Ellen Gable's Blog, page 125

Stealing Jenny Available for Pre-Order on Amazon

Stealing Jenny, my soon-to-be released contemporary pro-life thriller, is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Stealing-Jenny-Ellen-Gable/dp/0973673621/

"After three heartbreaking miscarriages, Tom and Jenny Callahan are happily anticipating the birth of their sixth child. Their neighbor, however, is secretly hatching a plot which will find Jenny and her unborn baby fighting for their lives."

For more information: www.stealingjenny.com

Review of Generous Faith

My latest review for Amazing Catechists.com is for a book entitled "Generous Faith: Stories to Inspire Abundant Living" published by Paraclete Press.

Generous Faith: Stories to Inspire Abundant Living by Sr. Bridget Haase is a wonderful book filled with touching stories, spiritual reflections and lessons in faith. This beautiful little book illustrates that our life is an abundant life, a gift from God. As Sr. Bridget says, "All we need to do is cultivate this awareness through three basic practices: Living in the Moment; Trusting in Divine Care and Experiencing God's Presence." Each section or practice includes stories and reflections pertinent to each practice.

Sr. Bridget writes: "In these stories we have met men, women and children living across cultural borders and close to home. We have sat at the ocean with a dying shell seeker, held a Gypsy child in our arms, and laughed over bus tickets and letters. We have experienced the power of desert baked tears of compassion of a son's undying love for his father." We meet these unique images of God throughout the book: Bird, Wynn, Buster, Rita, Aisha and many others.

I enjoyed reading about Sr. Bridget's family and the interesting people she has met through the years. The stories are engaging and kept my interest throughout the entire book. I especially appreciated the spiritual reflections and lessons in faith and have begun to implement them in my own life.

This is a beautifully written book and a delightful read filled with poignant stories and reflections. It is a book I won't soon forget and one that I can wholeheartedly recommend.

Copyright 2011 Ellen Gable Hrkach

Stealing Jenny….One Last Excerpt

My new novel, Stealing Jenny, will be released in about a month. For Fiction Friday, I'm posting one more excerpt before the book is published.

As the school bus turned the corner, Christine Callahan craned her neck to see out the front window. There was no sign of her mom, but it appeared as if someone had tied a dog…no, it wasn't a dog. Chris let out a scream when she saw who was tied to the street sign. Her brother was sitting on the ground and crying.

"What's the matter, Christine?" Mr. Jenkins asked.

"Caleb!" she yelled again.

The bus stopped and the driver opened the doors. Chris rushed down the steps and onto the sidewalk. "Hey, Sport, are you okay? Where's Mommy?" Her brother's tears ran down his face like little dirt roads and he was hiccupping from crying so hard.

"Mommy… gone."

Chris felt her knees buckle and she drew in a breath. "What do you mean Mommy's gone?"

"Is everything all right, Christine?" asked Mr. Jenkins, as he stepped down from the bus.

"No, Mr. Jenkins, it's not! Something's… happened to…!" Chris tried to say it without stammering, but she couldn't get the rest of the sentence out. Finally, she said, "My mom, Mr. Jenkins."

"Okay, Christine. Calm down."

He leaned down to talk to Caleb.

"Where's your mommy?"

"Mommy gone. She gone, Chrissie. Mommy gone. Don't like lady."

"What lady, Caleb?"

"Don't like dat lady, Chrissie. Took Mommy."

"Oh no!"

"Where's Mommy? Where's Mommy?" Callie began to cry. She and her other sisters were still on the bus, standing at the top of the steps. Chris reached up and helped them down the steps.

"Chris, stay here with your brother and sisters. I'm going to get my cell phone from the bus." Before the end of a minute, Mr. Jenkins was back and dialing his cell phone.

"Yes, this is Frank Jenkins. I'm a school bus driver for the St. Bartholomew's route. I stopped to let four sisters off at their bus stop and not only was their mother not there, but their little brother was tied to the street sign. We need a police officer here immediately." Mr. Jenkins listened for a moment and said, "Okay. I'll remain on the line until the officers arrive." He looked down at her. "The police will be here shortly, Chris.

Copyright 2011 Ellen Gable Hrkach/Full Quiver Publishing

Beat the August Heat Giveaway at Catholic Mom

Over at Catholic Mom, there are many free books and gifts to be given away! All you need to do is leave a comment.

http://catholicmom.com/2011/08/01/beat-the-august-heat-giveaway/

Fiction Friday – Targeted by John M. Wills

Today's Fiction Friday excerpt is from a crime novel entitled "Targeted," by John M. Wills. My review is here.

Sitting across from him, Marilyn quickly sprang from her chair. "Dean, no disrespect, but I don't need you to tell me Joe's death was a tragedy. Nor do I need to hear about whom to blame. Yes, God didn't pull the trigger, but He didn't prevent it from being pulled either. Now, you tell me you don't know why He does things? Well, I think I do—I think He couldn't care less about me. I think after all of the prayers, the pain, and hard work that Joe and I put in to see him through his struggle with cancer, God turned His back on us. What kind of parent turns away from their child like that?" She was pacing, pointing at Dean, as if he were the Lord, and she was accusing him directly.

"Marilyn, you know that's not true. Your faith . . ."

She stopped him. "My faith? What faith would that be, Reverend? Would that be faith in a loving God who I believed would always be with me, who would shelter and protect me, who would reward me for being a good Christian? Is that the faith you're referring to?"

Targeted is available on Amazon in print or on Kindle.

Copyright John M. Wills

Review of Come My Beloved on Catholic Mothers Online

Special thanks to Kathleen Basi for this great review she posted on Catholic Mothers Online:

Come My Beloved Book Review on Catholic Mothers Online

In her review (which is actually two reviews comparing my book with a book entitled "Bad Mother") Kathleen writes,

Come My Beloved illustrates a beautiful truth: that as long as we are seeking God's will in our lives, He will always get us where we're supposed to be, no matter how many obstacles we throw in the way.

And later, "This is definitely a book for Catholic readers. Many of the stories involve conversions, and in every case, the couples display a commitment to God and a healthy expression of Godly love—in other words, sexuality. It can be a hard, lonely road to strive to live up to the Christian ideal of sexuality and marriage. It's always a good thing to read stories of others who have walked or are walking along the same journey. It is an easy read, and it's food for the soul, too."

Free E-Book Giveaway

I'm giving away two Kindle copies of each of my books (that's six books total!) Below are the Amazon Kindle pages for each book:

Emily's Hope


Come My Beloved



To be entered, either leave a comment saying which book you'd prefer or email me at info (at) fullquiverpublishing.com

The draw for the free books will take place on Sunday, August 6th, 2011.

copyright 2011 Ellen Gable Hrkach

Fiction Friday – Stealing Jenny Chapter 2

Excerpt from Chapter Two:

In her living room, Denise Kramer peered out the window at the bus stop across the street. She took the last drag of her cigarette, then crushed it in the ashtray while slowing exhaling. Jenny Callahan would soon be traipsing up the street to pick up her daughters at the bus stop.

She first noticed Jenny four months ago at the veterinary clinic where Denise worked as a vet tech. Denise couldn't stand the way Jenny paraded her big stomach in front of her, lording it over her that she was pregnant and Denise was not. Later that week, Denise was alone for a few hours working at the office doing treatments for the post-op animals. She took out Bootsie Callahan's file and discovered that Jenny lived only two blocks away. Better yet, Jenny's kids caught the school bus right across the street from her.

During the ensuing weeks, Denise occasionally parked across the street and watched them through the front bay window in their living room which was rarely curtained off. She couldn't stand their quaint happy family with their quaint little house and their quaint laughing children.

Over the past four months, she spent time searching online to find out more about the Callahans. The more she studied them, the more she hated them: the kind of couple who just looked at each other and became pregnant.

