I don’t usually participate in this kind of stuff, but a group of people are getting together online to commemorate President Gordon B. Hinckley’s life by pledging to read the Book of Mormon in 97 days, starting this Monday. President Hinckley was an incredible man and his teachings and leadership profoundly affected my life. Like all church presidents, he constantly encouraged the rest of us to read the Book of Mormon, and I feel that he would be pleased that people are commemorating him by doing just that. If you would care to join me, you can follow the link below:
Author: Joe Vasicek
Joe Vasicek is the author of more than twenty science fiction books, including the Star Wanderers and Sons of the Starfarers series. As a young man, he studied Arabic and traveled across the Middle East and the Caucasus. He claims Utah as his home.
Thoughts on Writing Groups
It’s been really interesting to compare my experience with the Quark writing group with the writing group in English 318. There really is a lot of contrast between the two, and that’s helping me to understand what works and what doesn’t, and what writing groups are good for and not so good for…
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
In English 318 at BYU, every time somebody mentions Scalzi’s name, Brandon Sanderson (who teaches the class) counts to three, raises his fists and shouts out “Scalzi!” in this voice that makes it clear that he’s cursing his name. Why? Because he beat him to some kind of award or something. But Scalzi is definitely a good writer, not only because Sanderson chose Old Man’s War as one of our “textbooks” for his class, but because he wrote a sci fi book that sold better than most fantasy books, in a time when the genre has been experiencing a downturn. And he is a good writer; I thoroughly enjoyed his book…
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
When I started this book, I was a little bit surprised that it’s such a famous sci fi book–the story wasn’t that strong, and there were a couple of flaws that even the Quark writing group would pick up on pretty quickly. By the time I finished it, however, it gave me the urge to do two things: vote for McCain and join the marines…
I was wrong…
I have come to a realization about self-consciousness and writing…
Sanderson on Story Ideas
Here is some more advice from Brandon Sanderson’s English 318 class at BYU…
Quark Writing Group Flier 2008
Check out the link below! It’s a copy of the writing group flier for this year! Many thanks to Aiwe for the artwork! Here’s what to do…download the flier, print it out, and post it up wherever you want! Especially if you’re in the Provo/Orem area–we want to attract BYU aspiring writers who love Science Fiction and Fantasy as much as we do, wherever they are!
Quark Writing Group Flier 2008
Progress and sadness
First, I wish to note with great sadness the passing of President Gordon B. Hinckley. He was a great man who had a deep and lasting impact on my life. I don’t doubt that he is in a better place, reunited with his wife, but for me, here on Earth, it is still very sad. He will be greatly missed.
I heard about the news when I was at a friend’s house, writing in The Wormhole Paradigm for English 318…
A new hypothesis on the infrequency of dating
I ran into a friend / old roommate at the library just now. He greeted me by saying “so, you’re as lame as me for not being on a date Friday night?” He then proceeded to give a very interesting hypothesis as to the meaning of this…
Man! I need to FOCUS!
Just a rant on the negative aspects of my usual disorganized mode of existence…