Carolyn Astfalk's Blog, page 44

Relevant Fiction Reviews: Pastor’s Kids

As a lifelong Catholic raised by lifelong Catholics, pastor’s families are something I have little familiarity with. Latin-rite Catholic priests with families are very few and far between. (But, yes, they do exist!) My inexperience did not diminish my enjoyment of these novels. Whether part of a pastor’s family or not, we all understand expectations, superficiality, and hypocrisy learned in myriad ways both inside of church and out.

It’s interesting to see how the themes and observations in these three books overlap despite three very different and distinct author voices.

My Hope Next Door by Tammy L. Gray

I highly recommended My Hope Next Door to anyone trying to reconcile a dark past with a bright future. Katie and Asher’s story of healing and hope is gradual and full of fits and starts. In other words, real.

Filled with many brief flashes of wisdom, My Hope Next Door is the kind of book you can turn to in times of near-despair and re-absorb its messages about redemption, friendship, and life-giving love.

Asher becomes an icon of Our Heavenly Father’s love and fidelity (albeit a hot-looking one) to Katie’s prodigal daughter. Though the gravity of their sins and the sordidness of their pasts contrast starkly, Asher must grapple with guilt, shame, and forgiveness in much the same ways as Katie, giving them each opportunities to extend love and support to the other.

It was refreshing to read a story in which the pastor and his wife are flawed and human yet not hypocrites, as is often portrayed. It may make their story arc dull were they major characters, but that’s not the case here.

As always, Tammy Gray handles sexual attraction honestly, integrating natural physical attraction with love and not glossing over the specter of temptation.

In sum, more than a lighthearted love story, it’s a touching romance filled with the promise of peace from the source of all hope.

Unfailing Love by Julie Lessman

I awaited Isle of Hope for months, eager to read Julie Lessman’s voice in a contemporary novel. She did not disappoint.

The characters have depth, are well-drawn, and inhabit their modern coastal Georgia isle so naturally they made me long for a beach vacation.

The dramatic plot turns in Isle of Hope call to mind a soap opera (as they often do in Julie Lessman’s historical novels), which is less a criticism and more a testament to the author’s savvy given the enduring popularity of soaps (and perhaps a nod to her well-known love of Gone With the Wind). The novel includes perhaps the best one-sentence chapter-ending cliffhanger I’ve ever read.

The faith element is organic to the story, but is more extensive than in most inspirational romances or women’s fiction as multiple characters’ arcs echo the themes of forgiveness, (re)conversion, and redemption. I highlighted several passages that struck a chord – something I typically don’t do. By showing the natural consequences of selfish actions, the narrative deftly demonstrates how no sin is truly private, and its repercussions affect many people besides the perpetrator.

Some beautiful, tender, heart-melting moments of grief and sorrow are interwoven with the painful longing and simmering passion you’d expect.

A little tightening to reduce thematic repetition and some of the analogies would only make this good novel even better. As it is, it’s an engaging story of love, forgiveness, healing, and rebirth that left me looking forward to the next book in the series.

The Truth About The The Sky by Katharine Grubb

The Truth About The Sky is both a funny and and honest portrait of the contrast between authenticity and hypocrisy, control and surrender, and interior conversion versus exterior appearances.

Sometimes we have to be brought low so we can see what’s above. Sometimes we need to be stripped of our false sense of control so we can see who IS in control. Sometimes we need to be humbled so that we can gain empathy and show mercy.

All this wisdom comes packed in a humorous and ordinary story of a couple of pastor’s kids, party girl Kim and prankster Quentin and Quentin’s pregnant wife, supermom Suzanne. Katharine Grubb casts an eclectic assortment of minor characters, including mortician Jeffrey, musician Marty, and lawn guy Eddie, who’s endured his own fall from grace. There’s also a brief but funny appearance by a pygmy goat.

The version I read could use another pass by a sharp set of eyes to catch some errors and inconsistencies, which didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the novel.

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Walk in Her Sandals: A Creative Approach to the Passion

“Walk in Her Sandals will allow you to enter more fully into life in Christ by praying over his passion, death, and resurrection. It will help you experience a conversion of heart and recognize your own giftedness.”

Walk In Her Sandals, edited by Kelly M. Wahlquist, takes an innovate approach to meditating on the Passion of Christ. By combining fiction and nonfiction, this little volume offers the best of both types of writing. It draws you into the heart of Holy Week with Scripture and Stephanie Landsem’s wonderful prose, then takes you a step beyond with reflection and questions designed to draw you closer to Jesus.

Best of fiction & nonfiction to draw you into the Passion. Walk In Her Sandals https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KOLL59O/Tweet This

If you’ve read Stephanie Landsem’s Living Water Series, which I highly recommend, you’ll recognize her hand here as she draws you into the life of Christ from the margins. By offering the perspectives of women of various ages on the periphery of Jesus’s ministry, you’ll become immersed in the life-changing events of Holy Week.

The book, written by women for women, is organized around six feminine gifts identified by St. John Paul II. They are:

receptivity
sensitivity
generosity
prayer
maternity
the Holy Spirit

Walk In Her Sandals, available October 10, 2016, is designed for both personal and group use with questions for discussion. It would make a good Christmas gift for any Catholic woman in your life. (Non-Catholic Christians would find much to enrich them as well.) While particularly appropriate for the Lenten season, the riches of Christ’s Passion can be delved into year round.

