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While taking my third daughter to school recently, she said to me, “Ug. I have a test in Language Arts today. We have to read poems and then try to guess what the poet meant. I hate that. What if I like the poem for a different reason than the poet intended?��
When she said this, I wanted to cheer. Does that sound like a strange reaction to you? Let me explain.
As I’ve studied literature, I’ve discovered that there are two basic schools of thought.
First, there are those who are convinced that the only way to truly appreciate a poem or story or work of art of any kind is to learn about the person who created it, there social-economic conditions, their political views, what they had for breakfast, their favorite day of the week, and which toe on their left foot they find most adorable.
Second, there are those who experience art (by reading, listening, viewing, or a combination of any of the senses) and then determine for themselves whether or not they like it. Often, the reason someone likes or doesn’t like something is based on their personal experiences at the moment they experience the art.
I’m firmly in the second camp.
Here’s an example of why: A person can play for me a rap song that is widely acknowledged as being influential and even revolutionary. I can learn about the rapper and what drove him to create the work. I can study how this particular song impacted not only other rappers, but also people of a certain culture. I’m pretty darn sure at the end of all of this, I’m still not going to like the song. I don’t like rap music. Period.
Okay, still not convinced? How about a true example. I read the book 1984 by George Orwell. It’s considered a classic. It is studied in schools. Papers have been written about the book’s importance. From an intellectual and academic point of view, I recognize how 1984 is significant in the history of literature. But, I didn’t like it.


Keep in mind that I noted that whether or not a person likes something can be influenced by their personal experiences. And guess what? People gain more experiences as they get older.
What this means to me is that there are things I loved when I was younger that I don’t like now and vice-versa.
The most evident of these is music. There were certain songs I hated in the 1980’s, but now when I hear them, I find that I like them. Maybe it’s nostalgia. Maybe it’s maturity. Maybe I’ve finally gotten enough experiences to appreciate music I didn’t like before.

In the end, I told my daughter, “In real life, you don’t win a prize if you can guess what a person meant when they created art. If you connect with it on an emotional, spiritual, or even an intellectual level, and it means something to you, then who cares what the person meant?”��

I have a creative mind. I’ve grown to understand that fact and embrace it as I’ve gotten older. Perhaps the word “curse�� is wrong. Maybe I should use “blessing”—but then “The Creative Blessing�� doesn’t sound as cool.
For whatever reason, as I live and observe the world around me, ideas pop into my head. Often they are “Why are things this way?�� or “What if…�� To that end, my mind seems to dwell on these thoughts to the point where I’m driven to do something to express this creativity.
Here’s an example from last night: I was sitting on the couch with my daughter Emily. We were doing something called Family Home Evening. It’s a time on Monday nights when we get together as a family and do various activities. On the couch next to me was a stuffed animal known in our household as “Bear Bear.�� (It’s a name my youngest daughter Stephanie gave him.)
I was goofing around with Bear Bear, pretending he was peeking at Emily from behind different things like pillows and her leg and shoulder. Then the idea came to me: What if Bear Bear were to slowly come out from behind a hiding place to the theme of 2001: A Space Odyssey?
So, after Family Home Evening was done, with the help from Emily and Stephanie, we recorded some video of Bear Bear doing just that. I added the music later. When I uploaded it to YouTube, I realized the video was turned on its side, but I don’t have the software to change that. And for some reason, I liked it better this way.
In the end, this was the result:

I think it’s funny. I don’t know why, but I just do.
Of course, most of the time, flex my creative muscles by writing books and story stories. Yet every once in a while, I’ll create weird graphics or images that I find funny, even if no one else does.
Here’s an example:

I am severely allergic to cats. I don’t like them. Thankfully, neither does my wife. To that end, I decided to have a little fun at their expense. I came up with the idea of “Cat is not amused.�� It’s a serious of jokes told from Dog to Cat in a tormenting sort of way. (Note! I do not condone cruelty to animals! Not even cats!)
Here’s an example of one of these “Cat is not amused�� jokes:


To see all of them, .
Some people would say I’m wasting my time in doing this. To that I answer, “Yeah? Try living in my head for a while and then tell me that.��

Which of my 2013 blogs were the most popular based on number of times people accessed them? I’m always surprised to find out which ones they are.
Like I’ve done in the past, I’m going to count down the top 5, based on page views. At the end, I’ll share which ones were my favorite.
I haven’t written as many personal blogs this year for a few reasons. First, I released three books in 2013. Second, I’m blogging for Ronaldo Designer Jewelry which uses up some of my blogging time. Third, I’m working on a little something called my Master’s Degree in Creative Writing.
However I did write quite a few blogs. And people still read them. In fact, my blog has had over 140,000 hits since I started it.
Anyway, here are the top 5: (You can click on the name to read the blog.)


