Get Ready, Get Set, Nominate

The year is winding down and it's time for LDS fiction readers to give some thought to nominees for the annual Whitney Academy Awards. These honors are awarded in various categories, generally referred to as genres. Genre fiction and popular fiction are terms used interchangeably in discussions of literary works. They don't mean the exact same thing, but their definitions are close enough that I'm not going to quibble. For this discussion, either term will refer to the type of fiction purchased and read most frequently by readers, though literary fiction is not excluded.

I'm often asked to define what the various genre labels mean, and I'll be honest, defining categories of fiction is not as easy as it may sound. Many authors, teachers, librarians, and critics disagree on precise definitions, and for good reasons. What the reader brings to a book is often as critical as what the author put into it. Someone I admire greatly and I have often disagreed over the genre categories various books have been placed in for judging the Whitney Awards. She may see a story of historical significance while I recognize a beautiful love story as the paramount element of the story. I might call a story Young Adult and she sees it as General Fiction.

I'm pleased to hear that this year LDS novels may be entered in more than one genre for Whitney Academy judging. There have been several occasions where a truly excellent book has been a finalist or even won when it didn't come close to fitting the parameters of the category it was placed in and equally sad were the omissions of great books because, though some readers may have thought they were a particular genre, the judges did not. In my opinion there's nothing wrong with a title being recognized in more than one category. Hopefully this decision will make recognition of the truly best books more probable.

At one time the term LDS Fiction was considered a genre class of its own. Now LDS fiction is broken into as many categories as is main stream fiction. Here's a quick, though not definitive, rundown of the various genres.

Romance: This category includes love stories which may be humorous, historical, western, suspense, or mystery as well. Some readers lump all stories considered of particular interest to women in the romance category; others prefer a separate women's issues genre which includes social issues stories dealing with parenting, abuse, divorce, and other subjects generally discussed more openly by women than men. By the way, stories where sexual attraction is the major factor, more so than the actual relationship and emotions experienced by the lovers, is another genre, not romance.

Historical: These stories are set in a previous time period and are related to known facts of that era. They may or may not include historical figures. Unless the setting is historically accurate and the events of that period can be documented, novels in this category are generally considered more speculative than historical. Stories based on a verse of scripture or a little know scriptural character, particularly those from the Book of Mormon where little is known of day to day life and precise locations, sometimes fall into a strange limbo as the background and events are more guesswork than based on fact. Educated guesswork often places these novels in the historical realm, but whether they belong there is questioned by many historical readers. Historical accuracy is of prime importance to readers of this genre.

Mystery/Suspense: Sometimes Mystery and Suspense are lumped together as one genre though they are not precisely the same. A mystery includes a puzzle to be solved while suspense implies high tension and may not even involve solving some unknown question. Both have as many sub genres as writers are able to imagine. Many include a great love story. They can be set in any time period or place, real or imaginary.

Speculative: This category is loaded with sub genres. Some of the most popular are those that make a guess about the future, whether it is the Second Coming, near annihilation of our planet, or Space exploration. Some make educated guesses concerning a previous time period such as the Ice Age or a scriptural time period. Others deal with imaginary demons, monsters, special powers, mythical characters, or life on an alternative world. Horror, especially if imaginary creatures or pseudo science are involved, may fall in this category. Science Fiction and Fantasy are both generally included in speculative fiction.

Westerns: Westerns deal with the settlement of the Western United States. They are usually lighter than historicals dealing with this same time period. Horses and/or cattle usually appear prominently and there is a strong distinction between good and bad. Native Americans often play a role in this genre as do miners, guns, and wild animals native to the West.

Youth Fiction or YA: This category is broken down into all of the same genre classifications as adult fiction though the characters are younger, the language a little simpler, and the stories are of particular interest to a younger audience. There is usually a "coming of age" factor shown as the characters progress toward maturity. Once YA was considered pretty much aimed toward the high school/college age crowd, but now often includes the first post college years when young people first step into the real adult world. On the other hand, when I worked as a librarian, I found more and more books once considered middle readers, suitable for fifth through eighth graders, reclassified as YA.

