I Just Pray That God is Pleased with My Books; If So, Then So Am I

I received an email recently that I've been expecting, but it kind of broke my heart a little bit nonetheless.  The publisher of my two novels, Cheryl Dickow at Bezalel Books, informed me that Erin's Ring had only sold 9 copies this past year (and it has hardly been a bestseller at any time since its publication in 2014), and therefore she could no longer afford to make it available for distribution.  I know it broke her heart a little, too, because she'd had such high hopes for this book.  She pictured it being used in Catholic school classrooms and homeschool programs, as a part of the history, reading, or religion curriculum.  But despite the fact that it received two Book Awards from the Catholic Press Association in 2015, my sweet little historical novel filled with endearing Irish immigrant characters just couldn't find its audience.  What this means for Erin's Ring is that once they run out of the stock they have on hand, Amazon and other booksellers will no longer have new copies of the paperback available on their sites--although they offer used copies for sale from other sellers, in varying conditions at varying prices.

A year or two ago, Cheryl had to drop my first novel, Finding Grace (published in 2012), from distribution for the same reason.  The good thing about this book, however, is that unlike Erin's Ring it is also available in the Kindle format.  But otherwise, henceforth only used paperback copies will be found on the Amazon site.

RIP, my babies!

And RIP, writing career.

Okay, that is just extremely dramatic!  And seriously, how can I be sad about the way things turned out when I had the opportunity to do what I love--to write fictional stories that showcase the beauty and truth of the Catholic Faith, of married love, of strong family bonds, and of openness to life--and not only that, to fulfill a girlhood dream of being a published author?  I always thought that was an unreachable goal for me, and it happened.  How blessed am I?  My husband used to joke--years before I ever got around to starting work on Finding Grace, after decades of being a SAHM--that I would one day write a blockbuster book that made me a millionaire, and he could retire early and be supported by my earnings in old age.  Ha!  He's 61 and 1/2 now, and mandatory retirement in his line of work is 65.  So with this latest email from my publisher, I would say that his dream will not be coming true!

God has a plan for all of us; and even though I question Him sometimes, I know this to be true and I trust that He knows what I need to get to Heaven a lot better than I do.  If my books were meant to sell like hotcakes, they would have.  (I've told this story before here at the blog, and if you are a longtime follower, forgive me for the repetition: my husband, who makes me laugh every day, would always say, "But they're selling like lukewarm cakes.")

Early on, I was somewhat involved in the world of Catholic authorship.  My husband and I attended a Catholic Writers Guild/Catholic Marketing Network conference in NJ in August of 2013, and Finding Grace was a finalist for a Catholic Arts and Letters Award that year.

I even stepped way (way,WAY) outside of my comfort zone at that conference and did a short interview with EWTN when they stopped by the CWG booth!

Wow, looking at these photos for the first time in years, it seems like a whole lifetime ago.  And truly, it was.  Not too long after this conference, we had a whirlwind 11-month stretch during which three of our sons got married.  And in the summer of 2013, I only had three young grandchildren; but before long, our sons' families would start to multiply at breakneck speed, and this Grammy's life would become more and more about traveling afar to see them and less and less about traveling afar to do author-type things.

But I would not trade the full and busy family life I have now, with all five sons happily married and at last count, 16 grandchildren--all of whom live within an hour of their Papa and me!--for all the tea in China (or all the 5-star reviews and massive book sales in the world).

So I am not a bestselling author.  But I am an author.  And what's most important of all to me is that I believe God is pleased that I used whatever talents He gave me to give glory to Him--or at least I hope and pray He is pleased.  The fact that these two books didn't succeed in the eyes of the world is not the measure of their worth.  Even as I sit here, feeling a bit down about the fact that my books will not be as easily available to the young souls who might be inspired and edified by their messages (which are in direct opposition to the messages with which they are being bombarded by our increasingly secular-humanistic world), I realize that they were published for a reason, and if just one reader was meant to find them, he or she will (or has).

Luckily, I will still be able to order author copies of my books for myself, to give as gifts or to sell here at the blog.  These author copies are considerably more expensive than they used to be, so I can't offer the same lower prices that Amazon could, or that I used to.  But if you're interested in either book, there are yellow "Buy Now" buttons on the sidebar at the right on my home page under the images of the book covers.  If you click on one of those buttons, you will get to a PayPal page and can make your purchase there.

I am offering signed copies of my books here at String of Pearls, for the following prices (which include shipping and handling):

Erin's Ring: $12.00

Finding Grace: $17.00

I'm thinking that maybe with the holidays approaching, I'll run a little blog book giveaway.  What do you think?  I could offer one of the novels...or I could offer a copy of My Little ABC Book (a labor of love for my family which was never expected to be a commercially successful project!).

Which of these three books should be the giveaway item?  If you have any preferences, let me know in the comments.

I don't know if I'll ever write another book...but I'm glad I'll always have this little space on the Internet to come to when the writing bug hits.  God bless you for stopping by!

Evangelizing Through Fiction

I'm a little embarrassed about how much I've been using this blog and my Facebook pages lately to push, push, push Finding Grace, because I can't think of anything I dislike more than calling attention to myself.  Yet I feel I must make an effort to market/promote it to the best of my ability.  It took attending the Catholic Writers Guild Live conference in New Jersey this past summer to convince me that it's okay to want people to read my book--in fact, it's okay to encourage them to read it.  Because it's not about me at all; it's about sharing a message.  It's about using fiction as a form of evangelization.  That is truly what I set out to do with this book back in August of 2007, when I first sat down to write it.  I wanted it to be entertaining, humorous, and sweet; but most importantly, I wanted it to be a tool to combat the poison being peddled as literature in this secularized age--I wanted it to unabashedly show the joy and beauty of a life lived according to God's will and His laws.