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An Open Book

 

Welcome to the October 2016 edition of An Open Book, hosted both at My Scribbler’s Heart AND CatholicMom.com!

 

I’m re-reading a book I’ve read at least half a dozen times. It’s one of mine, and it’s due out in less than a week! At present, it’s pushed everything else off the table as I scour the proof for any lingering typos. is a contemporary inspirational Christmas romance set in Pittsburgh, PA. Dan, still dealing with the fallout from a failed relationship, is selling Christmas trees at a roadside lot when he first meets Emily, a schoolteacher with a thing for France who can’t seem to discover what God’s will for her life is. Despite a nudge from his matchmaking grandma, Dan can’t escape his past and make things work with Emily, who keeps ending up back in her brother and sister-in-law’s basement with a passel of nieces and nephews on her lap and at her heels. I think it’s a pretty good story, but then again, it came from my imagination. Despite the fact it spans three Christmas seasons, it can be enjoyed year round. It releases October 11.

As soon as Ornamental Graces is ready for prime time, I have two more October releases to read. The first is  by Erin McCole Cupp. This is Book 2 in The Memoirs of Jane_E, Friendless Orphan. (I wrote about Book 1, Unclaimed in July.) I’m anxious to pick up where I left off as Jane assumes her duties for a mysterious employer. Jane Eyre is among my very favorite classics, and I’m thoroughly enjoying the author’s creative cyberpunk re-imagining. It releases October 8.

A Walk in Her Sandals, edited by Kelly Wahlquist and written by twelve Catholic women writers (including a favorite of mine, Stephanie Landsem) sounds like an intriguing mixture of fiction and nonfiction designed to draw the reader to the heart of Christ’s Passion. From the description: “Looking at six universal gifts of women through the eyes of women in the gospels, the book guides you on a prayerful and creative journey through the days of Holy Week, Easter, and Pentecost.” It releases October 10.

My teenager is reading The Giver by Lois Lowry, a 1994 Newbery Medal winner, with his eighth grade class. Within a day of his mentioning this book to me last month, I saw it turn up in one of the posts linked to the September An Open Book! The class isn’t too far along because they typically read it aloud together. (Not being allowed to read ahead would probably drive me nuts!) So far, my son says it’s suspenseful.

My daughter is STILL reading Trixie Belden. She’s on Book 3 now. In between, I caught her re-reading Fancy Nancy: Nancy Clancy, Secret Admirer by Jane O’Connor. This is the second book in a series of chapter books featuring Fancy Nancy from the picture books of the same name. This one is a Valentine’s Day mystery.

Finally, these are the books my little ones are asking for night after night. One of them pulled the books from the Halloween shelf at the library. The first is a favorite of mine that I’ve read to each of my children. The poetic verse and beautiful illustrations in Scary, Scary Halloween written by Eve Bunting and illustrated by Jan Brett have made it somewhat of a Halloween tradition for us. It’s a simple story written from the clever perspective of the cats beneath the porch on trick-or-treat night.

I’m less thrilled with A Woggle of Witches by Adrienne Adams. Unlike Frankenstein monsters, werewolves, or vampires, I’m always a bit uncomfortable reading about witches with the kids. Witches are real. I know because I’ve seen their bumper stickers. These witches, however, are of the typical pointy-hatted, bat-stew eating variety. The four- and five-year-old both enjoy the simple story and illustrations which, like Scary, Scary Halloween, involve hiding from trick-or-treaters.

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Want more details on An Open Book? You can also sign up for An Open Book reminder email, which goes out one week before the link-up. No blog? That’s okay. Just tell us what you’re reading in the comment box.

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Battle for His Soul: A Glimpse at Unseen Realities

Photo by Stefan Schweihofer (pixabay)

If I were to list all of the (many) things I take for granted, my guardian angel would be one of them. In my defense, I can’t see, hear, smell, touch, or taste it, so it’s not hard to forget despite the fact I’ve said the Prayer to Your Guardian Angel every night of my life as far back as I can remember. (I thought there was only one – look at all of these!)

Battle for His Soul lets the reader see the guardian angels and spiritual warfare that we cannot see while still grounding the story in reality. Written in both human and angelic points of view, this third installment in Theresa Linden’s Catholic Teen Fiction series shouldn’t be missed. See my full review below!

I believe you can enjoy Battle for His Soul as a standalone novel, but if you want to catch up, start with Roland West, Loner and then Life-Changing Love.

Jarret West, a rich teenage boy, has been accustomed to having control over others and getting his way. When his life begins to fall apart, his guardian angel Ellechial hopes now is the time for his conversion. Jarret must be freed from the deep clutches of Deth-kye, the demon bent on seeing him in hell. The fate of several others depends upon Jarret’s conversion. 

While Jarret gets ensnared in Deth-kye’s traps, Ellechial can provide little help since Jarret doesn’t pray, doesn’t believe, and hasn’t listened to him in years. Ellechial hopes Jarret’s twin brother, who has recently found God, will be able to influence him. But Jarret goes on vacation with his father and younger brother where temptations only increase. Meanwhile, Jarret’s twin and other teens form a prayer group and begin to pray before the Blessed Sacrament unaware of the power they provide the angels. Though Ellechial gains strength, Deth-kye wins victory after victory. His weapons: emotion, vice, and memories. Who will win the battle for Jarret’s soul?

