Books by Mormons about Mormons for Readers Who Aren't Mormons

Most of the Mormon authors who've become household names in the national marketplace, like Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game), Brandon Mull (Fablehaven), Shannon Hale (The Goose Girl), and the queen in the realm of Mormon authors, Stephanie Meyers (Twilight)--to name a very, very few of the many amazing Mormon authors out there--write speculative fiction, fantasy and sic-fi. Jamie Ford (Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet) writes historical. They don't write books that feature Mormon characters trying live their Mormon lives. (Except Shannon Hale--and I'll get to her soon.)

And I understand why this is true. First, economics. But also, the nature of art is to bury the truth it's built on at its core. Katherine Paterson (who I actually got to meet a few months ago) says our faith and values should be the "bones and sinews" of fiction. I did that with Sing me to Sleep. Taken by Storm was another story.

I didn't realize how rare a faithful Mormon girl struggling through the pages of a YA novel published by a big six publisher was until I moved to Arizona and met Janette Rallison (My Fair Godmother) who writes contemporary YA rom-coms and now several fun and exciting fantasies.

At my first Changing Hands event, Janette grabbed my arm and said, "How did you get that published? My editors made me cut all the Mormon stuff."

If someone wants to write a book dissing Mormons--or exposing Mormons--or mocking Mormons, the marketplace grins and extends a fat paycheck, great reviews, and big awards. But a faithful Mormon girl? A realistic depiction? Complete with prayers, visions, and abstinence? Are you kidding?

There are also loads of Mormon authors who write LDS fiction for the LDS market. Why didn't I just stick with that? Why was I insane enough to think I could sell Leesie and Michael's story to a national audience?

(Truth is, I couldn't. Not until Stephanie Meyers and Twilight revolutionized the YA world. Thank you, Edward, for making abstinence hot.)

Year after year I came close to a deal. Time after time it all fell apart. Why didn't I give up? Write something else? I did write two more books. But I couldn't make myself shelve Taken by Storm. I kept revising and reinventing it.


I would love to ask Shannon Hale how she came to write The Actor and the Housewife. It is about a Mormon housewife who becomes best friends with a Hollywood actor. It's not a pretty, Newbury fantasy for kids. It's face-paced, even wittier than her Austenland books, and depicts a faithful Mormon woman's life as realistically as I tried to show Leesie's. I laughed and cried my eyes out. My guess is Shannon Hale wrote The Actor and the Housewife first, but couldn't get it published until her Newbury success with The Goose Girl. Awards yield readers. Readers yield power to publish! Hooray because this book is great. It's now on my favorites list. It's the only other book I've read that presents a faithful Mormon-heroine in a contemporary, honest setting. (If you know of others, please enlighten me in the comments!)

When I was a BYU student, I discovered Chaim Potok--specifically, My Name is Asher Lev. I loved how he brought us into the intimate struggle of a young Jewish artist. If Chaim Potok could bring the world remarkable Jewish young adults coming of age, why couldn't I attempt the same for a Mormon farm girl?

I didn't try--for over twenty years. And then Michael walked into my head, and he needed a Leesie.

Michael and Leesie's 10th Anniversary

I'm feeling nostalgic today. I have to archive all the material on my website and put together an all new site. I've used Apple's me.com and before that mac.com to host my website and with the advent of the free iCloud they've stopped hosting, so my old site is history! Aaaaaaah!

I'm keeping my same domain so you'll still be able to find me at www.angela-morrison.com. And I'm transferring and updating the content. I think the new site will be great, but my old site has so much material on it. (And always turns up first on Google searches for me!)

I launched it in 2008 and it hosts my ChatSpot blog, Storm's Story, liv2writ, and an appearances blog. It records my launch tours, first reviews, all my blog tours, and school visits. What to do? What to do? I've decided to rescue all things Michael and Leesie from the website and share it here in new posts and pages.

