This month, the Catholic Writers’ Guild is touring Guildie Jane Lebak’s book,”The Boys Upstairs.” It is a SOA winner.

Teaser: With temperatures below zero, three homeless kids turn to a disabled priest & an embittered cop as their last hope.

lebak-the-boys-upstairs

Summary: Father Jay is a disabled priest who’s let the local homeless kids move into the unused rectory because it’s so cold. But three days before Christmas, Jay’s estranged brother, a cop, dumps three more kids on his doorstep. Now, in order to save the kids, Jay and Kevin are going to have to work together.  That means reconciling.

Special considerations: The next book in the series to be released before the end of the month.

Website: http://wwwjanelebak.com

Excerpt: After vesting but before starting the service, Jay knelt in the chilly church, in front of the tabernacle and tried to clear his mind. Too much Christmas clutter, he prayed. It’s hard to listen. It’s hard to keep focus.

Momentarily he felt a question: What is most important for the holiday? What does the Nativity mean? And then, What do you want for Christmas?

A dozen needs flooded Jay’s mind: all of those boys upstairs who distrusted the world, Tthe three little kids who’d rather be dead together than alive and apart. There was  Eddie and his yearning for a meaningful role in the world. On the other extreme,  Holly who would all but pay Jay a stipend trying to take care of him. There was his brother Kevin and all of his baggage, his anger and his brooding distances—and it was too much. There were so many more gaps. His parish needed so much. Fighting a war hadn’t sapped half as much out of him as St. Gus could on its busiest days.

Oh, God… Jay lowered his head to hide the nervous chuckle. All I asked for was an electric can-opener.

Bio: Jane Lebak talks to angels, cats, and her kids. Only the angels listen to her, but the kids talk back. She lives in the Swamp, writing books and knitting socks, with the occasional foray into violin-playing. You’ll also find her blogging at QueryTracker.net, a resource for writers seeking agents and small publishers.

Buy Link: http://amzn.to/2dYaqgn

Tweet: Three homeless children. Two estranged brothers. One last chance.
http://amzn.to/2dYaqgn

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Michael Fraley has been editing and posting the CWG Book Blast since 2016. He's adapted the Arthurian portion of Geoffrey of Monmouth's “Histories of the Kings of Britain” to the comic page, has worked in book illustration, graphic design, and has also served as a newspaper columnist. In 2019 the story of his conversion to Catholicism was told in Nancy Ward's book Sharing Your Catholic Faith Story. His primary area of study is in the Jewish roots of the Church, with an emphasis on the Gospel of Matthew and the Epistle of James. He holds a MA in theology from St. Joseph's College of Maine and a BFA in fine art from Indiana University. He can be reached at michael@michaelfraley.com

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