Grace-filled Tuesdays (Book Club "Meeting" #10): Catholic Mom Article

I am WOEFULLY behind when it comes to keeping up with this blog.  Life on the road is not conducive to blogging, I've decided.  And this travelin' Grammy has been on the road a lot lately (but what's new about that?!).

If String of Pearls is to be a well-kept eScrapbook that chronicles my family's important life events (which is one of the main reasons I started it in the first place), I have to do a better job of covering those events! There were some very important birthdays in our family on Sept. 30, and another important one yesterday; and I have plans for a birthday post of epic proportions (truly, it will be epic--wait until you see it!). 

But that birthday extravaganza is going to have to wait until tomorrow; because another thing I'm behind on is my online book club, Grace-filled Tuesdays.  I'm not sure it has any members, besides the usual suspects (hi, husband!) who check in here religiously, but I'm determined to keep up with it nonetheless!  For aside from cataloguing my family's memories, this blog is also one of the few marketing weapons I have in my arsenal; and I feel I have a duty to try to get the word out about my two Catholic novels, Finding Grace and Erin's Ring.

I still sometimes can't believe that I was able to get those two books written, and that they were actually published.  I am well aware that those things wouldn't have happened if God hadn't meant them to.  And because both of my Catholic YA novels show the beauty of the Faith and give glory to Our Lord and His Blessed Mother, I believe they can be a positive influence in the lives of young readers.  But they can only do good in the world if people know they exist.  So as much as promoting my own work goes against the shy and introverted grain of my God-given personality, I am here today to humbly implore you to help me spread the word about Finding Grace and Erin's Ring.

Did you know that Erin's Ring wouldn't have ever seen the light of day if the president of Bezalel Books, Cheryl Dickow, hadn't approached me with the offer to write a second YA novel for her company?  It was not a book I intended to write; I had decided that I was probably a one book wonder (and I use the term loosely, because "wonder" implies that my first novel, Finding Grace, was a monster hit that earned me fame and fortune, which is certainly not the case!).  But God had other plans for me.

If you're interested in learning more about how Erin's Ring came to be, on Sept. 25 the folks at CatholicMom.com posted a short article I submitted in the "Book Notes" section of their website. Here's a link to that article if you're interested.

Erin's Ring is tailor-made for Catholic classrooms (there's even a glossary in the back!).  Just ask these happy campers, a group of Chicago fourth-graders I had the pleasure to meet last May.

Perhaps your Catholic school or homeschool would like to add this sweet historical novel to its reading, history, or religion curriculum, too.  Depending on the time and the distance, I might even be persuaded to come and talk to the kids.  (Gulp!  Yes, I just volunteered to speak in public...)

Now before I go, I want to announce a giveaway.  Leave me a comment by Oct. 31, and you could win a free signed copy of Erin's Ring.

Meeting adjourned!