LDSPMA

Empowering Latter-day Saints to spread light and truth by connecting them at the intersection of faith, creativity, and professional skill

memoir

LDSPMA Member Spotlight: Maleah Day Warner

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Maleah Day Warner currently lives in American Fork, Utah.

What are some names of the books or other media you have created?

Lies of the Magpie is my debut memoir and the 2020 AML award winner for Creative Nonfiction. I also host the Power Principles Podcast.

What inspired you to become a creator of media?

My fourth grade teacher told me I would be a writer, and I believed her.

What has been the highlight of your career so far?

Meeting Alex Boyé at LDSPMA conference 2021, of course!

Winning the 2020 AML (Association for Mormon Letters) award for Creative Nonfiction was thrilling and an absolute surprise. Many thanks to AML for boosting my confidence as an author. 🙂

What was the best advice you’ve ever been given in your creative journey?

Ally Condie said she gave herself permission to take her time in her writing journey. This advice has helped me to be patient in the LONG process of becoming a writer and the even LONGER journey to publication.

What advice do you have for someone just starting out in your field?

Be willing to be really bad at your craft. You have to be bad BEFORE you can be good. But no one wants to be bad, so we procrastinate creating. Go ahead and be bad. Produce that cringe-worthy first draft. Clunk through the gag-inducing second draft. Imagine that you’re required to produce 200,00 really awful sentences before your brilliance can shine. Then you can sit down and start writing junk. Jeff Savage says you have to dump a whole lot of manure on your page before the flowers will grow.

What keeps you inspired in your daily creative work?

Most of the day I wrestle with enormous amounts of self-doubt. When I’m on top of my creative game, it’s remembering my WHY that keeps me going. And reading. When I lack motivation, reading gets me back on track.

What would you like others to know about you or your creative process?

I love mothering and writing and try to combine the two whenever I can. I want to see more stories with mother protagonists.

My mission is to educate, validate, and elevate the work of mothering.

In what ways do you feel you have been able to be a voice for good in your creative pursuits?

I believe that a healthy world starts with healthy mothers. Postpartum depression, anxiety and mental health issues are a huge battle for mothers right now. I also believe in the healing power of story. Maybe a mom who feels alone and is struggling can find hope, healing, and an enormous hug and boost of encouragement from reading my story.

If you want your spotlight to link to your website or any of your social media platforms, include the URLs here.

[email protected]

Instagram: @maleahdaywarnerwrites

https://www.facebook.com/maleah.warner

Announcing the Praiseworthy Awards for Emerging Authors!

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By Katie Wiscombe, LDSPMA Awards Committee Member   

How are you like the following people: Gerald Lund, Sarah Eden, or even Brandon Sanderson? I’m sure most of you would say you are nothing like these amazing Latter-day Saint authors. But really, you would be wrong. You probably have several things in common, but I’m looking for just one. Any guesses? No? Well, let me tell you.

You are like these creators simply because they, too, were once unknown authors with the drive, discipline, and talent to take that first step. The first step for you can be right here. If your dreams are tied up in telling the stories rolling around in your head, you’re in the right place. Let me explain.

In conjunction with our annual Latter-day Saint Publishing & Media Association conference held in October, we offer an opportunity for previously unpublished authors to submit their work to the Praiseworthy Award for Emerging Authors contest. This is a writing contest specifically for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who are unpublished and unagented. And this opportunity has a wonderful prize waiting at the finish line for the winners: feedback from the industry professionals at Eschler Editing! What?! Truly, the chance to have a professional in the field help you on your way is worth that first step.

The Details

Now for a little housekeeping. We open for submissions for all genres on May 1, 2021. Fiction submissions are due by June 1, 2021. Nonfiction submissions are DUE by June 15, 2021. 

You are welcome to submit up to 2,500 words from any genre and on any topic you would like. Picture books to epic fantasy. Romance to memoir. Historical fiction or nonfiction. Poetry or essays. Do you have a manuscript on how to make goat cheese? Or maybe you have a more serious subject matter that needs to be heard. Send it over.  The sky’s the limit. All you need to do is click here for additional information on submitting your manuscript.

Winners

Winners will be announced at the conference in October. Besides the feedback from Eschler Editing, all winners and honorable mentions will receive a certificate and a digital badge to post on their social media pages or website. 

The Invitation

I hope you follow that voice in your head that encourages you to take that first step. It’s not impossible to think that you could someday be in the same place as those incredible authors above. Nelson Mandela shared some inspired insight on the subject when he said, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” So what are you waiting for? Dust off your manuscript, click the link, and submit your 2,500 words. Impossible no more–you just got it done. One step closer to your dream becoming a reality. 

We can’t wait to hear your stories!