July will be ten years from the date when Michael first talked on my page during a free-write at Vermont College. I wrote the "Grandmother Poem" that became Leesie's heart and soul during that same residency. Plus, there are parts of the story I've never told, cut scenes I published on my liv2writ blog, and lots of great pictures to make into slideshows. I'm going to try to bring it all together here for you to celebrate Michael and Leesie's 10th anniversary. (I know you're saying, "How could they be 10? TAKEN BY STORM was just published three years ago." Stick around for the story and you'll find out!)

I'm also launching two new blogs, Angela Morrison's liv2writ (for writing tips, news, contests, sneak peaks at new books, and what I'm up to these days), and What's the Opposite of Chewbacca? a blog devoted to the opposite poems I write with kids when I visit their classrooms. Wish me luck! I don't multi-task well. The two new blogs are post-less as I write this. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!

And the Breaking Beautiful Winners are . . . !!!

I've finally drawn the winners for the Breaking Beautiful contest. Thanks for your patience. It's worth the wait--believe me. You'll love Jen's book. Thanks so much for entering and helping me spread the word about it. She's hard at work writing a second book that will come out fall 2013. I've got a June 1st deadline on my work in progress--that's why I'm so late with the contest results.

Okay, drum roll . . . .

The winners are:

Grand Prize - Breaking Beautiful goes to Jessica Asato!!

The Breaking Beautiful / Michael + Lessie swag packs go to Jennie Smith, Vivien, Stephanie, and Erin!

And the signed first edition hardcover of Taken by Storm goes to Annette!

So congratulations all! If I have your email, you should get a note soon asking for your address. If I don't have your email, please send me your address at angelamorrison at mac dot com!

Thanks again for entering. I wish I could send you all a copy! You all need to read it NOW!

Breaking Beautiful Contest!

Jennifer Shaw Wolf's debut YA novel, BREAKING BEAUTIFUL, releases next week! (Check out her gorgeous website!) Her trailer came out today! I'm so excited I'm running a contest to celebrate.

Jen is my sister-in-law. We love her to bits because she married our little brother (who took all the beautiful photos on her website and the photo Walker used for the cover)! I'm doubly thrilled because Jen's the first writer I mentored who landed an agent (actually, she had five agents fighting over her) and a book deal!

Jen is smart, prolific, and an incredible storyteller. She is the kindest person I know. Dave and Jen will do anything for you. Like, when TAKEN BY STORM came out, they drove across Washington State so Dave could take pictures for my trailer. And Jen (whose is a professional video-editor) made the trailer for SING ME TO SLEEP. Jen worked her school contacts for me and helped me set up visits for my launch tour for TAKEN BY STORM--and then they put me up, fed me and drove me around.

Watch this trailer and tell me you're not dying to read BREAKING BEAUTIFUL.

I knew it would be a hit from the first time I read the opening pages. I was so worried, concerned, scared--you name it--for Jen's heroine, Allie. Jen made me care from page one, so I got more and more afraid for Allie. And then angry--even indignant. You must read it and tell me if you felt the same. 

Now, please jump up and down, dance and play "Celebrate, Good Times," from KC and the Sunshine Band really loud. Let's raise a ruckus for BREAKING BEAUTIFUL! 

Here's the contest. 

Step 1) Post Jen's BREAKING BEAUTIFUL trailer or link to it on your blog, FaceBook, Twitter, Goodreads, or where ever you hang out in cyberspace.  Here's the link to copy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT4TPxhZ0Rw

and here's the embed code: <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/AT4TPxhZ0Rw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> 

Step 2) Tell me about it in a comment below. One entry per person to keep it simple. Fair enough? 

The contest runs from now until midnight (AZ time), May 12th!

Now for the prizes:

The grand prize is a beautiful hardcover of Jen's brand new book, BREAKING BEAUTIFUL (see the countdown widget in the sidebar)

4 runners up will receive BREAKING BEAUTIFUL meets MICHAEL and LEESIE swag packs

1 additional winner will receive a signed, first edition hardcover of TAKEN BY STORM (these are getting scarce!) 

Okay! Ready, set . . . post! 

Rock the Drop--Phoenix!

