Ellen Gable's Blog, page 109
March 22, 2012
Lenten Pretzels
I am originally from New Jersey, so Philadelphia soft pretzels were a common snack both at home and at school when I was growing up. Soft pretzels, however, are a rare commodity up here in Canada.
After reading about the history of pretzels in Kathleen Basi's book, Bring Lent to Life, I decided to make this a Lenten project. Yesterday, my son and I spent the afternoon making soft pretzels. Twisting the dough just right was a bit of a challenge, but we were both pleased with how our first batch of pretzels turned out. They not only looked pretty good, they also tasted great!
According to some sources, the shape of pretzels was meant to illustrate arms crossed in prayer.
Years ago, during Lent, the faithful were called to abstain from meat, eggs, milk and butter. Pretzels were an ideal food to eat because it was free of these ingredients. We used a recipe similar to this recipe, except we did not use butter.
This link has more information about the history of the pretzel.
Text copyright 2012 Ellen Gable Hrkach
Photo copyright 2012 James Hrkach
March 20, 2012
Emily's Hope FREE this Friday and Saturday
The Kindle edition of my first book, Emily's Hope, will be FREE this Friday, March 23rd and Saturday, March 24th.
Some people have coined my book "NFP Fiction." It's based on the true stories of myself and my great-grandmother. Here are a few of the reviews I've received since my first book was published seven years ago:
"Compelling…a real page turner."
Damon Owens, Host of EWTN's "NFP: Embracing the Marital Gift"
"Your book is a vehicle for the whole truth behind the Theology of the Body, presented so that people can see how the teachings of the Church are to be followed."
Joan Hon, author, "A Trip to Medjugorje"
"There is so much to love about Emily's Hope — the innocence of young love, the beautiful, miraculous, healing power of love and the beauty of sacrificial married love and its life-giving splendor. This story is not a fantasy, but is a tender and sensitive portrayal of what makes love real and lasting."
Jean Heimann, Catholic Fire
"This book is a must read for anyone who has ever questioned whether living the NFP lifestyle is worth it or ever been resentful of the deprivations of NFP. I loved this book!"
Christopher Blunt, author, "Passport"
"I would encourage everyone to read this book, certainly young women. It is a book I can wholeheartedly recommend."
David Beresford, Catholic Insight Magazine
"While this book is definitely about NFP, it is also about the love of husbands and wives, the love of parents for their children and the agonizing moral choices we sometimes face. It is also about real people…and about being witnesses to a culture of life in a world overshadowed by a culture of death."
Kristie Wellman, One More Soul
To read more reviews, click here: Emily's Hope Kindle Edition.
Emily's Hope will be available for FREE this Friday, March 23rd and Saturday, March 24th!
March 19, 2012
After Miscarriage: A Catholic Woman's Companion to Healing and Hope
After Miscarriage: A Catholic Woman's Companion to Healing and Hope is a wonderful new book by Karen Edmisten, that shares the experiences of mothers and how they dealt with miscarriage and baby loss. I contributed a story called "Eternal Gifts."
Years ago, after suffering two miscarriages in a row, I began writing in a journal to ease my grief. These journal entries eventually became my first published article, Five Little Souls in Heaven, and then also was the basis for my first novel, Emily`s Hope.
The author of this booklet, Karen Edmisten, also shares her own journal entries, as well as her story of losing five babies through miscarriage.
This is a deeply moving, beautiful collection of stories, poems and reflections.
Karen was recently on the Among Women Podcast with Pat Gohn to speak about her book and her experience with miscarriage. She talked about miscarriage sometimes being a private pain because the couple often hasn't yet told anyone of their news.
Last year, I also appeared on Among Women Podcast (Episode 89) and spoke about my experience with pregnancy loss.
For more Baby Loss Resources, please click on the link above my blog name "Baby Loss."
copyright 2012 Ellen Gable Hrkach
March 18, 2012
Sunday Snippets – March 18
Please join me and other Catholic bloggers at RAnn's Place for Sunday Snippets, where we share posts from the previous week.
This has been a slow blogging week since I was away.
Here are my posts:
The Stigma of Self-Publishing My latest post for the Catholic Writers Guild Blog.
Review of Pro Luce Habere (To Have Before the Light) Volume II by Krisi Keley.
March 13, 2012
Pro Luce Habere (To Have Before the Light) Volume II by Krisi Keley
The second volume of Pro Luce Habere is an incredibly compelling read. Valery continues to be haunted by the darkness and death he has seen in the human world around him. Yet he is unable to escape the sense of wrong in what he's become so he seeks a new world (in North America), free of the Old World's pain. Valery continues in his struggle to understand the battle between light and darkness, both within his victims and within himself, as mystical dreams and repeating the mistakes of his maker lead him towards the truth eight hundred years of pain have tried to have him deny.
