The Catholic Writers Guild

Continuing with our collection of Lenten devotionals by CWG members, let’s turn to A Time to Treasure by Connie Clark.  For those who haven’t met her, Connie is one of the forces behind the scenes here at the CWG blog, editing posts, updating links, and generally making herself useful. 

Since I haven’t read the book myself, I had do a little Q&A to learn more.  I’m glad I did, because Connie’s treated us to some great insights on Catholic writing and publishing, and a hilarious cover-story as well.  Here goes . . .

 CWG Blog: Tell me about your devotional.  What’s it like?  Who’s it for?  What makes it different from the 10,000 other works out there?  

Connie:

Almost all Catholic publishers offer seasonal day-by-day books. You saw Sarah’s wonderful book from  Liguori…There’s also OSV, Loyola, and  of course, The Little Black Books.

Like many publishers, mine (Twenty-Third) reaches a primarily pastoral audience, so their Lenten devotional books are purchased by parishes, Catholic schools and sometimes even entire dioceses (we love it when that happens!).

Twenty-Third publishes about four Lenten devotional books a year for very specific Catholic audiences. Mine is for Catholic families, and this is my second year of doing the books. (Last year mine was the one chosen to be translated into Spanish!)

On each page, there’s a quote from the daily Mass reading, a short reflection (usually about one of my daily parenting mistakes–I have a lot of material for that!) a prayer for a family to say together, and a quick activity. Other authors in the series include Fr. Joe Sica, Pat Livingston, and Kathy Hendricks. They are all amazing and inspiring and I can’t believe I get to be counted among them.

What’s cool is these little books are so affordable. I think mine is 99 cents or something like that. Parishes have to do more with less, but they still have to support families. So parishes can buy these books and give them away easily. Or families can buy them. I think it’s incredibly important to support Catholics who are struggling both economically and spiritually.

CWG Blog: Connie, you’ve been working as a professional “Catholic Writer” all over the Catholic market for years.  How is devotional-writing different from other kinds of writing that you do?  Did your work on this Lenten devotional impact you spiritually in a way that other articles and books didn’t?  How so?

Connie:

Don’t tell my publisher, but I think that even if no one reads my devotional books it’s okay because I think this is the way God chooses to speak to me. Of course, He speaks to everyone differently–maybe it’s through signs or silence or in other ways, but this happens to be how he finally gets through to my thick skull. I think he knows that the only way I will sit quietly and stare at a Gospel passage for hours to figure out what He’s saying is because an editor is waiting for me to write it down. Hopefully other parents get something out of it, too, but for the months I’m working on these, I feel very, very close to Our Lord. It’s hard work, but what a grace.

One other way this impacts me–and this is more of a writing thing–is that I have to write these very, very tightly. I get about 200 words per page to do the scripture passage, reflection, prayer, and activity. So it’s a huge exercise in self-editing. I have to make the most impact in as few words as possible. I sort of know how haiku writers feel! Every word, syllable and character counts. Maybe that’s how God is speaking to me, too–by making me think very carefully about every word.

CWG Blog: Anything else readers should know?

Connie:

Little story. This year, my publisher very graciously asked for my input on the cover. They were deciding between two images. One was a beautiful little girl holding a baby bird close to her cheek. It was such a sweet image, and the little girl reminded me of St. Therese of Lisieux.

But then my parenting instincts kicked in. Why is that little girl holding a baby bird? Where is her mom? Where is the germy gel?! I mentioned to my publisher that some parents might be concerned about health issues with kids and birds. Later I thought, maybe I’m just crazy. In any case, they didn’t use the baby bird cover, and I’m glad. Crazy, but glad.

Not sure whether Time to Treasure the right book for you this Lent? You can find out easily: Twenty-Third Publications makes the entire text available for preview right here in a not-for-duplication format (click this link). Great strategy for reaching the parish market — pastors and DRE’s can check the content for suitability before jumping in with a bulk purchase.  

Next in the Series: Lord, Open my Heart by Julie Davis.  Stay tuned!