Dear Agent,

Salt & Spoons lays bare my experience growing up trans nonbinary as a Mormon in Provo Utah, as well as my gender transition during and after college. I am reaching out to you specifically due to [insert personalized tidbit here] which lead me to believe you could be the right fit to represent this book.

My work discusses hot-button topics such as racism, homophobia, transphobia, loss of religion, sexual assault, youth homelessness, and generational trauma. it does not hesitate to present these topics as complicated as they are. In the first chapter we see a young me grapple with gender incongruence before the all-important-age of 8, when Mormon children are baptized. Chapter two discusses my baptism, and subsequent discovery that this religious rite did not cure my gender incongruence. In chapter three, three plagues in the family are reveled side by side, which is how they unfolded for me. I shall not spoil the rest.

Salt & Spoons is fundamentally intersectional. Not only does this work exists at the intersection of two kinds of memoirs--those of religious disaffiliation, and those of growing up queer--but could be described as a kind of intersectional de-colonization.

As anyone who has lost faith knows, one in that situation is ravenous for media that depicts their experiences, due to the isolation one feels and the possible ostracization one may face. There exists a great demand for literature that depicts queer Ex-Mormon experiences, not just for queer people who leave the faith, but also for the straight people who wish to learn more about LGBTQ lives and experiences after disavowing their faith. Non-Mormons would also be interested in this book, as the Mormon church is perceived as quite the producer of scintillating scandal. Queer people of all religious backgrounds will be torn apart and built back up by this story of queer resiliency.

I could not find any currently published memoir titles by queer Ex-Mormons, save a book entitled The Gate and the Garden: The Apostate Journals of a Gay Mormon Missionary in Japan by Corbin Brodie. The market that exists at this intersection is practically untapped, and growing every day as more and more Mormons leave the church, and as more and more Mormons (like Ruby Franke) make headlines. Educated: A memoir by Tara Westover is the closest touchstone I could find to my own work--though Westover's is distinctly lacking the camp my story has.

My artwork was published in NYU's Literary Magazine BRIO in 2017. Since that time I have not been formally published, whether in word or watercolor. Below you will find a tidbit of the beginning of the book. I truly hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have benefitted from writing it, from getting this story out of me. Please let me know if you are interested in representing me and my work, or in reading more of my 39,783 word working draft.

Sincerely,

Riya Basalt
Contact Phone
Contact email

Onions need salt. I am unsure when I learned this, but it is something I rehearse to myself while I watch their white bodies sizzling in the pan. Murgh Sadah[1] requires onion, ginger, salt, then the chicken, tomatoes, yogurt, spices. Nothing is measured. Rita[2] needs salt too. I insist on making the Rita. I peel and shred the cucumber, pushing the cold flesh against the grater into the yellow colander perched over a plate. I salt the cucumber liberally, entreating the water to leave the green shreds and drip onto the metal plate.

I was never taught to cook, I was told I must learn, so I watched.

Cooking Indian food is a family affair. My brothers crowd around the green speckled counter and roll roti[3], rolling and spreading the oil before folding the dough. I don't remember when I was taught to roll roti, it was just known. My mother rehearsed the steps we already knew, that were already deeply ingrained. While my brothers and father roll and cook the roti on cast iron pans, flipping them delicately with their fingertips, and wrapping them in a towel, my sister and I chop. My Mom chops everything small, too small, and scolds me for my inconsistent onion size, but she pours them into the pan anyway, tossing ginger and salt against the hot cast iron.

[1] Murgh Sadah is a dish originating from Punjab India.

[2] Rita is a yogurt and cucumber based sauce from India.

[3] A flatbread made of atta flour, water, and oil. Typically cooked in a tandoor, however a cast iron pan will do.