General Fiction: This is a catchall category for books that don't fall into any other category well. These books range from social issues, explorations of philosophies, to a blurring of several other categories. Sometimes they exhibit elements of literary works. Horror is generally considered a sub genre of General Fiction, especially if it contemporary and closely linked to possibility, but because of its increasing popularity it may be placed in its own genre.

I urge readers to get nominations in for the 2010 Whitney Awards. Any novel written by an LDS author and released during 2010 is eligible. For this award to be of significant worth in the field of LDS fiction, there needs to be more nominations come from non-industry-related readers. To read more about the Whitney Awards Program or to nominate a novel(s) go here. You can suggest which category or categories you think your favorite novels fit in, but you don't have to. You are also welcome to expand, agree, or disagree with my definitions of the various genres in the comment trail below. I'll even forward your comments to the chairman of the Whitney contest.

An Aura of Excellence

Blogging out of turn today so Nancy can get her editing done. This was a thought for the day to my children a few years ago. Think I'll use it in my Laurel class, and may have to post it on my computer to remind me of this good advice.

The story was told of a young woman whose mother had died when she was two or three years old. As a teen-ager who was having problems with self-esteem and seemed headed down the wrong path on the run, she longed to know what her mother was like. One day her aunt brought her her mother's diary and told her niece she thought she would enjoy learning what kind of woman her mother had been.

As she left, she told the girl, "She had such an aura of excellence about her." From that moment forth, the life of this young woman changed as she began to put on that aura of excellence her mother was known for, and set goals to help her attain what her mother had hoped her daughter would become. Her mother's journal in which she listed her hopes and dreams for her daughter became the focus of this young woman - her reminder of what she needed to make of herself.

Don't trade what you want MOST for what you want AT THE MOMENT. It is often hard to keep our goals in front of us each moment, But find some way to remind yourself what your ultimate goal is - whether for that hour, that day, or that week. We'll forget, we'll relapse, but each morning we can rededicate that day and renew our focus so that in the end, we CAN have what we want most and are willing to work hardest for.

Smile today and help make someone else's day as good as you want yours to be.

Christmas - Ready or not, here it comes!

The holidays are upon us. And upon each other. Debates of whether it is wrong to use up store shelf space for both Halloween and Christmas decorations abound. Some say, "Yes! It's easier to shop for both at the same time." Others say, "I wish we could enjoy the holidays one at a time." No matter where you stand on the issue, trick-or-treaters will soon be at your door, then you'll be carving a turkey and eating pumpkin pie, and then "tis the season to be jolly."

My 11 year-old has already submitted her Christmas list to me. Today it snowed. No matter how much I don't want to have the stress of shopping for the holidays, I can't stop Christmas from coming. (Sound like any beloved Christmas character?)

One of the best parts of the holidays is being with family. Family traditions are a big part of Christmas. Every family has their own way of celebrating the season. One thing our family enjoys is popping popcorn and watching Christmas movies. The following is a list of the top Christmas movies of all time. At the bottom I'm adding some of the Bell Family favorites. If you feel so inclined, please post a fun tradition you have at your house!
1.
Babes in Toyland, or March of the Wooden Soldiers (1934)
2.
The Bells of St. Mary's (1945)
3.
The Bishop's Wife (1947)
4.
A Christmas Carol
5.
A Christmas Story (1983)
6.
Frosty the Snowman (1969)
7.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
8.
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
9.
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
10.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer(1964)
11.
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (1970)
12.
White Christmas (1954)

BELL FAMILY FAVORITES:
Elf
Home Alone 1 and 2
Jingle All the Way

Something New for Your Brain

Through a series of rather interesting events, I am now working at KBYU on their program Thinking Aloud. It's a terrific place to be with fun people, and fortunately for all of us, their programs are all available on their website. Interested in E-books and the fate of print? There's a 30-minute interview on it. Did you grow up inspired by Florence Nightingale because you read books about early nurses? There's a program on her. There are programs on Chopin, To Kill a Mockingbird, and memory and the brain.