But here's the kicker: what I didn't bank on was that if I wanted anyone to read it and be positively affected by it, I would have to try (and I mean try hard) to "sell" it.  That's been the tough part for me.

My baby sister has an easier time selling my book than I do (she even saw to it that the library of the public school where she works got a copy and put it on display), so I'm going to shamelessly use her here as a promotion tool.

Isn't she gorgeous?  I told her that ad agencies use beautiful women to sell things all the time--so I thought maybe I ought to do the same!

Many people wouldn't in a million years read religious non-fiction books, because they find them too dry and boring.  But they will read a novel with a good story in it, because they enjoy that so much more.  And that's where a Catholic author can use the medium of fiction to quietly evangelize: through the actions of characters that a reader comes to know and love, an author can inspire that reader to change his life, to be a better person, to seek the Truth.  I hope--I pray!--that that is what I accomplished with my humble little novel, and that even one soul will be edified by it.  I would rather please the Man Upstairs than be successful by the world's standards.

There are very few authors--of fiction in general and Catholic fiction in particular--who are going to become household names or see their works adapted to the big screen.   I read somewhere that the odds of being a "successful" author are roughly the same as winning the lottery on a $1 ticket: about 1 in 1,270,000.  (I have no idea if that's an accurate figure, but it sounds about right.)  I suppose if I'd been willing to sell out and write a book filled with sexual perversity, vampires, or zombies, Finding Grace might have a shot at becoming "successful."  As it is, it's currently ranked at about #600,000 on Amazon--which is a pretty far cry from the #1 spot!  A bestseller it is not.  But I believe in this book anyway.  I believe that it can do some good in the world.  I believe that a high school girl being fed the falsehoods taught in sex ed classes (where the word "safe" is used in a way that is so incredibly misleading) might actually be inspired by the hard lessons learned by some of FG's characters to make different choices than the world would have her make.  I believe that she could be inspired to imitate my sweet, self-effacing little heroine, Grace Kelly--who might be unsure of herself in many ways, but is very sure that with the help of the saints, she can become one herself.

Okay, 'nuff said.  I'll just end here by letting you know that the Kindle version of Finding Grace has been reduced from $7.99 to $4.99--just in time for Christmas gift-giving.

Thanks for your patience, dear readers!

What We're Reading Wednesday: All the Blue of Heaven (with a Review)

It wasn't until Finding Grace was published that I realized how important it is for authors to have reviews of their work posted by readers--whether on Amazon, on Goodreads, or on readers' personal blogs.  My novel, a labor of love that I'd dreamed of writing since I was a schoolgirl, was released a little over a year ago by a small Catholic publishing house called Bezalel Books--which is doing wonderful work, but is hardly a household name; yet even the larger houses rarely have big budgets for marketing and promoting their authors' works, so the burden of that responsibility falls mostly on the shoulders of the authors themselves.  (Ironic, too, because most of us bookish types are much happier quietly typing away on a laptop rather then standing before a group of people and saying, "Gee, you really should read my novel!")

Over the past year, I have had some incredible on-line conversations with a whole bunch of amazing Catholic writers--some of whom I'd heard of before, some of whom were new to me.  Getting to know them, and being on the receiving end of their encouragement and support, was truly one of the best off-shoots of having my book published.  When I got to meet several of them in the flesh at the Catholic Writers Guild conference held in early August in NJ, that was extremely special.

Catholic writers are fighting a cultural war, trying to spread the Faith through their words, and they need the support of their fellow soldiers in the trenches (not to put too dramatic a spin on it).  Most of the authors I've been fortunate enough to meet, whether on-line or in person, are more than willing to put in a good word for one of their fellow "evangelizers," knowing what a difficult task it can be to get good Christian literature into the hands of those who might be inspired or edified by it.  As blogger and writer Sarah Reinhard explained to me, after I thanked her for posting a positive review on my book's Amazon page, "Well, I'm an author, too.  I'm all about helping the peeps.  :)"

I want to help my peeps as well, so I've started writing book reviews for CatholicFiction.net.  I've also written a few for Amazon, and just last night I set up a Goodreads account.  One of the books I've recently read and reviewed for these sites is Virginia Carmichael's All the Blue of Heaven.  (I mentioned I'd started it in this previous WWRW post.)   I thought I'd share the review with you today, while linking up with Jessica for an installment of

Just me with my nose in a book.  What's new?

Carmichael is a good writer.  In this work of Christian romance fiction, her characters are well-developed and their conversations sound like real ones.  I like the "will they end up together, or won't they?" tension she created between the heroine and her love interest.  My only beef with the book was that it was rather poorly edited, but otherwise I really did enjoy it.  Here's a link to my Goodreads review of All the Blue of Heaven.  (The same one will appear on CatholicFiction.net and Amazon..) Now head on over to Housewifespice to see what Jessica and her peeps are reading this Wednesday.

 

Review by Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur

Back in April, Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur--a freelance writer, editor, and book author--was kind enough to read and then do a review of my novel Finding Grace, which she posted on her Spiritual Woman website.  In case you've been sitting on the fence, wondering if this is a book you should have your teenage daughter read (or even read yourself, because it's written for an adult audience as well), maybe this review will inspire you to get your hands on a copy...or inspire you to suggest it as a book club choice, if the gals in your group are looking for something a whole lot more wholesome than Shades of Gray...or inspire you to incorporate it into the curriculum of your homeschool reading group (for grades 8 and up).

I know I've been talking about my book a lot recently on this blog; but one thing I did learn at the Catholic Writers Guild conference a few weeks ago is that although Catholic writers are rarely rich and famous, they have an important mission, a vocation: they are evangelizers. As the coffee mugs that were given out in our conference goody bags say of those who work in the field of Catholic literature, "I am a journalist, I am an editor, I am a writer, I am a publisher, I am a CONTENT EVANGELIST."  If it's meant as an evangelization tool and it sits hidden away gathering dust on a shelf, then my book isn't going to do anybody any good.

And truly, when I set out to write this novel, I did think of it as doing my small part to evangelize.  I wanted to present an alternative to all the damaging secular messages that are being thrown at our young people on a daily basis--on TV and the Internet, in movies and books--and show the beauty and Truth of the Catholic Faith, and how the answers to all of life's most difficult questions can be found in its teachings.

Okay now, without further ado, here's the Spiritual Woman review.

********************

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Book Review: Finding Grace

Finding Grace
by Laura H. Pearl
Waterford, MI: Bezalel Books, 2012

“Finding Grace” by Laura H. Pearl  is a Catholic coming-of-age novel set in the 1970s. Grace Kelly shares a name with the famous princess, but little else. She’s a plain, awkward girl entering her teen years, struggling to find her place in the world as she grows up in Plattsburgh, New York. She has devout Catholic parents, a house full of older brothers, and a best friend, Irene, who possesses all the beauty and grace she lacks. 

What Grace does possess is the desire to become a saint. At her father’s urging, she begins to read lives of the saints and tries to fashion her life after them. Admittedly, this isn’t always easy. She is starting high school and becomes the favorite target of Sister Immaculata, the much-feared Latin teacher. She also becomes friends with two young men – Jimmy Sullivan and Tom Buckley, one who she dreams of being with, and one who dreams of being with her.

The novel follows Grace and her friends from 1972 – 1980, when she is studying to be a teacher in college. This was a turbulent decade when many of the world’s morals were changing. Grace struggles to keep her virtue and her resolve to be a saint. Her friends struggle with their choices as well.

Pearl depicts the era well, especially the changes wrought by Roe v. Wade. Two characters in the novels become pregnant and make very different choices. Pearl explores what those choices meant to the character’s future lives.

“Finding Grace” is a long book and not a quick read, but it is worth spending time with and following Grace as she grows into a beautiful young woman. 

What I'm Reading Wednesday: The Truth about Therese and Rachel's Contrition...

...and I thought I'd mention, too, that hey, maybe this Wednesday you should be reading Finding Grace!  Or giving it to your teenage daughter to read!

Shameless, I know.  I'll get to that in a minute.  But first I do want to tell you about the two books I'm currently reading.   (I can't seem to stick to just one at a time these days--so many books, so few hours in the day!)

The first is one I told you about on the link-up last Wednesday: Henri Gheon's The Truth about Therese. I'm still only about half-way through this slim volume, but it's simply beautiful--a must-read for fans of the Little Flower, for sure; but I think almost anyone would enjoy it and be inspired by it.

The second book I'm currently gobbling up is Michelle Buckman's Rachel's Contrition. This novel was the 2012 winner of the Catholic Writers Guild's CALA (Catholic Arts & Letters Award) for adult fiction.  I was lucky enough to meet the author herself (a really sweet woman!) at the CWG conference in NJ earlier this month, and we did a book swap: I gave her a signed copy of Finding Grace, and she in turn gave me a signed copy of Rachel's Contrition.  (I was practically star-struck, being around all those authors!)

Clutching my precious hand-signed copy, with a personal note inside that says,
"To Laura, God bless you on your journey."

Buckman's novel is extraordinarily well-written, and it's a real page-turner.  Be warned, however: this is no lighthearted "beach read."   The subject matter is quite difficult: after the death of her baby daughter, Rachel Winters' marriage falls apart, she loses custody of her four-year-old son, and she is in danger of losing her very sanity as well.  Her grief is so well-described and so harrowing; any mother will be able to relate to it--because even if she hasn't lost a child, she imagines every awful accident that could put her in Rachel's shoes.

What really drew me to this book (long before I met Michelle Buckman in person, when I saw the title listed on a Catholic blog I was reading) is the fact that St. Therese of Lisieux actually plays a big role.  When she's about as down and out as she can get, Rachel Winters finds a tattered holy card with a "sketch of a nun" on it--and as the story goes along, St. Therese seems to start doing for Rachel just what she promised before her death, when she said she would spend her heaven doing good on earth...showering roses from the heavens.

My little heroine, Grace Kelly, also develops a special relationship with St. Therese, so I was curious to see how Buckman would incorporate this saint near and dear to my heart into Rachel's story of pain and healing. In fact, Buckman and I got talking and found out that we both possess genuine relics of St. Therese.  I inherited mine from my grandmother, and Buckman was sent hers by a friend just as she was finishing up Rachel's Contrition.  I feel a real kinship with her now.

Okay, so that's what we're I'm reading Wednesday.  Now about you, and this book I think you (or your teenage daughter) might like...well, instead of telling you about it myself, tomorrow I'm going to post a fairly recent review by writer Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur.  So if you come back then, you can see what she had to say about Finding Grace.  (Can you tell that I went to some marketing presentations at the CWG conference? And that I learned that if I really want the young people for whom I wrote this book to ever read it, I've got to travel a good bit outside my comfort zone and promote the heck out of it?)

Okay, enough about that--now you can click your way over to Jessica's, if you want to see where all the other noses are buried today!