Battle for His Soul by Theresa Linden

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Battle for His Soul has the power to change lives. Even though I’ve always known, intellectually, that we live among angels and demons, I seldom give it much though. Theresa Linden vividly depicts the spiritual beings as they praise, defend, tempt, and deceive. It’s allowed me to see with fresh eyes these forces at work in my own life.

Battle for His Soul helped me to see good and evil at work in my own life. @LindenTheresa #angels Tweet This

I think this is a spectacular book for teens. First, it introduces them to listening to God’s call in their lives and discerning their vocations. Second, it demonstrates the practical power of prayer. Third, since teens are probably even more susceptible than the rest of us to living in the here and now, its vivid depiction of the unseen spiritual forces surrounding us is eye-opening.

And finally, this book has its place in the Year of Mercy with its sterling examples of showing compassion and mercy to all, regardless of whether they deserve it. It’s that act of mercy, that prayer, that fasting, that may just make all the difference.

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10 Things About Stay With Me You May Not Know

I can hardly believe it’s been a year since Stay With Me was launched to the world! Thank you, Full Quiver Publishing, for making it happen. In honor of this monumental occasion, I’m sharing some details about the book that you probably don’t know.

I’ve seen the Dave Matthews Band twice, both pre-1995. The first was at my alma mater, Duquesne University, where they shared billing with Big Head Todd and the Monsters. My husband (then boyfriend) and I left early in DMB’s set through a thick cloud of pot smoke. The second time we saw them was as part of the H.O.R.D.E. Festival (1996?) at then-called Star Lake Amphitheater in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania.
The infamous shower scene wasn’t intended from the beginning. True to life, it just sort of happened.
The first spark for this novel came from a conversation with a (very handsome) grocery store stocker. It evolved into the story’s “meet cute.”
This blog post by Simcha Fisher heavily influenced Rebecca’s character.
My husband and I have camped in Shenandoah National Park many times. We’ve only encountered bears twice.
I’m not much of a beer drinker, but my husband is a craft beer aficionado. Chris’s employer is based loosely on Troeg’s Brewery in Hershey, Pennsylvania. (I highly recommend the Mad Elf.)
Like Chris, my husband was ditched by his co-workers when they went to a strip club on a work excursion.
I’ve never ridden a motorcycle, but I’m strangely attracted to those made by Harley-Davidson, which is headquartered in nearby York, Pennsylvania.
I love writing brothers. I’ve written four novels and a novella, and all but one includes a pair of brothers.
Most of Stay With Me was written when my third child was an infant and loved long naps in her swing.

To celebrate, I’m giving away an audiobook copy of Stay With Me!

Simply comment below to enter. If you don’t know what to say, just tell me whether or not you’ve ridden a Harley. I’ll pick a winner at random at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, October 7, 2016, and someone will have something new to listen to over the weekend!

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5 Faves: Clean Romances with Pro Athletes

I’ve been thinking about re-reading Amy Matayo’s The Thirteenth Chance – and that’s saying something because the book only came out yesterday! I breezed through my advance copy, but I find myself wanting to go back and savor it. It got me to thinking about other books I’ve read that involve professional athletes as main characters. I could think of quite a few books with high school and college athletes, but when I tried to think of pro athletes only, I came up with the Becky Wade books below but not much else. I scanned my Goodreads list, and it jogged my memory about two more. But that’s it.

Clearly there’s interest in professional athletes as leading men in romance novels, as evidenced by a glut of mainstream romances and erotica with half-naked athletes on the cover, but they seem to be underrepresented in Christian fiction and clean romance. Huh. Hard to believe no one has fictionalized Tim Tebow. Yet.

–1–

The Thirteenth Chance

The Thirteenth Chance by Amy Matayo. Sport: baseball. My review. The cat. I love the cat.

–2–

Her One and Only

Her One and Only by Becky Wade. Sport: football. My review. I love the Porter Family series, start to finish.

–3–

My Stubborn Heart

My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade. Sport: hockey. I grew up watching Mario Lemieux play. Need I say more?

–4–

A Fair Catch

Fair Catch by Cindy Roland Anderson. Sport: football. My feet ache just looking at those pretty shoes.

–5–

Homerun

Homerun by Travis Thrasher. Sport: baseball. Book based on the movie, I think.

 ###

For more Five Favorites The Koala Mom and babyStylista, visit .

What fiction featuring professional athletes have you read and enjoyed?

Thanks for stopping by! Stay a while and look around. Leave a comment. Share with a friend. If you like what you see, please sign up from my author newsletter to keep up-to-date on new releases, extras, and hot deals!

 

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Discovery by Karina Fabian: A Journey Worth Taking

While I’ve watched a fair amount of science fiction in movies and on TV, I’ve read very little. Despite the fact that I like science, detailed scientific descriptions in novels tend to make my eyes gloss over.

Even so, I’ve been wanting to read some of Karina Fabian’s work, and Discovery, published by Full Quiver Publishing, provided the perfect opportunity.

