William Shunn – Medium

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The Accidental Terrorist: Confessions of a Reluctant Missionary

The Accidental Terrorist: Confessions of a Reluctant Missionary

In 1987, a faltering missionary lands in a Canadian jail, facing hijacking charges. Cory Doctorow says, “My favorite true-life amazing-but-true tale!"

2015

Stories

Pinned

William Shunn

The Long and Winding Road to Idaho

A homesick Mormon missionary embarks on an elaborate quest to go home without imperiling his soul. Easier said than done, on both counts.

10 min readJul 14, 2023

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A Mormon missionary is captured against cloudy skies in a midair somersault, perhaps having bounced from a trampoline outside the frame.

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William Shunn

Salt Crusted on Automotive Glass

Between me and the decadent majesty of the salmon-red cliffs of eastern Utah, a ghost landscape stands sentinel. A poem.

1 min readMar 1, 2024

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A desert landscape with sandstone arch is seen overlaid on the salt-crusted rear window of a hatchback automobile.

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William Shunn

Book Review: The Serial Killer’s Son Takes a Wife

Michael Libling writes like that affable stranger on the next barstool buying you spiked drinks as he charms you with his stories.

4 min readFeb 26, 2024

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Book Review: The Serial Killer’s Son Takes a Wife

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William Shunn
in
Better Programming

Posting Images to Bluesky Social with Perl

If a picture is worth a thousand words, just think how much more engaging our posts can be with images attached. A guide for programmers.

17 min readAug 3, 2023

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Posting Images to Bluesky Social with Perl

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William Shunn

The Golem

Mud thou art, and unto mud shalt thou return. Unless, that is, you’re reckless enough to think you can transform yourself.

2 min readJul 28, 2023

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A large mud creature sits watching television in a dimly lit room full of plants.

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William Shunn

Announcing the Tylogram Summer Challenge!

Win bragging rights, eternal glory, and semi-valuable prizes if you can puzzle out our mystery word in the next thirty days.

4 min readJul 24, 2023

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A fluffy white Blanc de Hotot rabbit sits contemplating blue and tan gaming tiles inscribed with strange letters, atop a wooden desktop also piled with old manuscripts and a quill pen.

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William Shunn
in
Better Programming

Building a Perl Module for Posting to Bluesky Social

The new social media network is growing by leaps and bounds. Learning to post to it with Perl offers lessons useful to coders of all…

17 min readMar 12, 2024

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Building a Perl Module for Posting to Bluesky Social

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William Shunn

My 2¢ (two cents?) on spelling out numbers in text

The question of when and how to use numerals in your manuscript is a complicated one, no two ways about it. Here are some simple guidelines.

4 min readMay 12, 2023

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Silhouette of a person walking in front of a wall of numbers spelled out in glowing blue neon.

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William Shunn

The Visitors at Wriggly Field

Who can forget that unprecedented World Series from a decade ago? You know, the one with the alien invasion that made Wrigley all wriggly?

14 min readOct 30, 2022

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The Visitors at Wriggly Field

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William Shunn

Why I Relate to Tyler Glenn’s “Trash”

Yes, the controversial music video defaces sacred LDS symbols, but doing so brings to visceral life the nightmare journey of the apostate.

3 min readSep 23, 2022

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In a dim, eerily lit hallway, a young bearded man with a hip haircut scowls at a defaced painting of the LDS prophet Joseph Smith.

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William Shunn

William Shunn

Book Author

Writer, poet and puzzle maker. Hugo and Nebula Award finalist. Author of The Accidental Terrorist: Confessions of a Reluctant Missionary. He/him/Bill.

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