What I'm Reading Wednesday: Miriam and Therese

I'm joining Jessica and my fellow 'worms over at Housewifespice (to talk about one of my favorite subjects--BOOKS!), and you know what this link-up is called:

I think one of my favorite things about this weekly Wednesday link-up (besides all the book talk!) is the meme above.  So vintage!  It evokes a pre-smart phone, pre-Kindle, pre-2,000 channels on TV era that I get nostalgic about. I'm a grammy who's old enough to remember that simpler world really, really well.  A world where everything was black and white,  just like old movies--which is seriously how our sons thought the world used to look when their ancient parents were kids, back when they were cute little boys in short pants...or Mickey Mouse undies and no pants, because that's how they liked to roll when they were hanging around the house. You must cut them a break though, because it was sweaty hot all the time where we lived back then--Florida's hot, you know?

Have I gotten far enough off-track here?  Time to focus: back to books now!

I have so many books in my "want to read" pile, I don't know how I'm ever going to get through them all.  I just finished Cheryl Dickow's wonderful Catholic novel Miriam, Repentance and Redemption in Rome (and I'm working on getting reviews of Miriam posted on Amazon and CatholicFiction.net).  While I was reading that, I also started working my way through a new book about St. Therese of Lisieux that I picked up at the Catholic Writers Guild/Catholic Marketing Network conference last week at the Sophia Institute Press booth: The Truth about Therese, An Unflinching Look at Lisieux, the Little Flower, and the Little Way, by Henri Gheon.  It's terrific so far.

If you want to see the other titles that have me salivating right now, look at all these books stacked up on the table in my bedroom!

I started Michael D. O'Brien's Father Elijah, An Apocolypse but then switched to Dickow's book.  So my first order of business is to finish O'Brien's novel, which came highly recommended to me.  The other titles are: Frozen Footprints, by Therese Heckenkamp; Murder in the Vatican (part of the Church Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes series) by Ann Margaret Lewis; Padre Pio, The Wonder Worker, by the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate; A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms, by Lisa Hendey; Olivia and the Little Way and Olivia's Gift, by Nancy Carabio Belanger; Rachel's Contrition, by Michelle Buckman; and Under the Mantle, Marian Thoughts from a 21st Century Priest, by Fr. Donald H.Calloway, MIC.

Phew! Wish me luck!  (And I think I'll have plenty of material for future "What We're Reading Wednesday" posts!)

What I Wore Sunday: Volume 16

I haven't participated in the WIWS link-up in quite a while.  And today I'm sort of cheating, because I'm going to show you what I wore [Mother's Day] Sunday...WAY back in 1961, when I was an almost-3-year-old.

This photo has made an appearance on the old blog several times already, most recently in this August 6 post.  It was taken in front our house in Somerset, NJ, where my family lived from 1960-1965.

This past Thursday, while attending the Catholic Writers Guild/Catholic Marketing Network conference in Somerset, my husband and I took a little lunchtime side trip over to our old address (which was literally minutes from the conference hotel!), to see if the Harding homestead is still standing.  Well, it is.  It's got new siding on it, and the car port has been turned into a garage, and there are wrought-iron railings now on the little concrete stairs by the front door.  But it's there.  The owner was out front when we pulled up, and we asked permission to take a few pictures.  For one of them, my husband tried to have me stand near the same spot where I'd stood for the 1961 snapshot.  (I really wish I'd had an Easter bonnet to wear and a little purse with a chain handle to hold, to make the re-enactment more accurate.  Maybe some bangs, too.)

Okay, so I've shown you what I wore one Sunday 52 years ago, and what I wore last Thursday at the CWG/CMN conference (lace-overlay dress: Tiana B., from JCPenney; cropped sweater: from Dress Barn; flower brooch: from TJ Maxx).

Now I'll show you what I wore for Mass today, along with my Sunday Best and a lace mantilla: a "Battle Saint" bracelet I purchased at a booth on the showroom floor at the conference.

Let's take a closer look at that bracelet.

Isn't it lovely?

Battle Saints is a family-run ministry founded by Cynthia Lemay.  This organization creates beautiful wooden bracelets decorated with images of different saints who are relevant to the military.  They also make Battle Saint scarves--which you may have seen in some photos from the war zone, where they are often worn by members of our military.  A contribution from the sale of each Battle Saint bracelet and scarf is dedicated to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.  My husband and I have a son who is currently on deployment in Afghanistan, and we thought the least we could do was to buy some of these bracelets and give them to loved ones.  When I wear mine, it reminds me to pray often--not just for my son, but for all of our brave men and women who make extraordinary sacrifices to ensure our safety and freedom.

May all the warrior saints, like St. Michael the Archangel and St. Joan of Arc, surround our troops with protection and keep them out of harm's way!

Now head on over to Fine Linen and Purple, if you haven't already.  And have a great week!

7 Quick Takes Friday: The Catholic Writers Guild Conference Edition

I haven't linked up with the Quick Takers over at Jen Fulwiler's Conversion Diary since way back on June 28, so I thought it was about time to do a 7QTF post.  But I actually didn't have the time to put one together yesterday, because it was one of the busiest Fridays of my life--jam-packed with new experiences and truly life-changing for me.  No hyperbole there, I assure you. (In fact, the two days before it were pretty amazing, too.)  And it also included what should have been a five-hour car trip home, but with traffic and construction and you-name-it was more like an eight-hour drive.

