Six for 2026

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I'm sitting here eating Trader Joe's Sugared Hearts Rice Crackers (better than anticipated) uncertain how to introduce this collection of books, so I guess I just won't I have other thing to do and if you're here, it's probably because you already like books. I'm with you.

015) The Path and the Gate: Mormon Short Fiction edited by Andrew Hall and Robert Raleigh, finished March 15

It took me a long time to read this, which is typical of shortstory collections, even ones I'm in, even ones filled with my friends, even ones I'm very excited about. This is all three.

And now I'm nervous to talk about it because of course I remember some well and others not well and I'm deeply unsure how much I can trust any of the things left to say!

Ugh. I'm the worst.

Anyway, I do feel confident calling the collection worthy of your time and money. It'll be the standard for at least another 15 years so you still have time to be hip. But: dally not. 

over two years 

☞

016) Hyperion by Dan Simmons, finished March 19

I think I liked the book more this second read. My complaints from the first goround are still valid, but they just don't bother me as much. The book's strengths carry the weight. Although knowing ahead of time that the book ends before the characters reach their goal probably eases the frustration.

Perhaps I would like the second book better as well.

I've since recommended these two to my son who has read them many times and has all four volumes. I really want to go on and read all four, but I'm not sure I will. After all, he suggests there are diminishing returns. And, the reason I reread Hyperion now is because he suggested it to our shared book group. And coming up soon is Moby Dick so it's not like I've got lots of time for three five-hundred paged books. I thought I was going to read some classics casually this year!

Anyway, if you don't recall, Hyperion is basically Canturbury Tales. These distant-future pilgrims are headed to the planet Hyperion to ask questions of its godlike resident the Shrike (who looks nothing like what's on the cover of the book; someone really needs to come out with classier covers for this near-classic scifi series. I would probably buy them for my son.) On route, they each (save one pilgrim who goes missing) tell their story explaining why they suppose they were chosen for this, the final Shrike pilgramage. Each of these six stories is about novella length and is told in a different fashion. They are the volume's greatest strenght, though I would not call them all equally successful. Or, perhaps, it would be better to say that they are not all successful in the same ways.

A couple sentences on each (the bit before each title is a descriptor added by Wikipedia):

The Priest's Tale: "The Man Who Cried God"

Of course one needs to be diaries and/or letters and frankly I'm glad it was first, get it out of the way rather than waiting for it to drop. This has a truly fascinating and horrifying alien concept. Best comparison: if Speaker for the Dead had never stopped being a horror tale.

The Soldier's Tale: "The War Lovers"

Never have sex and violence been more fully entwined. Maybe it's been matched, but ne'er exceeded.

The Poet's Tale: "Hyperion Cantos"

The most annoying character gets to be annoying about his writing. It's kind of perfect for a book so concerned with the literary arts to make the most literate character such a bastard.

The Scholar's Tale: "The River Lethe's Taste Is Bitter"

This is my favorite of the six. It starts with the mundane lives of two people who love each other and the most bizarre event imaginable—the backwards aging of their child—complicates their everything. A moving metaphor for many things, dementia perhaps the most obvious.

The Detective's Tale: "The Long Good-Bye"

I just picked up a copy of The Long Goodbye! We got a lady space detective and it's delightfully noirish and scifiïsh and it's exciting and it's just great.

The Consul's Tale: "Remembering Siri" 

Two in one this time. The initial story I like best—imagine being married to someone, only one of you stays on the planet and the other travels around near the speed of life. When you die of old age, your other is only four years older. The most important relationship of your life and you only spent a hundred-some days together. Over four years. Or, perhaps, over seventy. Heartbreaking. The second half is a small story of politics and betrayal that sets us up for the final act.

But the final act never comes. I love the smart worldbuilding and the interesting characters and their compelling journeys and reasons to risk their lives approaching a god made of blades, but, just as each of their stories ended on a cliffhanger, on the cusp of approaching the Shrike, so does the novel.

So...am I gonna actually read the other three books?

I honestly do not know. 

probably a bit over a month 

☞

017) The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins, finished March 21

If you're a Jane Eyre fan, it won't take you long to recognize that this is a spin on that classic. I mean—the title gave it away, which is why I picked this book up in the first place. And you get the sense Hawkins likes Jane Eyre and enjoys playing with the source material. For instance, the main character's name is Jane (as in Jane Eyre) Bell (as in Currer Bell) but no, actually, her name is Helen Burns (as in Helen Burns) only when her best friend Jane Bell died of illness (ala Helen Burns) she stole her name.

I didn't like the book in the opening pages but then the first twist happened and I really liked it then it went on for a lonnnng time and I was getting bored and then there were a bevy of twists all of which I liked and then it ended.

It's funny though. I was a trifly surprised that the author had failed to notice an alternate explanation of her mystery which is to say I was surprised none of the characters had considered that possibility, but each time I felt that way, it ended up being the truth of the matter. I'm not sure if this is what mystery readers enjoy or not. Is it?

Anyway, it played with one of my favorite novels in fun and interesting ways but I honestly don't know if I'll remember having read it a year from now. 

three or four months

☞

018) Visitations by Corey Egbert, finished March 23

I became aware of Corey Egbert almost two years ago, four months before Visitations came out. I spent a year trying to talk my library into buying it (so strange they did not considering the size of their YA comics collection) before just finally buying my own copy (maybe because of this?) which I've now had for months and months. Glad I finally picked it up as it is excellent.

And it makes me think about myself at the same age. His mother went insane. My father went insane. Our stories don't have much else in common (I'm about fifteen years older but also Mormon), but I know the places he talks about (Northern California and Utah and nowhere Nevada) and the whole thing feels like a near miss. His anxieties and doubts and worries are deeply familiar. 

I'm glad he laid all this bare. It was a rough journey but a worthy one.

If I wanted to get more nitpicky I might talk about the third act being less well placed or make some petty complaints about Utah culture, but whatever. The fact is Visitations is a very good book. Thought-provoking and lovely and easy to recommend.

two days 

☞

019–021) After the Blast by Zoe Kazan, finished March 25

It's been a year and a half since I selected After the Blast to be the play I read in class while students are broken into groups reading different novels out of class. So how did it do? Did I select well?

Well.

First, it did not engender great amounts of discussion between scenes, which I was surprised by. Students suggested this is because they understood it and since they didn't need to ask what stuff meant, there was nothing to talk about.