There is no denying that Krisi Keley is a gifted writer who can weave intricate story lines and create characters so real it's hard to believe they're fictional. I particularly love her character study of Valery. He is, after all, a vampire, but he is a vampire with a conscience and this shows in his interaction with other main characters.
I enjoyed advancing through time with Valery and his "child," Michel. The setting, language and historical accuracy are done extremely well and I could easily picture Valery and the other characters in the different time periods (I found it amusing to picture the two of them in 60′s garb…). Valery is definitely a character with contrasts. He kills others to stay alive, then at one point (during one of the World Wars) he reflects on the destruction and sometimes pointlessness of war.
As I've said in my reviews of Keley's other books, I don't normally read "vampire" or paranormal novels, but Keley's writing is so beautiful, I want to relish each word and sentence. I find myself easily empathizing with the main character, despite the fact that he is a vampire. He is and has continued to be an incredibly well-developed character. I especially appreciate the Catholic themes of free will, redemption and God's unconditional love.
Valery's loneliness and dependence on Michel for companionship leads to a chilling climax that had me turning pages quickly (or clicking the forward button on the Kindle).
I highly recommend this wonderful book (and the other two in the series) to anyone wanting to read a beautifully written story with a great cast of characters and Catholic themes.
Copyright 2012 Ellen Gable Hrkach
March 12, 2012
The Stigma of Self-Publishing
I'm over at the Catholic Writers Guild blog today discussing the "Stigma of Self-Publishing."
I am the self-published author of four books. Three of my books are currently on various bestsellers' lists on Kindle. My second novel,
Another time, I attended a large "book fair," where hundreds of authors set up tables and sold books. There were other self-published authors at this event. At first glance, however, it wasn't obvious that I was a self-published author. My books had professional looking covers and book trailers. I sat beside a published author who began conversing with a prospective reader. "Did you self-publish your book?" the reader asked. "Oh, no, I would never have done that. My books are published by a reputable publisher." She would never have stooped so low as to self-publish. Ouch.
Self-publishers have come a long way. Years ago, authors who took the "vanity" publishing route were rarely taken seriously and they rarely sold more than a few books.
That attitude has improved in the seven years since I published my first novel, although many professionals in the publishing industry and some traditionally-published authors continue to have a bias against self-published authors and books.
I believe part of the reason is because self-publishing is so easy nowadays that just about anybody can do it and the quality of some self-published books is poor. Some naive first-time authors think they can do it all. Some newbies think that they are great writers and don't "need" an editor. Novice authors often think they can design their own cover without any sort of advice from a visual designer. I have seen more than a few self-published books in my capacity as reviewer for Catholic Fiction.net in which the quality of writing was so bad I won't even review it.
Another reason there may be a negative bias toward self-publishing could be the belief that self-published authors wouldn't be able to get published by a traditional publisher or that perhaps they have already been rejected. This may be true for some self-published authors. But consider the case of self-published millionaire, Amanda Hocking who was rejected by traditional publishing houses and who is selling 100,000 books per month on Kindle.
On the one hand, I understand why some newspapers, magazines and websites need to have a blanket rule in place for self-published books (since there are many poorly written self-published books). On the other hand, I have also read extremely well-written novels by authors who self-published: Elena Maria Vidal, Gerard Webster, Christopher Blunt, Krisi Keley, Regina Doman, to name a few. 
Although self-publishers have come a long way, we have not arrived yet with regard to "stigma" of self publishing. Despite the stigma, I don't believe I would ever go the traditionally published route. After self-publishing four books (with lots of assistance) and after having 100 percent of the control, it would be hard to give my books to a publishing company. For me, it would be like giving my baby away to someone else to raise.
The stigma and negative bias of self-publishing will likely not disappear completely. However, if self-published authors continue to publish quality books, sell to thousands of readers and raise the bar for self-published books, it will hopefully lessen the stigma.
To learn more about self-publishing, I'll be giving two chat presentations at the Catholic Writers Conference Online in March: Self-Publishing and Kindle e-books.
Copyright 2012 Ellen Gable Hrkach Images purchased from iStock
March 10, 2012
Sunday Snippets – March 11
Please join me and other Catholic bloggers at RAnn's Place for Sunday Snippets where we share posts from the previous week. For me, lots of book reviews:
Bring Lent to Life Book Review
A Garden of Visible Prayer Book Review
7 Quick Takes Friday- It's All in a Name
We Need to Get Smarter About Promoting NFP A great post by Kathleen Basi at the CCL Blog.
Copyright 2012 Ellen Gable Hrkach
We Need to Get Smarter About Promoting NFP!
Excellent article by Kathleen Basi over at the CCL Blog. Here's a short excerpt:
If there's one thing the ongoing controversy over contraceptive coverage can teach us, it is this: we have to be smarter about the way we advocate for NFP over contraception. In recent weeks, we've heard the argument that because Catholics use birth control just as much as everyone else (although that is an exaggerated claim), this whole controversy is much ado about nothing.
In one sense, the critics have a point: how can we expect to be taken seriously if we can't even convince our own members? We have to take the message to the secular world — and let's face it, our fellow Catholics — and we have to do it on their terms, not ours.
What do I mean by this?
I mean that we can list side effects till we're blue in the face, but every medication has side effects, and hardly anyone experiences them. If they do, they consider the benefit to outweigh the side effect. Trying to argue people out of contraception on that basis is doomed to fail.
To read the rest of this article, click here.
March 9, 2012
7 Quick Takes Friday – It's All in a Name
Please join me and other Catholic Bloggers at Jen's Conversion Diary for 7 Quick Takes Friday. Today's Quick Takes is about names.
1. My married name is Hrkach. In fact, the original Croatian surname was Hrkac (with an accent over the c). When James' ancestors came to the USA, they added the "h" at the end. The name evidently means "baby rattle," but we can't confirm that. The Hrkach's in Canada pronounce the name "Her cash." The Hrkach's down in the USA pronounce it "Her kosh." 
2. I used to think George Foreman was strange because he named all his sons "George." But now I think he's got the right idea. These days, I almost never call any of my kids by their right name on the first try. I thought there was something wrong with my mother, who also had a difficult time calling us by our right name on the first attempt. She would shout out all my brothers' and sister's names before she made it to mine.
3. My husband and I both like old-fashioned names, so when we first came up with baby names (25 years ago), we decided we would use a biblical name for the first name and a relative's name as the middle name. Each of our five sons has a strong biblical name as their first name and a close relative's name as their middle name.
4. Of course, since we don't have any daughters, we didn't get to use any of the many girls' names we had already picked out. Now that I'm a novelist, I find myself using these names for my protagonists: Emily, Caroline, Elizabeth, Jenny.
5. Regular readers of my blog know that I've lost seven babies through miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy. Naming our preborn children was a great comfort to me. When I was writing Emily's Hope, because I was changing everyone's name (including my own), "Emily's" five sons have different biblical names than my sons. However, two of the miscarriages described in my novel contain the actual names for two of our unborn babies: Mary Elizabeth and Seth.
6. I know some people don't like their given name, but I've always liked mine. Because the name is rather old-fashioned, it was rare for someone else in school to be called "Ellen." According to the baby books, Ellen means "shining light." My husband's nickname for me is Ellie.
7. My novel, , is currently back at the #1 position on Amazon Kindle in Religious and Liturgical Drama!
For more Quick Takes, visit Jen's Conversion Diary.
Copyright 2012 Ellen Gable Hrkach
March 8, 2012
A Garden of Visible Prayer by Margaret Rose Realy
The approach of spring is an excellent time to think of gardening. One of the projects on my bucket list is to create a beautiful flower garden in my "sacred space" near the statue of Our Lady in the forest adjoining our home. As my children were growing, then as I began writing fiction, this project has been pushed down on my priority list time and again. Realy's book has given me a renewed enthusiasm to set aside time this spring to begin to work on my sacred space.
"A Garden of Visible Prayer" begins with a beautiful St. Teresa of Avila quote, "A beginner must think of herself as one setting out to make a garden in which her Beloved Lord is to take His delight." Wow.
The author describes this book as a "step-by-step approach to help guide you in creating a meaningful sacred space – a place you can step into, close at hand, matched to what brings you, personally to inner quietness."
Each chapter begins with an inspiring, relevant quote and instructions and information the beginning gardener would need. Black and white photographs help to illustrate each chapter. Some of the most relevant chapters include: Defining the Garden, Memorial Gardens, Collecting Ideas, Prayer Garden Location, Site Assessment, Our Senses, Basic Building Blocks of Design, Plant Selection, Preparation and Installation. I particularly enjoyed the section on "Seating," and the story of the older man who kept a chair next to his bed.
I highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to create a beautiful sacred space in which our Beloved Lord can "take His delight."
Copyright 2012 Ellen Gable Hrkach
