Books for LDS Readers. Tips for LDS Writers.
by Brenda Anderson In the ninety-fourth year of the reign of the judges… Tulekiah’s foot slipped, sending loose stones clattering down the mountainside. He froze in place, clinging to the mountainside, listening to the rocks echoing in the canyon below. Sunrise was still a few hours away, and the crescent moon hanging in the sky … Continue reading “14: Once a Gadianton…”
by Theric Jepson Jarom was old. His skin was tight rather than wrinkled and the sunbeams from the window caught his long white beard as he entered the room. His robe was a simple brown, but embroidered with enough detail to make it expensive. He cleared his throat and leaned against a stool as he … Continue reading “13: Young Hagoth Plays It Safe”
Sirrea paused as she gathered sugarcane to marvel at the precision with which her father and Jacom, his new apprentice, toppled the evergreens. Even in the shade of the rain forest, Jacom’s dark hair and bare arms glistened with perspiration. Perhaps timber was a more strenuous trade than the cocoa bean business to which he … Continue reading “12: Star Bright”
by Britt Kelly He had said it. The strange man with the pale face and unyielding arms had said the name of the Great God in the throne room. Ever since her father’s dream so many years ago she thought she would be the one to say his name. Over and over she had imagined … Continue reading “9: The Unsheathing”
by Michael Young And it came to pass that they did travel in the wilderness, and did build barges, in which they did cross many waters, being directed continually by the hand of the Lord. —Ether 2:6 “Unstop the hole!” A red-faced man dashed toward the center of the barge, his hands groping the ceiling … Continue reading “1: The Lost Barge”
Title: The Gathering Storm (#12 in the Wheel of Time series) Author: Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson Publisher: Tor Release Date: October 27, 2009 ISBN: 978-0765302304 Size: 784 pages, Hardcover Genre: Fantasy Tarmon Gai’don, the Last Battle, looms. And mankind is not ready. The final volume of the Wheel of Time, A Memory of Light, … Continue reading “The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson”
Title: Santa Maybe Author: Aubrey Mace Publisher: Cedar Fort Release Date: September 8, 2009 ISBN: 978-1599553122 Size: 194 pages, 5.5×8.5, softcover Genre: Romance Dear Santa, I’ve been a good girl this year. (Well . . . pretty good.) I have a nice life and there s only one thing that I really want one thing … Continue reading “Santa Maybe by Aubrey Mace”
In the moment before my first memory, I feel a wonderful lightness, a floating sensation that isn’t truly a sensation because I don’t yet know who I am or that I am. But then I feel a coming together, a sense of going that is my becoming, my awakening. And that is my first memory. … Continue reading “32: Memoirs of a Snowflake”
It was time to trim the poor excuse for a Christmas tree, and for the first time in eighty-five years, Genevieve Taylor dreaded the task. Her aged body ached as much as her lonely heart. The thirteen years since Lloyd’s passing had been a slow decline in health, happiness, finances, and appearance. She no longer … Continue reading “30: Turtle Doves”
Andrea had pretty much given up on Christmas. Sure, she liked all the trappings that came with the season – the trees, the ornaments, the lights. But it was all so…commercial, fake. No one really meant any of the things they said when they wished you a Merry Christmas. It was just like someone saying … Continue reading “24: The Christmas Stocking”
I awoke with a start, my body full of the tingling relief that comes with the end of a nightmare. But I knew it hadn’t been a dream, and the metal band encircling my head proved it. I quickly sat up, heart pounding, and looked around apprehensively. The room was my own. The bed was … Continue reading “19: A New End Of It”
Emma wiped sticky lime juice off her fingers before she answered the phone. She suppressed a sigh as she heard Cheryl, her oldest daughter, on the line. “Have you decorated for Christmas, yet?” Cheryl asked after the initial chit-chat. Emma turned her back on the plate of hot rice and vegetables before her, and leaned … Continue reading “13: The Missing Figurine”
Erica looked at her mother’s red eyes. Tears flooded her own eyes as her mother explained their Christmas would be different because her father had been out of work for awhile. They needed to keep food on the table for Erica and her little brother, Michael. There would not be any gifts this year. Later, … Continue reading “8: A Gift at the Midnight Hour”
Leila was dying, and she knew it, and death tasted bitter in her throat. She’d really blown it big this time, and now there was no way out. I’m a failure, just like everyone said I would be. Leila shut the blinds in her tiny one room apartment to keep out the lights and general … Continue reading “4: Shepherds and Kings”
“Michael? That thing of yours is broken.” Michael looked down at his little brother. Usually it was cute, the way Trent said his name. My Coal. It wasn’t so cute now. “What’s broken?” He kept everything that Trent could break up on his bunk bed. What could Trent have gotten his little hands on? “That … Continue reading “Christmas #9: Too Old For Santa”
Title: Dusty Britches Author: Marcia Lynn McClure Publisher: Distractions Inc Release Date: October 20, 2008 ISBN: 978-0982192108 Size: 312 pages, 6×9, softcover Genre: Romance Dusty’s heart panged a twinge when she saw the bull whip strapped to the saddle of one of the horses tied to the corral fence. “Why today?” she wondered. Why was … Continue reading “Dusty Britches by Marcia Lynn McClure”
I was lying in bed this morning pondering the vagaries of memory. Most things that happened to me in the first ten years of my life are very hazy, yet certain things I remember, a Christmas present; a fight with my brother; a crash on my bicycle. These incidents take place in a disconnected way, … Continue reading “Summer Story: The Butterfly”
She had pretty much given up on Christmas. Sure, she liked all the trappings that came with the season – the trees, the ornaments, the lights. But it was all too…commercial, too fake. No one really meant any of the things they said when they wished you a Merry Christmas. It was just like someone … Continue reading “Christmas 27: The Christmas Stocking”
Poor! Too poor even to buy a Christmas tree. Mary sunk deeper into gloom as she heard a passing carriage outside the window of the small brick house she and her husband John had rented. She glanced up to see that the evening snow had begun falling. Mary felt guilty for the heaviness in her … Continue reading “Christmas 21: No Tree for Christmas”
The traditional nativity was enacted, with the narrator reading the beloved and familiar verses from Luke. The Angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds, who journeyed to the manger to find Joseph and Mary, cradling the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes. “And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly host … Continue reading “Christmas 12: Story”