At first, I totally rejected that premise, but I've been thinking about it in the six days since we wrapped up reading and I wonder know if they're onto something. Let's say a piece of literature has three levels of understanding. First is surface. Easy to do with After the Blast. It's a straightforward work in plain English and simple to follow. Third is deeper understanding where you have smart things to say about the book.

Here's what I'm wondering: If level one is too accessible, is there a path to level three? Perhaps the usual path to level three is a failure to reach level one on your own. Discussing level one as a class leads to connection making that might not otherwise occur. Perhaps those connects are level two. If we skip level to because level one came to easy, what path is there to level three?

I'll be interested to see how their essays turn out. 

two days 

☞

022) Accidental Devotions by Kelli Russell Agodon, finished March 30

Loved this collection of poetry. Loved it. As the title suggests, there are many happened-into prayer-like moments, and that angle of attention was a pleasure to read. But also, naturally, her language. What is poetry without language.

Looking around online for a couple of my favorites I find this one and this one but most of them don't seem available. I wish I could point you to more.

Which I guess I have? Click that link to buy the book, after all.

(And, as it doesn't come out till mid-May, it's not too late to be the first on your block with a copy!) 

probably a couple months but maybe more 

☞

previous books

The first five books of 2026

001) Red Harvest by Dachielle Hammett, finished January 3
002) Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, finished January 14
003) Snoopy's Guide to the Writing Life edited by Barnaby Conrad and Monte Schulz, finished January 16
004) You Are Too Much, Charlie Brown by Charles M. Schulz, finished January 19
005) Ice by Anna Kavan, finished January 24

Emotion-of-your-choice Valentine's Day!

006) Midville High: Comic Caper Collection by Matt Blair, finished February 5
007) Guarding the Moon: A Mother's First Year by Francesca Lia Block, finished February 10
008) The Sellout by Paul Beatty, finished February 13 

I don't know much about hats Kafka wore
Or if Bottom's dream sunk in the sea
But I know that George Lucas made a fine film
And that The Shining just isn't for me

009) Where Hats Go by Kurt Wolfgang, finished February 20
010) Kafka's Manuscript, finished February 27
011) Lucas Wars by Laurent Hopman and Renaud Roshe, finished February 28
012–014) A Midsummer's Night Dream by William Shakespeare, finished March 9

 

Palm Sunday Programa recyclable svithe

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I was asked to write the program for our Palm Sunday program today. This is not the final draft (I had inadvertenty left out an strings version of “I Believe in Christ” and was apparently way too long) but I think it’s my favorite version.

I’ve included the music, but these are obviously not recordings from today; they’re not even the identical arrangements. But they’ll do.

====================

BISHOPRIC:

The sacrament is our weekly reminder of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, of his atoning sacrifice and our salvation. today is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, which closes with these great crises and conclusions. VOICE-ONE and VOICE-TWO will now guide us through the remainder of our program.

VOICE-ONE:

We come here each week to remember. We come here and someone we love kneels upon the ground and prays:

O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it; that we may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that we are willing to take upon ourselves the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he has given us, that we may always have his Spirit to be with us.

And we do partake of that bread. And we do remember him. And we do accept his Spirit to be with us.

And then someone kneels to pray:

O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee, in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this water to the souls of all those who drink of it, that we may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for us; that we may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that we do always remember him, that we may have his Spirit to be with us.

And we drink of that water. And we do remember him. And we do accept his Spirit to be with us.

And this is something we have done, more or less with all our soul, more or less every week, more or less correctly, both as individuals and as Christians together, since he ascended into heaven.

No doubt, on that occasion, Jesus reminded his disciples of what he had taught them before:

The Father shall give you another Comforter to abide with you, forever, even the Spirit of truth. You know him—for he dwells with you.

And when I am gone, you shall know that I am in my Father—and that you are in me—and I am in you. I tell you the truth. I must go away—for you—because if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come unto you. But when I depart, I will send him unto you.

Let’s travel backward, from the Spirit abiding with us today, to the ascension of Jesus and his message to his disciples as he left them with each other and with the Spirit.

Listen.

Listen as the choir sings:

If ye love me, keep my commandments,
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter,
That he may bide with you for ever,
Even the spirit of truth, even the spirit of truth— [PAUSE]
Even the spirit of truth.

[THE CHOIR SINGS “IF YE LOVE ME”]

 VOICE-TWO:

Stepping backward in time to the resurrected Christ, as he sat and broke bread with his disciples, as their doubts and confusions dissolved and they gloried in his holy presence, as the deeper meanings of his teachings became clear and they marveled at their salvation—how must they have rejoiced!

Jesus, the very thought of thee
With sweetness fills my breast,
But sweeter far thy face to see,
And in thy presence rest.

Nor voice can sing nor heart can frame,
Nor can the memory find
A sweeter sound than thy blest name
O Savior of mankind.

Jesus, our only joy be thou,
As thou our prize will be:
Jesus, be thou our glory now,
And through eternity.

[THE CHOIR SINGS “JESUS THE VERY THOUGHT OF THEE”]

VOICE-TWO:

Travelling further back to the numb hours of Jesus, the Messiah, dead, and buried.

The disciples—lost. In mourning. Their hearts aching with grief.

Had they not understood? Had they not heard him speak beautiful truths and promises of a glorious future? Where had it all gone wrong?

Their hearts were confused and filled with fear. Without Jesus, they were lost.

And, as that first voice sang of her discovery that no, no—he lived!, it took time for each heart to understand, to believe, to sing along.

Let us now stand together and join them in this moment of wonder and joy. Let us sing of our savior, newly risen.

Turn to Hymn #198 and let us sing of that Easter morn and of a grave that burst.

Let us sing of that man who has risen again and conquered pain.

Let us sing because this morn renews for us that morn when Jesus cast our bonds away, when he took living breath and conquered death.

Let us sing in gratitude and give our love and pledge our all.

Let us sing as we shed a grateful tear.

Let us sing as we conquer fear.

Let us sing.

[THE CONGREGATION SINGS “THAT EASTER MORN”]

VOICE-ONE:

Moving further backward in time, imagine the crowd that gathered around the dying god upon his splintery cross.

Some came to mock. Some came to mourn. Some came to plead. Some just enjoyed a good show.

