My Scribbler’s Heart

An Open Book

/ CAstfalk / 4 Comments

 

An Open Book CatholicMom

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

 

Ornamental Graces coverI’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. Ornamental Graces 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.

Nameless by Erin McCole CuppAs soon as Ornamental Graces is ready for prime time, I have two more October releases to read. The first is Nameless 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 SandalsA 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.

The Giver by Lois LowryMy 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.

Nancy Clancy by Jane O'ConnorMy 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.

Scary Scary Halloween by Even BuntingFinally, 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.

A Woggle of Witches by Adrienne AdamsI’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.

[inlinkz_linkup id=666193 mode=1]

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.

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!

Battle for His Soul: A Glimpse at Unseen Realities

/ CAstfalk / 3 Comments
angel statue

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! Continue reading →

10 Things About Stay With Me You May Not Know

/ CAstfalk / 9 Comments

Happy Birthday Stay With Me

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.

  1. 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.
  2. The infamous shower scene wasn’t intended from the beginning. True to life, it just sort of happened.
    Continue reading →

5 Faves: Clean Romances with Pro Athletes

/ CAstfalk / 4 Comments

5 Faves

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.

Continue reading →

Discovery by Karina Fabian: A Journey Worth Taking

/ CAstfalk / 5 Comments

Discovery by Karina FabianWhile 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. Continue reading →

Top 10 Tuesday: Favorite Albums

/ CAstfalk / 3 Comments

All That You Can't Leave Behind U2

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:

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

Continue reading →

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

/ CAstfalk / 3 Comments

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? 

The Last Viking by Susan PeekAs 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? Continue reading →

Seven Quick Takes

/ CAstfalk / 2 Comments

7 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!)

Michael State Forest

Michaux State Forest

Continue reading →