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Mar 22Liked by Bill Shunn

This was a heck of a journey, and a great read.

I'm not sure where I heard about your book, but I bought it on day 1 as a present for my brother, way back in 2015. Now that I'm a short story writer myself, and see your name everywhere associated with the standard manuscript format, it was trippy to make the connection.

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Glad you appreciated the odyssey! I never set out to become a formatting expert, but I do love it when connections like this happen.

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Do you have any other Mormon-themed writing available anywhere? I can't remember reading any others and I would be intrigued. Oh, I remember one story about a cult aboard a large spaceship traveling the large distances of space, that was clearly (to me) inspired by Mormonism.

I always figured you would have to write about Mormonism -- about the religion, your experiences there, or stories inspired anything Mormon-related -- before you would really be able write the other stories you wanted to. I mean, how could a writer not write about that, about all of those things that had been so impactful to you?

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Jul 10, 2022·edited Jul 10, 2022Author

It actually took me some years into my career before I started publishing much about Mormonism.

The novella you’re recalling is INCLINATION, which took place on a giant space station and was shortlisted for the Hugo and the Nebula:

https://dogb.us/inclination

The final story in my collection AN ALTERNATE HISTORY OF THE 21ST CENTURY, “Not of This Fold,” is a much nearer-future story of Mormons on a space station:

https://dogb.us/history

And then there’s the novelette I mentioned, AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE A FIRE, which is based on my own experiences:

https://dogb.us/earthquake

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Jul 10, 2022Liked by Bill Shunn

I'm think of "Not of This Fold".

Thanks for the references. I need to pick them up sometime and read them.

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“Inclination” is about the Mormon-like cult. I should have clarified that “Not of This Fold” features two Mormon missionaries on an Earth-orbiting space habitat, but they’re the only Mormons on board who we meet.

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