I’m not sorry I gave Discovery a shot, and I’m happy to report that my eyes didn’t gloss over once!

Jump ahead for an interview with the author, my review, and an excerpt!

Sisters Ann, Tommie and Rita are part of a classified mission to explore an alien ship that has crash landed on an asteroid three billion miles from earth. Humanity’s first contact with beings from beyond the solar system is bound to unlock the mystery of life in the universe, but the crew have their own secrets; hidden fears, desires, horrible sins – and a mission to kill. Researchers discover something unique about the third arm of the ship: something wonderful, something terrifying. Something holy. This discovery challenges Rita and Ann to confront their own pasts in order to secure the safety of the mission and the very souls of the crew.

Interview

 

One doesn’t often find nuns, a mission to kill, and an alien ship in the same paragraph. From where did the inspiration for Discovery come?

There’s a saying that to make a good book, you need to run your characters up a tree, put snapping dogs at the base, then throw rocks. The original story, written in a National Novel Writing Month 50K frenzy, was more about Sister Rita questioning her calling, including her transfer to the Order of Our Lady of the Rescue, the sisters who do search and rescue in outer space. But it wasn’t SF enough for me, not enough of the rocks I like to throw. The alien spaceship, which originally was basically an excuse for the long voyage, needed a bigger role, so I installed an alien device that could let you see into your soul. That certainly messed with the minds of a few of the crewmen, but not enough to affect the main characters, who, as religious sisters, were in pretty good shape, spiritually. So I gave one of them a big secret – this person was on the ship to kill another person on the mission. And that’s where I decided it was interesting enough to make a good book.

For someone like me, whose familiarity with science fiction is fairly shallow, what books would you say are recommended reading?

What area of science fiction? It’s like a buffet of the imagination. Here are a few that come to mind.

On General Principles: A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L’Engle. This started me on my own stories, it fired my imagination so.
Dystopia: Canticle for Liebowitz. I remember this one as being a little slow for me, but also deep. It’s also one of the first modern dystopian novels.
Robotics: I, Robot, Isaac Asimov. Great stories that also bring up issues we will be facing soon enough, such as the nature of sentience and whether we can legislate morality.
Military SF: Honor Harrington, David Weber. Very complex political and military structure, great space battles, epic span focusing on the career of Honor Harrington.
Historical/Alternate Universe Fiction: Harry Turtledove’s The Guns of the South or The Misplaced Legion. Turtledove is a historian as well as a skilled writer, and it shows.
Time Travel: 1632 by Eric Flint. An entire West Virginia town gets mysteriously transplanted into the Bavarian forest in the middle of the Hundred Year’s War. It’s great fun!
Humans vs. Aliens: Starship Troopers, Robert Heinlein. Book is better than the movie.
Cyberpunk: Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson. Man in the computer.
Humor: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams. So much fun!
Medical SF: Andromeda Strain, Michael Crichton. I also liked Acceptable Risk by Robin Cook.
Space Opera: (wide scope, far, flung, singing optional): Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card; Foundation, Isaac Asimov; Dune, Frank Herbert.

Is there anything about writing science fiction that you find uniquely appealing as a Catholic? In other words, is there something about the genre that lends itself to the exploration of religious themes?

I should probably have some deep answer here, but the fact is, I’m a Catholic and a geek. It’s fun when those interests intersect, but I don’t need them to, and unless I’m writing an essay, I don’t seek out a connection. Having said that, any genre can explore religious themes. Science fiction just reflects how faith can adapt and grow – or not. It’s not a big focus in the genre, though, because there’s so much else to explore (witness the book list above.) However, it’s an important part of worldbuilding, so it does frustrate me when it’s ignored or when the writer just sort of assumes we’ve somehow “outgrown our superstitions.” If the story is good, though, I don’t notice much. Science fiction can explore themes and morals many other genres can’t, because it can separate us from ourselves by moving in time or space or by putting the conflict in the hands of aliens. However, the key for any good work of fiction, even science fiction, is not how hard-hitting the theme is, but how engrossing the story is.

Science fiction can explore themes and morals many other genres can’t. @KarinaFabian #scifiTweet This

It’s curious to me that while people readily accept the possibility of life on other planets and fantastical theories about our origins and history, they just as readily dismiss the possibility of a God who became man and lived on Earth. How can fiction bridge the gap by melding those possibilities, using lies (fiction) to convey what’s true?

It’s easy to believe in life on other planets because it doesn’t have to affect how we live now, and if we ever encounter aliens, then we are confronted with irrefutable facts. You can believe in aliens, and you may take some ribbing if you bring it up to the wrong person. Otherwise, most people will shrug and agree it’s a possibility because there’s no real impact. But you can also choose to believe and not tell anyone aside from those you trust. Again, there’s no impact either way.

Believing in God – really believing – means we must live as we believe. We can’t hide it. We can’t deny it and expect there to be no consequences. Even if we aren’t declaring it from the mountaintop or defending it to others, we are still obligated to act according to our beliefs. That’s a big deal. That’s work. That’s facing down opposition, having to defend why you believe, being questioned every time you do something that is (or seems to someone else) counter to believing.

Comparing belief in aliens to belief in God is like comparing Jolly Ranchers to fruit.

Can science fiction meld those possibilities? I don’t think so. Believing in aliens is not the same as believing in God. What it can do is portray Christians as intelligent, useful, sane – i.e. normal – characters, show how their faith gives them strength to overcome the challenges in the story, and show that they are just as interesting as any other character. To do that, the issues of faith need to come up naturally, not get plugged in to make a point. That’s just counterproductive.

In my fantasy and science fiction, I only mention religion or beliefs of any kind when it would come up in the natural course of events. Discovery is my most Catholic of novels, in fact I call it the Catholic Pride novel, but that’s because with religious sisters as the main characters, I can’t escape it. I’ve already had one reviewer who simply skipped the religious parts but still enjoyed the book. (I’m fine with that, btw. I often skip parts in a novel that don’t interest me.) Other books, like my Mind Over series, have some brief mentions because the side character, a Catholic, had some big moral struggles in the past. Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator, has only mentioned a religion in regards to how they treat zombies.

My Review

 

Discovery by Karina Fabian

If your mental picture of religious sisters is dour, old women with wimple habits and ankle-length skirts, then scrub that image before opening Discovery. The sisters in the Order of Our Lady of the Rescue are post-modern, brave pioneers with habits suited to work in zero gravity.

The challenges to their present mission on the alien craft Discovery are best summed up by Sister Rita’s exclamation of “Codists and Wiccans and evangelists, oh, my.” Sister Rita, along with stalwart pilot Sister Thomas and “spacey” but brilliant Sister Ann, have all sorts of conflicting interests to contend with: the brainy researchers, the working-class rockjacks, and, oh yeah, that alien ship.

Interwoven amongst the crew’s scientific discoveries are their personal discoveries, brought to light within the desolate alien craft. Karina Fabian does a good job of managing what could be an unwieldy cast of characters, two romances, devious intrigue, and a guilty conscience.

In the end, the most profound discovery isn’t an alien life form, but a relationship with God, whose love knows no boundaries, whose mercy overflows, and who calls us each for a unique purpose.

Just enough bread crumbs are dropped to keep the reader intrigued by the various interpersonal relationships and cryptic messages of Sister Ann, mounting to page-turning suspense in the final chapters.

Discovery is a journey worth taking.

Excerpt

 

For all her nightmares of earlier, the next shift on Discovery seemed to be going according to routine. Rita applied the cut-away compound in a smooth circle on the door of their next room. She had the toe of one boot anchored in the suction handle outside it; another handle was attached to the center. Over the headset, she heard the chatter of the teams as they went about their own assignments. Ian and Reg were in the engineering arm, hoping to find the engines themselves but so far reporting control room after control room. Chris and Sean had just finished exploring a supply room and were working on their second door. Thoren had cut a deal to get on the exploration team and was working with Merl in the control room to try to match some of the symbols and perhaps get some idea of what the instruments were for. In Engineering, Gordon and his teammate were doing the same. She and James had decided to start along the second level of the central sphere. So far, they’d found what looked like a meeting room and a broom closet.

We got the exciting section, Rita thought.

James watched her from where he floated, anchored by one of the many handholds in the hall. “You’re really good at that,” he said over their private line.

“Lots of practice. It helps that I’m not worrying about the injured people on the other side.”

A small snort, then silence. She imagined him shaking his head, but couldn’t turn to look. “What?”

“You. In space. Saving lives, working with explosives.”

“It’s not an explosive, really. More like an acidic compound. See? There are two stripes separated by a chemical barrier. I actually ‘ignite’ it by dissolving the barrier.”

“Do you hear yourself?”

Is that disbelief or admiration? Actually, I don’t want to know. “James, thanks for agreeing to make the pods off-limits for now.”

“It’s not a problem. Like I said, a find like this will take decades — lifetimes! — of study with teams of experts. We’re here to survey.”

“Ah, yes. To seek and record the broom closets.” The circle complete, she put the application gun away and pulled out a second tube with a needle. She programmed the activator voltage into its controls, then pressed the needle into the compound. She reported the action to Ann on the ET.

“You can learn a lot from a broom closet. Seriously, I’m having the time of my life. Do you know what kind of archaeology I usually work? Sift through buckets of dirt looking for evidence of anything that might stop some building from being constructed. The only time I’ve gotten to explore an intact site — well, relatively intact — was when Cole took me to Egypt as his pet archaeologist. And, I suppose, when he had me searching a sunken ship for evidence of his great-grandparents.”

The current raced along the barrier, creating a spitting, smoking trail as the two chemicals interacted. Slowly, the compound ate into the door, leaving a darkened circle.

James continued. “Never mind that this is an alien race. Do you have any idea how thrilling just finding an intact site is? We’re seeing it, just as they left it who knows how long ago? Broom closets or not, I’m excited to see what’s behind each door, and to see it first, with my own eyes.”

“Well, here’s your next chance. Edwina Taggert, this is Rita. We’re about to open our door.”

“Copy, Rita. Be very careful. It’s not a closet this time.”

Rita didn’t bother to ask how Ann knew that; she’d just say “hunch,” anyway in deference to Thoren listening to the mission channel. Ann did, however, whisper a Hail Mary. Rita knew she did that for every open door, a small ritual of the Rescue Sisters to pray for the souls in need behind it, but now she prayed for the explorers instead.

“Sean to everybody! Guess what! I think we just found the medical bay!”

“Still feeling excited about that broom closet?” she asked James with a tease in her voice.

“Oh, just open the door!”

The circle had stopped smoking. Bracing both feet against the wall, she took hold of the handle on the freed disk. She tugged, and the door moved, but it seemed to take longer than the others. “Rita to ET. I think you’re right, Ann. The door seems thicker than the others.”

“Copy, Rita.”

“See? Maybe not a broom closet this time,” James said.

The disk slid free, and Rita and James wrestled it to the hallway floor. He held it in place while she secured it.

As soon as she gave the clear, James all but bounded to the open door, although his drag line caught him before he could pull Rita by their safety line. She hurried to join him as he described the long, deep chamber.

“Obviously a storage room. We have lines and lines of small containers, twenty or thirty deep, in some kind of storage cabinets — transparent doors, obviously. ET, are you seeing this?”

“I have Rita’s feed on the main screen, James,” Ann said, her voice breathy with excitement. “And I’m relaying it to the biolab.”

“Okay.” Rita could tell from James’ voice he didn’t see the connection, but Ann’s words had made her heart skip. She played her own hunch. “ET, I’m going to extended spectrum.”

The room dimmed, then filled with symbols and designs. Unlike most of the ones they’d seen so far, however, these ones were readily identifiable as animals and plants, albeit as odd as the aliens themselves. Even better, each row had its own illustrations, clearly labels.

Is this why I saw rainbows? Rita wondered.

Kelley’s and Zabrina’s squeals of delight overrode hers.

“Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive,” Ann whispered.

“What?” James asked, then he must have switched his visuals, because he, too, whistled. “I don’t believe it.”

“Rita to everyone. We found the ark!”

Karina Fabian

By day, Karina is a mild-mannered reviewer of business software and services for TopTenReviews.com. After hours, she’s a psychic intent on saving the world; a snarky dragon who thinks he saves the world all-too regularly, a zombie exterminator who just wants her world clear of undead vermin, and Catholic religious sisters whose callings have taken them off our world. Needless to say, her imagination is vast, her stories legion, and her brain crowded. When she’s not converting her wild tales to stories, she’s enjoying time with her husband, Rob, their four kids, and their two dogs.

Buy Discovery: https://www.amazon.com/Discovery-Karina-Fabian-ebook/dp/B01LJX7INS/

Website: http://fabianspace.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karina.fabian

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/#!/KarinaFabian

Google +:  https://plus.google.com/103660024891826015212

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Top 10 Tuesday: Favorite Albums

I’m linking up with The Broke and the Bookish (which describes me quite well) for my top ten albums. The broad category is “audio,” and since I couldn’t complete a list of 10 favorite audiobooks (yet) or podcasts (which I don’t often listen to), I’m going with albums. A good song, and even more so a good album, like a good book, should transport you to a unique place in your mind with a feeling, a mood, and characters all its own.

In no particular order and probably omitting a forgotten favorite or two:

The Rising – Bruce Springsteen (2002)
Scarecrow – John Cougar Mellencamp (1985)
All That You Can’t Leave Behind -U2 (2000)
Woodface – Crowded House (1991)
Kick – INXS (1987)
Riser – Dierks Bentley (2014)
Mercury Falling – Sting (1996)
Under the Table and Dreaming – Dave Matthews Band (1994)
Blue Moon Swamp – John Fogerty (1997)
Mission Bell – Amos Lee (2011)

And this one is FAST growing on me: Steve Moakler – Steve Moakler (2016)

What is your favorite album?

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Reviving God’s Forgotten Friends: Author Interview with Susan Peek

Your novels fly in the face of the mistaken notion that saint stories are dry, boring, or irrelevant to modern life. They are lively, gritty, and despite the time periods, relatable. How does your storytelling compare to the style of other stories of the saints? 

As a mother of eleven, I’ve read an awful lot of books about saints over the years, believe me. I’ve invested more money than I care to admit, always hoping, of course, to find stories that would not only inspire my children to love and imitate these incredible heroes and heroines of God, but, more importantly, make them realize that the saints were true flesh-and-blood human beings who started out with the same struggles, temptations and weaknesses that plague every one of us since Adam bit that stupid apple. But the more books I crammed into our bookshelves, the more apparent it became that the majority of saint novels (often reprints from the 40’s and 50’s) are agonizingly dull. It’s awful to say, but it’s true. I’m sure everyone knows the kind of books I’m talking about – where the author wheels out a cardboard cut-out saint and plops him on the page. There he sits, in perfect holiness, from his first breath. From that point on, things only get worse. Long-winded passages, flowery archaic prose, little action, dead-boring dialogue. Basically a bunch of lifeless characters tripping across the pristine white pages of your newly purchased twenty-dollar book, while you yawn your way through the story waiting for SOMETHING exciting to happen to these people. Sound familiar?

Don’t get me wrong. There are some excellent saint novels out there. But the majority (deep sigh) are drab, predictable, plot-less, and worst of all, hopelessly discouraging. They give the impression that if you weren’t born with bees miraculously coming out of your mouth, you don’t stand a chance when it comes to holiness.

