Amanda Lauer's Blog

It’s Been Quite the Year…

For some reason, I jumped on the cool mom bandwagon in January and chose a word to focus on for 2025. I generally don’t do this, but the word SERVE kept coming into my line of sight, so I thought it was a nudge from God that this should be my word for the year.

 

Well, the word SERVE certainly was appropriate. So appropriate, that I doubt if I’ll ever choose another annual word to focus on again. I feel like I’ve done nothing but serve so far this year. I’m more than happy to help my family and loved ones, but this year has been more than I bargained for.

 

My stepmom had surgery on January 6, which didn’t turn out as planned. She went into hospice on January 31 and passed away on March 9. By chance, on January 31, my dad failed to show up for the hospice meeting, and when John and I went to check on him, we discovered that he had fallen in his bathroom and had been on the floor for nine hours.

 

Our winter was spent driving back and forth between the hospital, the rehab center, and, when my dad was finally released from care, his house. Add to this, looking after my mom, who’s in assisted living under long-term hospice care for Alzheimer’s dementia. After my stepmom’s passing, there were countless tasks to be taken care of, including planning her funeral.

 

We had a smooth stretch for a while, where my biggest job for my dad was bringing him to various appointments, including his monthly immunotherapy for his metastatic melanoma. There were fun things as well, like soccer games for our grandkids, Bible study, errands, etc. Our biggest adventure was in August when we took him to Ohio for four days to spend time with his great-grandchildren, who live in Ohio, and the ones who traveled to Ohio from Seattle for the week.

 

The day after we got back, life got more complicated. I had to bring my dad to the ER for what turned out to be COVID. After a few days in the hospital, he was released, but then had a fall the following Friday. No major issues that day, but the following Thursday, he fell in his bathroom once again (for some reason, the fall detection alarm didn’t detect the fall, so we aren’t sure how long he was down before he was able to reach the pendant trapped under him and push the alarm).

 

He’s been in the hospital since, first in ER, then on the floor, then in ICU for four days, now back on the floor. His ailments included MRSA, severe sepsis, three broken ribs, pneumonia, a kidney injury, heart strain, rhabdomyolysis, and critically low blood pressure (69/35). If the MRSA responds to the antibiotics, and the infection hasn’t gone to his heart, he’ll be released to rehab this week.

 

While he’s in rehab, we’ll be figuring out a plan going forward that will provide the most comfortable and safe life for him. Lots of things to consider, facilities to visit, plans to make. But, at this moment, we’re taking life one day at a time.

 

Meanwhile, my sixth and final book in my Heaven Intended series was going through the publishing process for the last several months. A Hero Such as Heaven Intended was published today, Monday, September 8, 2025.

 

There was no formal launch, as I’ve been just doing what I can to keep my head above water, so I’ve passed this along to my agent, the Blessed Mother. This year of “service” has been a bit overwhelming, but numerous people have stepped forward to help me on my journey, particularly John, our kids, and some amazing friends, including Leslea Wahl, who put together memes for social media for this book and wrote a heartwarming review for the book that brought me to tears. (See below.)

 

A Hero Such as Heaven Intended is the sixth and final book in Amanda Lauer’s Heaven Intended Civil War romance series. From the opening pages of the first book, A World Such as Heaven Intended, I was hooked. I’ve always had a fascination with the complexities surrounding the Civil War that tore the nation and so many families apart. The premise of the story might have been what first attracted me, but it was the witty dialogue, engaging characters, and elements of faith that really drew me in.

 

Lauer is a gifted storyteller, perfectly blending history, intrigue, romance, and faith, keeping the reader eagerly turning the pages. Each book in the series focuses on a different young couple, making it easy to pick up any of the books. While the stories can be standalones, Lauer uniquely connects each of the storylines, making them even more appealing to readers.

 

Trapped in Atlanta, during the final critical months of the war, Theresa Lundgren’s life is far from what she’d hoped it would be. And then, in a split second, everything is turned upside down. A tragic event sparks the catalyst for Theresa’s journey of self-contemplation, renewal of faith, and even altering her values and life goals. This strong-willed Southern belle had set plans on how to ensure her future, but all that changes when she meets Sergeant Joseph Laurent at the scene of a crime. While resisting her new circumstances, Theresa soon discovers skills she doesn’t realize she possesses, unexpected feelings of compassion, and a fortitude that no one would have expected from this slightly self-centered woman.

 

When I discovered this was the last book in the Heaven Intended series, I was disappointed it was coming to an end, but I must say this was the perfect story to end on with an intriguing connection to the very first book in the series. Lauer brilliantly revisited a critical scene from that first novel, this time telling it from a completely different viewpoint. I eagerly went back to A World Such as Heaven Intended to reread and truly appreciate those superbly written passages.

 

This final story was such a joy to read, and while I dreaded the ending of the series, the last few chapters were so fulfilling, giving readers a chance to reconnect with all the various characters we’ve grown to care about during this literary journey. Thank you, Amanda Lauer, for this incredible series and the truly satisfying conclusion. You are a gifted writer, and I believe you were led to write this special series, making you an author such as heaven intended. 

 

I don’t envision the rest of the year being any less busy, but the words of Christopher Robinson to his buddy Winnie the Pooh resonate with me at this moment. “You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”

 

To that point, I’ll keep moving forward. My dad and mom could use any prayers you’re willing to offer. If you’d like to support my writing efforts, please consider ordering the paperback or the Kindle version of A Hero Such as Heaven Intended today. If you’d like a signed paper, I make local deliveries, or I can drop a copy in the mail.

