off crayon, most types of marker, most types of pen, fingerprints—almost anything that lands on your wall, they’ll clean off. There is a caution that children shouldn’t use them, as the chemical might be irritating, but I’ve never had a problem with them personally and my skin is fairly sensitive.

Each of these products has a generic brand alternative, so it really doesn’t matter if you spring for the name brand or not. I tend to lean toward cheaper, myself.

If you’ve got tough stains or tough odors, give these products a try. They just might bail you out—I know they’ve made my life a whole lot easier and I don’t know what I’d do without them.

Return to the Neighborhood.
And while you're there, subscribe to the yourLDSneighborhood.com Newsletter.
In addition to being able to shop in the new virtual neighborhood, the newsletter brings you articles, products, services, resources and interviews from around the world-all with an LDS focus. Look for issues delivered to your email inbox every week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

Adding another installment to our classic movies series, “My Gal Sal” is a lavish musical starring Victor Mature and Rita Hayworth. It’s loosely based on the true story of Paul Dresser, a composer who lived in Indiana at the turn of the twentieth century and wrote the Indiana state song, “On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away.”

As the movie begins, Paul is packing to leave for school. His father wants him to become a minister, but Paul has other ideas. He runs off and tries to make it to New York to start a career as a musician, but falls in with a traveling con artist who markets cold remedies. He thinks he’s got it made when he can afford to purchase suits through mail order, but when he encounters some actors and actresses from a real New York stage company and takes in their show, he realizes he’s only been participating in a cheap imitation of real show business.

Sally Elliot caught a snatch of his composition while seeing the sideshow, and she adds her own lyrics to it and puts it in her show. When Paul catches wind of this, he’s furious, but he and Sally soon team up to write several musical numbers together. Before long, Paul is one of the most famous people in New York City, but the fame goes to his head, which was already quite swollen, and he forgets to be grateful for what he has.

In the end, Sally helps him realize that the things he wants most can only be gained as he shows gratitude for them, and the two of them marry.

The movie is full of big production numbers, fancy costumes, and lovely singing—Rita Hayward did have a very nice voice. I didn’t care for the character of Paul Dresser. He was arrogant and self-centered, but I can’t really blame Victor Mature for that—he could only work with the script he was given, and maybe that was an accurate portrayal of Paul’s attitude toward life. At any rate, I found the movie very enjoyable and laughed out loud when Sally takes revenge on Paul by chopping up his beloved custom-tailored suits. It was the perfect pay-back.

This film was not rated.

Return to the Neighborhood.

And while you're there, subscribe to the yourLDSneighborhood.com Newsletter (In addition to being able to shop in the new virtual neighborhood, the newsletter brings you articles, products, services, resources and interviews from around the world-all with
an LDS focus. Look for issues delivered to your email inbox every week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

Because I'm a (new but rabid) fan of David Bowman's artwork, I just had to participate in this giveaway. It ends TODAY, MONDAY, JANUARY 5 at NOON (I'm assuming Utah time, but I could be wrong.)

Scroll down to see why I love his work; Christ has a real warmth and depth that's lacking in a lot of other artists' work. I've seen paintings where the artist portrays Christ as smiling instead of somber, which is fine, but too often it comes off as goofy-looking. The smile below is genuine, the kind I imagine Christ would wear.

I love all three prints . It'll be hard to pick which one I want.

Here's the deal:

Copy and past the info below onto your own blog, and you'll get a copy of one of the three prints below FREE!

Here's the info to copy and post on your own blog, including words from David Bowman himself:

Okay, copy now!

Get a FREE signed 8x10 print of your choice (out of the three prints) by copying and posting to your blog or website everything below. (But do it SOON . . . remember, the offer expires TODAY, JANUARY 5, at NOON.)

After you post, send an e-mail to David (contact@bowman-art.com) with your website or blog address telling him you posted it and that you read about this offer on my blog. Also send him your name and mailing address and he will send your signed 8x10 print of your choice :)

David Bowman has had a passion for art ever since he could pick up a pencil. He loves creating images of the Savior that inspire and uplift. Along with his Christian fine art, David has also written and illustrated a series of scripture storybooks for children titled Who's Your Hero.

Check out his website at http://bowman-art.com/indexFineart.htm to see more of his precious art.

"Innocence"


The Savior tells us we need to become as little children to inherit the kingdom of God. I've often wondered what it is about little children Jesus loves most, and I think its their innocence. They are clean slates, seeing the world and others through untarnished eyes. Their hearts are pure, without the baggage of cynicism and self-doubt. In this piece, I've tried to imagine how a child would act upon meeting the Master for the first time. Without reservation or inhibition, I think he would simply want to play with Him. He would be at complete ease, allowing his pure little heart to soak in the love and laughter of His pure, infinite heart. Its no wonder Christ delights in these little ones and sets them up to be our examples.