Tomorrow is Rock the Drop--Phoenix. I'm excited to be a part of it. I'll be talking about how I use brainstorming in my writing and leading a mass brainstorming session to create a fantastic new YA novel right there on the spot.

The event is free and features writing workshops from me, of course, and the always amazing Janette Rallison, a new and exciting YA author, Amy Dominy, Sandy Greene, Rhonda McCormack, the hilarious Angela Fox and her son, Zach, (also a writer), as well as our wonderful coordinator, Sarah Francis Fujimara.

It's at Gangplank in Chandler, 260 S. Arizona Avenue. The action starts at 1 p.m. Read all about it at the official Rock the Drop--Phoenix website. And like us on FaceBook. Watch the FaceBook page for pictures of our Rock the Droppers leaving their books in public places for readers to find.

This event is in connection with the national Rock the Drop sponsored by ReaderGirlz that will take place April 12th. Every year thousands of teens drop a gently-used YA book in a public place with an official ReaderGirlz Rock the Drop bookmark stuck inside. Great idea, isn't it?

Even if you don't live in the Phoenix area and can't attend the event, you can be part of Rock the Drop! In fact, you can Rock the Drop anywhere in the world.

I know you all care about literacy. This is something concrete we can do to make a difference. So get ready, set, rock!

I'm Back with Last Thailand Pictures!

I'm back! I'm back. I can't believe it's been a whole two months since I posted. I got deathly ill on the last leg of our flight home from Thailand.

It was kind of crazy. We visited Vietnam, traveled through the countryside there, and spent a week in Thailand eating at beach side restaurants and village cafes. No problem with my stomach. We flew back home via LAX. Overnighted at an airport hotel and flew home the next morning. It's just a short, 50 minute flight from LA home to Phoenix. I spent it barfing in the bathroom. Ick. The flight attendants kept telling me the seatbelt light was still on, but hey, no way they wanted me in my seat. I'd somehow contracted the nasty stomach virus that you heard about in the news. Remember those poor cruise ship passengers? I know exactly what they went through.

I was bedridden for a few days after we got home. I started feeling better, but was upside down with my sleeping. It took me weeks to shake the jet lag. Needless to say, I was behind in everything. As soon as I caught up, I had to take a quick trip up to my mother's in Idaho. I flew home with her and my nephew and hosted a houseful of family for my niece's wedding. Phew! The wedding was fairytale perfect and the bride and groom are honeymooning in Hawaii. My house guests have gone home, so here I am. Back at the blog.

I promised you a few last shots from Thailand. These were taken in a village between our resort and Khoa Lak. One of these restaurants could have been the bar where Michael hung out so he could get WiFi and chat with Leesie. It was so nostalgic to visit this area and imagine Michael there missing Leesie.

Here I am in front of a typical Thai streetscape.

This restaurant/bar is the most likely candidate for Michael's internet bar. 

We went to the local market in the village. This was the parking lot.

The market was teeming with locals and tourists bargain hunting.

Here I am in front of the restaurant where we ate. It was too nice to be Michael's bar. The food was delicious!

Another candidate for Michael's internet hotspot.

If I remember right, this is fresh coconut juice. Notice she sells it in a plastic bag. To drink, you stick a straw through the plastic and enjoy!

We saw all kinds of grilled meats at the market.

The interior of the lovely restaurant where we ate.

Similans Diving

Look, look, look! I got a picture of Honeymoon Bay in the Similan Islands where Suki sorely tempts Michael in UNBROKEN CONNECTION.

At first, I didn't think we'd get close enough to get a shot of it because our boat anchored around the backside of the island and then we were supposed to go on to another island for the second dive. But, to my surprise, the boat moved into a gorgeous spot called, "Hide-Away," off Islands #5 in the Similan chain--and I had this perfect view of Honeymoon Bay. I didn't actually get to put my toes in the sand and take closeups, but at least I got to see it. The bay is much smaller than I'd imagined. In fact, the whole chain is much smaller and closer together than I'd imagined. 

