And That's a Wrap

Backstory Excerpts for Hardcore Fans,... It's Firetender's First Birthday!

And That's a Wrap

Who’s ready to start 2024 off with a new book in hand? How about writing—a new book being drafted, going through revisions, or on its way to the publisher?

Writing

My writing accomplishments last year were major ones—I had the first two novels in the Chalice Series published! In January, Firetender introduced my characters to the world—characters who had been living in my head since 1996. Giving them a full story with purpose and beauty, tragedy and faith, was a labor of love from 2020-2022. Then in June, Enkindle in Me was published, continuing Dallas’s story in the second book of the series.

In September, Firetender received the Catholic Writers Guild Seal of Approval, signaling its accordance with the teachings of the Catholic faith as well as its professional editing. Click here to see other books that have been awarded the SOA.

I am grateful to Full Quiver Publishing, all my beta and advance copy readers, helpful members of the Catholic Writers Guild, and my online writing group Pens ‘n’ Roses (great name, huh?).

Find the Chalice Series Here!

So, what do I have planned this year in writing news?

Currently, Chalice Book Three (The Fire of Your Love) is with beta readers. I also have it running through a critique group. I am hoping to receive all beta reader feedback by the end of January so I can begin my last major revisions before moving it towards publication. If I work fast enough, maybe by the end of this year?? We will see!

This month, I plan to submit Firetender for consideration for the Catholic Media Association book awards. I also will be submitting Enkindle in Me for the Catholic Writers Guild SOA.

I plan to continue my revisions of Chalice Book Four this year and will likely run it through my crit group before taking it to beta readers. It’s so fast-paced, and I love that about it. This book also introduces totally new dynamics and characters who have taken off into their own story!

Reading

Here’s a look at my list of books read over 2023:

A few highlights:

I read David Copperfield by Charles Dickens for the first time. Much of it I did on audiobook—I found a really good reader on Librivox and listened to much of it while cooking and then while driving from Georgia to Texas to Kansas and back in early March. David is a likeable character who runs into many odds stacked against him with an innocent naivety which is endearing at times, while at others you want to shake some sense into him: like his decision to marry Dora. The reader sees it’s a train wreck from the beginning, but what’s so likeable about David is that he understands the commitment he’s made and is going to stick with it. This did not stop me from rolling my eyes at Dora’s absolute incompetence, haha. All of the supporting characters were colorful and added drama to David’s life, and the gravity of the story’s themes were not lessened by the humor sprinkled throughout the book.

I read Demon Copperhead, a modern novel by Barbara Kingsolver modeled after David Copperfield, in December. I’m not quite sure what I thought of it yet. I did find myself rooting for Demon throughout the book—I’m a sucker for the down-and-out characters. And I was much amused by finding the parallel characters and connecting their names and attributes to the original Dickens ones (U-Haul Pyles was Uriah Heep; Sterling “Fast Forward” was James Steerforth; Hammer was Ham). I guess the drawback is that you know what’s going to happen to these characters (more or less) because of knowing the fates of their Dickens counterparts (which is probably the point, in part, anyway). One character with no Dickens counterpart was Maggot, so I’m not sure why the author added him in. The language in the book and some of the content crossed a line, in my opinion. I don’t usually have a big problem with language if it is true to a character, but when it gets sexually graphic in a constant kind of way, it gets to be too much. Demon, in his defense, obviously was brought up in an area and with a lifestyle that wasn’t going to do much for him in the way of morals, but still he retains some of the goodness of his David Copperfield version: he vows to stick with Dori even though she’s a complete train wreck of drug addiction. And a lot of the time, he knows what’s right even if he doesn’t always figure out how to do what’s right.

The main takeaway between the two books is that Demon was a much darker read than David. I assume Kingsolver wanted that—I mean, drug addiction is very dark. But so are the tragedies in David Copperfield, yet Dickens gives his story more light somehow. Even just the little additions of humor… for instance, I was rolling with laughter during the scene when Betsey Trotwood sees the donkeys going through her yard and keeps yelling out, “Janet—donkeys!” In Demon Copperhead, I got excited when he turned on Janet Road, also referred to as “the old donkey road” by some locals, because I caught the reference. However, Betsy Woodall does not start yelling about donkeys, or any kind of disturbance in her yard, unfortunately. I do think Kingsolver did a clever job overall in her version. I wish there could have been a way to get the message across without being so crude. Maybe there wasn’t.

Here’s a stack of some of my reads this past year… just the ones I could locate really easy for a photo. No way was I going to scrounge up all the books on the list above!

I’ve already reviewed several of the other books I read in 2023. You can look back here on Substack to find other reviews. A few of note:

No Turning Back by Father Donald Calloway - autobiography of a juvenile delinquent who became a priest (obviously, I was super interested in this one!).

The Divided Kingdom by Allison Ramirez - A dystopian novel with pro-life/human dignity themes, a strong female protagonist and secondary male protagonist, and not at all overdone with the romance. Can the leadership of the Island of Mirror erase history in the name of progress for their society?

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - Tragic story ends with tragic consequences. When you put too much importance on the external, what’s truly important on the inside suffers. Beauty is fleeting.

Works of Mercy by Sally Thomas - I really loved this one. Who knew a widowed older lady who works part time as a housekeeper for the local parish priest could be a protagonist?? The author made this story heartwarming, sad, humorous, and realistic all combined. The inclusion of Saint Robert Southwell’s poetry? Perfect!

And here’s a peek at some of the books I want to read in 2024: