A Perfect Voice
This short story won 1st place in the 2018 Mormon Lit Blitz. It’s about a musical number during a church service that goes terribly wrong. You can read it online on Mormon Artist.
Tatterhood and the Prince’s Hand
This novella features an ugly princess who rides around on a goat with a magic wooden spoon. When her husband goes missing, she goes on a quest to find him. It’s a story about love and loyalty, beauty and betrayal. This story is part of the anthology Unspun: A Collection of Tattered Fairy Tales.
Confessions of a Mycologist
This short story about a scientist and her plastic-eating fungus appears in the Spring 2018 issue of Mad Scientist Journal.
Celestial Accounting
This short story placed 2nd in the 2017 Mormon Lit Blitz. It’s about a woman who dies and gets the job of working on the Celestial Books. It’s a little bit harder than she thought it would be.
The Last Bathroom
A superhero comedy involving extraterrestrial bugs, the end of the world, and a search for the perfect restroom. You can read it online in the August 2016 issue of Defenestration. My dream cast for the story and inspiration are on my blog.
Misunderstood
This science fiction short story is less than 500 words but within it, over 4000 years pass. It was published on 365 Tomorrows. You can read my notes on the story and the inspiration for it in this blog post.
The Clockwork Seer
This is my first published steampunk story, featuring a clairvoyant who wishes she could live a normal life. However, a typewriter in her hip and deadly automatons are making normalcy rather impossible.
You can buy the book on Amazon or read more details about the anthology and my story.
The Five Year Journal
This short, religious story is a finalist in the 2015 Mormon Lit Blitz contest. It’s an experiment in the journal form and telling a very long story in a very short amount of space.
Yongrui and the Tree of Life
This short story mixes Chinese and Edenic mythology, faith and healing, art and folklore, in the story of a man attempting to paint the tree of life for his dying son.
This story won first in Segullah’s 2015 fiction contest.
Breastfeeding Mama
This humorous essay about breastfeeding combines Aztec fire rituals, family history, and porcupine quills. It was one of the nonfiction winners in the Tempe Community Writing contest. You can read it as part of their book, the Tempe Writers Forum, Volume 1 (which is available as a pdf online). My essay starts on page 57.
I also wrote a short blog post about this essay, if you want to learn more about the piece and the writing contest.
Case Study #237: Teenage Ethical Dilemmas
This short story combines science fiction and comedy, teenagers and kissing. Need I say more?
Daughter of a Boto
This short story is about a girl, Ana Luiza, who has always been told her father is a river dolphin.
This story won third place in the 2014 Meeting of the Myths contest. You can also read a blog post about the background of the story.
“Pride and Prejudice: Jane Austen and the Art of Argument”
This is a 5 minute presentation I gave to a crowd of over 800 people at Ignite Phoenix (video in the link). It’s a mashup of Aristotle and Jane Austen, because truly, Jane Austen’s novels are actually rhetoric textbooks.
I Am Not a Writer
This personal essay explores what it means to be a writer, to want, to dream, to work, to fail, and sometimes even to succeed.
This essay won second place in the BYU Studies 2013 Essay contest.
In Which Eve Names Everything Else
Have you ever wondered if Eve was jealous that Adam got to name all the animals?
This short play won 2nd place in the 2013 Mormon Lit Blitz contest. You can also read a blog post about 4 things (including a Barenaked Ladies song) that inspired the story.
Update: This play has now been translated to Spanish. You can read the translation or my thoughts on it.
Waiting
A futuristic, science fiction take on the Biblical trope of the time of the Second Coming being compared to a woman and childbirth.
This short story won third place in the Four Centuries of Mormon Stories contest.
Public spheres, democracy, and new media: using blogs in the composition classroom
My Master’s thesis, in which I basically argue that blogs are an awesome way to teach writing.
Opinion Editorials, New Media, and Participation in Real Public Discourse
One of my papers that led up to my thesis, and first place winner in the Locutorium contest.
New Media Writing and Online Audience Interaction
A short article about an experimental class I taught which focused on new media and writing.
An American Teenager in Brazil: A Memoir
A collection of vignettes on my experiences living as a teenager in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I explore memory, spirituality, art, storytelling, and the challenges and opportunities of living in a foreign country.
This was my Honors thesis that I wrote as an undergraduate. If you happen to live in Utah, you can read it at the Harold B. Lee Library on BYU campus.