"Security"


One of the greatest human needs is a sense of security. In all aspects of life, we naturally gravitate towards anything that makes us feel safe. In this piece, I wanted to convey a sense of complete peace and calm like only the Savior can provide. It's a security that allows us to rest assured, without fear or worry, when we put ourselves trustingly in His arms. Little children have that inherent kind of trust in their parents, so it's fitting that the man and girl who modeled for "Security" are actually father and daughter. They generated the exact feel I was looking for.





"My Child"


This piece conveys an intimate, up-close-and-personal feeling of the Savior's love. Notice how all the lines draw your attention and point towards Jesus' face in the center. I chose the name "My Child" because the only thing that could compare (even remotely) to Christ's compassion for us is the love of a parent for his/her child. This image is also intended to put things in perspective. Above all, we are God's children first. He allows us the privilege of experiencing parenthood for ourselves and we are entrusted to be the mothers and fathers of His children here on earth.

Moments I could have lived without in 08:

*The midnight knock on my bedroom door that rocked my world. We’ve made great progress since that day, but I’ve lost the naive belief that doing my best means my kids won’t have to face certain trials.

*The realization that someone I love (not the same one that knocked on my door) really doesn’t want to change and that I can’t fix her. This realization has been several years coming, but this year I felt like I really put myself out there to make the difference, and I believe this person truly faced a couple chances to change her life—and she turned her back on every one of them. I’ve crossed the line of no longer feeling capable of making myself vulnerable to manipulation, which means that I can no longer fool myself into believing that I have anything else to give her. I've also realized that my attempts to help her seem to hurt me and my family too much to risk it anymore. Thank goodness I believe in prayer so that I know there is still something I can do that will help her more than I ever could.

*Opening the door and being served papers filed by the guy that already ripped us off. His choices have put my family on the precipice, and yet he’s alleging we owe him even more. This has shaken my belief that people are basically good. It will likely influence 2009 a great deal and I’m dreading that.

*Hubby working in Las Vegas. I miss him and home isn’t the same without him and yet I’m accepting that this will be our life for awhile.

*Ending the year five pounds heavier than I started. I'm gunna have to give up my daily baking fetish. I miss it already.

*Giving pets away. This still just makes my heart ache and overwhelms me with feelings of failure. I wish I’d never had the animals in the first place—please remind me of that if I find myself tempted again!

*My computer crashing—but y’all have heard enough about that.


Favorite Moments of 08:

*Celebrating 15 years of marriage to a man that proves to me everyday that God loves me. When I look back at these 15 years I marvel at who we started as and who we've become. I am grateful beyond measure that although we've both grown in different ways, we've stayed together throughout our journeys.

*Winning The Whitney Award for Sheep’s Clothing—this was such an incredibly validating moment for me and even though I was a big baby when I accepted it, I will never forget that evening. For those that think it's unfair Her Good Name is ineligible--one of the reasons I joined the committee was so Her Good Name wouldn't be eligible--then I can say I've won the Whitney every year I was eligible :-)

*Celebrating 10 years of writing—I wasn’t published until 2000, but I started writing ten years ago and now I marvel that I ever had a time where I wasn’t overwhelmed with the problems of fictional characters.

*KB started first grade which meant I have 6 hours to myself five days a week—priceless

*Jeanie received high honors at her school and was invited to a special award ceremony for it—this was something both of us really needed and it was wonderful to see her accomplish so much.

*Running—I have truly loved running this year. I ran my first 5K and loved the rush of it. I feel like I found a little bliss I had been missing and I’m proud of myself for sticking to it long enough to learn to love it.

*Vacationing in Costa Rica with my family--I lost the pictures, but I'm glad to have the memory.

*Discovered Isagenix and feel like I got my emotion/mood issues under better control than I’ve had for awhile.

*Deseret Book accepted my first book in a new series—Lemon Tart. I can’t wait for it to come out and it’s been a whole new experience!

*Great blogs that inspire and advise me, good family and friends that make life worth living, and the gift the Gospel gives me in knowing that hard things don’t last forever and that every day is a new opportunity to do a little better than I did the day before. I am every grateful for a Heavenly Father that loves me and wants good things for me.

Four Hopes for 09 (things I don’t really have control over):

*A new house without a house payment
*The resolving of the business issues we’re facing
*Have two books published
*Have the economy turn around WITH the lessons we’ve learned remaining in tact.


