of Kurt Manwaring
I recently had the privilege to interview Kurt Bestor. He is an Emmy-winning composer especially known for his Christmas music and non-denominational song, “Prayer of the Children.” He is also a composer for the 1993 movie, “Rigoletto.”
SALT LAKE CITY — A TV show about Army medics in the jungles of Korea during a bloody conflict doesn’t sound like a hit, and yet that’s exactly what the CBS show “M*A*S*H” (1972-1983) turned into following a bumpy start. After the network nearly canceled it in its first season, 105.9 million viewers tuned in to watch the show’s finale 11 years later — a record broken only in 2010 by the Super Bowl.
This year marks the 35-year anniversary of the show’s ending, and actress Loretta Swit recently reflected on what made “M*A*S*H” unique and why it continues to attract a strong following.
I recently had the privilege to interview Kristin Booth. She is a talented actress best known for her performance as Shane McInerney in “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.”
I recently interviewed Joe Mallozzi for an article in the Deseret News. Mallozzi was the showrunner of “Dark Matter” and a prolific producer of “Stargate” franchise TV episodes.
Mallozzi shared thoughts on his decision to breakdown what would be (and may yet be) the first episode of a fourth season of “Dark Matter.” He also commented on the status of the effort to revive “Stargate” and shared his thoughts on fan reactions to sci-fi cancellations.
The entirety of his comments are provided below. Continue reading “Joe Mallozzi talks ‘Dark Matter’ cliffhanger, ‘Stargate’ revival”
SALT LAKE CITY — Last August, the season three finale of the Syfy series “Dark Matter” ended on a cliffhanger. In what may be an unprecedented move, the showrunner of the canceled production is taking to Twitter to live-tweet his vision for the first episode of a potential fourth season.
Continue reading “‘Dark Matter’ showrunner shares secret scenes live on Twitter”
I have been privileged to interview several people associated with “When Calls the Heart” and publish their comments in various articles. This post provides links to all related articles and will be updated as needed.
Click images for articles. Continue reading “‘When Calls the Heart’”
In March 2018, I had the privilege to interview Richard Davis for “10 questions.” Davis is chair of the United Utah Party.
Truman Madsen (1926 – 2009) told the story of a Latter-day Saint religious service in a prison I have occasionally seen pop up as a joke in Mormon culture. In the story, someone is offering a prayer and uses an absent-minded phrase that echoes an expression you can often hear in benedictions at Mormon congregations: ‘Please bless that those who are not here today will be here next time.’
Various forms of the joke use slightly different wording but the general substance is always the same. While you may pray that someone who is not at church today can be in attendance the next time, you probably do not want to pray that the location for their particular church services will be a prison.
I always thought this was just a joke, but I recently stumbled across a story that suggests it is based on an actual incident. Continue reading “Justice A. H. Ellett and the origin of a Mormon joke”
Welcome to Fromthedesk, the new freelance writing site of Kurt Manwaring. This site will be utilized for a number of different publishing purposes, including personal blogs, author interviews, and special features. Additionally, users may contact me to hire my services as a freelance writer.
General content
This is where I will be posting my personal blogs. Topics will be wide-ranging and reflect my observations on different writing projects. Frequently, when I publish in mainstream outlets you can expect to see supplemental material to the articles posted here.
Book reviews also fit under this category, though whenever possible I plan to examine different books with a focus on one or two issues rather than general overviews.
Most book reviews and author interviews will contain a focus on relevance to Mormonism. Many books will be overtly Mormon (i.e., Mormon authors writing about Mormon topics). Those books that are not directly related to Mormonism will nonetheless be examined to determine what connections can be made. For example, fantasy authors who are Mormon may be asked about the role of their faith in their writings while religious historians may be asked how their works apply to Mormons today. I do not intend for my audience to consist solely of Mormons, but my book reviews will largely center on those interested in Mormon aspects of different writings.
Author interviews
Source material for my interviews with authors will be published on Fromthedesk. This not only adds context and transparency to the use of author quotes in press materials, but also allows the source material to be quoted by those working on other projects.
Special features
I plan to use Fromthedesk for a number of special features. At present, two features are planned.
I am certain the site will evolve with time. For now, I hope readers will find engaging material and that those seeking for a freelance writer will be happy to have come to the right place.