A blog about how many stories “borrow�� ideas from other sources.


Yes, one of my books was banned from Facebook. Can you guess which one?


A little story about what happens when you are rude to a teacher (or so I would have the students believe.)


One of my teachers wanted me to write a short story out of my comfort zone. This was the result.


To be honest, I’m not sure why this one was so popular. Perhaps because I introduced people to something they had been living without.
And now for my favorite(s):
I couldn’t pick only one, so here are my personal favorites that didn’t make the list in no particular order:

����
A video / audio comparison of several songs and those that sound a lot like the original.


Because people who insist on using hyphenated last names have started down a path that could get quite interesting.


My response when the name of the new high school in the area was revealed to be “Apex Friendship High School.��

The question was recently raised by a fellow author who asked people’s opinions on using swearing in stories. Here is my reply:
Swearing. Yeah. Well, I think for me it boils down to two things:
      Who is your intended audience?      Are you personally comfortable with using the word?
In my five novels, I’ve used swear words, let me double check, ok yeah �� never. At the same time, I don’t shy away from some pretty gritty stuff, especially in Wall of Faith.
I’ve had writers tell me that unless swear words are used, the story won’t feel real. Meaning that swearing is part of life and so it should be included in books. I counter the argument that there are a lot of things in real life which aren’t generally included, like going to the bathroom, yet how often are they included in books where they aren’t a significant part of the story?
I write for an audience that is LDS friendly, meaning I believe anyone can read and enjoy my books if they are LDS or not. I choose not to use swearing because I’ve found I can write compelling stories and characters without using those words.
When I refer to swearing, I mean the main ones that the general public consider a swear word. There are also words that are crass, but are considered swear words by some people. (Examples: piss, crap, suck.) In general, I shy away from the crass words as well.
Lastly, and I’ve mentioned this before in other posts, this topic was discussed at length in one of my Master’s classes. (I’m almost done with my MFA in Creative Writing.) The consensus of the students and the teacher is that swearing is generally to be used sparingly, if at all. Once or twice here and there is like a punch to the gut. Too many uses desensitizes people to the words. My teacher went as far as to call using swear words as “lazy writing.��

So, I personally don’t use swearing and I’ve had many more readers thank me than people complain about the lack of swearing in my stories.

I don’t think there is a word or phrase for something I celebrated recently. For lack of a better term, I’m coining the phrase, “Marriage Midpoint.��
What does that even mean?
Well, December 6, 2013 marks the day that I’ve been married to my wife as long as I hadn’t been married to her. Stating it another way, I got married when I was 22 years, 1 month and 25 days old. As of December 6th, I’ve been married for 22 years, 1 month and 25 days.
It’s kind of freaky to think that I’ve spent as much time being married as not being married. My childhood seems to have lasted a long time, yet the years I’ve been married have flown by.
My wife has a theory about this. When you are four years old, a year is 25% of your life—therefore a year is a long time. When you are 40 years old, a year is only 2.5% of your life, so it can seem like a shorter period of time.
Certainly my wife and I have lasted longer than the average marriage in America. That hasn’t been by chance.
Yes, my wife and I have a lot in common, but there are a lot of things which we see differently. Often those differences have helped each of us to grow.
When we got married, my parents-in-law wrote one big word in our wedding card: “COMMUNICATE!�� And it was great advice. Over the years, we’ve learned that some forms of communication work better than others.
One that is especially effective is the use of “I�� statements as opposed to “You�� statements. For example, it is better to say, “I felt frustrated when you kept changing your mind about where you wanted to go for dinner�� than to say, “You are so frustrating and indecisive!��
Another thing we’ve learned to do which helps our relationship is to allow the other person to take the lead on something they feel strongly about.
Let me explain.
Say that my wife wants to paint the kitchen. She has some colors in mind, and asks for my opinion. She is the one that uses the kitchen more than I do, so as I look at the colors she’s picked out and I share which ones I like or don’t like as much, I keep in mind that basically unless it is something that really bothers me (like neon pink) I’m going to let her take the lead and go with what she likes. It doesn’t mean that I don’t care. In fact, it can mean the opposite: it means that I care enough to support her on her decision.
The point? Couples don’t have to agree 100% on every little detail.
Lastly, the power of positive comments and selfless acts go a long way. I’m constantly telling my wife how beautiful she is. She’s constantly telling me that she loves me. In fact, whenever we leave to go our separate directions, we always tell each other, “I love you! Have a good day!��

Some people may think that saying “I love you�� so much will make it lose its power and impact. However, after more than 22 years, I can honestly say that the opposite is true.  