Five Resolutions for 09 (things I do have control over):

*RSVP. I was a real loser on this but I commit to RSVPing in 09.
*Run a half marathon—I’m so excited and overwhelmed by this but I’m gunna do it!
*Find my abs again—they got lost somewhere and I’m determined to find out where they are hiding.
*A compliment a day for every member of my family—they are all great, so this shouldn’t be too hard but it doesn’t come naturally.

If you haven’t yet seen the movie “Night at the Museum,” make sure to add it to your list. You will love it.

Larry Daley is a dreamer. This isn’t always a bad thing, but in his case, he’s lost more jobs than most people usually have in their entire lives and he’s on the brink of being evicted from his apartment. Again. His ex-wife is concerned about his welfare, but more particularly for the emotional well-being of their ten-year-old son, Nick. She feels that perhaps Larry shouldn’t see Nick until he gets his life under control.

Larry knows it’s time to bite the bullet. He visits the employment agency and begs them to send him on any job they have. They’re reluctant, because he’s already turned down so many, but they cave and give him a referral to work at the museum as a night watchman.

Larry’s not sure he wants this job, but he goes to the interview anyway. He meets Cecil, the elderly, retiring watchman, and the two other men who have filled the position. With the museum losing money, they are firing the three men and replacing them with just one, and Larry will be that one. Cecil gives Larry the instruction book and a pat on the back, and Larry is left alone in the building.

He is absolutely shocked that night to discover that everything in the building comes to life, from the dinosaur in the lobby to the little people in the dioramas. Not only is it his job to keep intruders from breaking into the museum, but to keep peace between all the different displays inside the museum as well.

As Larry learns how to mediate between the cowboys and the Romans, the Huns and … well, everyone else, he realizes that he does have what it takes to succeed, a lesson taught him by none other than Teddy Roosevelt.

This PG-rated film is wonderful. The moments of peril are fairly mild and I didn’t feel it was too violent for my children. In fact, we’ve watched it together as a family a number of times and we all enjoyed it immensely.

If you’ll excuse me, I’ve just developed a sudden craving for some gum …

Click here to return to the Neighborhood.

Last January, I headed for the gym and couldn’t find a parking spot. This was unusual; I never had a problem before. I finally found a place to park down the street and decided to count the trot to the building toward my exercise total for the day.

When I checked in, I asked the guy behind the counter why the parking lot was so packed.

“It’s January,” he said. “Everyone made their resolutions. But by March, they give up, so the parking lot will have more room again.” You know what, he was right. Around March, I didn’t have a problem parking any more.

I’ve thought about that on and off ever since. What strange creatures we are! New Year’s comes around and we get all excited. It’s a chance to start over! This year, we’re really going to do it. We’re going to lose weight, get out of debt, get along with our in-laws, and stop chewing our fingernails. It doesn’t matter that we’ve had the same goals year in and year out—this time we’re going to do it!

Then December 1st comes around and we realize we’ve only got one month to lose fifty pounds, pay off all our credit cards, and apologize to Great-aunt Marge … and we know we can’t do it. But next year! Just you wait!

Why do we put ourselves through that? And why do we set aside a day of the year to feel guilty about everything we haven’t gotten done?

I’d like to propose something a little different.

This year, as we make our goals, instead of saying “I’m going to write a novel” and leaving it at that, let’s break it down. Let’s say, “I want to write a novel. It will be about 80,000 words, so I should be writing 6,600 words a month, give or take. That means 1,500 words a week, or 219 words a day.” Can you write 219 words a day? Sure you can! That’s not even as long as most blog posts. (I’m already up to 346 on this one.) And it’s definitely easier to do than trying to cram all 80,000 words into the month of December!

Goals are really only goals if we make a plan for their accomplishment. Otherwise, they’re just dreams. And while I’m a firm believer in dreams, I recognize that dreams require action to become reality. Action needs a plan.

After we’ve broken our goals down into monthly, weekly and daily increments, we should review them daily to make sure we’re on track. Each week we should look at where we are and make adjustments to our goals as needed. Maybe going to the gym every day just wasn’t realistic with our schedule, but we could tweak it a little and go three times a week. We can still reach our goals, but we’ll approach them a little differently if needed.

The point is, don’t let the year go by without revisiting those resolutions. Visit them every day, and your chances of success will increase dramatically.

So, what are my goals for the new year, you may ask? I actually like to set mine on my birthday. It’s a new year for me, personally, on my birthday. We’ll talk about it in March.

Click here to return to the Neighborhood.

When writing what turned out to be Lost without You, I made one crucial mistake naming the hero. See if you can spot it.