 

Thank you for being part of this journey with me!

 

 

 

 

 

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Reunited, and it feels so Good

Here’s a bit of trivia about me. If I ever get famous for my books or movies, maybe someday it’ll become a DJ Trivia question. I went to three high schools. No, it wasn’t because I was expelled for poor behavior; it was because of job transfers for my dad.

 

My dad was in the Air Force, and after his service ended, he took a position as a radar technician working for the U.S. government on an Air Force base. That necessitated a move from sunny California to Northcentral Wisconsin. We lived off base, and I attended a public school for kindergarten (Catholic schools didn’t have kindergarten classes back in the day), I attended a Catholic grade school for first through eighth grade, and then went to the local public high school for my freshman year.

 

At the end of that school year, the base my dad was working at was closed, so our family packed up and moved to Northern Minnesota, on the border of Canada, to another Air Force base. I spent my sophomore year and the first two months of my junior year on the campus of a public school that housed kindergarten through 12th grade.

 

That based closed, and my dad switched jobs to work for the National Weather Service, which brought us back to Wisconsin, this time in the northeast part of the state, for the remainder of my junior year and my entire senior year. I graduated from one of the public high schools in the area.

 

Not all that intriguing, but it does explain the three high schools. Regardless of how little time I spent at each high school, I’m a faithful attendee of class reunions. I liken class reunions to wedding or baby showers. If people are willing to put in all the work to throw them, and I’m invited, the least I can do is attend. Having graduated from Appleton High School-West, I make it a priority to attend their reunions every five years. Having only attended for part of my junior year and half days for most of my senior year (my afternoons were free so I could work), I can’t say I know a ton of people from that class, but I do have some friends who are still near and dear to me. Even though we see each other throughout the year at various other venues, it’s still fun to connect at the class reunion.

 

Baudette, Minnesota, is a nine-hour drive from here, so the chances of my ever attending a class reunion there are slim. I’m only in touch with one classmate from my sophomore year. To be honest, I’m not sure if Lake of the Woods High School even holds class reunions. If they do, they’ve never tracked me down.

 

That leads to my first high school, Antigo High School. Even though I didn’t graduate from there, I lived in Antigo for 12 years, and I’m relatively sure I know more members of that graduating class than I do from the other two schools combined. For sure, I remember every member of our 8th-grade class who graduated from St. John’s School together.

 

Last month, I had the pleasure of attending our 45th high school class reunion. John and I made the two-hour trek to Northcentral Wisconsin. That morning, I gave a talk about my writing career at the Antigo Public Library, had a book sale, then spent the afternoon with my forever-friend Julie and her husband John, after which we headed as a group to the local bowling alley for the reunion.

 

I would guess there were fewer than 100 people there, but we sure had a great time. There was socializing, reminiscing, a nice buffet for dinner, and a live band. A group of us spent most of the night on the dance floor, dancing to songs from our high school years and beyond.

 

It was so fun catching up with everyone. I had great conversations with my classmates from St. John’s and people from high school that I didn’t necessarily know that well back then, but know a lot better now. It was great hearing how life has treated everyone.

 

The interesting thing for me is that this trip confirmed what a great group of guys and girls I went to school with. We all remember the angst of middle school and high school. I don’t know that any one of us was at our best in those turbulent years, but we all turned out well. The reunion was a time of laughter, support, healing, and hugging. Every person I talked to that night is genuinely a decent human being, and I am proud to call them my friend.

 

It was an event I’ll remember for a long time. God willing, all the people in attendance at the 45th reunion (and maybe some more) will be able to make it to the 50th reunion. I wish everyone the best as we settle into our retirement years.

 

The theme song for our 8th-grade graduation was “Times of Our Lives” by Paul Anka. He puts the emotions I experienced at our reunion and in the weeks since into better words than I can.

 

Good morning, yesterday
You wake up and time has slipped away
And suddenly it’s hard to find
The memories you left behind
Remember, do you remember?

The laughter and the tears
The shadows of misty yesteryears
The good times and the bad you’ve seen
And all the others in between
Remember, do you remember
The times of your life? (Do you remember?)

Reach back for the joy and the sorrow
Put them away in your mind
The mem’ries are time that you borrow
To spend when you get to tomorrow

Here comes the setting sun (comes the setting sun)
The seasons are passing one by one
So gather moments while you may
Collect the dreams you dream today
Remember, will you remember
The times of your life?

Gather moments while you may
Collect the dreams you dream today
Remember, will you remember
The times of your life?

Of your life
Of your life

Do you remember, baby?
Do you remember the times of your life?
Do you remember, baby?
Do you remember the times of your life?

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Sisters, Sisters

“Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters…”

Anyone else enjoy the movie White Christmas as much as I do?” Before I ever had a chance to see the reruns of that holiday classic on TV, I had the pleasure of being in the presence of sisters — as in religious sisters — on a daily basis when I was in grade school at St. John’s in Antigo, Wisconsin. Or God’s country, as we like to call it.

My Teachers: Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity

I started school there in first grade (I’m old enough to have lived when Catholic schools didn’t have kindergartens; if your parents wanted you to start school before first grade, you went to the local public school for a year — in my case, East Elementary). My first-grade teacher was a member of the order of Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, based in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, who were assigned to our schools.