I cringe when I see a ��10 day forecast�� on any sort of weather channel or website. Why? Well, the fact is that no one can accurately predict the weather 10 days from now. The key word is “accurately.��
Oh, weather forecasters can get close, sometimes, but often it is a guessing game on trends from the past and what might happen based on current conditions.
I worked for many years in the TV news business. I had the chance to get to know several meteorologists. By and large, they were really good folks who honestly wanted to help people.
One day, I asked one of them the following question, “Just how sure are you that it is going to rain two days from now?��
His response? He said, “Honestly, we have about a 50% chance of getting tomorrow’s weather right. Each day after that, our chance of being right is cut in half. There are just too many variables that can impact the weather.��
When he first told me this, I was a bit shocked. Before then, I really believed it when I was told it was going to rain seven days from now.
I was thinking about this subject recently and decided to do a little experiment. I went to the National Weather Service website and tracked their predictions for a certain day over the course of a week.
I was surprised how close they got, but even then, there were a number of changes.
The day in question was Wednesday, November 27, 2013. I started tracking the forecast when it first showed up on the National Weather Service’s 7 day forecast.
During those seven days, here are the differences between the forecasts:
The high temperature varied from a high of 38 to a high of 49.
The chance of rain varied from 50% to 90%.
The amount of rain varied from a “trace�� to half-an-inch.
The winds varied from 7 mph to 32 mph.
The time the showers were “mainly�� supposed to happen varied from 10 AM to 4 PM.

To be fair, they did get one thing right: There was 100% chance of weather.

I’ve done several blogs about how misdirected the focus on
customer service has become in America.





Don’t misunderstand me: I think good customer service is in
line with the golden rule. You remember that one? “Do unto others as you would
have them do to you.�� The world would be such a better place if everyone
treated everyone else nicely.




Today my wife and I were at a store. As she was looking at
different items, I sat down. On the table next to me was the following picture:














(If you look close you can see a reflection of me taking the
picture.)




There are 7 different rating scales, yet numbers 1-5 all
have a frowny face—the same one. 6 and 7? Smiley faces—the same one.




I know enough about how these customer service scores work
to know that this means anything 5 or lower is considered “bad.�� 6 or 7 is “good.��
So, are there really 7 different levels of service, or just 2?




Maybe I don’t understand how numbers work. I thought 1 was
different than 2. And 2 was different than 3. And so on and so on.




I shouldn’t be surprised when I come across something like
this, but I am. Maybe the optimist in me hopes that one day someone will
realize just how stupid this is.




Or perhaps, the people who invented this way to measure an
employee’s performance are the descendants of the people who created this ad
back in the day:












This is a real ad. Here’s what the text says:




“For a better start in life start Cola earlier!




How soon is too soon? Not soon enough. Laboratory tests over
the last few years have proven that babies who start drinking soda during that
early formative period have a much higher chance of gaining acceptance and
“fitting in�� during those awkward pre-teen and teen years. So, do yourself a
favor. Do your child a favor. Start them on a strict regimen of sodas and other
sugary carbonated beverages right now, for a lifetime of guaranteed happiness.






Brought to you by The Soda Pop Board of America.��

One of my favorite parts about Christmastime is the messages of hope and peace, of giving and helping others, and of the traditions that come with the season.
I’m pleased to share with you a special book. It’s called Carol of the Tales. The idea behind it is rather brilliant, and I can say that because I didn’t come up with the idea. (winks) Michael Young is the man behind this project, and I’m happy to play even a small part in it.
So what is it? It’s a book of short Christmas stories—each one based on a Christmas song. Cool, right? And to add to the coolness, there are 25 stories—one for each day in December up until Christmas day.
If all this wasn’t great enough, all proceeds of the book go to the charity group ��.��
I was blessed to be able to contribute a story to this anthology. I wrote it during the holiday season last year while the spirit of Christmas was burning brightly inside me. My story is called “With Bells On.�� It is tied to not only the song “Jingle Bells,�� but also to the saying, “I’ll be there with bells on.��
If you would like an autographed copy, well, at least with my autograph, go to my main webpage, click on the “contact�� link in the top right hand corner, and send me an email. I’ll randomly select two winners. (You can get to my website by .)
For more information on the project, click .
To order a print copy, you can .
To order a copy for Kindle, please .

And Merry Christmas everyone!

Six cents.




That was the amount of the check. Zero dollars and six
cents.




I looked over the check again to make sure it was the correct
amount. And it was. It was from some financial institution that had apparently
messed up on money they owed me, and this was the difference.




Don’t believe me: here’s a copy of the check (with vital
information blacked out):












Think about it: the cost of a stamp is 46 cents. Other costs
include the paper the check is printed upon, the cost to print the check, the
cost to figure out I was owed six cents and to process that information.




I was going to throw it away, but I had a couple of other
checks I needed to deposit, so I thought, “Why not?��




And then I ran into another issue. When I went to deposit
the check using the ATM, it wouldn’t let me deposit the check for six cents.
Why not? Well, I could call my bank and find out, but I had already wasted
enough time on the six cent check.




If I were to guess, it would be because the ATM doesn’t
accept checks that are less than a dollar—and I don’t blame the bank for doing
that.






After all, who would be stupid enough to cut a check for
less than a dollar, right?

I received an email a few days ago by a man named Mark
Oppenheimer. The subject read, “NY Times interview?�� Of course this made me
curious, and somewhat hesitant. Was this for real? I tend to be guarded when
someone claims to be a representative of something big like the New York Times.




His email asked me if I’d be willing to answer some
questions about Mormon writers. I cautiously sent a reply stating I’d be
willing to answer any questions the best I could.




His follow up question was simple enough: He asked if I had “any
thoughts on why so many LDS writers seem to gravitate toward genre fiction --
sci-fi, fantasy, young adult?��




I gave it some thought and elected to send an email instead
of talking over the phone with him—part of that was also for security concerns.
I had googled the name “Mark Oppenheimer�� and he seemed legit, but still,
someone could be faking it.




Here is how I responded to his question:




“M������,




You pose an interesting question, and one I have wondered
about myself. I have come to a few conclusions based on my personal experiences
as well as those shared with me by my peers.




I think that there is a distinction: writers who are LDS and
LDS writers.




There is no shortage of non-fiction books written by members
of the LDS faith, as can be seen when scanning through the inventory of Deseret
Book—the primary retailer for LDS books. These people I would classify as “LDS
�ɰ����ٱ����.��




It is the second group, writers who are LDS that, as you
say, “gravitate toward genre fiction -- sci-fi, fantasy, young adult.��




I believe that most people of the LDS faith are taught at a
young age that there is a difference between the imaginary world of fantasy and
science fiction, and the unseen, but considered true, aspects of religion—like
the Gift of the Holy Ghost.




In general, LDS families celebrate Christmas with the notion
of Santa Claus bringing presents. They celebrate Easter with the Easter Bunny.
The Tooth Fairy makes visits to children who have lost their teeth and placed
them under their pillow. Children dress up for Halloween and go
trick-or-treating.




With the idea that LDS people see fictional elements as
separate, and not in conflict with, spiritual matters, sci-fi and fantasy are
tools to share a message.




When Jesus Christ taught, he often used parables. These
relatable stories taught a message. People were interested in the story itself,
and therefore would listen to it and then contemplate it. Many writers who are
LDS feel the same way. They use fantastical elements to help relay a bigger
message—a message they as storytellers want to share.




I believe that most writers who are LDS are by default
labeled as “young adult�� writers because graphic sex scenes, graphic violence
and swearing are omitted from their writing—even if the material is for a more
mature audience. That is true of my first four books—books that I wouldn’t
classify as YA, per se, but they are lumped into that group because they
exclude elements that would make a movie rated “R.��




Even among writers who are LDS, there are factions. Some
writers use different pen names for books that might be considered “too
worldly�� for the LDS market. Yet they will use their own names when writing
books that are “LDS friendly.��




In short, many writers who are LDS that write YA, sci-fi and
fantasy do so because they understand that fantastical elements are a way to
tell a story, and in doing so, it is make believe and not an opposition to
their religious beliefs.




Let me know if you have any other questions.��




To my surprise, and delight, not only was this interview
really with the NT Times, but I was also quoted in the story.




Here is the link:











So, there you have it. I’ve now been quoted in the NY Times.