The following is how I went about deciding on his name:

1. Think about the type of first name I want.
I don't want a long name. One syllable sounds good. It needs to be a strong name fitting a strong, male lead, but not a harsh one, like Butch. It needs to be likable and warm, but not wimpy.

2. Come up with names like that.
I think through names of guys I know personally and as acquaintances and try them on for size. I look at name tags at grocery stores and restaurants. Eventually I remember a gal from high school whose boyfriend was named Greg. I hardly knew the guy, but I like the name and decide to go with it.

3. Be far less demanding with the last name.
Mentally, I go through neighborhoods I've lived in, up and down the streets, thinking over the names of the families who lived in each house: Ferguson, Stringham, Lambert, Tolman, Van Dyke, Stevens.

Hey . . . Stevens. I like that.

4. Try the last name out with the first name.
Greg Stevens.

Me likey! The hero is christened Greg Stevens.


That's seriously how I came up with his name. Did you catch the step I missed? No?

Some back story that will help explain:

My parents presided over the Finland mission from the time I was 10 to 13. During that first year, we had an elder who was, apparently, quite good looking. At least, a lot of the sister missionaries thought so.

I took their word for it; I was ten, so boys still had cooties, and I couldn't see what they were so enamored over. I mean, he was nice. He could play the guitar well. But from where I stood (somewhere around four feet tall), he was big and hairy: a nice, musically talented ape man twice my age.

Okay then. You can probably see where this is going. Several months after Lost without You came out, some of my parents' former missionaries dropped by, and my new book came up in conversation:

"Oh, your daughter must have had a crush on Elder Stevens like everyone else did since she named her hero after him."

When my mom told me about it and asked if that's where I got the name, my eyes flew open the size of dinner plates.

I had a what on Elder Stevens? But his first name wasn't . . . was it? Oh, no, it was Greg. All of these missionaries who'd practically been extended family, faux brothers and sisters to me, thought I'd had some crush on one of them? No, no, no, no, no!

To this day, there are probably a couple of dozen women (and likely men) who served in the Helsinki mission circa 1984 who think I had a crush on Elder Stevens.

So, did you figure out my mistake?

Yeah. Before you commit to a character name, scour your brain and your past for anyone, anywhere who you've run into at any time that might share the name. People will assume the character is named after them, and no amount of protesting will change that.

So Veli Stevens, if you're reading this, um, hi! You don't show up in my first book, I promise. When I started writing the thing, I'd been home from Finland much longer than I'd been alive when we got there, and our missionaries' names were the farthest things from my mind.

And, um, sorry I didn't have a crush on you or anything. It was nothing personal.

The New Year has begun, so it's time for me to talk about accomplishments and set some new goals (or at least let all of you know where I'm heading.)

The biggest accomplishment the past few weeks has been that I finished the rough draft of Conjoined at the Heart: The True Story of the Herrin Family. I know there is much work to be done, but I wanted to be able to say I had finished the all the chapters that were on the outline I was given, and I did. This is a pretty good accomplishment since I started in August and wrote while teaching school and healing from my elbow replacement surgery!

I also wrote and retyped an entire screenplay for Seasons of Salvation at the same time. The last word I hear was that
production could begin in February.

Enough with the updates, here's what's happening in the next few months with my writing and editing careers:

I'll be writing books this year with both Alan and David Osmond. We've started the drafting on Alan's and have David's partially outlined.

I'll be editing Devin Davis's new book in the next weeks.

I'm drafting Fablehaven Teacher Guides for Shadow Mountain Publishers.

I've queried a couple of magazine articles and I'm just waiting to see.

I have future projects already lined up with Deborah Dennis and BookWise Publishers.

That's enough for now. It's wearing me out already just thinking about it!
Hope all of you had a great Christmas and and enjoyable New Year's. I'll be at work on these projects again tomorrow and Saturday, then Monday it's back to the grind of teaching school! (Although the year IS nearly half-way over.)

The following cover letter is pretty plain-Jane, but I thought I'd share it with you. This is what I submitted to my publisher for my latest manuscript:

Dear ******,


I hope this note finds you well. I have completed a new Book of Mormon novel, tentatively titled Alma the Elder—a sequel to Abinadi—comprising the scriptures found in the Book of Mosiah 17-24.

In this volume, Alma flees the city of Nephi and establishes a new colony at the Waters of Mormon. Hundreds of believers follow him, but before long, they are pursued by the wicked priest Amulon, under the direction of King Noah.