My husband and I traveled down to Somerset, NJ, on Tuesday night, to attend the 2013 Catholic Writers Guild conference (which was held in conjunction with the Catholic Marketing Network conference).  We spent three days with incredible people who are devoting their lives--whether it's through writing, publishing or retailing--to spreading the Truth of the Catholic Faith.  I could write a book on how inspiring it was to spend so much time in the company of people who are using their talents for God's greater glory rather than their own--who use their unique gifts for the purpose of evangelization, knowing that they will probably never achieve the kind of worldly success by which most endeavors are measured here on earth.  I mean, every single presentation at the conference began with a prayer.  I plan to write a post all about the experience, but I'll need a good chunk of time to sit down and do the topic justice. So for Takes that are Quick, I'm going to give you mostly pictures today, while I digest everything that's in my head and heart right now about the conference and figure out a way to get my thoughts down on paper in a blog post.

--- 1 ---

First of all, I spent time in the company of some pretty important people when I was in NJ. 

Is that cardboard cut-out amazingly life-life, or WHAT?!  It stood in front of the Ignatius Press booth, and it was the first thing you saw when you walked in the door of the CMN showroom floor.

--- 2 ---

My husband had his brush with greatness as well.  If you're a pro-life Catholic, I think you'll recognize this face.

There was a chapel set up in one of the large event rooms of the Double Tree hotel where the convention was held, and every day included a group Rosary and a Mass.  On Thursday night, Fr. Frank Pavone was the main celebrant.  My husband has been donating to Fr. Pavone's Priests for Life ministry in our family's name for many, many years.  What an honor it was to meet him!

--- 3 ---

In my last post, I mentioned that I finally met author and CWG president Ellen Gable Hrkach, after months of carrying on an e-mail friendship.  I also connected with other writers with whom I've heretofore only corresponded on-line, such as successful Catholic author Michelle Buckman.  She is a lovely woman, and her novel Rachel's Contrition was the winner of last year's Catholic Arts & Letter Ward for fiction (CALA).  I was thrilled to do a book exchange with her, giving her a signed copy of Finding Grace for a signed copy of Rachel's Contrition. (I was going to make a joke there about who got the better end of the deal in  that exchange--but after the conference I realize that I've got to stop apologizing for my work and get fired up to promote it!)

--- 4 ---

I was also thrilled to be able to give a copy of Finding Grace to writer,blogger, and Catholic Writers Guild VP Jennifer Fitz, who kindly promised that if she didn't have time to read my book she would at least be willing to give it a little blog shout-out.  She had two young daughters with her at the conference, and I told her that in a couple of years, they would be just the target audience I was trying to reach with FG.

--- 5 ---

My husband and I met and were "adopted" by a lovely couple from Georgia, Gary and Nancy Garner.  We are about the same age as the oldest of the Garners' children, and they took us under their wing.  We went out to dinner with them on Thursday night and had the most wonderful time.  Gary is a master woodworker and carver who runs his own business called Images of the Cross.  He has also written an inspirational work of non-fiction titled Swept Up By the Spirit (which is available as a free download on Amazon from Aug. 9-11, if you want to check it out).

--- 6 ---

I didn't win the CALA award, as I've already told you.  But it was wild seeing my book displayed along with the titles of the other finalists, and to have a signing with some of them on Friday morning.

I mean, I sat next to Michelle Buckman and John Desjarlais (!!!  What in the world was I doing there with those two?), and we talked about the important role Catholic authors play in spreading the Truth of the Gospel, and how unimportant money, fame, or accolades are in comparison to that mission.  My arms are black and blue, I've pinched them so much lately.

--- 7 ---

Okay, best (or most unbelievable, anyway) for last everyone.

On Friday morning when I was at the CWG table for the signing (but really only signing books to give away to or do an exchange with some of my new author friends), an EWTN crew came by to interview the folks who were there at the CWG booth.  And that included the authors at the table...and that included...[gulp!]...me.

Suddenly, with no time to prepare, no chance to think about what in the world I would say, I saw the interviewer talking to Michelle Buckman, who was two down from me on the left, and I realized that only John Desjarlais stood between me and that dreaded microphone.  I don't even like to have a video camera pointed at me during family events, and behind the man holding the mic was a TV camera man.  (Oh no, Oh no, Oh no.)  As Mr. Desjarlais was being interviewed, my arms and legs began to tingle, I felt light-headed, and spots started to form before my eyes.  I'd only felt this way once before that I could remember: I was a sixth-grader, standing nervously on the top row of a small set of bleachers that were set up on the stage for a Christmas concert, with all my classmates assembled there...and I'd had to exit the stage before singing a note.  "Dear God, please don't let me faint!" I prayed.  Then I said a quick Hail Mary, and somehow I got through my turn without passing out, stuttering, or standing there silent like a deer caught in headlights.  I can't really remember now exactly what the interviewer asked me or what I said in reply, but my husband assures me that I was looking him in the eye, smiling, and even using hand gestures, as if I was just as comfortable as you please.  He said he was so amazed (as he watched me conquer the urge to react the way I normally would in such a situation--which would be to shrink away and curl up into a fetal position!) that he asked himself, "Do I know that woman?"

I have no idea when this segment is supposed to air on EWTN.  And I'm not at all sure my little portion of the interviews will make the final cut (I tend to doubt it); but if it does, I'll be interested to hear what I said.  It was such an out-of-body experience for me that I'm still asking myself, "Did that really happen?"

Pray the Hail Mary, that's all I have to say.  Your Divine Mother is more than happy to help you, if you just remember to ask Her to!  The fact that I survived that interview is proof of the power of prayer.