Okay, I'm getting way ahead of my tale. If you'll bear with me, I'll switch to travelogue again and take you along with me for the day through the photos I managed to snap between dives. 

The day started out climbing into the favorite mode of transportation in Khoa Lak--a small pickup truck with benches seats fitted up in back. All the local taxis are like this, too. It gets windy driving along and sometimes the exhaust fumes from the truck and the traffic are nauseating, so I wore my sea bands to keep from getting motion sick. Worked great.

This is the dock in Tap Lamu. It's still as icky as when I visited here before I wrote UNBROKEN CONNECTION. That time we didn't dive because it was off season. The big difference was people. Tons of people everywhere--heading to the boats, waiting for boats, getting in and out of vans and taxis. Mostly Europeans. This area is popular with Germans and has lots of service in German.

Here's the boat we spent the day on. We'd booked on a brand new, big speed boat that was supposed to get us out to the islands in just over and hour. They'd promised us lunch on the beach--Honeymoon Bay for sure. But they had mechanical problems, and we ended up on what divers call a big "cattle boat."

It took two and a half hours to cruise out to the Similans on this big boat. Even though it was a big, slow boat with forty people--many of them snorkelers--on it, it was organized well and the dive staff took pains to give us a good day of divers. The temperature out on the water was just perfect. Not too hot, but warm enough. Nice breeze. Flat seas. And the open air deck had enough shade and wasn't crowded. Turned out to be a great day after all.

First sight of the Similans. This was Island Number 8. There are nine islands. They are smaller and closer together than I thought.

Getting closer! We were eager to arrive and dive.

Look close. Through the window you can see the Thai captain and crew. I learned all the captains are Thai. I had Michael working on his captain's license--which he probably couldn't do here because it would all be in Thai! (Don't tell anyone, okay?)

This  is Island #4 where we dove!

Here I am after our first dive. I wish I had underwater pictures. It was beautiful. We pulled in close to this beach--Princess Bay--to pick up the snorkelers. Isn't the water gorgeous?

This is Hideaway Bay where we had lunch. It was so pretty. The water is so blue. The spots you see are coral formations on the ocean floor. The rocky shore in the back ground is Island #5. 

This tiny pile of boulders is Island #6. We dove around underwater boulders--very cool. 

Our boat's dingy. Can you imagine Michael, Claude, Suki et al zooming around in it?

This is full shot of Island #5. Yup, that's the entire island. There are no hotels or restaurants in the Similans. It's a national park. You can camp on the beach, but there are no facilities. 

I took about 130 pictures--lots of them of the water. It's kind of intoxicating to look at it.

Another shot of Island #4 and Honeymoon Bay. Islands 4, 5, and 6 are right close together.  The park closes down in May when the monsoon season starts and doesn't open again until November. January/February is the high season. Perfect escape for winter-weary Europeans. We dove with an older German gentlemen who spends three months every winter here. He and his wife rent a bungalow at a green resort in Khoa Lak. 

During the monsoon season, huge storms sweep down off the Indian Ocean and batter the Similans. They hit the backside of Island #4. The park is closed, but fishing boats sneak out here and ride out the storms protected in Honeymoon Bay. They fish when the seas are calm enough. It's not unusual for there to be 18-20 foot seas on the passage between Thailand's coast and the islands.

Close-up of the boulders on Island 5. The tropical jungle green is intense--so different from the desert back home.  One interesting facts I learned talking to one of the dive masters on the boat--a guy from South Africa who'd spent years in Thailand, is there are two million more women in Thailand than men. That's why it's so easy for all the Western men who come here to hook up with Thai girlfriends. 

As soon as we were out of the water from our second dive, the boat chugged off  back to Tap Lamu. The sun was setting by the time we arrived. They served us yummy banana pancakes and fruit as we went to get our blood sugar back up post-dive. We had time to chill and relax. 

Coming back into Tap Lamu. 

This is the fishing fleet harbored at Tap Lamu. Our guides told us there is very little controls on fishing in Thailand. Most of Asia is like that. It's a huge industry and very valuable to the local economy. Not good news for divers--or the fish.