Back in the city of Nephi, turmoil erupts and Gideon tries to kill King Noah. At the moment of near-death, Noah sees Lamanites breaching the borders of the land. True to his cowardly and brutal nature, he commands the men of the city to flee and leave their wives and children behind. Eventually King Noah meets his own demise—at the hands of his own people—and in the fiery manner as prophesied by Abinadi.

Alma, unaware of all the unrest and change of kings in the city of Nephi, settles in a valley he names the land of Helam. For years they prosper and grow as a people of faith. But corruption creeps in and the Lord sees fit to chasten His people. When Amulon arrives in the land of Helam with an army of Lamanites, the people of Alma are put into bondage. It will take returning to the purity of their faith in order for the Lord to hear their cries and bring deliverance at last.

It’s my intention to write one to two more volumes to round out this series, continuing with the lives of Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah. Chapter Notes, Epigraphs, Preface, two-page map, and other details are forthcoming. This manuscript is approximately 95,000 words. I appreciate your consideration and look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,



Heather Moore

Despite the fact that my expression in the beginning of this interview makes me look like I am about to discuss something extremely distasteful (politics, grout stains, Paris Hilton) I am actually talking about something fascinating--my book. Okay, at least it's fascinating to me. I am frequently fascinated by myself.

So, a couple months ago I noticed a somewhat disturbing thing--the word verification when commenting on blogger-blogs were beginning to sound like real words! I know, weird huh?

I've been blogging for a few years now and I had grown accustomed to word verifications that weren't words at all--"words" like llprimee and rtrpphl. I must admit that I worry my ability to now decipher some of these words is sign of some kind of mental failing on my part--making sense of nonsensical things--but then I wonder if the opposite is true instead. PERHAPS this is a sign of increased brilliance on my part! If that's the case, then the rest of you need my help to decipher what these new words mean.

So, while in Las Vegas with my family (another post for another day) I wrote down the word verifications I had on several blogs I left comments for and I will not proceed to define these words for you.

Donity--Term used to describe the bathroom. (say the following with an English accent) "I'll have me another pint when I get back from the donity"

Abloatic--The feeling one feels on New Year's morning after spending six hours eating copulous amounts of junkfood rich in transfats. "Roll me out to the car, Ma, I'm too abloatic to walk there on my own today."

Frousi--A derogotory term used to refer to young Austrian women with questionable moral characters--combination of the words frauline and hussy. "Oh, that Marta is such a frousi."

Mendstom--Actual name of the boogie man, but not used very often due to the non-frightening nature of it. "

Comenti--Title given to blog commenters that never leave comments comprised of more than 3 words such as "Good one!" or "Ha, Ha" or "You go girl-fren."--"I guess I shouldn't feel so bad, every blog has a comenti or two."

Panslo--Code word used by mothers when they accidentally turn off the burner while cooking dinner--"Dinner will take a little longer, kids, the chicken was a little panslo."

Gurga--They kind of guy that likes to date a frousi. "Oh, looks like Marta found herself a Gurga."

Glycaliz--A condition often associated with to much blog reading. "Dad, mom's looking a little glycaliz--should we shut off the breaker again?"

So there you have it--now don't you feel smarter?

It's been a little while since I ranted. I hope you enjoyed the vacation, 'cause here I go again.

I've recently discovered the Netflix feature that allows you to watch films on your computer. Last night I found "Marnie," an Alfred Hitchcock film starring Sean Connery and Tipi Hedrin. I love Hitchcock films, so I settled in to watch it after the kids were asleep.

Hedrin plays Marnie, a young woman who has mental issues following a traumatic incident in her childhood. She is a predator, going from job to job and stealing money from her employers. When she comes into the employ of Mark, Connery's character, she gets more than she bargained for as Mark falls in love with her and then discovers her past. He is determined to get to the bottom of her disorder and protects her from the law by marrying her and paying back all the money she stole. On their wedding night, Marnie tells him she can't be intimate with him, and he promises he won't touch her. He continues to love her and take care of her, hoping to someday break through her shell and that she'll fall in love with him in return. He's the perfect gentleman - thoughtful, considerate, protective - until one night when he's not anymore and breaks his promise.

Yeah, yeah, I know - in that era, it wasn't considered rape if you were married to the guy, but that's what it was. The next morning, he acts like nothing has happened, seems surprised when she tries to kill herself over it, and continues to seek help for her mental distress. At the end of the movie, she shows signs of having feelings for him and we are left with the impression that they will live happily ever after.

On the soap opera "General Hospital," critics were shocked when character Luke raped Laura and they ended up falling in love. They not only fell in love, but coined the term "supercouple." No soap couple (with the possible exception of Bo and Hope) has received more attention, more sighs of rapture, more accolades for the very romantic-ness of their romance.