Now head on over to Jen's, if you haven't already.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Theme Thursday: Statues

On Day 2 of the Catholic Writers Guild/Catholic Marketing Network conference, I'm linking up with Cari for Theme Thursday--blogging from a hotel room in the Garden State (but I took some pics on Tuesday before I left home, just so I'd be prepared).  I love religious statues, so I was excited to see that today's theme lends itself to showing them off.

When my #4 son was about eight, he bought me an old plaster statue of Our Lady of Fatima--spending a whole $1.00 of his own money--at our boys' Catholic school's annual tag sale.  It was chipped when he gave it to me (Our Lady's nose was broken right off), and the paint job was faded and peeling.  But I thought it was indescribably lovely just the same.

We have a lot--I mean A LOT!--of statues in our home (of the Sacred Heart, Our Lady of Grace, Our Lady of Fatima, St. Joseph, St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Patrick, and others), but I think this one is my absolute favorite.  Even in its run-down, hand-me-down, tag sale state, I loved that statue.  But then I put a lot of TLC into it, repairing the plaster and doing paint touch-ups where they were needed (even using some actual gold leaf paint on the embellishments that decorate the mantle of the Blessed Virgin Mary and on the Rosary She's holding), so now it's even more beautiful than it was before.

The reason this statue is my favorite is that I love the gentle expression on Mary's pretty face.

This statue, my favorite out of all the Marian statues in our home, takes pride of place in our living room, right next to (but a little bit below) a larger Sacred Heart statue that my husband brought back from a trip to Rome some years back.  It is one of the sweetest little boy gifts I was ever given.

And while we're on the subject of statues--or trophies, or what-have-you...I am not going home with the Catholic Arts & Letter Award.  But I'm more than fine with that.  My husband, the moral supporter extraordinaire, was much more disappointed when my title (Finding Grace) was not announced as the winner at the CWG/CMN breakfast this morning than I was.  So I may not have won the CALA statue...but look at all this wonderful Catholic SWAG we're bringing home from the conference!

And it's not even over yet!

CWG Conference, Day 1

What an exciting and interesting day it's been!

My husband and I are in Somerset, NJ, at the Catholic Writers Guild conference (which is running alongside the Catholic Marketing Network trade show).  Conveniently, all the conference rooms and sales floors are right here at the Double Tree hotel, where we have a room.

The morning started out with a Rosary at 7:00 a.m. followed by a beautiful and holy Mass, and then there were all sorts of informative talks throughout the day about writing, getting published, and marketing books. We've learned a lot already; hopefully we'll be able to put this valuable knowledge to good use when we get back home, and it will lead to finding a wider reading audience for Finding Grace.

I had my first book signing, from 11:00 to noon...and let's just say that it wasn't necessary to load up our trunk with every single copy of the book we own and lug them to NJ.  I did have a couple of Catholic retailers stop by my table to ask questions, and they took flyers and business cards.  But I actually only sold and signed one book.  Baby steps, though. Baby steps.

Since my book received the Catholic Writers Guild Seal of Approval back in November of 2012, I've been in frequent contact with CWG president and successful Catholic author Ellen Gable Hrkach.  Here is a picture of me with Ellen, my once on-line friend only and now new friend IRL (that's how the kids are abbreviating "in real life" these days, isn't it?).

Ellen gave an awesome talk on Kindle marketing, and my husband and I are fired up to figure out how to tap into that market.  Ellen has written four novels so far.  They have done amazingly well in Kindle sales on Amazon, and two of them have been ranked in the top ten of their category since January 2012.  One was even in the #1 spot for 280 of the 365 days that year.  I have read Ellen's two most popular novels, Stealing Jenny and In Name Only. They're wonderful and I would recommend both.  In my opinion, they are more satisfying and inspiring than similar "chick lit"-type books--because unlike most popular mainstream women's fiction, they are infused with Catholic and pro-life themes throughout.  And they're a really good deal as Kindle downloads, if you want to check them out.

Stay tuned--there'll be more on the conference tomorrow!

Heading for New Jersey

This afternoon, my husband and I are setting off on a five-hour road trip to Somerset, New Jersey, to attend a Catholic Writers Guild conference.  I'm excited for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that I actually lived in Somerset when I was a sprout, from 1960 to 1965 (age 2 to 7), and I haven't been back since.

This is me in Somerset in 1961, standing in front of our house (with my two brothers and my mom, who's pregnant with one of my soon-to-be sisters, in the background).

And this is my older brother and me in 1962, looking like a couple of angry little thugs. (What was up with those sullen, tough-guy faces?  Didn't we like it in Joisy?)

I plan to go back to our old house (which is apparently still there, according to Google) and have my husband take a picture of me in front of it.  My dad has also instructed me to check and see if the split rail fence he built out front is still standing.  I may even work up the nerve to knock on the door and introduce myself to the current residents, depending on what state the old neighborhood is in these days.  The thing I'd love to see most is the basement, however.  My Conservative Republican dad tried to spell out "Goldwater" with floor tiles down there, without thinking he ought to measure carefully first.  He ran out of room by the time he'd reached "Goldwa." (Re-tiling the basement floor was probably the first item on the new owners' to-do list, but you never know...)

I wasn't originally planning to attend the CWG conference, preferring to stay home with our youngest son (who's been gone most of the summer and will be leaving in a week to start his junior year at Notre Dame) and our second oldest son (who is moving back home for a year and whose things are still mostly in boxes). Plus, even though Finding Grace has been in print for a year now and I guess that means I should consider myself a real author, I thought I'd feel rather silly and out-of-place at an affair filled with all kinds of well-known and successful professional writers.  But then an author e-friend of mine, Ellen Gable Hrkach (who is the president of the CWG, and like me is the mother of five sons!), urged me to attend it, along with my boys and my ever-supportive husband; so I went on-line and registered.  It wasn't until after I'd decided to go that I was notified that my novel had been chosen as a finalist for a CALA (Catholic Arts & Letters Award), and that the winner would be announced at the conference at a breakfast on Thursday.  So. Win or lose, my husband and I will be there for that.  And I'll get to meet some people with whom I've only had the pleasure of talking on-line. It would be wonderful to have e-friends become actual friends! I'll also have my first book signing, for an hour on Wednesday.  (Yikes!  Gulp. My hands feel sweaty.  Etc.)