Teenagers, even more than young children, are very discerning in what they read. A little child can be dazzled by any book (especially if Mommy reads it out loud) but for teens it’s different. In today’s world, what attraction does a saint story have, when competing against action-packed Harry Potter, heart-pounding vampire tales, or whatever else out there is being shoveled at our kids? It stands then to reason that if teens are going to read a saint story, it better have a lot of ACTION and EXCITEMENT. Something fast-paced and rollicking and fun . . . And above all, it needs a hero they can relate to. The saints weren’t boring, and neither should their stories be. So I try to make the pages of my novels brim with adventure and choose saints that even today’s teens can identify with. Adults sometime criticize me for using too modern a style. But I hear over and over again from my teen readers that it’s precisely that which makes them keep coming back for my next book.

Your series is entitled “God’s Forgotten Friends: Lives of Little-Known Saints.” Why God’s forgotten friends? Why not the saints who are familiar?

“In many chapels, reddened by the setting sun, the saints rest silently, waiting for someone to love them.”

Years ago I came across these words, written by an unknown priest, and they struck me with such urgency that I knew those were the saints I was going to write about.  Every Catholic has heard of St. Francis, St. Therese, St. John Bosco. I love all of them. Everyone does, and books about them abound. But what about the obscure saints that no one has prayed to in centuries? Saint Magnus, Saint Ansgar, Saint Dymphna, Saint Cloud or John the Dwarf or Moses the Black? Even my absolute favorite saint, Camillus de Lellis, has his own Proper in the Missal, yet almost no one knows a thing about his wayward youth. (As you can see, my list of planned novels is endless!) I imagine all these saints in Heaven, looking down with yearning in their eyes, hoping someone, someday, will discover them and fall in love with them. So that’s what, with their help and the grace of God, I want my novels to do!

How difficult is it to research these “forgotten friends”? And how do you fictionalize events in their lives while remaining true to their known histories?

I spend a lot of time on research. Sometimes even years before I actually sit down and type those ominous words, “Chapter One.” But researching is part of the adventure of discovering my saints. Having said that, I have a confession to make. . . With thousands of forgotten saints to choose from, I usually go for the ones whose lives are veiled in the most obscurity, or where historians differ so much in their accounts that I can allow myself a fair degree of creative license without feeling guilty. Did St. Camillus fight at the Battle of Lepanto? Did Baldwin have 700 or 300 knights at his miraculous victory of Ascalon? How old was St. Magnus when he died? It all depends on which historian you read, so I simply take my pick and use the version that will best fit my story. My intent is never to present a definitive biography. My books are novels and I think my readers know that.

How has writing about these saints affected your own spiritual life?

On one hand, I realize in writing about my heroes that I am nowhere even close to being holy, like they were. But because I try to draw out their human sides, I come to know them as fellow human beings who struggled and fell and were sometimes afraid and had the same emotions we all do. That gives me hope that sanctity is within reach and God’s grace will never fail anyone who surrenders himself entirely to His love. Ultimately that’s the message I want to give my readers. By the end of my own books, I also discover I’ve fallen in love with my saints and they are my truest and most powerful friends for life, even if I didn’t start writing the book with a ton of devotion to them. Again, it’s these true friendships with the saints that I hope my readers will take away with them when they close that final page of one of my novels and return it to the shelf.

You have experience in writing plays. How did you come to writing novels? How has script-writing been helpful to you in that regard?

Writing novels has been part of my life ever since I learned how to hold a pencil. I wrote my first “book” long before I could even spell by dictating it to my big sister, and things just kept moving from there. My entire childhood I dreamed of becoming a novelist. My husband and I got involved in writing plays in the early 90’s for a small Catholic company, and although it was far removed from my dream of writing books, it turned out to be the thing that launched my writing career. In fact, A Soldier Surrenders started out as a movie screenplay, co-written with my husband Jeff. Later I adapted the script into my first novel. With fear and trembling –and absolutely no clue how to go about it — I submitted the manuscript simultaneously to every Catholic publisher I knew. (Hint: NEVER DO THAT!) To my shock, no less than four publishers accepted it, forcing me to turn three of them down (I still cringe when I think about that!). But God made my dream come true. Back to Carolyn’s question . . . The single most valuable lesson screenwriting taught me was definitely how to write dialogue.

You’ve released a series of books for young children as well. My youngest children enjoyed the “Animals of God” stories (told from an animal’s point of view) as well as the illustrations. What was it like to work with an illustrator to bring your characters to life?

I was truly blessed to team up with Martina Parnelli, a wonderful artist who shares my triple love of children, animals and obscure saints! At present we’re working on our fourth picture book together, The Man God Kept Surprising: Saint William of Bourges. I find it so exciting to send her one of my stories and see what she will do with my characters. We start each book by deciding on a list of scenes I want her to illustrate, based on my page count, typesetting options, and so forth. But once I submit the scenes to her, I leave it entirely to her to do what she wants with them. Opening her emails and finding her delightful results are like Christmas! My first love will always remain writing novels for teens, but working on children’s books with Martina has been extremely fun and rewarding.

What projects are you working on now?

Susan Peek

My current work-in-progress is The Hunted Princess, a young adult novel about Saint Dymphna. Martina Parnelli and I are also working on our “God’s Forgotten Friends for Children” series, which kicked off with Small for the Glory of God: Saint John the Dwarf and will soon have Saint William added to it.