I've seen other films and television shows with this same basic premise, and while I won't go into them, I do want to point out that these two cases are not isolated. They are also not limited to the big screen - they take place in real life, all too often.

Now, don't get me wrong. I believe in repentance. I believe we can overcome and be forgiven of the things we've done and we can change our lives and our patterns of behavior. But that's not the topic of this blog. My question is: What message does it send to the viewer when we see an unrepentant rapist become the object of respect in the eyes of his victim?

I believe it sends the following messages:

"He's a wonderful guy. Look how romantic he is. He's absolutely perfect. Okay, so, there was that rape thing, but surely we can overlook the rape because of all the other wonderful things he does."

"You know, my boyfriend did the very same thing to me. Maybe it wasn't really bad because, after all, he did keep treating me kindly in every other way. Maybe I'm making a big deal out of nothing."

"Okay, so he did something she didn't want him to do. But look how it all turned out! They're together now. Maybe if I do the same thing, my girlfriend will realize how much we're meant to be together and everything will turn out all right."

These messages are all dangerous. They de-emphasize the fact that a crime was committed, a human being was violated, and trust was destroyed. They are presenting the idea that a man can retain his honor and his respectability even with this type of behavior in his character. They are giving the idea that there's really nothing wrong with rape, and that from it, the seeds of romance can bloom.

Is it just me, or are these messages a little whacked?

Bottom line: No person should be forced to perform any act they do not feel completely comfortable performing. It does not matter the reason ("We're married!" or "I love her!") it's still wrong. Persons who force other persons are called rapists, and rape is against the law, and is a punishable offense, and should be treated as such. The men in the above-cited stories should not be rewarded with love, true love, but they should be spending time in jail, and to present the case in any other light is to make it all seem to be okay. It's not okay.

Ending the year by looking back at some favorites from the past twelve months:

Top Books
Plain Truth by Jodi Piccoult
This was my first time reading Piccoult. It won't be my last.

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, by Jessica Day George
I read few books this quickly. I loved it, and it inspired me with writing ideas like nothing else has recently.

Top Movie Experiences
I had very few favorite movies produced this year. (I think Black Knight would be up there, but I can't think of many more. Oh, wait. Mama Mia was fun.)

On the other hand, I had a lot of fun movie experiences, particularly with my kids.

-I introduced them to some of my old favorites: Footloose, Girls Just Want to Have Fun, and other "oldies" from when I was young.

-Taking my girls to the theater to see Kung Fu Panda and HSM3, the latter on opening night. I was one popular mommy that day.

Kids' Accomplishments
-D getting onto the school Shakespeare team and taking a trip to Cedar City for the Shakespeare festival.
-S receiving 3 big awards for the N.O.V.A. program, including the overall achievement award, given to only one girl in the entire sixth grade (comprised of several hundred students).
-M going from a girl who likes to dance to a dancer with serious talent.
-A learning to read and ride a bike. Watching her become her own little person.

Personal Achievements
-Drafted and submitted a book that's different from any I've ever done.
-Began drafting another totally different book.
-Co-chaired a writing conference that went off swimmingly.
-Earned more doing freelance and editing work than any other year.

Top Events
-Hands down, the trip hubby and I took to Finland is my biggest and best highlight of the entire year. It'll stay with me forever.

-Second in line is getting my dream office. Yippee!!!

Top New Writing Tool
I have a laptop! With a cool red carrying case! I'll still use my Neo, of course, but holy productivity, Batman! I love my laptop. (Thanks, Honey!)


I'm very grateful for my family (both here and away), for my dear writing friends (who understand me like no one else can . . . and like me anyway) and for the bloggy friends I've met and gotten to know and care for.

I have a feeling that 2009 will only improve on 2008.

Have a happy new year, everyone!

By Julie Wright

A friend of mine, Matthew Buckley, posed a thought to a writing group we belong to.

When you carve something, you are basically taking away what doesn't need to be there. First you start with a block and you take things away until they are just right. At that point, if you take off more, you are damaging the product. If you keep working, eventually you just have a pile of sawdust or marble shavings.

So at what point do you stop tweaking your writing? Is it easy for all of you to think, "Yep, that's done. It's perfect. If I change it anymore, it will be a weaker book."

I am one of those authors who could "tweak until it's weak." I could, but I don't. I'd love to say it's because I'm brilliant enough to know when to say, "when," but really I think it is my lack of patience that is to blame. I want to see my book on a bookstore shelf NOW, never later.