Sister Leonita was what we called in the ‘70s “old school.” I remember feeling intimidated by her. Maybe it was the religious habit she wore, or the fact that she was no-nonsense when it came to teaching. It provided a solid base to my education, though. In second through fifth grades, I had lay teachers. Here’s a shout-out to Mrs. Calmes, my second-grade teacher. She was even cooler than Carol Brady from the Brady Bunch, and she made me love going to school each day. I don’t want to say that I was the teacher’s pet, but the two of us are still friends to this day, and she buys signed copies of my books each time a new one comes out … and sends me a little extra money for a cup of coffee.

In sixth through eighth grade, our class moved up to the second and third floors of the old St. John’s school building. We had assigned seats in our classrooms, but rather than having one teacher for the whole day, we had different teachers who came to our classroom to teach our core subjects.

By this time, Sister Frances Ann was our principal and librarian, and we became pals. No one loved reading more than I did, so we spent a good deal of quality time together. I’m not sure how many times she checked out my favorite book for me, A Wrinkle in Time, but it was a lot. I should mention that Sister Frances Ann and I are still in touch! She’s the librarian at the motherhouse in Manitowoc, and I make sure to send her copies of my signed books for the library each time another one is published. Such a sweet lady!

Part of our crew of teachers in junior high (what we called sixth through eighth grades) were three more religious sisters from the same order. Sister Jolene was our music teacher. We regaled her with our version of the Dolly Parton song “Jolene” almost every time she met us in the music room to start class. She was always a good sport about it.

Then there were Sister Cheryl and Sister Georgellen. Our class had them as teachers all three years of junior high. As a group, we loved those ladies. They were outstanding teachers and genuinely wonderful people. They shared with us the laughter and the tears that go along with being pre-teens and early teens. Sister Georgellen was even a chaperone when the girls in our class attended Camp Vista, a Catholic girls’ summer camp in Campbellsport, Wisconsin.

I look back at those years with fondness. I even based my book Anything But Groovy on that pivotal time in my life. There were good times and bad times, but our class felt like a team. When we graduated from eighth grade, those wonderful sisters and our lay teachers were there in the audience cheering us on, and probably shedding a tear or two like us girls as we listened to the song, “The Times of Our Life,” by Paul Anka.

Reconnecting with the Religious Sisters

In the past 10 years, not only did I reconnect with Sister Frances Ann, but I also reconnected with Sister Georgellen. (Sister Cheryl has passed, God bless her soul. I’m guessing she was on the fast track to sainthood, having to put up with the 35 rambunctious kids in our class for three years straight.) It turns out that Sister Georgellen was raised in a town 10 minutes from where I live and she goes back home once a year for a week of vacation.

Now, when she’s in town, we get together for coffee and reminisce about the good old St. John’s days. And, of course, I give her signed copies of my newest books. I owe so much to her and the other religious sisters that taught me, the least I can do is gift them my work. If it wasn’t for them, who knows if I ever would’ve become a writer. While the Sisters may have been strict at times, they were exemplary teachers and made a huge difference in my life. I’ll forever be grateful for them!

Do you have a teacher, perhaps a religious sister, who made an impact on your life? Have you been able to contact them and let them know how special they were to you? If you can, I’d highly recommend reaching out to them!

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It’s the End of A World, As We Know It

It’s the end of an era, the Civil War era, to be exact. Earlier this week, I emailed the copy-edited version of the sixth and final book in my Heaven Intended Civil War series to my publisher. A Hero Such as Heaven Intended is slated to be published this fall.

It’s surreal saying goodbye to the characters whose lives I’ve created, engineered, refined, and become so fond of over the last 17 years. Doing the math, I couldn’t believe that this series was conceived that long ago. From my recollection, I wrote the first chapter of A World Such as Heaven Intended in January of 2008, when our youngest child was a junior in high school.

That book was meant to not only be a stand-alone, but also the beginning and the end of my career as an author. The blood, sweat, and tears that went into its creation convinced me that I never wanted to write another book again.

Until I started getting feedback on the book. This story resonated with so many people—women, men, and teens, both girls and boys. I had readers from middle school through their early 90s who read and loved the book as much as I did. One of those readers happened to be 93 years old. After she read it, her niece asked, on her behalf, when the sequel would be coming out. A moment of panic set in. Yet, who would I be to tell a nonagenarian (thanks, Google) that there was no sequel? Lo and behold, my career as an author began.

Make that my career as the author of a trilogy. Two years later, in 2016, the second book in the series, A Life Such as Heaven Intended, was released. In 2018, the third, and what I thought would be the final book in the series, A Love Such as Heaven Intended, was released.

Then, in 2020, Cary Solomon, one of the writers and producers of the movies “God’s Not Dead” and “Unplanned,” expressed interest in making A World Such as Heaven Intended into a movie. Thanks in part to the global pandemic, that project never did see the light of day, but his suggestion for a fourth book in the Heaven Intended series did. A Freedom Such as Heaven Intended, featuring an enslaved young woman as the protagonist, was released in 2021.

The suggestion for the fifth book in the series, A Faith Such as Heaven Intended, came from Brad Birkholz, the photographer who’d shot the cover models and some of the background pictures for books two, three, and four. He wanted to see his daughter Autumn featured on the cover of one of my books. How could I say no to a request from the proud papa of a young lady who was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside? I’m so glad I took on that project. The photo session with Brad’s daughter turned out to be the last one he ever did, as he died unexpectedly in 2021.