Oh, and guess what?  Today is our 40th anniversary.  My husband and I have only been married for 32 and 1/2 years, but today is the 40th anniversary of "Will you go with me?"  This is one of the most important dates in my life--because if it had never happened and I hadn't ended up with the best guy on the planet, I don't know where I'd be today.  But I'll tell you where I wouldn't be: in a car on my way to my old stomping grounds in NJ.  Because without my husband's undying faith in me, his support, encouragement, and love, that book I always dreamed I'd write never would have gotten written in the first place.

Where Real Life and Fiction Intersect (Part 2)

It's day 2 of 7 Posts in 7 Days--and so far, so good!

Over the weekend, I got some exciting news: Finding Grace was chosen as one of three finalists in the Young Adult Fiction category for an award called the Catholic Arts & Letters Award (or CALA). I was a bit blown away by the announcement, never believing when I sent in five copies of the book to the contest reviewers that it would make it this far.  The winner will be announced at a Catholic Writers Guild conference in NJ in a couple of  weeks--and it just so happens that I have already signed up to attend the first two days of the event, having been encouraged by both my husband and an author e-friend of mine that I should bust out of my shell of shyness and fear of all things new and just do it. On Sunday, I was laughing with my oldest son about pulling a Zoolander move--you know, preparing a big acceptance speech, jumping up on stage when they announce another author's title, starting to thank everyone...and then having to slink away in shame.  (Like I would EVER let that happen!) Really, though, winning would just be gravy at this point.  Or frosting.  Take your pick.

The news did make me feel like talking about my baby, though, so I thought today I'd give you another peek into  "The Making of Finding Grace."

In the first installment of this series, I told you that like Grace, I lived right in the heart of Plattsburgh, around the corner from the college, and like Irene, my best friend lived out on the lake in Cumberland Head.  My house was an old two-story with a covered front porch (and a front porch swing!) and my best friend's was a one-story modern ranch.  But aside from where we lived and the type of homes we inhabited--and the fact that we had countless giggle-filled sleepovers--the two girls are not like us at all. Not physically or really in any other way.

The old homestead (note the swing at the porch's far right).  I stopped my car when in town recently and
snapped this, hoping the current owners wouldn't come out and think I was some sort of creepy Internet stalker.

I do share Grace's shyness and lack of confidence, and the way she feels horrified if she knows she's hurt someone's feelings or put her foot in her mouth.  And like Grace, I was not given a middle name (and neither were my two sisters), and my dad's reasons for giving them to his sons but not his daughters were exactly the same as Jack Kelly's.  That first conversation in Chapter One between Grace and Jack was inspired by several similar discussions I had with my father during my formative years.  Particularly after a nasty run-in with my 6th grade teacher, Sister Juliet, who accused me of lying when I told her "Laura Harding" was my full name. "Everyone has a middle name!" she cried angrily.  (I'd go into the gritty details for you, but the incident left a sting that lingers to this day!  I was accused of being a liar in front of all my classmates. Someday I'll get over it!)*

Finding Grace has a definite pro-life message, and so I wanted to show what the possible consequences are when people react in different ways to a teenage/unwanted pregnancy.  I don't want to give away specific details (because I would love it if you decided to read the book, and if you do, that would spoil the story for you). But recently, I was at a family reunion and one of my sisters-in-law asked me if I'd ever known anyone who had gone through the process of dealing with such situations.  The answer is NO.  Those story lines involving two characters in the book are completely fictional.  Since I'd had no personal experience in that area, I read lots of material on the subject (in publications such as Celebrate Life, American Life League's magazine, and Lay Witness).  I went on-line and read the heartbreaking reflections of women who'd actually gone through such traumas. And then I used my imagination to fill in the blanks.  I worried that because I had no close personal experience or professional expertise on the subject, it wouldn't ring true.  So if it did, I'm extremely grateful.  I prayed a lot while writing those difficult sections.

The one true-life experience that I worked into the teenage pregnancy portion of the book was inspired by something that I'd really been involved with.  When I was in high school, my lawyer godfather asked me to come to the hospital with him twice, when he'd arranged private adoptions for unwed young mothers and needed someone to help him carry the newborns from the nursery to the homes of their adoptive parents.   (Yes, I held that precious cargo in my arms as we drove away from the hospital--because this was the 70's, and infant car seats were a thing of the future.)  One of those babies was a boy with a deep cleft in his miniature chin, and if you've read the book you'll know what I'm talking about.

