LDS Bookseller's Convention

By Trina Boice


When my first LDS book was published, I received an invitation to do a book signing at the annual LDS Booksellers Association Convention in Sandy, Utah. I never even knew that such an event existed. I left feeling excited, rejuvinated and completely inspired.

The good news is that this year's convention starts tomorrow! It takes place August 3-7 at the South Towne Expo Center in Sandy, Utah from 9:00 am - 4:30 pm. The bad news is that it is only open to members of the LDS Booksellers Assocation and their guests. See what you can do to become a guest!

By the way, Cedar Fort has a terrific reputation for consistently having one of the best booths and is always decked out with impressive decor to coordinate with the theme for the year. This year's theme is "Discovering Treasures." As readers, we all know the thrill of finding a hidden treasure in a great book, whether it be a fun character, inspiring word choice, exciting adventure, or a new mind-expanding idea. Great theme. I wonder if there will be lots of pirates holding books, wandering around the convention hall this year?

I'm telling you, this event is fantastic! My friends call me a giggler...that is to say that I get all giggly and groupie when I meet famous people. It's embarrassing, really. The convention hall overflows with LDS "celebrities" you can meet and have sign their books, music CD's, artwork or DVD's. I brought my camera and made a real idiot out of myself....so much fun.

I love meeting people who have worked hard at improving their talents and who are doing amazing things. It energizes me and motivates me to try harder. Zig Ziglar said "Duty makes us do things well, but love makes us do them beautifully." You get the sense that all of these great musicians, artists and authors truly love the gospel and are trying to use their talents to build the kingdom. I love that.

It's also extremely invigorating to see the latest, greatest, and newest LDS merchandise to hit the market. I absolutely thrill to be around people who are creating, dreaming, and contributing something positive to the world.

To see the schedule of events and learn more about the LDS Booksellers Association, check out their web site at http://www.ldsba.com

Tasty Words

By Trina Boice

I haven't eaten a hot dog since I was a Freshman in high school. That's when I was required to read the book "The Jungle" by Upton Sinclair. The assignment was for my U.S. History class to supplement our study of the industrial revolution.

The morbidity of the working conditions at the turn-of-the-century mixed with the corruption taking place inside the meat packing factories were exposed by Sinclair and resulted in a public outrage that surprised even the author himself. Foreign sales of American meat fell by one-half. It was said that Sinclair bitterly admitted his celebrity rose "not because the public cared anything about the workers, but simply because the public did not want to eat tubercular beef."

Is the chemical aftertaste the reason why people eat hot dogs or is it some kind of bonus? Now, intellectually, I know that hot dogs have come a long way since then and are perfectly fine to eat, but emotionally, because I still remember those disgusting images that the author conjured up for me in my mind I just can't force myself to partake. That's good writing. His book played a crucial role in the creation of what became today's Food and Drug Administration. That's great writing.

Upton Sinclair's words were especially persuasive because he wrote with passion. He chose a topic that he felt strongly about and intended to arouse within the reader a call to action. When he began writing the novel, he was quoted as saying "Hello! I'm Upton Sinclair, and I'm here to write the Uncle Tom's Cabin of the Labor Movement!"

Sinclair's novel was finally published after five rejections, becoming an immediate bestseller. It has been in print ever since 1906. For those of you who are writing with great dreams of changing the world, just remember Upton Sinclair and the hot dog. Keep submitting your manuscripts and keep writing with passion!

May the BBQ of life only roast your hot dogs and never burn your buns.

A Taste of Purple Prose

By Cindy Beck




Now that you've read the title of this blog entry—

What? You didn't read the title? Well, I'll give you a minute ... go take a look again.

Okay, now that everyone's read it, I'll bet some of you are asking yourself, "What in the world is purple prose?"

According to Wikipedia, purple prose is ... a term of literary criticism used to describe passages, or sometimes entire literary works, written in prose so overly extravagant, ornate, or flowery as to break the flow and draw attention to itself. Purple prose is sensually evocative beyond the requirements of its context. It also refers to writing that employs certain rhetorical effects such as exaggerated sentiment or pathos in an attempt to manipulate a reader's response.

To put it a little more succinctly, it's prose that's overwritten and uses a lot of adjectives, adverbs, similes, metaphors, and run-on thoughts. Not enjoyable to read in a novel, but most certainly fun to read in a contest.

Recently, QueryTracker held a purple prose contest, and if you go here, you can read interesting facts, as well as examples of it.

When the contest winners were announced, I was excited to hear the winner was one of Cedar Fort's own authors, Rachelle Christensen. (Rachelle's book, Lost Children: Coping with Miscarriage will come out in 2010.)

For your enjoyment, here's Rachelle's entry:

When he heard about the empurpled contest on Query Tracker, the coils of dark, multitudinous hair which made up his eyebrows knit together in fury, like a spry grandmother’s knitting needles, clicking incessantly and rapidly, the sun’s rays illuminating them with a silver gleam, like the gleam of a young child’s brand new bicycle bedecked in all its glory with lemon-colored streamers and chiffon paint with stripes of lavender that shimmered like the violet hue of his eyes which were now thoughtful; the wrinkles around his wide, pupil-inhabited orbs seemed pensive as he considered how he might win Query Tracker’s contest and emerge a champion like a magnificent Olympic sports-star—but not like Greg Luganis because he hit his head—instead his own powerful kind of win—the kind to fill a man’s soul with joy to overflowing like a large bowl of Rocky Road ice cream with ostentatious helpings of steaming hot fudge, but not butterscotch because it would contrast with the rich hues of the chocolate which was so sweet as would be his joy when he won—like a bareback rider in the National Rodeo Finals hanging on for dear life to a fraying strap of yellowed rope—he imagined this with fervor, gripping the gleaming pen in his hand as he began to write.

You just have to laugh at such a long sentence that basically says ... well ... nothing. But, of course, that was the point in the contest. It's not, however, something we want to recreate in our writing.

If you'd like to read a few of the other QueryTracker entries—so that you know what not to do in your upcoming, best-selling novel—click here.


(Thanks to Rachelle Christensen for allowing me to post her winning entry.)

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