Events

Dead Stars and Stone Arches Book Signing

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment

I should have posted about this sooner, but last week, I participated in a book signing for Dead Stars and Stone Arches: A Collection of Utah Horror at the grand opening of the Legendarium bookstore and café! Several of the authors and poets were there. We each read a paragraph or two from our stories and poems, then signed about 20-30 books. It was fun to chat with other Utah writers and horror fans.

Since I’m an introvert, I was nervous about doing the reading and thought about backing out, but I’m glad I went. Since there were several other writers there, there wasn’t that much pressure on me and everyone was really supportive of everyone else. I received positive comments about my story from someone who’d already read it and people who liked my reading. It was exciting to talk to a fan in person.

The fact Legendarium is within walking distance of my house was icing on the cake. It’s a really cool place with stained glass depictions of Star Wars and Good Omens characters in the windows and the café has a sign saying they serve breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, and so forth. I’m definitely going to be going back there again.

My story, “Fog of Sand”, takes place in Salt Lake City in the not-too-distant future after the Great Salt Lake has dried up and become a dust bowl. Unfortunately, the Great Salt Lake actually is drying up and has already started becoming a dust bowl.

Someone commented that my story would be hard to read because it’s too real. Not to worry! My story also features a weird cult and the ancient god Erra, so there’s some escapism in there too. If you’re interested, you can ready my story, as well as several other great stories and poems, in Dead Stars and Stone Arches from Timber Ghost Press.

LTUE 2022

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment

I attended the Life The Universe & Everything (LTUE) writer’s conference in Provo, Utah this year after a few years away. There were less people this year than in years past. Although I felt safe, it’s understandable less people would want to attend an in-person convention during a pandemic. The lower attendance resulted in de facto social distancing in all the conference rooms, so there was that. Also, you were required to have either a vaccination or a negative Covid test in order to attend and most of the attendees wore masks. I only attended the first two days of LTUE (Thursday and 17th and Friday the 18th) as I had other plans on Saturday. I still attended a lot of great panels and had a lot of fun.

Continue reading →

LTUE 2018 Conference Wrap-up Part 6

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment

This is the sixth and final part of my wrap-up of the Life, The Universe, and Everything 2018 writer’s conference held in Provo, Utah between February 15-17.

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Mari Murdock

The Female Body as Text: Symptoms and Subversions of Systematized Dystopic Oppression in Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta

Mari Murdock presented an academic look at how women fight oppression in a dystopian society. Continue reading →

LTUE 2018 Conference Wrap-up Part 5

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment

This is the fifth part of my wrap-up of the Life, The Universe, and Everything 2018 writer’s conference held in Provo, Utah between February 15-17.

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J. Scott Savage, Scott E. Tarbet, Jess Lindsay, John M. Olsen, Callie Stoker

Writing Steampunk

I didn’t take a lot of notes for this panel. John M. Olsen said steampunk is often focused on aesthetic rather than technology. For example, steampunk machines use brass because it looks cool even though aluminum is lighter. He recommended including all five senses when writing. Include the smell of burning coal, the sound of gears and whistles, etc. Continue reading →

LTUE 2018 Conference Wrap-up Part 3

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment

This is the third part of my wrap-up of the Life, The Universe, and Everything 2018 writer’s conference held in Provo, Utah between February 15-17.

Kinship Systems from Around the World

Daniel Jeffery said threat of injury is a deterrent to predators. They don’t want to attack unless they’re sure of success. In poetry, you can only break the rules if you know you’re breaking the rules.

Megan Hutchins explained that in matrilineal systems, your sister’s son is your heir while your own sons are somewhere else, which can make for an interesting dynamic in fiction. Leonardo da Vinci was a bastard child and didn’t fit into a kinship system, which led to him becoming an apprentice. Often the most interesting stories are those of people who don’t neatly fit into their society. Continue reading →

LTUE 2018 Conference Wrap-up Part 2

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment

This is the second part of my wrap-up of the Life, The Universe, and Everything 2018 writer’s conference held in Provo, Utah between February 15-17.

The Slush Pile Simulator presented by Angie Fenimore

This was the most depressing panel I attended. Angie Fenimore started out by telling us that 3,000 books get published every day. Most of them are self-published so it’s a good idea to have an agent or an editor to give you an extra edge. How do you get an agent or editor? Editors and agents are looking for the ideal client, someone who is professional and stands out. Continue reading →

LTUE 2018 Conference Wrap-up Part 1

~ D. J. Moore ~ Leave a comment

I recently attended the Life, The Universe, and Everything 2018 writer’s conference in nearby Provo, Utah between February 15-17. There were usually several panels going on at any given time, so I obviously didn’t see everything, but I did take notes on the panels I attended. I was disappointed that the SWAG bag didn’t have any free ebooks to download this year, but since I’m still catching up on the books I got last year, that’s probably for the best. Continue reading →