Between writing Civil War novels, I had five other books published, including my two time-travel tales, Anything But Groovy (a cross between the movies “Back to the Future” and “Freaky Friday”) and Royal & Ancient, two books with fellow Catholic Teen Books authors, Treasures: Visible & Invisible and Ashes: Visible & Invisible, and my latest book and first foray into contemporary romcom, A Very Chapel Falls Christmas, (Yes, as a matter of fact, this would make an amazing Hallmark-style Christmas movie. If anyone reading this has a connection with anyone from Hallmark, Great American Family, Netflix, etc., have your people call my people. Or make that call me. I’m representing myself at this point unless I can connect with a literary film agent).

At almost every book signing, someone will approach me and ask which book is my favorite. That’s like asking a mother which child is her favorite. It’s almost impossible to answer. But, if I have to pick, it’s A World Such as Heaven Intended. That’s the book that started my writing career, so it’s near and dear to my heart. Seeing as it was the first book I ever wrote, I wouldn’t say it’s the most well-written. As a person who has had no formal education in this field, I have learned so much along the way. Particularly from my editors, who’ve been so patient with me through this learning process.

That being said, I can say with certainty that this is my last Civil War book, and, after my current manuscript is published, Lucky & Blessed: A Tale of Forbidden Love in the Court of King Henry VIII, I will be done writing historical fiction. As much as I love this genre, the amount of research it takes for each book nearly equals the amount of time it takes to write the book. At this stage in my career, and with my husband retired, I’m looking at projects that are lighter reads and take less time and effort to produce.

Not to worry, I’ve still got a full slate of projects I’m excited to work on. During the warm-weather months here in the Midwest, I’ll be spending a good deal of time enjoying the great outdoors with my husband, whether it’s e-biking, golfing, enjoying outdoor concerts, or hiking. But when the cold weather hits, you’ll find me at my computer most days, working on one manuscript or another.

Thanks for being along for the ride! I’ll see you at the next book signing!

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The Unexpected Joy of a Funeral

It was a challenging winter. My stepmom Mary had surgery on January 6, 2025, and things went downhill from there. With no recovery in sight, she was admitted to hospice on January 31 and passed away on March 9.

 

Due to various circumstances, including weather, travel, and the impending birth of Mary’s great-grandson, we scheduled the funeral for a month later on April 12. My dad was concerned that it was so far off because he was looking for closure after everything that had gone on in the last couple of months, but, in the end, it turned out to be the ideal day for the Mass and celebration of Mary’s life.

 

The weather was beautiful, all the folks traveling the day before or on that morning had ideal driving conditions, Mary’s great-grandson Arthur Joseph was able to attend with his mom and dad, our daughter Stephanie was able to fly in from Seattle, Mary’s grandson Jon was able to make it from California, and my dad’s younger brother Frank, who is my godfather, flew in from Texas.

 

Our youngest daughter Elizabeth flew home a week early to spend time with us ahead of the funeral. My Uncle Frank arrived Thursday and was able to have one-on-one time and a nice dinner out with my dad that evening. Our son-in-law Richie was able to pick up Stephanie at the airport in Milwaukee on his way driving in from Ohio.

 

Friday night there was a Lenten fish fry at our parish, so we had a group of our guests, including our three daughters, and two of our grandchildren, join us there for dinner. There’s nothing like a good ol’ Wisconsin fish fry. Everyone enjoyed the meal and comradery.

 

After dinner that evening, my husband John and I had the chance to have a nice conversation with my dad and my uncle. Across town, three of our children and two of our in-law children got to spend time together hanging out as well.

 

The bulk of the funeral planning—with input from my dad, John, the funeral home, staff at our parish, and a few other helpful people—was relegated to me. There was some anxiety when the day of the funeral arrived, but thankfully, everything went as planned. It was a beautiful and memorable Mass. Mary’s grandson Alex and our son Nick did the readings, our daughters Samantha and Elizabeth took up the gifts, and Stephanie read the Prayers of the Faithful. We were blessed to have two priests residing over the Mass, Fr. Don Zuleger and Fr. John Kleinschmidt, and the sermon that Fr. Don gave was poignant and humorous. Mary Kinderman played the piano and beautifully led the songs that our Mary had requested for her funeral Mass, including “On Eagle’s Wings,” “Be Not Afraid,” “Here I Am Lord,” and “How Great Thou Art.”

 

After Mass concluded, we had time for fellowship and lunch. It was so nice visiting with Mary’s sisters and brother-in-law, and nieces and nephews of hers that we hadn’t seen in years, plus friends and neighbors who were mourning her passing. The food catered by Van Abel’s of Hollandtown was delicious and the service was outstanding. There was more than enough food to serve the crowd, and the leftovers were packaged up and sent home with us.

 

That evening John and I hosted a pizza dinner at our house, which included not only our children, in-laws, and five of our eight grandchildren, but my uncle, my dad, my oldest brother Gordon and his son Jack. Eighteen people all together. It was a bit chaotic with the kids running around having fun, but groups of people did manage to carve out the time and space to chat, including my brother, my uncle, my dad, and me who got the dining room to ourselves after dinner.

 

Sunday saw the departure of almost all our relatives except Samantha, Ryan, and their children, as they chose to stay in town another week to spend Easter with us. Our last guests said goodbye on the Monday after Easter. That adds up to 17 days of guests, which is a lot for two empty nesters, but we always enjoy having company—particularly when it’s our children and grandchildren.

