Just Happy to Be Here

By Keith Fisher

I’ve been knee deep in the writer’s conference today and I need to post this tonight before I fall into bed. If you missed the conference today, I’m sorry for you. It was great! I attended a class about grammar and punctuation that left me self-conscious about my writing. I’m not sure if I should’ve used a comma up there or not. Okay let the chips fall where they may and since I won’t have to time to run it past the group for editing, the chips probably will fall. They’ll fall from the Internet and leak out of your computer screen, oozing onto the floor. Okay, maybe we’re not talking potato chips here.

I only have a few minutes so I’ll get right to the point. Rachel Ann Nunes, (pronounced noon-ish for those who are uninformed). Anyway she talked about the state of the LDS market. It was a good presentation and left us with hope that the market will be good but we have to work hard and learn the craft and keep writing.

At one point during her presentation, she compared our niche market with the national market and I asked the question: Why won’t national market publishers print LDS books? The answer was a good one, she said, because LDS fiction tends to try and convert.

I’ve got to agree with that, God’s stated purpose is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. If our need to write was given as a gift from God, then we should help to fulfill that purpose with that gift.

To be fair though, I think I can understand the fear of being converted. One of the things I would never do as a missionary was force someone to listen.

But I have another question and an observation: I hate to admit it, but I have been reading some of Dean Koontz’s books lately and I’ve noticed very strong overtones involving another church. He puts far more references to the other church in his books than the LDS references I put in my books. Other authors put less than I do. What’s the difference?

If we refer to the LDS church in our books, the moral family values are shown. Love of God and keeping the commandments are like innuendo. But it’s as it should be. As I said, If God is the source of our writing desires, then we can’t help express our love for him.

I am curious though, What would happen if one of us wrote a demons and monsters book with a character that is a worthy priesthood holder, who is not necessarily a Mormon missionary? In the story, the character would banish the demons and monsters and everyone would be happy in the end.

I said this would be short but I guess I was wrong. See you tomorrow at the conference.