The sky darkened. The earth shook.

The Roman centurion—a man just doing his job—assigned to keep guard with his men over what was no longer “just another execution,” was frightened by the chaos, and cried out, “Truly! [PAUSE] This was the Son of God!”

[PAUSE]

Others knew this already. They looked around at each other and knew this was a day of horror and disaster they would relive for the rest of their upended lives. There were men and women there. Surely, some of the children who loved him could not be kept from this scene. And no matter what age, they knew, from this day forward, they would ask each other,

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

Were you there when the sun refused to shine?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble.
Were you there when the sun refused to shine?

Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?
It causes me to tremble—tremble—tremble.
Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?

But they soon would discover another question to ask of each other:

Were you there when He rose up from the dead?
Were you there when He rose up from the dead?
Oh! Sometimes I feel like shouting Glory! Glory! Glory!
Were you there when He rose up from the dead?

[THE CHOIR SINGS “WERE YOU THERE”]

 

VOICE-ONE:

Jesus would spend forty days with his disciples. He would explain what it all meant. He would send them on journeys around the world. He would task them with sharing his story through time as well, through the scriptures they would write.

Nicodemus was old at this time. Mark was young. There were children who knew with a purity that came from seeing their Savior with eyes unwrinkled, children who would grow up to carry his gospel even further.

The gospel will always be carried into the future by those who, today, are young.

As the Primary children come up to sing to us, consider the testimony they are about to share. They will remind us of when darkness veiled the sky on that day that Jesus died in agony upon the bitter cross. They’ll remind us of how, when they took His body down and laid it in a tomb, his friends believed that everything was lost. But then they will remind us, when the third day came, the darkness turned to light, for Mary heard her name, and she saw the living Christ.

He was risen—risen to set the captives free. That means you—that means me.

They will remind us that the world was forever changed when Jesus rose that day to bring us home again.

They will remind us to praise His holy name and to see the living Christ and to remember—He will come again.

They will mean it as they sing: “Alleluia, He lives.

They will mean it as they sing: “Alleluia, He is risen.”

They will mean it as they sing: ““Alleluia.”

[THE PRIMAY SINGS “RISEN”]

VOICE-TWO:

Let’s continue our journey backward through time.

Jesus is preaching. He is greeting those unused to love. He is touching eyes and healing wounds.

He is arriving unknown and asking his cousin for baptism to fulfil all righteousness. He is a youth, talking of God with authority. He is a child. He is a babe in a manger. He is watching his people before his birth, leading them through prophets who teach of an atonement to come. He is walking with the ancients and founding covenants to tie us all together into one family—his family. As we were, all, together before this earth. He was there as well, before the earth was, with all the noble and great ones.

We were all noble and great, more or less. The current Church statement tells us that “the doctrine of foreordination applies to all members of the Church, not just to the Savior and His prophets.”

Before the creation of the earth, we were.

But that wasn’t worth anything until Jesus stood and said, “Here I am. Send me.” And we followed.

O God, the Eternal Father, we thank thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, for bread and water, to remember his body and blood, and to take upon ourselves the name of your Son, whom we love and honor and always remember. We’re trying, Father, to always remember. We’re trying, Father, to keep his commandments. We’re grateful for the Comforter he sent us. We’re thankful for his atonement, which saves even us, every day.

We’re thankful this Easter, for the God of Easter, Our Savior Jesus Christ.

Christ the Lord is ris’n today
Alleluia!
Love’s redeeming work is done.
Alleluia!
Lives again our glorious King.
Alleluia!
Alleluia!
Alleluia!

[THE CONGREGATION SINGS “CHRIST THE LORD IS RIS’N TODAY” with horns and organ]

 (benediction)

==============

previous svithe on thubstack and thutopia

Rewrite(it's not just a song by Paul Simon)

 

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I had a poem drop last week on Wayfare. The only comment (to date) is from a poet whose work I have some familiarity with. It’s a fifty-percent compliment:

Lovely. Deft. “Little” is an unnecessary adjectival, leaning towards sentimental.

I appreciate the compliment.

I also appreciate the criticism. I think it’s fair, and since I get so little helpful feedback on my poetry, worth considering. The poem’s quite short, so allow me to reproduce it here:

A sacrament cup
falls under the bench
and a little child
unfolds it.

What if we do as he suggests?

A sacrament cup
falls under the bench
and a child
unfolds it.

Honestly? I don’t like it. It now demands a caesura after child in order to keep the pacing right, which nothing in the is asking for. I can hardly put a comma at the end of line three.

But can we follow his advice (removing little) while keeping the scansion? Maybe this:

A sacrament cup
falls under the bench.

A child
unfolds it.

This is better than the previous version, but is it better than the original?

The differences are subtle and their relative merits are debatable.

I think the original is still more fun to read. But this final version might in fact be an improvement in terms of grounded emotions.

Should it appear in a collection someday, which version to you prefer?

 

Speaking in church is fun to doto do, to do, to do, to do

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And having a calling that gives me about four opportunities a year to do so is, therefore, delightful.

I’ve been posting my talks online since 2006 and I’ve built up a healthy collection at this point. So healthy, I’m flirting with, a couple years from now, putting them in a book tentatively titled Thermons (and some other religous writings). I very much doubt there’s a market for such a thing, but when has that ever stopped me?

My most recent talk (given in January) I have not posted simply because Wayfare expressed expressed interest in the talks we (all of us) give. So I thought: why not send them this one? And so I did.

The very day I was about to pull my submission and just post the talk here, I heard back from them with the news they wanted to publish it. Given Wayfare does good editing, I was told “Thanks for this gift of a sermon! I wish I would've been in the chapel to hear it the first time. I'm seeing a lot of wonderful styles at use here: a meandering, inductive, misdirective approach that comes at things sideways but then resolves into brilliant epiphanies, several humorous techniques like juxtaposition and non-sequitor and sequences of expectations and (non)fulfillment, and in general a kind of gracefulness and kindness toward body and spirit. There's serious wisdom in here behind the playful and inviting tone. I love it, and we're excited to publish it.” and I was also told it needs a rewrite and here are a bunch of things to fix. Editors are the best!

Anyway, that’s why that talk still hasn’t appeared here, but it did get me thinking that if this talk (which I thought was less than my most interesting, if I’m being honest) got people interested in me and my talks, perhaps I should make them easier to find. And so here is a list of (I think) all the talks I’ve posted, along with links to reading them on Thutopia, The Weekly Svithe, or Thubstack.

I suppose doing this could impact sales of Thermons but, well, sales were never the point anyway.

By the way, I do recognize the spiritual irony here. As I was hunting down the following twenty talks, I also found this, from 2009:

Stake conference this week and we heard from the Sunday School general president.

He reminded teachers (and aren't we all teachers?) that we should be focused on learning, not teaching. In other words, it's not about how cleverly we teach, but about how well learning occurs.

Teaching in a way that glorifies the teacher rather than serves the learner is a form of priestcraft.

I'm taking this as personal instruction, for church, for here, for m'job, for life.

Sins thus recognized, here we go!

Hope, Jesus, and the New Year (2025 Berkeley Ward)
thutopia — thubstack

What is grace? What is justice? What shall we do? (2006 Oakland Seventh Branch)
thutopia — thubstack

A Thanksgiving Svithe (2025 Berkeley Ward)
thutopia — thubstack

Ward Variety (2025 Oakland Sixth Ward)
thutopia — thubstack

A svithe on friendship (2025 Walnut Creek Ward)
thutopia — thubstack

Aaronic Priesthood (2024 Berkeley Ward)
thutopia — thubstack

A sacrament meeting talk about trees and Jesus and stuff (2023 Berkeley Ward)
thutopia — thubstack

♲ Easter Svithe (2020 Berkeley Ward)
thutopia

The prompt is, “The Book of Mormon brings me closer to Christ because...” (2020 Berkeley Ward)
thutopia

Consumption and Creation (2018 Berkeley Ward)
thutopia

The Ninja Warrior Megadolphin Svithe (2016 Berkeley Ward)
thutopia

We svithe after these things (2016 Berkeley Ward)
thutopia

“There was a young man who thought....” (2015 Berkeley Ward)
thutopia

Heavenly Mother on Mother’s Day (2015 Berkeley Ward)
thutopia

Talk on the Book of Mormon (2011 Berkeley Ward)
thutopia

Joy + Misery = Joy (?) (2011 Berkeley Ward)
thutopia

Pioneer Day (2010 Berkeley Ward)
thutopia

Growing My Testimony through Action (2009 Berkeley Ward)
thutopia — the weekly svithe

Alma 5 (2006 Berkeley Ward)
thutopia — the weekly svithe

Happily Ever After (2006, El Dorado Ward)
thutopia — the weekly svithe

I don't know much about hats Kafka wore / Or if Bottom's dream sunk in the sea / But I know that George Lucas made a fine film / And that The Shining just isn't for me

.

Come, join with me if you want to find your hat or your true love in a forest. Whether she (he?)'s your true love or not. 

☞

009) Where Hats Go by Kurt Wolfgang, finished February 20

According to the author bio, this is the "first of many books" from the pen of Wolfgang. As is was published in 2001 one that should be true and I can check. So I will. Soon as I write about this one. Which was terrific. Visually, this comic's a cross between Peter Bagge and Tom Neely's rubber-hose stuff. But it's not nearly as cynical or ugly as most of the Bagge stuff I've read and it's more grounded and human than Neely's. So...maybe I like it more? Certainly, he's competitive with these guys and I definitely like him better than Bagge whom I often find tiresome.

Anyway. It's a small little first-book and it's utterly wonderful. It's a kid who lost his hat and he embarks on a quest to get it back. It hits plenty of the required elements to make Joseph Campbell happy. But you don't need to be a scholar to enjoy his growth. But his growth was particularly enjoyable because I didn't see it coming. I suppose the cynicism of indie comics of the ’90s and ’00s led me to assume everything would suck. But this is a human story and even with all the darkness in the corners of the images, the thrust of the humans story is goodness and betterment. So, Wolfgang, thank you—I enjoyed that.

(click image to see more [and more representative] images on ebay) 

Now...where are you today?

Hmm. Okay. Goodreads has one more book from 2013. Okay. There's supposed to be a version of Pinocchio out by now. Amazon hasn't heard of it. Okay. Well, good news is I couldn't find an obituary. But I refuse to believe such a talent simply disappeared. Can't find him on LinkedIn. Lots more Kurt Wolfgangs on Facebook, but I don't think any of them are it either. Bummer.

I'm not totally susprised. Lots of people—even the very best—slip away from the arts. It's hard to do something so time consuming for so little reward. I hope he's still out there, still making stuff. But the fact that I didn't recognize his name (even though he was in the first-ever Best American Comics) suggests someone who disappeared, for one reason or another. Whether it was discouragement or a horrible car crash, I can't say. But I'll reread his BAC entry and wish him well. Let me know when Pinokio comes out.

(Best case scenario, he's a mad genius working on page 983 said book right now.)

(Exactly my home for Adam Hines, incidentally, whose first book I wonder if I should steal from the library.) 

saturday and friday 

☞

010) Kafka's Manuscript, finished February 27

At first this seemed like a bad joke played on the bookbuying public. Simple to the point of ripoff.

But.

Then.

The story of the friend who saved Kafka's manuscripts and saw them through to publication was—suddenly moving.

How in the world did that happen? 

the intro one day, the book another 

☞☞☞

That last book and this next one break me no-library-books-in-2026 rule. Before the new year began, I delayed all books I had on hold to not appear until 2027 with ONE EXCEPTION: books I had asked the library to buy. I figured those should get checked out as soon as they arrived, and since most of them were comics, it wouldn't get too much in my way re reading books I already own.

Three of them arrived earlier this week—these two comics and Scream With Me: Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism (1968-1980) by Eleanor Johnson. Don't remember how I heard about this one but it's right up my alley. But I probably won't read it. I have read one chapter (Appendix A: "Brief Synopses of the Terrible Remakes of the Original Six Horror Films") and will probably read at least one more (Chapter 7: "Bad Men Making Good Films: An Interlude") and maybe the one on Stepford Wives because I love Stepford Wives, but I don't know all the movies in the book (some of them I don't even care about) and, well, it's a library book and it's 2026.