 

Who knows when we’ll all be together again. It seems that at this stage in life, there are more funerals on the horizon than weddings. But, regardless of the circumstances, we love spending time with our children who are scattered from the West Coast to the Midwest, and it’s a joy watching our grandchildren interacting with each other.

 

While it wasn’t the ideal situation to connect us, we certainly made the best of it. Which may just be a good way to look at any situation that life presents us. I have a feeling that Mary was watching from Heaven with laughter on her lips and a smile on her face. Thank you, Mary, for this gift of family and fellowship!

 

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Acts of Kindness Add Up

We’ve all heard the expression, “It takes a village to raise a child.” There is truth in that, but recently I’ve come to learn that it takes a village to care for the elderly too.

The Emergency Situation
My 86-year-old dad had a fall while stepping out of the shower at the end of January. By chance, that was the same day that his wife, my stepmom, who’d had major complications following a surgery earlier that month, transitioned from rehab to hospice care. After four days in the hospital, my dad was moved to rehab too. Thankfully, it was the same facility where my stepmom was receiving hospice care, so they could see each other almost daily.

After three weeks, Dad was discharged. If he’d been open to it, we would’ve found an assisted living place for him to move to. However, he really just wanted to go back to his home and the life that he enjoyed, even if his wife wouldn’t be able to join him. Even though my stepmom had health issues for a number of years, the two of them looked after each other. With my dad going through cancer treatment for the last year and a half, he’s had a number of falls, and my stepmom was the one to call the neighbors for help or to reach out to me and my husband to run over to assist him back to his feet.

It was somewhat frightening to bring my dad back to his house when I knew I could spend some time with him every day, but I couldn’t be there with him 24/7. He was so frail after all he’d gone through (not only the fall but subsequently pneumonia, gastrointestinal issues, and Influenza A all over the course of 21 days). I was concerned how he’d make it through his day-to-day activities.

Our Family’s New Normal
I’m overwhelmed by the number of people who have stepped in to help. Before we even got my dad to his house, my stepbrother’s wife spent a Friday evening and most of the day Saturday cleaning the house top to bottom. I could’ve cried when I walked in and saw the house in pristine condition.

While Dad was in the rehab facility, his next-door neighbor took charge of snow blowing and would run his vehicle every few days to make sure it would still start after a month of sitting in the garage during the cold month of February. Now that my dad’s home, this gentleman and his wife bring his mail up their steep driveway and hand-deliver it to him every day. Plus, that neighbor is a handyman and has done a few minor projects around the house that needed to be taken care of.

The lady across the street, who loves to bake, brings over treats and a share of healthy food, and gives my dad the daily paper to read after she finishes it. The family next door brings their 1-year-old and 3-year-old boys over to visit every so often. Their energy really brightens my dad’s day.

The couple two doors down brought their two teens to visit last weekend. One of their children will be mowing my dad’s lawn this summer. Other neighbors have stopped in to see him and sent get well cards. My aunts and uncles have been checking in on him and offering whatever help they can from where they live.

All these acts of kindness, whether big or small, add up. Honestly, I don’t know how my husband and I would’ve handled everything that’s been going on the last couple of months without this demonstration of neighborly love, most from people we’ve never even met. I truly hope, after this experience, that when we recognize someone in need in the future, we’ll step up and do something tangible to help them as well. It takes a village to take care of all of us.

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The Greatest Salesman in the World

The Greatest Salesman in the World

If I said the name Og Mandino, would you recognize it? To be honest, before the mid-1990s, I had no idea who he was either. Augustine “Og” Mandino was an American military hero, author, and salesman. He wrote the bestselling book The Greatest Salesman in the World. His books have sold more than 50 million copies and have been translated into more than 25 languages.

During World War II, Mandino was an officer in the U.S. Army Air Corp, flying 30 bombing missions over Germany onboard a B-24 Liberator, some with fellow pilot Jimmy Stewart, the star of one of my favorite movies, It’s a Wonderful Life.

After the war, Mandino went into insurance sales but struggled with alcoholism. On the verge of suicide, he visited a public library in Cleveland and self-help, success, and motivation books caught his attention. In time he went on to read hundreds of books on those topics which helped him overcome his addiction. He claimed that the book Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude by W. Clement Stone changed his life. Mandino went to work for Stone at Combined Insurance Company and in time took a position with Stone’s magazine Success Unlimited and, in 1966, became executive editor of the magazine. Over the years he became a successful writer and speaker. His books were inspired by the Bible, W. Clement Stone, Napoleon Hill, and Emmet Fox.

My husband John and I had the pleasure of working with Og Mandino when he was a speaker on the television network TPN, a station that broadcasted motivational and inspiring shows 24/7, including many featuring Mandino and his inspiring messages.

We were in the audience in Dallas, Texas, watching as countless TPN shows were taped (think Ted Talks 1990s style). This gave us the opportunity to not only watch Og Mandino make many of his presentations live, but also it gave us the chance to meet him in 1996, several months before he passed away. It was a moment John and I will never forget.

During one talk, Mandino said something so profound, that I have carried this message with me the 30 years since then. He mentioned the Bible quote from Matthew 12:7, “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.” Those are outstanding words to live by, but Mandino expanded upon that sentiment. He challenged us to approach every person we encounter each day, and imagine it’s their last day on this planet. How would you treat them? Would you go out of your way to be kind to them? Would you want their last memory of you to be a good one, even if it was the one and only time you’d ever met? Would this make it easier to let go of past hurts and focus on the good in every one?

