It was reported today in the Boston Globe that LDS (Mormon) women, many moms among them, are making their mark in young adult literature – click here.
I found my husband Dan, an LDS bishop, reading the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. I’ve never known him to be interested in young adult fiction, let alone vampires. He only scanned the Harry Potter series to know what his kids were reading. But the Twilight series captured his interest probably because many in his flock are reading it.
Dan took me to see the Twilight movie. I have to say it is probably the first time in our twenty-two year marriage he invited me to see a chick-flick!
It doesn’t surprise me that LDS mom Stephenie Meyer would write a wholesome vampire story. Well, maybe not the wholesome part, but vampires?… they seem scary. So yes, I am surprised about that. But Stephanie’s vampires are so nice that I am ashamed I had held such negative misconceptions of them.
OK, whoa, back to reality. There are NO such things as vampires.
So what is driving LDS moms to write young adult fiction? And why does it make news? The Boston Globe article offers some valid ideas.
Here is my take as an insider to the faith:
On why it makes news? I am baffled, but here is what I see –
The LDS voice is becoming increasingly unique in a world that holds views so divergent from the moral standards held by a majority only a few generations ago. A vampire, even a good vampire at that, who does not engage in sex-before-marriage is a stark contrast in the world today. Unique sells? Maybe.
On why LDS moms? –
That Stephenie Meyer and other LDS moms would make their mark is not surprising to me. They are part of a growing legion of clever LDS “mompreneurs” I observe who have found a way to be there for their children while working and making history for themselves and their posterity.
These mompreneurs don’t sit still, they follow their passions, they move and they shake and make a difference in their communities and they often do it with children in tow. I don’t see many “barefooted” among them. Pregnant, oh yes, but their feet have shoes, running shoes and stilettos…they move fast in both.
In our St. Louis Missouri South Stake (about 10 wards — congregations) are many young mompreneurs. And some are making local news:
Artist Laura Gunn, mom of two, was featured in the Jan/Feb issue of AT HOME St. Louis Magazine. She sells her artwork online and through local interior designers and just launched a new fabric line. Laura does not wait for her children to nap in order to work, rather she engages them in her work. It is not uncommon for mom and kids to have paint in their hair by the end of the day.
Trenna Lange, young mom of two and interior designer, is featured in the March/April issue of AT HOME St. Louis magazine currently on newsstands. Trenna Lange talks about how she also makes her family part of her successful business model.
There are many more momprenuers whose stories go unsung. A quiet legion of local LDS momprenuers, contributing and making a difference in many areas of St. Louis in various occupations.
These women are supported by their husbands who hear time and time again in lessons directed to men in the Church that they need to nurture the talents of women. Men in our church who follow that counsel have wives who are the happiest and most fulfilled women.
Julie Berry, also an LDS young-adult fiction author, was quoted in the Boston Globe article:
“I know motherhood is the most important thing I’ll do in my life, but there’s something about motherhood that makes you feel like you’re disappearing – it kind of effaces and erodes you. I came into writing as a gift, and . . . I really feel like it rescued me. Those first years I would thank God every day for giving me writing.”
Stephenie Meyer and Julie Berry and the LDS mompreneurs like them, are a result of a faith that acknowledges they have God-given talents to bless the lives of loved-ones and others.
If they choose, they can tell stories. And being true to their faith, they will champion the good wherever they go, even the good in vampires.
Above photo is of Stephenie Meyer.
Dana King, 45, volunteers in public affairs for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- St. Louis Missouri South Stake. She chairs the annual Discover Your Roots conference and serves on the Friends of Dred Scott committee. Dana is a contributor to outreach initiatives: knowyourneighbornet.org and BlackLDS.org. Dana is married, mother of two teens, and runs her interior design business. 
Thanks for the spell check on Stephenie’s name.
Regarding D. Walker’s comment: There are no such things as vampires. No such thing as Darth Vader either. These are made up. It’s fantasy and it’s OK to go into that place once in a while as long as it inspires in us a conviction to do good and not bad. In the Star Wars or Twilight movies,for examples, I find myself siding with the good guys. It’s a harmless way to acknowledge that there is good and evil and we can choose what side we want to be on.
I don’t in any way celebrate Satan’s followers in any form, fantastic or real. Anything, literature or movies…etc., that makes evil seem good will not have the spirit of God in it.
We can discern the good from the evil when we have the spirit of God in us. We won’t be fooled.
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How can a vampire be good when God forbid us from ingesting the lifeblood of any living thing until this very day? Vampires represent death, just as skeletons do and are so popular today. These things should be avoided at all costs. I do not allow these things into my home.
I don’t know if people should place their guard down just because a Christian wrote about vampires in a good light, that is like the good witch, the good sorcerer, all impossible according to God’s word, don’t be fooled.
We are commanded to stay away from all such things and of course these things we are instructed to show no interest what so ever and to stay away from. They are forbidden by God and must be presented in a good light for Christians to show interest and, it looks as if it worked. One must be very careful and especially Christians to not show any interest in these things that are forbidden. Next we will have a Christian publishing a fiction about good demons. Scary because so many Christians will open their door up to these things of the occult just as they have with the good vampires. I must shake my head.
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Oddities SpellCheck to the rescue: It’s Stephenie. With an “e.”
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Being a mom brings a woman great joy if she chooses to be happy in her obligations. I am sad that any woman feels that motherhood “kind of effaces or erodes” her. That is not the way the Lord intended motherhood to be. No woman is a ‘perfect’ mother. I make plenty of mistakes but I know that satan is the one who wants me to be miserable so either I humble myself and do the Lord’s will or choose to be unhappy. Sometimes I have chosen the latter, but many good things have come whenever I choose to be happy. I believe if we embrace motherhood as a noble and high calling from God then we will be blessed for our efforts. Also, developing and using our talents for good purposes should add to being a mother and not detract from who we are. I believe we allow ourselves to be deceived if we believe that motherhood erodes women.
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A well written article about interesting people.
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Thank you – great article. Being a mompreneur has been the best of both worlds for me!
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Great post Dana!
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