Incidentally, if you're interested, the six movies primarily under discussion are:

• Rosemary's Baby (sad never to have seen it)
• The Exorcist (active disinterest in seeing it)
• The Stepford Wives (love it)
• The Omen (can't imagine wanting to see this)
• Alien (I claim I want to see this one but our year-long Hulu subscriptions keep expiring before I get around to it)
• The Shining (seen it; don't like it) 

☞☞☞

012) Lucas Wars by Laurent Hopman and Renaud Roshe, finished February 28

Absolutely loved this. I'm no expert, but I was surprised how much new information I picked up. And the writing and art is so generous—Lucas in particular becomes beloved. Weirdo kid perseveres against all odds. It's real hero stuff. And win he wins, so emotional. Someone should adapt this book into a movie! Sort of a Nouvelle Vague sort of thing!

You can also tell it was originally in French. Who else in the 2020s would have so little commentary over the Ford/Hamill affair?

But I think what I love most is Roche's art. He captures famous faces so well and with a clear-reading simplicity that allows for a lot of information to be presented cleanly. It's great work. It's his first comic but I'd keep an eye on this veteran of storyboarding and advertising, see what he does next. 

two days 

☞

013–015) A Midsummer's Night Dream by William Shakespeare, finished March 9

Never taught this before. Haven't read it well over twenty years. And I...really liked it. I know it's popular (part of the reason I've never taught it before—it's the play students are most likely to have encountered in junior high and I figure either it's a beautiful memory or a horror they don't wish to revisit) but I get why. It's mad in all the best ways. An absolute blast to read in class. And so many solid movies to choose from. (Come back for March movies to see the one's the students voted for.) In other words, all the elements of time well spent in class. Tragedies are still better in terms of volume of discussion topics, but a quick fun read it surely just as good a way to get people into Shakespeare? Surely.

Anyway, a pleasure to read. 

four school days 

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The books are adding up very slowly this year. That's less because of the no-library-books rule and more because I've committed myself to reading Robert Alter's The Five Books of Moses (the fascinating footnotes have many more words than the text itself) and keeping up with the book club I'm in (currently reading Hyperion with Moby Dick yet to come). And when you consider that I imagined this year might include The Count of Monte Cristo or Adam Bede, I'm unlikely to speed up the odometer anytime soon.

In other words, less books, but possibly more words. What's the right way to count?

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The first five books of 2026

001) Red Harvest by Dachielle Hammett, finished January 3
002) Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, finished January 14
003) Snoopy's Guide to the Writing Life edited by Barnaby Conrad and Monte Schulz, finished January 16
004) You Are Too Much, Charlie Brown by Charles M. Schulz, finished January 19
005) Ice by Anna Kavan, finished January 24

Emotion-of-your-choice Valentine's Day!

006) Midville High: Comic Caper Collection by Matt Blair, finished February 5
007) Guarding the Moon: A Mother's First Year by Francesca Lia Block, finished February 10
008) The Sellout by Paul Beatty, finished February 13 

PRIOR YEARS OF BOOKS

2007 = 2008 = 2009 = 2010 = 2011 = 2012 = 2013 = 2014 = 2015
2016 = 2017 = 2018 = 2019 = 2020 = 2021 = 2022 = 2023 = 2024 = 2025

 

The world is falling apart.Watch a movie.

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Here it is March second and I haven't posted February's movies yet. And I am the rare person who knows exactly how many days in every month. I know the days in the month better than I know my left and my right.

But that's, ah, not really saying anything....

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HOME
Prime Video

After Life (1998)

I remember reading about this film—I think first at BYU when it was at International Cinema—bust mostly when Like Father, Like Son came out. Everyone wanted to talk about After Life in their reviews of that (then) new film. (You can read about both Like Father, Like Son and his even newer film, Shoplifter, here.) So I've been thinking about this film for a long time. It's good to finally see it.

It's in a genre with Defending Your Life and Eternity in that it's the early days of the afterlife and you have to deal with a bureaucracy. In this case, you have to choose the single memory from your life that you wish to carry with you as you go forward. It's high-concept stuff and I've spent the last twenty years pondering the question without quite arriving at an answer.

The thing that surprised me most is how documentary-like it is. Lady Steed was just reading about it and apparently the interviews with the newly dead are actual interviews with real people recounting their real memories. Or at least some of them? I'm happy to learn this and I don't need more details.

The story isn't really about what I thought it would be. I expected it to be from the perspective of the newly dead (as with >Defending Your Life and Eternity) but in fact it's more interested in the deadland bureaucrats. But it keeps changing what it's about in the final act, so no promises that I'm clearing things up for you.

It's a thought-provoking film. It definitely feels no shorter than it's one hour and fifty-nine minutes. But I think, having seen it, I now will only think about it more.

Addendum: There's one more film in this genre I'm eager to see, A Matter of Life and Death. However, while trying to recover the title of that movie I found a couple others that I think won't quiiiite be of the same cloth but still seem worth watching: Between Two Worlds and Heaven Can Wait.

ELSEWHERE
our dvd

Wag the Dog (1997)

Due to a weird schedule thing, it was just me and five seniors for over two so I let them choose between this and Groundhog Day. I think my suggestion that this was Epstein adjacent won the day.

Anyway, it's great. On this viewing it felt a little long to me (mostly because I think of the Kirsten Dunst scene as the main part of the movie and it's not main and it is early), but it's sharp and funny and so, so cynical, and the Class of '26 appreciated that.

There's some fun camera play here—I wanted to share my favorite quick zoom then jumpcut matching Dustin Hoffman's words outside a limosine, but, alas, can't find the clip on YouTube.

If you're looking for a comedy with modern relevance, here you go!

(NOTE: One student, on her way out, thanked me, said she enjoyed it, and wondered how many years it had been since she'd last seen a movie.)

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Peacock

Long Shots: U.S. Biathlon’s Underdog Story (2026)

This is a great little documentary of the sort we expect come Olympics time. This one's about the American quest to finally medal in biathalon. The film got me pumped up that this might be the Olympics we pick up the last first medal!...until the last, like, three minutes when I was forced to admit that we're not beating the Europeans any time soon. Impossible? No. But far from likely. I mean, guns or not, this is Europe's second most popular sport. We are so far behind.

But I think they convinced me to spend some of my month-of-Peacock watching biathalon. So mission accomplished!

HOME
home

Cruella (2021)

Second watch.

The CGI is glaringly obvious (shocked to see in the credits that any dalmations were involved in the making of this film) but plot details and character work are at least as good second time 'round. Holds up to rewatch. Music still terrific if perhaps A LOT of tracks. Daughter really wanted to show it to her mom, which is how we find ourselves here. She also wants a sleepover with a friend to show her.

We may be running a real risk of this becoming...a personality.

THEATER
Grand Lake Theatre

Sinners (2025)

When the Oscar noms dropped, Lady Steed felt she had to see Sinners. Happily, the Grand Lake was playing it on their biggest screen on 70mm. So...perfect scenario, really. The sound was a bit fuzzy which made some of the dialogue hard to understand, but otherwise, pretty much ideal viewing circumstances.

Sinners is now added to my seen-in-theaters-more-than-once list. And what did Lady Steed think? We discussed the four BIG prestige pictures we've watched recently and she ranks them Ann Lee, Hamnet, Sinners, One Battle, but with Ann Lee waaaay out in front, although all four, she insists, are great. Just Ann Lee—untouchable.

(Incidentally, this is a funny joke.)

ELSEWHERE
Kanopy

Donkey Skin (1970)

On the one hand, a lovely charming child-friendly whimsical confectionary delight, a fairy tale like Disney specializes in.

On the two hand, a disturbing strange grotesque whose plot engine is the possibility incest.

On the three hand, some people are blue and some people are red and some people are people-colored and some horses are blue and some horses are red and some horses are horse colored.

On the four hand, a woman v****s frogs and a donkey s***s jewels.

On the five hand, the fairy godmother has a telephone.

I loved this film and was disturbed by this film and really have no idea who to recommend it to.

Only comparison I can come up with is La belle et la bête.

THEATER
Century Cinemark Hilltop 16

Wuthering Heights (2026)

First, this is deliciously weird and perverse, which I think is a requirement for anything Wuthering Heights.

Also, this is the second movie in a row I've watched that makes very clear and deliberate references to La belle et la bête, this time with the wallhands holding candles. But that's not half so weird as the skin wall pillows.

It's been almost twenty years since I read Wuthering Heights so don't come to me for opinions on it's "accuracy," but I felt like it captured the mad vibes of the novel well, moving much of the subtext (eg, sex) to text. Plus, the moors look great. Love the moors.

Like most movies (apparently), it ignores the second generation and Cathy's ghost which honestly I kinda missed, but in two hours, maybe all you can really do is Catherine and Heathcliff as kids and their disastrous romantic adventures.

Anyway, the production design and cinematography and leads are beautiful and moody and everything turns to crap, so what else can you ask for, really?

THEATER
Century Cinemark Hilltop 16

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die (2026)

===SPOILERS GALORE===

What if you didn't have to die to have an afterlife? And what if your afterlife was determined entirely by the whims of a Trumplike deity who revels in his pettiness as he assigns your fate?

Look: for anyone who reads the ending as happy, mother and son off on a quest to save the world, I'm glad for you, but that rat opened its eyes. They've been in the simulation all along. It's like Neo took the red pill only to wake up in a Matrix sidequest.

It's great to have Gore Verbinski back. I haven't seen one of his movies since the ending of Pirates 2 pissed me off, but prior to that, I considered him one of our greatest filmmakers.

(Actually, I guess that's not true. I've seen Rango more than once and love it), but I didn't see the third Pirates movie or The Lone Ranger or The Cure for Wellness (even though it looked terrific) and largely because I was so mad after Pirates 2 my love for Pirates 1, The Mexican, and The Ring wasn't enough to overcome bad reviews.

Anyway, this one's great. It well written, visually witty, and it doesn't force us to recognize that this is hell until the very end. Even then, you could just brush it off and just be happy in the adventure.

The big questions I have left are:

1) How many people are real, living in pods, experiencing this stuff? It has to be more than one, right? But certainly not everyeone. So is everyone slowly getting segregated into separate realities? Finally, will everyone end up in their own reality? And what is the AI's motivation? Simply to be worshiped?

2) How petty is the AI ultimately? It seems like Ingrid gets put into hell, but The Man seems trapped in a perverse hell that gives him purpose and pleasure, as awful as it may be. And in the end, Ingrid is with him, up for it. Is that her? Was it ever her? Has it always been her? And always will be?

3) How do teenagers feel about this movie. Much of its satire punches down, aimed squarely at the Gen Z / Gen α border—sort of like the easy anti-Millennial humor of, what 2010? Do teenagers laugh to see this and say its so true? Do they latch on to the take down of their parents' generation? Are they offended and rather pissed off at the unfairness? I'd love to know.

This seems like the perfect movie for this moment. I hope people watch it. I hope it gets us talking. I don't know if that'll make any difference.

Oh: One last thing. You can tell the time-loop genre has reached full maturity because now you can make a time-loop movie with only one loop.

THEATER
Elmood Cinemas Rialto

A Private Life (2026)

This has a couple over-obvious zooms and some cuts that project too much and some plot elements that seem like they belong to a different movie and one very silly music cue, but there are a couple things that keep it from being just elevated television.

The biggest one is Jodie Foster, who is great. She raises the level of the entire movie. It takes real actorly skill to make some of this character development believable.

Bu this is also one of the film's biggest disappointments. There's vanishingly little in the film that requires this character to be an American. You could have Jodie Foster and Irène Jacob switch roles and it really wouldn't matter. What a wasted opportunity. Related, there's not much funny in this movie but Jodie Foster kills those bits. Someone put her as an American-expat-in-Paris straight-up comedy. (It's what the people who paid to see this movie will pay more money to see!)

Another thing that was great was the relationship between her protagonist and her ex-husband. That was lovely to watch.

Anyway, spoilers from here on out.

What really made the movie work though was that it wasn't what it seemed to be. It wasn't, in fact, a murder-mystery thriller. And it wasn't an expose on how psychoanalysis is a scam. Instead, it was a story of one woman's collapse and rebuild, and, thus, the lack of actual murder and the nondebunking of psychoanalysis / nonboosting of hypnotism are all fine. These were steps on the path, not the destination.

So in the end I quite liked it. But the Elmwood is waaay too expensive.

HOME
YouTube

Go Theodore (2026)

I love it when students make movies. The ambition and dedication required to see a film all the way from conception to completion is incredible and for a high-school student to pull that off is amazing.

This one seems like a nice warning against internet face, growing up to be a boy, and the development of modern American gambling culture.

All very timely.

HOME
Peacock

My Cousin Vinny (1992)

Thanks to the Olympics, we have a month of Peacock and when I saw My Cousin Vinny on offer, I knew I had to show it to the son that just got into cars. I have to imagine, if you're into cars, Marisa Tomei is the best thing going.

She's definitely the best thing about the film. Sure, Peschi's great, Gwynn and Macchio are great, but it's Tomei who lifts the film above what is, in most respects, a pretty pedestrian movie. The dutch angles are predictable. Most of the cuts are just doing the job of cuts. Very few jokes occur with the camera or the blocking. Don't get me wrong—it's a good movie—but Marisa Tomei singlehandedly raises it into greatness. She deserved that Oscar.

But she couldn't have done it without a script that has plenty moments of brilliance and only a couple moments of miss. Teamwork!

ELSEWHERE
Peacock

American Fiction (2023)

Just spent a long time scrolling up and down IMDb trying to figure out when I first became a devout Jeffrey Wright fan but I genuinely have no idea. Perhaps it's an eternal feeling.

Anyway, this is one of those movies I was desperate to see and then it took a couple years. You know the type.

But I'm kind of glad to watch it after reading James and The Sellout

I was thinking about American Fiction the entire time I was reading The Sellout, actually. It seemed to be playing the same game—a well educated and bleeding brilliant Black man put into conflict with the Black stereotypes that overrun our media. In The Sellout our protag is separate from while completely ensconced within that world and things get out of control—I mean, he ends up owning a slave. Here, our protag writes a work of parody he never expects to get published that becomes "THE RUNAWAY BESTSELLER BY THE RUNAWAY FUGITIVE." And in its (spoilers in the rest of this sentence) Clue-like multiple endings, capitalism wins out.

Anyway, the Black cast is amazing here and the white cast is, shall we say, appropriate. And Jeffrey Wright can do no wrong.

BATTLE OF THE PUCKERDOODLESThe L.A. Times stole my recipe, but we'll let you decide.

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Fifteen years ago, I invented the puckerdoodle, a variation on the snickerdoodle that has a fun sour coating rather than a cinnamon one. Bit hit. Very popular. Much beloved.

I just discovered that five years ago, the L.A. Times presented puckerdoodles to the world themselves. Is it possibly they were invented on their own rather than ripping me off? Sure. It’s possible. It’s also possible they did not. Let’s compare.

First, I make no special claims for the cookie itself. I just picked what seemed to be the internet’s favorite snickerdoodle dough back in 2010 and used it. That’s all. The Times’s recipe is intriguing. I don’t love the sound of “white chocolate morsels” but masa harina seems worth trying!

In other words, I don’t care what dough you use. The thing that makes a puckerdoodle a puckerdoodle is what you roll the balls in. So that’s the real thing at issue here.

I genuinely hope that some of you will take up this challenge then return and report. Me and Rose Wilde, of course, have our biases.

Make your prefered cookie dough, roll in to balls, refridgerate, then, when ready to bake, roll in one of these:

THERIC’s WOOWOO PUCKERDOODLE HERBS AND SPICES

Combine two or three tablespoons of sugar with two or three teaspoons of amchoor powder and one teaspoon of sour salt (aka crystallized citric acid). Fiddle with proportions to match your palate.

Fiddle with the proportions to taste. For every 2 or 3 teaspoons of amchoor, add in one more t. And every 3 or 3Ts of sugar, throw in a t of sour salt (crystallized citric acid).

ROSE’s SCIENTIFIC PUCKERDOODLE HERBS AND SPICES

Mix one cup sugar with three tablespoons sumac.

Now roll those doughs and bake them up and let us know.

Perhaps the Times will be brave enough to publish your results.

stealing the times’s photo because they owe me and because silvia razgova takes better pictures than me

"Science Fiction & Fantasy in the Latter-day Saint Tradition"

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Back when I reviewed the fiction in new issues of Irreantum (here are several examples of my reviews) occasionally editor Angela Hallstrom would send me a note thanking me. Because, and this is true (I now speak from experience), y’generally don’t get much feedback. Maybe if people are angry? No one’s gotten angry enough to write me yet, so maybe not.

Anyway, there’s a new rag on the scene and, like Irreantum in olden times, IT’S AVAILABLE ON PAPER. Incredible.

I got my copies yesterday (one for subscribing, one for contributing) and because I had a cold and my mask was making me sneeze, I sat out on the front steps and read the whole (ish) thing. It was great to just sit and read a fabulous new collection of work, to just enjoy it, and by turning pages no less. Fabulous.

So back to my old ways and let’s review the first issue of Further Light.

Although, before we do, I’d like to point out one smart decision Further Light has made, viz, an utter willingness to reprint stories. So much of the literary scene publishes a story then abandons it, never to be seen again. Good stories can and should be published more than once. That’s been my policy at Irreantum and I’m glad to see Further Light agrees with me. I’ve marked work appearing again rather than anew with a * so you can see what I mean.

“A Center of Gravity for the Realistic” by Liz Busby

Liz’s opening editorial is a rousing call to arms, a bold statement of purpose, and enough to hope this project lasts a decade or more. Who knows, maybe it will outlive us all. It’s dangerous waters, this magazine business, but certainly this one deserves to thrive. (Have you subscribed yet?)

It’s worth mentioning that Liz is the right person at the right moment to take this one—and that she’s collecting a stellar team to make it happen. I wish them luck (because they’ll need it) but I don’t worry (because they’re prepared for the task).

“Opera of the Abyss, Part 1: Murder and the Rue Morgue” by Lee Allred

I’ll admit I skipped this although it might be the piece I was (and remain) most excited to read. I think I might wait for another issue to arrive before I dive into something serialized. But Lee’s great and I have high expectations for this. And the illustrations by Kevin Wasden are excellent.)

“Harmony and the Problem of Evil” by DC Wynters

I also skipped this bit of criticism. I don’t know Brandon Sanderson’s work well and have read very little of it. Given that, I’ve probably already read more criticism on him than I really need to.

“Ivy” by Sadie Marie Hutchings

Love this poem about atonement resolving a fairy-tale problem. It’s very much of the sort of fantasy I’ve come to associate with the Mormon Lit Blitz. (A compliment.)