So the fine line we walk is knowing when to stop tweaking and whittling away, and when to start putting it out for public consumption. For every person I daresay the answer is different. But for me, after several years of stupid manuscripts, I came up with a five reader rule. If my book hasn't been workshopped through five readers, then it isn't ready to hit the desk of someone with buying power. And I don't mean five readers who like you and are afraid of hurting your feelings. And typically, I don't recommend your mother ever being one of your five. Pick five readers who you trust to be straight shooters.

How many drafts should you write?

I write two initially, rework the manuscript several more times as reader reports come in and once more for the publisher. My attention span isn't long enough to do more than that. What's right for you? I could not say. Maybe more, maybe less.

But I know people who have been working on their masterpiece for years, tweaking, adding commas, changing modifiers, removing adverbs and dead words. I wonder if they are tweaking because they are perfectionists, or are they tweaking because they are afraid of submitting?

It is a fine line, because you must turn in your best work--you MUST. The competition is fierce. But you also must actually get to a point where you let go and TURN IT IN, because if you don't, you will forever be a dabbler and never really an author.

This thought of sculpting to perfection, of whittling away until you are truly done is subjective. Every writer needs the luxury of having his own way of doing things. The freedom to create offers limitless possibilities. But if you're worried your whittling your manuscript to a pile of sawdust, you might just be guilty of being afraid to move on. Only you know the answer to that. But in my household we have a saying, "Courage is being afraid, but doing it anyway."

By Annette Lyon

A recent article in Newsweek discussed the psychology behind procrastination. Go ahead and read the piece later, but here's the upshot (or a least what I got out of it):

When an activity or goal is stated in nebulous terms, people are more likely to procrastinate doing it.

But, when an activity or goal is broken up into concrete steps, people are more likely to get the thing done.

The example the piece gives is with exercising (a common resolution this time of year). If you think, "I really need to exercise," that's too vague. It's easy to ignore.

But if you turn the thought into, "I need to put on my exercise clothes, tie on my shoes, and get on the treadmill for 30 minutes," you're more likely to do all of the above and get in the workout you know you should.

Reading the piece, I had a light bulb moment regarding writing, which is quite possibly one of the most procrastinated activities ever. I constantly hear aspiring writers say, "I want to write a book," or, "This year I'm going to finish the book I started," or something similar.

And . . . they procrastinate and procrastinate. Even published writers get caught in the trap.

"I'm going to write a book" is too vague . . . and too BIG . . . of an activity. Something of that magnitude is easy to put off until later. It's just too intimidating to sit down and face the beast.

I've seen that with my writing, the more I break down a writing goal, the more likely I am to achieve it. Just like breaking down exercise into getting dressed and getting onto the machine, I'm more likely to get the job done if I can imagine the concrete steps involved.

The trouble with writing is that there really are few concrete steps. Much of what we do is nebulous already.

How about breaking it up anyway? In addition to a big goal like, "I'm going to finish this draft by April," add those little steps such as, "I'm going to write 1,000 words a day" or "I will edit ten pages of this draft every day."

Focusing on nothing but the next small step makes the entire project less intimidating.

"All I have to do today is one thousand words, and then I've succeeded." That thought is freeing, isn't it?

For that matter, it's much harder to justify procrastinating 1,000 measly words (or whatever your smaller goal is) than it is to put off an entire book.

This year as you make your New Year's resolutions, try to cut them up into small, concrete pieces. How many words per day will you write? How many queries will you send out?

Make each step concrete, and, more importantly, make each one doable. Allow yourself small successes, because added all together, they lead to the big ones.

Today is the last day titles by LDS writer-written books can be nominated for The Whitney Award 2008. Criteria are limited to:

1--Author must be LDS (But the book can be published in the national or LDS market)
2--Book must be published in 2008
3--Book must be a book--as opposed to a creative dance choreography using palm fronds and silly string (sorry Rob)
4--Authors serving on the Whitney committee or as a judge are ineligible for nomination--this is why Her Good Name is not eligible this year, because I'm on the committee, however you can still send your shameless compliments my way whenever you like

There are hundreds of eligible books out there, many which have not yet received the 5 reader votes necessary for them to become a nominee. After today, the judges will be reading all the nominations in order to vote for the top 5 in each category that will then become The Whitney Award 2008 Finalists. This list will be published in February, to then be voted on by The Whitney Academy which is made up of publishers, authors, bookstore owners and other industry professionals. The winners will be announced at The Whitney Gala on April 25 at the Provo Marriott. Click HERE to buy tickets to the Gala.

Because of the way weekends hit, this is the longest Christmas break the kids have ever experienced. They've been around each other all day, every day, for a long time already.