I also prayed a lot when I came to the part of the book dealing with Holocaust victims and survivors. Even after I knew just the story I wanted to write and I'd done lots of research to make the places and dates as accurate as possible, I had about a two-month stretch where I just couldn't sit down and do it.  I was so worried about not dealing with that sensitive material properly.  I'd become fascinated with that dark period during a history class in college and I'd read countless fictional and non-fictional works on the subject, but I still felt nervous about doing that part justice.  The only real-life inspiration I had for the Perlmanns' story was that I remembered my parents saying that a Jewish couple with whom they were friends refused to ride in German-made cars, because they'd lost so many family members in the Holocaust.  That stuck with me over the years, and it was my stepping stone; but everything else about that section is made up (although I did have one of the Perlmann twins afflicted with a club foot, which was inspired by the fact that my mother had been born with one--knowing that such an affliction would have made the girls even more attractive for use in the experiments of the evil Dr. Mengele).  It's sort of eerie that I decided to write identical twin girls into the story, though...because a few years later, long after that part of the book had been written, our oldest son and his wife welcomed identical twin daughters into the world. If I'd been writing that part after their birth, I don't know if I could have made my fictional twins girls.  They probably would have been Abe and Aaron rather than Ruth and Rachel.

So those are some of the true-to-my-own-life inspirations that I tweaked and worked into the story, underlined for your convenience.

When my sister-in-law asked me that question the other day, it made me realize that people must often assume that writers rely on their personal experiences for much of their material. So I'm going to post this meme again, just as a reminder.

So should I continue with this fact versus fiction "Making of" project?  Does this interest anyone at all? Anyone...anyone...?  (Bueller...Bueller...?)

Hey...maybe you should read the book (please oh please oh please) before you answer that question. Right? (Bueller...Bueller...?)


(*Please don't think I'm one of those nun-bashers!  Most of the Sisters who taught me in grade school and high school were lovable and saintly!)

A Little Help from "Catholic Book News"

I recently received an e-mail from Ellen Gable Hrkach, award-winning Catholic fiction author and president of the Catholic Writers Guild, informing me that because Finding Grace has received the CWG Seal of Approval, it will be one of the titles showcased in the July edition of the Guild's "Catholic Book News."  This publication will be sent out to hundreds of bookstores and libraries, so hopefully it will give my book some much-needed visibility (and maybe even a wee boost in sales, God willing).

I'm sorry I keep using this blog to plug my book...but I think I'm a better blog-to-blog salesman than I would be a door-to-door salesman.  If you choose this moment to click on the X up in the right-hand corner and leave my blog lickety-split, that's certainly a lot less painful for me than having a door slammed in my face!  (Hmmm...I may need to sign up for that Salesmanship 101 class I never got around to taking...)

I've really got to stop with the apologizing.  I never think badly of other bloggers who talk about their book projects on their blogs, so I don't know why I assume you're thinking badly of me.  (Please don't!)  Okay then, here's the "sell sheet" as it will appear in the CWG publication.

Finding Grace by Laura H. Pearl

Category: Religious Fiction, Teen/Young Adult ISBN:  9781936453115 Formats: Paperback ebook Pages: 332 Price: $17.99 Kindle price: 9.99 Available from Amazon and Bezalel Books Award: Catholic Writers Guild Seal of Approval At the age of 13, Grace Kelly (who has been saddled with the name of a world-renowned beauty, but is far from one herself) is inspired by an offhand comment from her father to become a saint. But coming of age and falling deeply in love for the first time in the early 1970's -- in the wake of the 60's "sexual revolution" and the historic Roe v. Wade decision -- presents true challenges for young people who are trying to live chastely. Grace realizes that without the help of God, the Blessed Mother and all the saints in Heaven, navigating  the thorny path to sainthood would be an almost insurmountable task. "I really enjoyed this Catholic novel by Laura Pearl. It's such a sweet, romantic, entertaining story for teens and adults." Therese Heckenkamp, author, Past Suspicion and Frozen Footprints "Author Laura Pearl has done a spectacular job of character development and enmeshing those characters in real life situations."   Cheryl Dickow, author, Elizabeth, A Holy Land Pilgrimage "Finding Grace is so beautifully written and so refreshing to read...its themes of faith, family, finding true love, growing up in a fallen world, and having compassion for one another really resonated with me, and Pearl has a true gift of infusing these deeper topics with lightheartedness and humor and well,  grace...it brought both tears and laughter and is overall a beautiful, moving novel. I highly recommend it."   Kate Harvey, blogger and co-author, Finger Lakes Feast

Woo hoo--a New Review!

I won't lie: I'm on a cloud today.  Yesterday, I was randomly checking my book's Amazon page and realized that there was a new reader review on there (bringing the number of reviews up to 10).  It was written by Sarah Reinhard, blogger (Snoring Scholar), author (you can check out a list of her books here), and chair of the Catholic Writers Guild Seal of Approval committee.

Thank you, Sarah!  Four stars never looked so good!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4.0 out of 5 stars A book you're sure to enjoy and that you'll want to share, June 10, 2013 By  Sarah Reinhard "Catholic wife, mother, writer... (snoringscholar.com) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)    This review is from: Finding Grace (Paperback) I won't lie: this book was long. That said, it was REALLY well-written and the character development was stellar. It's set in the 1970s and early 80s, and the story is Catholic in a way that's both cultural and ingrained. It gave me a sense of what it's like to be raised Catholic and to have it be part of everything you do. Did that make you feel like it's shoved down your throat? Because it's not: not at ALL. One of the things I appreciated about this book is that it doesn't seem to talk down to its audience, which is the young adult market. It's written like literature and it seems to assume that its reader has a brain. I like that. It's a book I highly recommend and one I'll be sharing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I love this painting of Our Lady reading a book.  When I set out to writing Finding Grace, She was one of the critics whose approval concerned me most.  I wanted to please (and to glorify) this beautiful Lady and Her Beloved Son.  All the positive reviews in the world could never mean as much to me as knowing that Our Lord and His Mother approve of my work.  I'll never know that for sure until my life on this earth is over; but while I'm here, I must admit it's nice to get a thumb's up from a Catholic writer whose opinion I value so much.