So many little-known saints to write about and never enough time . . . !

Website: susanpeekauthor.com

A Soldier Surrenders, also available en Español: La rendicíon de un soldado

My reviews of A Soldier Surrenders, Saint Magnus, and Animals of God  Vol. 1.

Enter to Win!

To enter to win a copy of one of Susan’s books, simply send her a message (http://www.susanpeekauthor.com/contac...) stating which book you’d like to win and why. She’ll draw one winner on October 17.

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY! STAY A WHILE AND LOOK AROUND. LEAVE A COMMENT. SHARE WITH A FRIEND. IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU SEE, PLEASE SIGN UP FROM MY AUTHOR NEWSLETTER TO KEEP UP-TO-DATE ON NEW RELEASES, EXTRAS, AND HOT DEALS!

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Seven Quick Takes

Resumption of Camping Edition

My husband and I began tent camping together before we had children and continued with regularity for years with our young children. We toted babies and toddlers. We relished the outdoors. And then, around the time we had an infant and a toddler in addition to our two older children, it became a bit much. My husband feared an unknown woodsy calamity. I’ll admit, our last excursion, with only three of the children, was a bit challenging. My sole recollection is my toddling 10-month-old stretching out of her Bumbo seat to gather dead leaves from the forest floor to stuff into her mouth while we wrestled with tent setup. So, we took a break. Our youngest is now three, so on Labor Day weekend, we gave camping another shot. Here’s what I learned.

–1–
All Pit Toilets Are Not Created Equal

We’ve camped in state park campgrounds with pit toilets before. Not recently and not often, but we’ve done it. My boy scout has done it fairly often. It’s not a big deal. At least it hadn’t been. The pit toilets at this particular Pennsylvania state park stunk. Sure, you say, pit toilets stink. No, I don’t mean “stink.” I mean eye-watering, gagging, covering-my-mouth-and-nose-with-my-shirt stink. Putrescence. Is that a word? I think that’s a word. Lesson learned: If you’ve smelled one pit toilet, you’ve smelled one pit toilet. (Since we like this park, I was relieved to learn they are installing flush toilets over the winter! Yay!)

Michaux State Forest

 –2–
Showers Are Not a Given

I’ve seen all kinds of camp showers. Some grimy, some clean. I’ve played beat-the-clock with pay showers. Until this point, we hadn’t done “no showers” outside of an overnight hike along the Appalachian Trail many years ago. When it’s hot and you’re sweating (see #4), a shower is kind of nice. Especially when you’re sleeping in close quarters for a couple of days. Lesson learned: Be sure to verify the presence of showers. (They’re also adding showers to the park campground over winter!)

turkey tails

–3–

Campground Maps Do Not Show Elevation

Campground maps are helpful in locating your site, the bathrooms, and hiking trails. They do not show elevation. So, when you and your spouse select the walk-in tent site furthest from the road so that you can have peace, privacy, and nature galore, you don’t know if that “walk in” is level. Or on a grade. A really big grade. Up which you will haul an entire minivan and rooftop carrier’s worth of stuff, passing five other campsites. You will also climb it on every return trip from the pit toilet. And many, many times as you reload. Lesson learned: Inquire as to elevation of walk-in sites.

–4–

Save Money, Get a Minnow Pedicure

I’ve seen pictures posted of people getting fancy schmancy fish pedicures. You can go to Bangkok and pay $6.00. Or you can go to a lake and stand still while the minnows do the job for free. Our free minnow pedicures were the highlight of our afternoon at the lake beach. Lesson learned: Don’t pay for what you can get for free.

Lake. Water level=low.

–5–

Peeing in the Woods Is a Learned Skill

Our camping group included one potty trainer, one preschooler prone to waiting too long before heading to the facilities, and another who tends to wake once during the night to empty her bladder. Due to the distance to (see #3) and condition of (see #1) the restroom, seeking relief in the woods became a thing on this trip. For girls, this is not an innate task. It is a skill that is learned. And there is a learning curve. Lesson learned: Don’t assume a child can pee in a new environment without specific instruction and practice.

Michaux State Forest

–6–

Pack Extra Clothes

We did pack extras. Thank goodness. Let’s just say there was more than one grocery bag of urine-soaked clothing stored in the car top carrier on the way home. (See #5) Lesson learned: Accidents happen; always pack extras.

–7–

It’s Worth It

More than once (okay, more than five times) on our first evening, I considered that this whole trip wasn’t worth it. It was physically grueling and emotionally taxing. The kids were up until midnight. They were filthy. We were sweaty. By the time we’d left, I could say it was all worth it. For starters, we had *perfect* weather, and weather can make or break a camping trip. But as I watched my children play at light saber duels with glow sticks in the dark, hike through the forest, swing in the hammock, and tell each other stories around the campfire, I knew that every speck of dirt, every bead of sweat, every exasperated call to rein in an errant child was well worth it. Lesson learned: Then experience is worth the hassle. (But I could do without the pit toilets.)

My babies, geocaching for the first time.

What have you learned by roughing it?

###

For more Quick Takes, visit This Ain’t the Lyceum.

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