Through the years people have commented on how kind I am. I’m always humbled by those words, and I attribute that character trait to not only living the life of a joyous Catholic, but also to the words I’d heard so long ago from Og Mandino. I try to live them out every day. Wouldn’t that be something if countless people chose to make that their mission in life too? We can’t change the whole world, but we can change us, and in time the world will change. How about giving it a try?

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Wish Bigger

As a pre-teen, our youngest child Elizabeth was diagnosed with two incurable autoimmune blood diseases. When she was 16, she was offered the opportunity to have a wish granted by Wisconsin Make-A-Wish. The day came for her to choose her wish and two volunteer wish granters arrived on our doorstep.

“What is your wish?” they asked.
“To go on a shopping spree,” Elizabeth replied.
“Wish bigger.”
“To go on a shopping spree to the Mall of America.”
“Wish bigger.”
“To go on a shopping spree to New York City.”
“Wish bigger.”
“To go to London with my family!” she exclaimed.

While we had talked about a shopping spree, Elizabeth had never expressed a desire to me or my husband to travel to Europe. Yet, when the wish granters kept encouraging her to wish bigger, she stated her ultimate wish. And you know what? Her wish was granted. All six members of our family, including her brother and sister in college, and her oldest sister who’d graduated from college, made the trip of a lifetime to London on Boxing Day 2008. Our trip included a memorable visit to the Tower of London, the Jack the Ripper tour, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, touring the grounds of Kensington Palace, seeing Wicked live on stage, crossing Abbey Road to the hallowed grounds of the Beatles’ Abbey Road Studios, celebrating Elizabeth’s 17th birthday at the original Hard Rock Café in London, and seeing the fireworks display over Big Ben on December 31, 2008, to welcome in 2009.

Elizabeth is now married and in stable health. I never had to endure what she did to have a wish granted, but I had a similar situation this past year. At the encouragement of my friend Jane Lang, the mayor of Neenah, Wisconsin—the most Christmas-friendly city you’ll ever find, I wrote my first contemporary romcom, A Very Chapel Falls Christmas, based on events that happen every holiday season in her fair city.

As I looked at the options for publishing this book, my prayer to God was, “Show me the way to see this project to fruition.” My husband John, who retired in May of 2024 after 40 years with a global packaging company, wanted to assist me in the process. This past spring and early summer he asked something along this line, “What is your prayer for A Very Chapel Falls Christmas?” My response, “That you and I self-publish this book so it will come out for the 2024 Christmas season.”

“Wish bigger,” he responded, thinking back to our daughter Elizabeth’s experience. “That I secure an agent to get this book in the hands of a large publisher.” Lo and behold, in July of 2024, I signed a contract with literary agent Joseph Durepos. Now it was time to pray bigger. We prayed that Joe would find a secular or Christian publisher who could publish this book for the 2024 Christmas season.

Lots of leads, but no contracts, so John and I prayed bigger—that one of the largest Catholic publishers in the world would publish this book. During a casual conversation, Joe mentioned our book project to a former client of his, Matthew Kelly, founder of Dynamic Catholic. Matthew showed interest in the book. That inspired John and I to pray bigger. We prayed that Matthew would not only publish A Very Chapel Falls Christmas, but would publish it by December.

And you know what? Our biggest prayer was answered. Matthew Kelly offered me a contract to have my book printed through Dynamic Catholic’s Viident Publishing under their new women’s fiction imprint, Feminine Genius, for its debut on December 1, 2024. Even with the abbreviated launch time, A Very Chapel Falls, my 10th book, is the most successful novel I’ve ever written.

What about you? Do you have a prayer for 2025? Maybe instead of praying small you can pray bigger. Who knows what will happen? From my own experience, I discovered that God wants more for us than we can even imagine.

My prayer for this year? That, if it’s God’s will, A Very Chapel Falls will be green-lit for production as a movie. Or bigger yet… that it will be made into a movie and available on a streaming service. Or, even bigger, that it will be a feature film premiering in movie theaters across the country and then go to streaming services. God has a plan for this project. My job is to keeping praying bigger, and watch the miracle unfold before my eyes.

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The Book That Took on a Life of Its Own

By November of 2023, I had my writing mapped out for the year 2024. First would be completing the sixth book in my Heaven Intended Civil War series and then writing the sequel to my time travel novel Anything But Groovy. You know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men, right? Those books were pushed to the back burner after a conversation with my friend, Jane Lang, who is the mayor of Neenah, Wisconsin, a city just south of where I live.

On December 7, 2023, Jane asked me to meet her at Oak Hill Cemetery in Neenah. The chapel on the cemetery grounds had been refurbished to its 1800s glory through the generosity of a local family. She thought the chapel would make the ideal cover for one of my Civil War books.

After taking pictures inside and out, Jane and I walked through the snow back to our vehicles. Before we could even open our doors, we looked at each other, and almost at the same time said, “Wouldn’t it be cool to have a Hallmark Christmas movie-style book set in Neenah?”

We went off to Globe Coffee and, being the sweet Christmas movie aficionados that we are, we expounded on that idea. Jane talked about all the fun Christmas and holiday events that go on in Neenah every year. After about five minutes, I looked at her and said, “That’s the outline to a Christmas book right there.”

