The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance

The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance
Author: Elna Baker
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 239
Release: 2009-10-15
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1101148772

"A wickedly funny debut. Baker is both self-absorbed and generous, whip-smart and naïve; she apologizes for none of it."—People It's lonely being a Mormon in New York City. Every year, Elna Baker attends the New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance. This year, her Queen Bee costume (which involves a funnel stinger stuck to her butt) isn't attracting the attention she'd anticipated. So once again, Elna finds herself alone, standing at the punch bowl, stocking up on Oreos, a virgin in a room full of thirty-year-old virgins doing the Funky Chicken. But loneliness is nothing compared to what Elna feels when she loses eighty pounds, finds herself suddenly beautiful... and in love with an atheist. Brazenly honest, The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance is Elna Baker's hilarious and heartfelt chronicle of her attempt to find love in a city full of strangers and see if she can steer clear of temptation and just get by on God.

Counterfeit Gods

Counterfeit Gods
Author: Timothy Keller
Publisher: Viking
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2009-10-20
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780525951360

New York Times bestselling author of The Prodigal Prophet and nationally renowned minister Timothy Keller exposes the error of making good things "ultimate" in this book, and shows readers a new path toward a hope that lasts. Success, true love, and the life you've always wanted. Many of us placed our faith in these things, believing they held the key to happiness, but with a sneaking suspicion they might not deliver. No wonder we feel lost, alone, disenchanted, and resentful. There is only one God who can wholly satisfy our cravings—and now is the perfect time to meet Him again, or for the first time. In Counterfeit Gods, Timothy Keller shows how a proper understanding of the Bible reveals the unvarnished truth about societal ideals and our own hearts. This powerful message cements Keller's reputation as a critical thinker and pastor, and comes at a crucial time—for both the faithful and the skeptical.

The Oxford Handbook of Mormonism

The Oxford Handbook of Mormonism
Author: Terryl Givens
Publisher: Oxford Handbooks
Total Pages: 681
Release: 2015
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0199778361

Mormon studies is one of the fastest-growing subfields in religious studies. For this volume, Terryl Givens and Philip Barlow, two leading scholars of Mormonism, have brought together 45 of the top scholars in the field to construct a collection of essays that offers a comprehensive overview of scholarship on Mormons. The book begins with a section on Mormon history, perhaps the most well-developed area of Mormon studies. Chapters in this section deal with questions ranging from how Mormon history is studied in the university to the role women have played throughout Mormon history. Other sections examine revelation and scripture, church structure and practice, theology, society, and culture. The final two sections look at Mormonism in a larger context. The authors examine Mormon expansion across the globe-focusing on Mormonism in Latin America, the Pacific, Europe, and Asia-in addition to the interaction between Mormonism and other social systems, such as law, politics, and other faiths. Bringing together an unprecedented body of scholarship in the field of Mormon studies,The Oxford Handbook of Mormonism will be an invaluable resource for those within the field, as well as for people studying the broader, ever-changing American religious landscape.

Latter-Gay Saints

Latter-Gay Saints
Author: Gerald S. Argetsinger
Publisher: Lethe Press
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2013
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1590212649

Latter-Gay Saints brings together twenty-five exemplary short works depicting a variety of perspectives of what it means to be both Mormon and queer. Some portray characters determined to reconcile their sexuality with the Mormon faith in accordance with its constantly evolving teachings and policies. The majority present the realities of queer Mormons who have come to terms with their sexuality in a variety of alternative ways. Others are written from outside the Mormon community, commenting on often strange encounters with Mormons who are gay. These stories are also of value for the broader GLBT community revealing similarities that people of faith, regardless of which faith, face in attempting to negotiate their religious heritage with their homosexuality. Some in the GLBT community find a way, while others do not, leaving their faith or having it ripped from them. They are all individuals searching for answers to life's puzzles.

You Should Really Write a Book

You Should Really Write a Book
Author: Regina Brooks
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2012-08-21
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0312609345

"The days are long gone when publishing professionals were willing to take on a manuscript simply because it's based on a "good idea" or even because it's well written. With eyes focused on the bottom line, agents and editors now look for skilled and creative authors who come with an established audience, too. You Should Really Write a Book is essential reading for those wanting to write commercially viable memoirs in today's vastly changed publishing industry. It is designed as a guide for writers, editors, and marketing professionals. Brooks and Richardson utilize the newest social networking, marketing and promotional trends and explain how to conceptualize and strategize campaigns that cause buzz, dramatically fueling word-of-mouth and boosting the chances of attracting attention in the publishing world and beyond. Created to give writers a competitive advantage, this handy and concise book focuses on six major memoir categories, explains what sells and why, and teaches writers to think like publishers"--Provided by publisher.

A Story That Matters

A Story That Matters
Author: Gina L. Carroll
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 154
Release: 2017-05-02
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 194300613X

No matter who you are, your story is a part of something big—the fabric of history and the human experience. Once written and shared, your story will change someone. And that someone is most likely you. A Story that Matters offers an accessible and simplified way to get your stories written. Each chapter is divided into three sections: the first discusses memoir writing in the context of themes—motherhood, childhood, relationships, professional life, and spiritual journey; the second provides basic writing and editing prescription, with a focus on common beginner mistakes and roadblocks; and the third provides a sample story related to the life theme discussed in the first section of the chapter. Chock full of writing and editing lessons that focus on how to get a first draft written and how to craft the draft into a compelling story, A Story That Matters explores our ability to help, heal, and connect to others through story, reminding us of the greater need for a broader array of authentic voices in the story-sharing universe.