Thinking Aloud is a 30-minute interview program that airs four times a week (Tuesday is BYU's devotional) at 11 am and 8 pm. It's just fun to listen to and a good way to keep your brain churning with ideas--especially all you writers out there. Check it out.

http://www.classical89.org/thinkingaloud/archive/

Procrastination

Yesterday was my turn to blog. I had been thinking about my subject for a week and found a great topic in a something sent to me on We, the People. I agreed with its tenets and made a couple of quick notes on thoughts it generated: We are intelligent enough to make our own decisions. We do not need the government to make them for us. Freedom of choice is one of our most cherished ideals in America. We believe that self-reliance and individual achievement are necessary to make our way in this world.

Then I received another e-mail from a former counselor when I was Relief Society president, so she had good reason to forward this particular column written by Janice Kapp Perry. (She knows me well.) I thought that would be the perfect subject since I think we all share some of those feelings.

Sister Perry told of writing "Do Not Run Faster" and experiences with that song. The first verse goes like this:
I thought that I could do it all
Complete each task, accept each call
I never felt my work was done
Until I had pleased everyone
I told myself I must be strong
Be there for all to lean upon
But in the end I came to see
That's more than God requires of me. He has said:

Do not run faster than you have strength
If you grow weary, what have you gained?
You will have wisdom and strength enough
If first you remember to fill your own cup. Comforting words of the Master: Do Not run faster than you have strength.

As I am vacillating between those subjects, I continue working on my to-do list, go visiting teaching, run errands, put groceries away, fix lunch for my husband. The blog deadline is weighing heavily upon my mind, but I received a special offer from Shutterfly for 30% off a photo book, buy one and get one 50% off. I'd never seen that great deal before. I ought to take advantage of it to make a book of our family reunion in Bear Lake and give one to my daughter. But I needed to download my pictures from a camera clip (hadn't done it yet since I needed some help from my daughter, Shelley, to undo what she had done to my picture file.)

My good husband said he would see if he would figure out how to put it back the way I had it, so we spent an hour working on it. Finally succeeded in tweaking it so I could put my pictures, Nikki's, and Glenn's sister's pictures in one file, then discovered the thumb drive on which I had copied Nikki and Nancy's pictures also contained over 3500 pictures from our China trip. How did that happen?

Computer expert that I am (NOT) I spent the next two hours working on separating the files and getting the pictures where I could work with them on Shutterfly. And suddenly it was 3:30 and time to fix dinner. (Our dinner hour is 4:00 as we are very early risers - my breakfast is at 6:00.) Now my day is gone. I accomplish very little after dinner because that is time with my husband. And I'm still burdened with the blog I haven't written - or even decided upon the subject.

I won't mention that I'm a couple of days behind on my journal, have a stack of requests for money (political, charitable, etc.) that is unbelievable, practice the songs for a baptism and the hymns for Sunday, and five other things on my to-do list that I REALLY needed to accomplish before the sun went down (which is way too early these days!)

As I lay in bed at 4:00 this morning, I thought how wonderful it would be to just stay there, snuggled under the blankets and go back to sleep. I could procrastinate doing the blog another couple of hours - since I hadn't made up my mind yet which worthy topic I should tackle. But I knew I'd be at least a week behind on my to-do list if I didn't get this done this morning before everything else crowded in. So I crawled out of bed reluctantly, did my scripture study, and as I turned to my desk to face the dreaded task, the word PROCRASTINATOR came to mind. That was it!

Elder Neal A. Maxwell called it one of the most cruel games one can play with yourself - the "not yet" game. He also said, "One can play upon the harp strings of hesitations and reservations just so long."

Don Marquis, an American poet and journalist in the early 1900's, said: "Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday." Oh, yes!

And finally, Proverbs tells us that "Procrastination is the thief of time."