Once January of 2024 rolled around, I was at my desk outlining this book, originally titled A Very Winnebago Falls Christmas. The first couple weeks of January I got a start on writing the book. On January 29, 2024, I flew to Columbus, Ohio, for the beginning of a three-week visit to help out our middle daughter and her husband who had a 2-year-old daughter and newborn son. Generally, I don’t travel with my laptop, but I brought it for this trip because I wanted to keep working on the book.

Over the course of three weeks, I chipped away at the manuscript every day. The vast majority of writing was done between 9 p.m. and midnight when the house was quiet with everyone asleep but me. The first draft was completed two days after I arrived back home.

With a goal of having this book published for the 2024 Christmas season, John and I started researching the process of self-publishing. However, after a brief conversation with a fellow writer from Catholic Teen Books when we were at a writers’ get-together in Niagara Falls, New York, I reached out to a mutual acquaintance of ours, literary agent Joe Durepos. I was hoping Joe could share some thoughts of where to pitch two other complete manuscripts I had and could give John and me some insight on our idea of self-publishing the Christmas book.

It turns out that Joe is a super-fan of Hallmark Christmas movies. To the point that he subscribes to the Hallmark Channel annually in November and December and has a spreadsheet to track the movies he watches. Joe asked me why I hadn’t pitched the Christmas book to an agent. The answer: I’d only ever pitched one book to an agent and it had been turned down. By chance, that agent was Joe. (No worries, Royal & Ancient did find a home!)

Joe asked to see the first 50 pages of the manuscript. Then, maybe 48 hours later, asked to see the entire manuscript. After reading that, he offered me a contract to represent me through his literary agency. The contract was signed July 17, 2024, with the caveat that if Joe didn’t find a suitable publishing house for the book by October 1, 2024, then the contract would be voided and John and I would self-publish the book.

Over the next two months, Joe pitched the book (rechristened at his suggestion to A Very Chapel Falls Christmas) to some of the biggest secular and Christian publishers on the planet. There was strong interest in this project, but, for various reasons, none of them offered me a contract. Two months went by when another avenue appeared. Joe, who had been Matthew Kelly’s agent for his first two books, had a conversation with him in mid-September. (For those of you unfamiliar with Matthew Kelly, he’s the founder of Dynamic Catholic and Viident Publishing. They have 200-plus writers in their fold with a total of more than 100 million books published.) Unbeknownst to Joe, Matthew was in the process of starting a new imprint under Viident Publishing called Feminine Genius, which would feature women’s fiction.

Matthew asked to see the manuscript and within a few days he extended a verbal contract to me to publish A Very Chapel Falls Christmas for the 2024 Christmas season. That gave us about 10 weeks to go from a manuscript that had been copy edited and revised once, to a complete book that went through numerous more rounds of copy editing and revising. This project gave my copy editor Ava, a recent graduate of Miami University, a run for her money, but she and her design team did an outstanding job of getting this ready to go to print in record time.

John and I had the opportunity to meet with Matthew and his team at Dynamic Catholic in Northern Kentucky on November 21, 2024. I’d met Matthew once years ago when I interviewed him for an article in the Compass newspaper. He was just as kind and genuine as I remembered. He explained that they’d “crashed” the book through for a soft launch in 2024, but had plans for a bigger launch for the 2025 holiday season.

Quite generously, Matthew offered to give a case of 40 books to each of the businesses named in the book (while the city is called Chapel Falls, its modeled after Neenah and we used the real names of Neenah businesses in the manuscript) to help launch the book. The businesses could do what they wanted with the books, whether it was share them with their employees or clients, sell them at the list price and keep the proceeds, or sell them at the list price and donate the proceeds to charity. More than half of the businesses chose to donate the proceeds of their sales. Local non-profits from animal shelters to those focusing on children and the underprivileged received donations of thousands of dollars to start off the new year.

Through Neenah’s chamber of commerce (Future Neenah), I was given the opportunity to sign and sell books at various Neenah Christmas events that happened downtown in December of 2024, plus they arranged for Jane Lang and me to be interviewed about this project by a local television network. Between all those efforts, upwards of a thousand books were distributed or sold in the area in just over two weeks’ time. The book hit as high as #20 on Amazon in December in Contemporary Christian Romance.

As 2025 kicks off, I’m continuing to market A Very Chapel Falls Christmas and am accepting interview invitations, and setting up speaking engagements and book-signing events throughout the year. I’m looking to present to more book clubs, women’s conferences, libraries, middle schools, high schools, etc. If you know of any venues where I could be interviewed, speak or sign books, let me know. I cherish the opportunity to talk about my mission, “to write wholesome, unforgettable stories that align with my faith and values to touch the hearts of countless people worldwide.”

Who knows what 2025 will hold for this sweet Christmas story. New York Times best-seller? Ranked #1 in all its genres on Amazon? Available for sale at major big box stores? Green-lit for the next Hallmark or Great American Family movie? We’re looking forward to following whatever path God leads us on.

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Old Glory Honor Flight — One of the Best Days of Our Lives!

After months of anticipation, the morning of Wednesday, September 11, 2024, finally arrived. I was awake before the 3:45 am alarm rang. By 4:40 am, John and I were at my dad’s house to pick him up for our 6:30 flight to Baltimore.

My dad, Kieran Purcell, who served in the Air Force from 1956 until 1960, and worked as a contractor for the Air Force from 1965 until 1978, had earned a spot on the 70th Mission of the Old Glory Honor Flight, departing from Appleton International Airport.

After making our goodbyes to John, Dad and I made our way into the building, checked in, Dad got his picture taken, we got a goodie bag with some bling (including a pin for Dad to attach to his Air Force hat), and we walked to the gate to enjoy a breakfast of doughnuts and coffee catered by Dunkin’, as in the donut place. (We highly recommend the pumpkin cake donuts.)

By 7:00 they were loading the plane with the nearly 100 vets and their guardians. Many of the vets, like us, were father/daughter teams or father/son teams. As the plane was departing, construction workers who were working on an addition to the airport, lined up shoulder to shoulder along the tarmac in a show of respect for the vets.

Ninety minutes later we landed at the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, where the vets were welcomed with a water salute by firetrucks on both sides of the airplane and then a Revolutionary War re-enactor inside the gate ringing a handbell announcing our arrival.

Four busloads of vets were loaded up (that, in itself, was a process, as a number of the men were using wheelchairs or had oxygen tanks and other medical paraphernalia in tow). Our first stop was the World War II Monument. It had been constructed after Dad’s last trip to Washington, D.C. He was thoroughly impressed by it. We got our picture taken in front of the Wisconsin pillar and walked around the entire perimeter but never did find the two “Kilroy Was Here” etchings.

After that it was off to the National Mall. The Lincoln Memorial is under construction until 2025, so we didn’t go up the ramp to get to the area where the memorial sits, which was probably a good thing because I was pushing the wheelchair that had been provided for Dad and it was unseasonably warm that day. He asked more than once during our time there if I wanted to take a breather and he could push because I was panting from the exertion!

Next, we went to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which is always a moving experience as you watch the vets using tracing paper to make rubbings of names on the wall of friends and family members who’d lost their lives in the Vietnam War.

We made two stops on our way from there to look at the Vietnam Women’s Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, both artfully designed and crafted statutes that were sobering to view. Dad was so impressed by the figures that made up The Korean War Veterans Memorial. He’d known a number of men who’d served in that war. We looked at the panels on the Korean War Veterans Wall of Remembrance listing the names of the 36,000+ U.S. soldiers who lost their lives in the war and the 7,100 Koreans who died while augmenting the Army.

With all that time in the sun, Dad and I were ready to head back to the air-conditioned bus and enjoy our Arby’s box lunches. After lunch the busses took us to the Air Force Memorial which I would say was Dad’s favorite. Not only did he serve in the Air Force but the view of the skyline of Washington, D.C. was spectacular.

As we were going about our day, I realized this was the most time alone I’ve ever spent with my dad in one day. We conversed throughout the day on a wide variety of topics, including his and acquaintances’ military service. We had discussions that may never have come up if we hadn’t had that quantity of time together.

Next on the agenda was Arlington National Cemetery. We got there is time to witness the Changing of the Guard at 3:00. You could’ve heard a pin drop as the we watched the procedure. Because it was September 11, Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance, there were dozens of people in attendance who we imagined were politicians or staff members. We also saw a family lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to honor the sacrifices of American service members—perhaps it had been a loved one of their own.

The final stop of the day was the U.S. Marine Corps War Monument, which is also known as the Iwo Jima Monument. Dad and I knew one John Bradley from our years when he was stationed at the Air Force base in Antigo. He was one of the Marines who’d help raise one of the flags on Mount Suribachi, captured in iconic photos by Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945.

Our group of veterans was treated to a performance by the United States Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon, a 24-man rifle platoon that performs a precision drill exhibition without verbal commands or cadences. The platoon performance highlights the professionalism of the Marine Corps.

We completed our day with another tasty box lunch from Arby’s while we sat on steps overlooking the park where the monument rests. After that, it was loading the busses again, fighting D.C. traffic as they geared up for a home game for the Washington Nationals, and back to the airport.

Each event throughout the day built on the one before it. When we boarded the flight for home, the vets probably thought they’d experienced every part of The Old Glory Honor Flight. But the crew and volunteers had a couple more surprises up their sleeves. The vets and guardians were gifted an impressive medallion commemorating the day.

Then was mail call. Each man received an envelope stuffed with letters thanking them for their service or welcoming them home. These letters were from civic organizations, schools, 4-H clubs, children, and, most impactfully, from their own families and friends. Dad and I both had tears in our eyes as he read through each letter. He particularly loved the notes from his kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids. We’re all so proud of him and his service to our country!

They saved the best for last. After all the men were off the airplane in Appleton, they drew back the curtains, the band struck up, and we were welcomed home by nearly a thousand well-wishers. This was the welcome that every vet deserved when they completed their military service. Both Dad and I had tears rolling down our cheeks as I accompanied him through the corridor of happy and grateful citizens. It was a sight to behold watching the men being saluted, people shaking their hands, posters held up high honoring the vets, and witnessing the men rushing into the arms of their beloved family members.

At the end of the night, Dad declared, “This has been one of the best days of my life!” I concurred. He then said, “I’ll remember this day the rest of my life… however long that may be.” With his current state of health, only God knows that. But I will add, it was the best day I’ve ever had with my dad, and I’m so glad all the pieces fell into place so that we could experience this trip together.

If you know any vet who served in the U.S. military between December, 7, 1941 and May, 7, 1975—wartime or peacetime—let them know about flights like The Old Glory Honor Flight. These trips are life-changing for our veterans. It’s never too late to say thank you!

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