New issue of Mormon Artist is out
May 31st, 2009 by Menachem Wecker
I just finished reading the latest issue of Mormon Artist magazine.
The issue is packed with interviews with Mormon artists, each of which features questions like “How do you see the gospel influencing your work?” and “How do you see your work helping build the kingdom?”
The interviews are all pretty enlightening, but here is my favorite response, which comes from author Janette Rallison:
Young adult novels have become really sexual in the last few years, and many authors don’t skimp on the details, either. Every time I see an author out promoting one of these books, I want to say, “Hello, you’re writing this book for kids who aren’t responsible enough to turn in their library books on time. Should you really be encouraging them to have sex?”
My main characters don’t even date until they’re sixteen. They also don’t smoke or drink coffee or tea. There are no swear words in my books. This is another rarity in teen books lately. I’ve actually had several readers e-mail me and ask me if I was LDS. My editors don’t want me to have any of my characters be LDS, so I get a kick out of it when people pick up on these clues anyway.
On another level, and perhaps a more important one, my characters have hope. They triumph over trials. They find meaning in them.
I think it’s kind of sad that the editors ask for non-LDS characters. I’m sure they would just cite statistics about what “the market” wants, but that does not make me feel any better to know that the larger public, rather than just a handful of editors, cannot fall in love with LDS characters.