Denise, on the other hand, had tried for years to get pregnant with her husband, Lou. Fertility drugs, three failed in vitro attempts and still no baby. The last straw was when the adoption agency turned them down, saying that Denise's smoking, and her 'questionable' psychological assessment precluded them from placing any babies in their care. Lou finally left, telling her that she was "obsessed" with having a baby.

Denise soon began to share the "news" with her co-workers, neighbors and cousin that she was pregnant. When asked, she told them that she had decided to attempt in vitro again without Lou and this time, it worked. Many celebrities and Octomom had proven that women can have babies without a significant other. Who needed fathers anyway?

Except she wouldn't be trying in-vitro again; she had a better plan.

Stealing Jenny will be available in print or in Kindle on September 15th.

Copyright 2011 Ellen Gable Hrkach/Full Quiver Publishing

God's Natural and Beautiful Design

One more post from the archives to celebrate NFP Awareness Week:

"The fact is, as experience shows, that new life is not the result of each and every act of sexual intercourse." Paul VI, Humanae Vitae

God's natural and beautiful design is that women are only fertile for a short time each month. Taking into account ovum life (48 hours at most) and sperm life (up to five days depending on the type of mucus in the woman's body), there are approximately seven days in each cycle that a woman is fertile. Other factors include each woman's particular level of fertility: the type of mucus, their age (the younger they are, the more fertile) and the man's level of fertility (sperm count and quality of sperm).

As Pope Paul VI writes in his encyclical, Humanae Vitae (On Human Life),"…new life is not the result of each and every act of sexual intercourse." And contrary to popular belief, the Catholic Church does not teach that a couple must actively seek pregnancy each time they engage in marital relations. But she does teach that intercourse must at least implicitly retain its procreative meaning. Contraceptives destroy the conjugal act's procreative aspect. Therefore, if the couple has serious need, and spacing or avoidance of pregnancy is desired, they may use Natural Family Planning, that is, relations during the infertile time.

Natural Family Planning is safe, healthy and effective and works as good, if not better, than most of the popular birth control devices and without the unhealthy side effects of contraceptives.

Let us pray each time we approach the marital bed: "I promise to be faithful to you. I come here freely, I love you totally and I am open to creating children with you."

James and I are certified NFP teachers for the Couple to Couple League. We currently offer online NFP classes so you don't need to leave the comfort of your home to learn NFP.

For more information on NFP or the online classes we offer, please comment below or email me privately at info (at) fullquiverpublishing.com.

Copyright 2011 Ellen Gable Hrkach

Review of Targeted by John M. Wills

My latest review for Catholic Fiction.net is of a crime novel named "Targeted," by John M. Wills.

In "Targeted," the latest novel from John M. Wills, a cop killer is on the loose in Chicago. In a secondary plot, a well-liked priest, Fr. Ed Matthews, is accused of sexual abuse. Police officers Pete Shannon and Marilyn Benson believe the priest to be innocent. Soon, however, Pete and Marilyn are taken off the sexual abuse case to assist the task force in finding the sniper before he strikes again. They are asked to work with Harry, a shifty, toothpick using, abrasive cop who has his own agenda and isn't at all interested in working with the two officers.

Eventually, the FBI is brought in to help solve the case, but not before the killer targets those close to Pete.

The story is compelling and believable, the characters are well-defined and interesting and Wills' villain, Hardcore, is chillingly real. Some of the other characters include Pete's friend, Joe, (Marilyn's fiancé), Beth (Pete's pregnant wife), Lt. Darcy and others.

I enjoyed the secondary plot with Fr. Ed (who spends much of the novel "on the run") and found myself wondering how the author would resolve that part of the story.

The climax was exciting and I was reading quickly to see what would happen next.

I thoroughly enjoyed this fast-paced novel. Wills uses his background as a police officer to construct a believable, yet entertaining, story for readers. I liked that the main characters are not perfect, but I also liked that they are not afraid to show their faith.

There were a few glaring typos, which I found distracting, but overall Targeted is a great read and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys an exciting and compelling story and great characters!

Copyright 2011 Ellen Gable Hrkach