“Commitment” by Brian K. Lowe*

This story reminded me of a series of stories by Luisa Perkins. Man meets angel on park bench. But here, instead of trying to save the world, this angel has come to end it. Although there is ambiguity in just what “ending” the world might entail. Or haw bad it actually would be. I would have liked to it push past the final ambiguity.

“The Double-Snatcher” by WO Hemsath*

This story’s been making the rounds since first appearing in the Liz-and-Will-edited issue of Irreantum a couple years ago. I didn’t reread it just now, but this is what I said then:

“W. O. Hemsath's story couples the talking woodland creatures I loved in Thornton Burgess stories with the sense of danger we know from Watership Down and a heavy sense of divine threat humming in the background.“

In other words: it’s good.

And because it’s been published three or four times, now maybe you’ll read it?

“The Man Who Came Back from the Lunar Colony” by Orson Scott Card*

The two OSC poems are rather similar to each other, using the language of science fiction to describe particularly Mormon cosmological problems. If you like one, you’ll like the other.

“A Latter-day Saint Reading of CS Lewis’s Perelandra” by Cameron Price

I chose to skip this one too as it’s been so long since I read (started) Perelandra and I own the trilogy and intend to read it one of these days, so…. Why read more about Lewis before it’s necessary?

“The Fallen” by DA Cooper

Two missionaries visit hell and make contact with one of the original fallen. A companion piece to Cooper’s masterful “Talking to Dante in the Spirit World.“

This one’s in irregular rhymed couplets and makes the demon the lead character. Getting inside demons is an act of charity Cooper has pushed on us before and I’ve never forgotten it. It’s possible, if this is your first, it’ll be the one you don’t forget.

“Charity Never Faileth” by Jaleta Clegg*

Very proud to have been the first publisher of this story and its third. I didn’t reread it tonight, but I still dig it, guaranteed.

Jell-O comes in for the kill. What else do you need to know?

“Journey Before Destination, Faith Before Certainty: Experiencing Belief in Wind and Truth” by Liz Busby

So…I can see why they’re actively requesting more submissions of non–Brandon Sanderson criticism.

“Young Hagoth Plays It Safe” by Theric Jepson

I often enjoy reading my own stuff, but by this time I had momentum and wanted to see how far I could get. But this is good, promise.

You’ll note that its title plays off Douglas Adams and that should give you a sense of my aims. If I get around to it, part two is titled (spolier alert) “Young Hagoth Builds a Better Breastplate.”

Illustrated by Maddie Baker:

“Rented Room” by JS Absher*

A great example of what Stan’s good at and how poetry is naturally fantastic.

“Music of the Spirit” by Annaliese Lemmon*

Annaliese always impresses me. She has so many modes. This reminded me of a great story I recently read of another peculiar gift of the Spirit in…The Path and the Gate, maybe? I can’t remember. Anyway, this gift of the Spirit is peculiar and Annaliese puts it to good use asking questions.

Also, watch for Annaliese (rhymes with pizza) in the next issue of Irreantum.

“Why Andor’s Grown-Up Heroes Matter to Faithful Adults” by Alan Hurst*

This essay is brilliant. I hadn’t considered most of what the article is arguing, but Hurst makes a strong argument not only that Andor is good (me, I consider it top tier Star Wars alongside the original trilogy and The Last Jedi), but that it’s engaging with adult themes in ways very little entertainment does these days. Or even imagines it can while remaining “celestial.”

“A Letter from Captain Robert Walton to Joseph Smith” by R. de la Lanza

I was startled by how this reimagining of Frankenstein was interested in completing some of the novel’s loose ends, much as Guillermo del Toro’s recent film did. Fascinating to watch two Mexican artists using Frankenstein to such similar ends simultaneously. Does this mean something??

“From a Spirit to the One Possessed” by Orson Scott Card

Personally, I like the first OSC poem better just because I find possession a dull topic.

Voices from the Dust” by Jeanna Mason Stay

Shoot. Okay. That strange-gifts-of-the-Spirit story I was mentioning above? This one’s even more like it. Maybe I read it in Dialogue…? Germph. I dunno. Anyone, this is light and charming and hopeful, but never silly.

“Grandmother’s Rocking Chair” by Nephi Anderson, with introduction by Kent Larson*

Kent’s been teasing the existence of this story for years. I’m glad to finally read it. Based on his intro, I think I liked it more than Kent did, but I agree that it’s not Nephi’s finest work. (More opinions on Nephi Anderson here. A work of fiction I wrote starring Nephi here.) But it is a time-travel story of the type we know from the late 1800s and Nephi’s is honestly as good as most of them I’ve read. With the added benefit of being shorter. I’m superglad to have my own copy.

“Aslan or Qslan? Insights into Latter-day Saint Cosmology from the Sci-fi/Fantasy Divide” by Jeffrey Thayne and Jacob Ross

I did not expect my favorite piece in Further Light to be nonfiction—and certainly not nonfiction that’s about Star Trek! (Or Narnia, for that matter; I’m a little tired of talking about C.S. Lewis as you may have picked up on above.)

But this isn’t just good literary analysis, it’s powerful theology and explained some of my opinions to myself that I’ve had a hard time understanding. I wish I’d had access to this language when I was teaching seminary. We need to talk about this on Face in Hat…..

It’s worth the subscription just to access this essay when it appears online later in the year.

Subscribe already!

“Death” by Carol Lynn Pearson*

The is the second-oldest reprint, originally appeared in Dialogue back in 1966. I really think early CLP is the most vital CLP, and this interaction with Death is a good example of what she can do.

“The Mothers” by Chanel Earl

This is the sort of poetic prose that Chanel excels at. Whenever I see her name I know I’m about to get something on a different highway than other writers travel on. This one uses the first-person plural (great when used well) and explores motherhood while exploding dimensions. Worth a look. And at three pages, easy to fit into your day.

“The Enemy Has a Body: A Confidential Memo” by Jordan Lake

Look. Liz loves CS Lewis. I get it. And I don’t mind a new take on Screwtape. I really don’t. But the amount of Sanderson and Lewis in this volume proves that they need allyall to submit your brilliant criticism. The next deadline’s the end of this month! Get on it! Send them stuff!

New magazines need not only subbscribers to thrive. They need submitters. So dust off some old poems and fiction or craft some new, and then get it to them. Let’s keep them alive so they can enrich our lives. Takes teamwork. So go fight win.