I might also add that it is the thief of peace of mind. There. Now I am done and I can finish preparing my Laurel lesson for tomorrow and get to the rest of my list. How good it feels to not be procrastinating any longer!

Good People

I just returned from a trip to Logan, Utah, where I gave a book talk to a gathering of some fifty good women. I could tell they were good women by their smiles, sensible clothing, and gracious welcome. I'm always nervous prior to giving a book talk, (or any talk for that matter) so their kindness put me at ease. It was a night filled with laughter, tears, and astute questions.

When I was in college, (and I really hate to admit this) I liked to pal around with my peers in the theater department. They were cool and clever, and I felt cool and clever when I was with them. We were witty and outgoing, and we felt sorry for the Math and Science Nerds.

Then I fell in love with a Math Nerd. I found myself admiring his calm ways and his thoughtfulness. I felt better when I was around him. The banter and slick talk of the theater gang began to annoy me, and I relished the time spent with unassuming, good people.

Years after my husband and I were married, I came across this statement by Richard L. Evans, which accurately sums up my social transformation. I share it with you.

"Years ago I preferred clever people. There was a joy in beholding a mind bearing thoughts quickly translated into words, or ideas expressed in a new way. I find now my taste has changed. Verbal fireworks often bore me. They seem motivated by self-assertion and self-display. I now prefer another type of person; one who is considerate, understanding of others, careful not to break down another person's self-respect. My preferred person today is one who is always aware of the needs of others--their pain, fear, and unhappiness, and their search for self-respect. I once liked clever people. Now I like good people."

Amen.

Happy Fall For All

With a crazy work schedule today, my husband was sweet enough to write a blog for me. So, introducing my guest blogger for the day, my better half, Brad...

For many people, Fall is their most favorite time of the year. There are many great reasons for that. The weather begins to cool, the canyons are on fire with the changing colors of nature, of course there is the harvest, and for some, they look forward to the hunting season. My reasons for loving this time of year are far more simple, but in my opinion every bit as exciting.

Walter Camp is the one that can be blamed for this. He is the one that came up with the idea of a line of scrimmage, and the down and distance rule. Many others have made their contributions along the way, but Mr. Camp is widely considered the father of American Football. So I need to say thank you Walter for helping to make this time of year my favorite.

So what is it that makes this such a great time of the year for me? Football is a violent, almost gladiator like contest. It involves great preparation, strategy and execution. Those that participate at the highest levels are incredible athletes. I believe there is no other sport that requires more team effort than football. And while I enjoy these aspects of the sport, there are other things that are outside of the actual game that I also enjoy. What other sport do you show up for on game day 4 hours before the game starts? Not sure who the founder of tailgating was, but he is a genius. Hanging out with friends and family, throwing around a ball and just hanging out are a great part of the game. At least it is in my family. I have a son that doesn’t like sports all that much, but he rarely misses a game, because he knows it is important to me, and it is a chance for he and I to spend some time together. I appreciate that more then he will ever know.

Football has given me a chance to see several areas of the country as my brothers and I, along with our dad have had the good fortune to travel to many away games. That has been a great chance for us emotionally closed men to bond. I have to remember that because I love Saturday football games in the Fall, it isn’t for everyone. I should have never “surprised” Jeri with a trip to Rice/Eccles stadium and a game time bratwurst for her birthday one year. In my defense it was our first year of marriage and she didn’t have a chance to properly train me. However this year she got the same “birthday surprise”, what a great women to put up with me for 20 years with surprises like that! Jeri has also learned that there is more to the game then a bunch of over sized sweaty guys running into each other and hugging.

So by way of advice let me say a few things.
Season tickets to your favorite team is a great birthday gift, if you’re a guy.
Stadiums are the only place on earth where all the favorite “guy” food can be found in one place, that alone makes it a truly special place to be.
Spending $52 dollars for donuts for a weekend road game is totally reasonable.
We guys really do need a different team shirt for each day of the week.
Occasionally a foam finger, painted belly, or even a cheese head are acceptable fashion statements in the right setting.

Thanks for listening……Brad