This month, the Catholic Writers’ Guild is touring Guildie Susan Peek’s book, SAINT MAGNUS, THE LAST VIKING. It is a SOA award winner. Teaser: In this fast-paced novel for teens, the conflict unfolds between Saint Magnus Erlendson, a heroic young prince aflame with the love of God, and his outlawed […]
Rosa, Sola, by Carmela Martino
In Rosa, Sola, Carmela Martino extended an invitation for her readers to meet Rosa Bernardi and share the hospitality of her Italian immigrant household. Martino spiced the text with Italian dialogue and painted her chapters in domestic minutiae that placed a fork in the reader’s right hand and a […]
The Breen and Tozer Mystery Series, Volumes 1 & 2, by William Shaw
Volume 1: She’s Leaving Home If “a book is a ship that takes you to distant lands,” then the Breen and Tozer series welds together a tour bus, a “Tube” carriage and a time machine. The Anglophile – with online maps and satellite views – becomes an accidental tourist, […]
Two by Alan Bradley
As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust, by Alan Bradley I would not spill too many beans were I to say that in volume 007, Flaiva is older (12), wiser (IQ = 134) and exiled to the frozen tundra (Toronto.) Sad and virtually alone, Flavia, nevertheless, quickly returns to her […]
Celebrating Our First Christmas with Alzheimer’s Disease: Laughter Allowed
IT MAKES SENSE TO ME by Larry Peterson I guess the first time I realized that something was really wrong was about a year and a half ago. I have a bedroom I turned into an office, and I was sitting at the keyboard clicking away. I sensed someone behind […]
Transitions – How to get your character from here to there
One area of writing craft that doesn’t get a lot of attention is that of writing transitions. You’ve gotten to the end of a scene, or maybe just to the middle, and the characters need to move to a different location, or perhaps some time must pass. How do we […]
The Catholic Fiction Critique Group
“I remember the trembling, nausea, and inability to focus that hit me when I first submitted a chapter to a critique group. That was many years ago. Those symptoms persisted for several years. Despite the agony, I continued to submit chapters and to give critiques on others’ work, because I […]
Sisters of the Last Straw, Book # 3: The Case of the Stolen Rosaries, by Karen Kelly Boyce
The title suggests the work of the famous, pink cat-burglar, but Mr. Lemon cast a darker interpretation of the recent shenanigans on and about the convent property. With their usual aplomb, the sisters raise the level of hilarity as they investigate a crime with far-reaching, social consequences. Readers of […]
Opal’s Jubilee, by Leslie Lynch
Strong coffee and strong women perk the pages of Leslie Lynch’s third novel in her Appalachian Foothills series. Learn what gave these women the muscles of the agile tigress who struck from the shadows, the guile of the rural widow who skulked the hollows with her […]
Unholy Bonds, by Leslie Lynch
Leslie Lynch cranked up the suspense in Unholy Bonds, the second book in her Appalachian Foothills series. Lannis Parker, rape-survivor, juggled multiple threats as her life crashed about her. She found that “turning the other cheek” often invited another slap. Rejected by those who should have support her, she refuses […]