Mormon Women Have Their Say

Mormon Women Have Their Say
Author: Sherrie L. M. Gavin
Publisher: Greg Kofford Books
Total Pages: 334
Release: 2013-03-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN:

The Claremont Women's Oral History Project has collected hundreds of interviews with Mormon women of various ages, experiences, and levels of activity. These interviews record the experiences of these women in their homes and family life, their church life, and their work life, in their roles as homemakers, students, missionaries, career women, single women, converts, and disaffected members. Their stories feed into and illuminate the broader narrative of LDS history and belief, filling in a large gap in Mormon history that has often neglected the lived experiences of women. This project preserves and perpetuates their voices and memories, allowing them to say share what has too often been left unspoken. The silent majority speaks in these records. This volume is the first to explore the riches of the collection in print. A group of young scholars and others have used the interviews to better understand what Mormonism means to these women and what women mean for Mormonism. They explore those interviews through the lenses of history, doctrine, mythology, feminist theory, personal experience, and current events to help us understand what these women have to say about their own faith and lives.

Long Story Short

Long Story Short
Author: Margot Leitman
Publisher: Sasquatch Books
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2015-10-13
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1632170280

A Moth storytelling champion shows you how to leave your audience spellbound in this bestselling, practical guide to powerful storytelling—through writing, public speaking, and more. Using a fun, irreverent, and infographic approach, Margot Leitman breaks storytelling into concrete components. Whether you want to write a great wedding toast, deliver a compelling keynote speech, or simply entertain friends and family, comedian and Moth 5-time champion storyeller Margot Leitman provides a clear and engaging roadmap to telling your own personal stories in this approachable storytelling guide. From content and structure to emotional impact and delivery, Leitman guides you through the entire storytelling process, providing personal anecdotes, relatable examples, and practical exercises along the way. Table of Contents Part 1: Getting Started Chapter 1. You Already Have Great Stories Chapter 2. Getting Past Fear Chapter 3. The Truth Chapter 4. The Universal Theme Chapter 5. The Thesis-Based Story Part 2: Elements of a Story Chapter 6. Passion Chapter 7. Layering a Story Chapter 8. Perspective Chapter 9. Character Chapter 10. Rooting for the Storyteller Chapter 11. The Full Circle Chapter 12. Someone Else’s Story Chapter 13. The Unexpected Chapter 14. The Benign Part 3: The Performance and Beyond Chapter 15. How to Memorize & Vocalize a Story Chapter 16. The Business of Storytelling "This book is essential—a reminder that the world would be a better place if everyone knew how to tell a good story." —Diana Spechler, author and seven-time Moth StorySLAM winner

Latter-day Screens

Latter-day Screens
Author: Brenda R. Weber
Publisher: Duke University Press
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2019-09-13
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1478005297

From Sister Wives and Big Love to The Book of Mormon on Broadway, Mormons and Mormonism are pervasive throughout American popular media. In Latter-day Screens, Brenda R. Weber argues that mediated Mormonism contests and reconfigures collective notions of gender, sexuality, race, spirituality, capitalism, justice, and individualism. Focusing on Mormonism as both a meme and an analytic, Weber analyzes a wide range of contemporary media produced by those within and those outside of the mainstream and fundamentalist Mormon churches, from reality television to feature films, from blogs to YouTube videos, and from novels to memoirs by people who struggle to find agency and personhood in the shadow of the church's teachings. The broad archive of mediated Mormonism contains socially conservative values, often expressed through neoliberal strategies tied to egalitarianism, meritocracy, and self-actualization, but it also offers a passionate voice of contrast on behalf of plurality and inclusion. In this, mediated Mormonism and the conversations on social justice that it fosters create the pathway toward an inclusive, feminist-friendly, and queer-positive future for a broader culture that uses Mormonism as a gauge to calibrate its own values.

Mormons and Popular Culture

Mormons and Popular Culture
Author: J. Michael Hunter
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 885
Release: 2012-12-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

Many people are unaware of how influential Mormons have been on American popular culture. This book parts the curtain and looks behind the scenes at the little-known but important influence Mormons have had on popular culture in the United States and beyond. Mormons and Popular Culture: The Global Influence of an American Phenomenon provides an unprecedented, comprehensive treatment of Mormons and popular culture. Authored by a Mormon studies librarian and author of numerous writings regarding Mormon folklore, culture, and history, this book provides students, scholars, and interested readers with an introduction and wide-ranging overview of the topic that can serve as a key reference book on the topic. The work contains fascinating coverage on the most influential Mormon actors, musicians, fashion designers, writers, artists, media personalities, and athletes. Some topics—such as the Mormon influence at Disney, and how Mormon inventors have assisted in transforming American popular culture through the inventions of television, stereophonic sound, video games, and computer-generated animation—represent largely unknown information. The broad overview of Mormons and American popular culture offered can be used as a launching pad for further investigation; researchers will find the references within the book's well-documented chapters helpful.