It was fine at first; they even spent hours in the snow making forts and snow houses and came in with rosy cheeks and grins. But now the Christmas cheer is wearing thin. I'm already getting, "I'm bored!" (What, did all your Christmas toys break already? Didn't think so.)

I'm also getting sibling fights that rival the WWF. Today, one child actually drew blood. "Accidentally."

Uh, huh. Sure.

I planned to get a bunch of stuff done during this week, including some housework stuff that's languished for months (my mending "pile" resembles Kilimanjaro, for starters). But I also feel pressure to make sure the kids have fun during their break.

Like how I promised to take them ice skating at some point. If they weren't so set on killing each other, I wouldn't dread that outing. Somehow I'm thinking that putting sharp metal edges on the feet of children already annoyed with one another isn't the wisest thing to do.

Today was a great start to the week: I had yet another appointment regarding my chronic headaches (I swear I live at the dentist's office), did a Costco run (not much food in the house after Christmas and a trip to Grandma's), and I managed to fold laundry, gather dirty clothes, and throw in a load. I don't have all the dirty ones collected yet, because I was too lazy to make the kids unpack properly when we got home yesterday.

I still have a few Christmas decorations up mocking me that I'm trying to ignore. Stupid, I know, because if I were to just put them away I'd be much happier and the place would be less cluttered. But that would make too much sense.

The kitchen looks like a cyclone swept through it. I can't seem to get the kids practicing piano again after a week off. The little one refuses to do her daily chore, although she's been pretending to do it for two hours now (a chore that would take a motivated 6-year-old oh, five minutes). She's gonna be so ticked when I tell her she can't have a friend over this afternoon because she ran out of time to play.

We have another week until school starts again. Heaven help me.

On a happier note, apparently being a Word Nerd is genetic. A few days ago, I overheard the following from my tween:

"Oh, cool, guys. Check it out. I found a typo on Club Penguin!"

My kids might be trying to kill each other, but at least I've passed on something useful.

When I was thirteen years old, my father was president of the Optimist International Club. Yes, optimists have a club and yes, they’ve really gone international. To this day, I have no idea how Daddy dearest became a part of this organization, though I think it’s kind of adorable that he was. But I digress.

At the age of thirteen, I came home with a mountain of homework to do and I plowed into it (this is because I was ugly and unpopular and didn’t really have anything else to do in my life EXCEPT homework). Halfway through the mountain, my dad called.

“I need you to write up a speech and be prepared to give that speech out loud in front of a panel of judges and several hundred other people who are part of my club. I’ll be picking you up in a little less than two hours. Oh, and Julie? You have to wear a dress.” (okay, fine, he didn’t actually mention the hundreds of people. He left that part as a surprise.)

It seems many of my life altering moments involve being rushed into something before I could think it through well enough to protest, and me wearing a dress. So I wrote a five minute speech on this topic: “I think the best; I expect the best.”

I was thirteen (as I’ve already pointed out). Five minutes of positive thinking for any teenager is quite a stretch. It turns out, this little shin-dig Dad had me go to was a public speaking contest. Lots of kids were entered and most of them were tutored by drama and public speaking coaches. The only public speaking I’d ever done was yelling at my brother at the grocery store. Why my father felt compelled to throw me in the mix at the last minute, I couldn’t really say. Standing in front of all those adults scared me to knee-knocking death.

Of course, I didn’t win. And I actually had the gall to feel badly about not winning. I went with two hours preparation and a dress that didn’t fit (because I never wore dresses back then; my parents were hard pressed to get me to wear shoes), and I had the nerve to feel I should have placed higher  than the people who went prepared. I did get an honorable mention and a little medal. And as an adult looking back, I’m shocked at this little undeserved victory.

And what might this little trip down memory lane mean?

It means that so often we go into something less than prepared and then get ticked off when it doesn’t turn out the way we think it should.

I meet writers who finish their first novels and immediately begin submitting. And while I congratulate them for the fact that they actually finished a novel, and further congratulate them for having the fortitude it takes to submit, I wonder if they aren’t going into a contest less prepared than their competition.

Did those writers send their manuscripts out to critique groups? Did they receive the right coaching? Did they study up on how to make themselves stand out in the slushpile? Do they know the mechanics of writing? Are they passionate about their manuscript? What are their credentials? Did they even run a spell check before sending in the manuscript?

And worse, those writers (me inlcuded back before I knew better) whine when they don’t walk home with a contract in hand. The speech I wrote back then still resonates with me.

I think the best; I expect the best. And something more to take away the prize: I gave my best.

Thanks, Dad.