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On courage
G. K. Chesterton (he’s just about the most quotable guy ever) says in Orthodoxy that: “Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die.” For YEARS now, I cannot think think of this quote without thinking that it would be a perfect…
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On hope: why it’s worth fighting for
I find it intriguing that, as I work toward re-releasing my fantasy trilogy (and then a prequel), the publisher I’m working with suggested “The Fight for Hope” as a subtitle for the first installment. They suggested a few other subtitles, none of which I liked at all. “The Fight for Hope” grabbed at me, and…
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Character Spotlight: Sedder the Chivalrous
Each Tuesday before the June 15 release of “The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope” I will spotlight a character from the novel here on the blog. Last week was Lanokas, a nobleman in the League, whom I mentioned was one of two men in the story who is especially chivalrous. Sedder Foden is the…
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The ancient sorcerers: excerpt from “The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope”
Kora Porteg slammed her brother’s window shut as the autumn wind’s whistle died with a choke. The curtains fell limp against the wall. Kora didn’t usually attack windows in the quaint cottage she’d called home all her seventeen years, but she was alarmed at the state of this one. “Don’t leave your window open to…
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Thoughts on things coming full circle (my second edition and 9th anniversary of my conversion)
As I write this, it is Ascension Thursday on the liturgical calendar. That means tomorrow is the 9th liturgical calendar anniversary of my conversion experience–day one of the Pentecost Novena for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. May 30, 2014 upended my entire life. It made me see that I’d been putting my writing–my fantasy…
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Survival mode: trials make and reveal us
One of my favorite writers, Dr. Peter Kreeft, is fond of quoting Rabbi Abraham Herschel. The quote? “The man who has not suffered–what does he know, anyway?” This is a deep truth: the truth that our sufferings and trials make us, in a real sense, who we are. They reveal who we are. Dennis Prager…
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When you’re stuck in survival mode
Survival mode is NOT fun. We’ve all been there. My most recent experience with survival mode was after leaving religious life. I was only there nine months as a postulant, but all my hopes and plans for my life collapsed. I’d say I was in survival mode for a good 18 months after that, until…
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What writing and blogging are really all about
Three years after leaving religious life, I no longer feel necessarily like I am in survival mode. (I will write about survival mode soon.) Still, somedays, with an upcoming release, a full-time day job I am super blessed to have, even if makes me uncomfortable and frustrated–I’m constantly reminding myself that life isn’t about comfort–limited…
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Character Spotlight: Lanokas the Lighthearted
As the June 15 launch of The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope approaches, I thought I’d spotlight a character each week. It didn’t take me long to decide to start with Lanokas (LAN-oh-kass), the Crimson League’s swordsman. I realized relatively recently that, apart from one couple who steals the show in book two of…
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Trouble at the schoolhouse–Excerpt from “The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope”
I’m excited to share a second excerpt from my upcoming sword and sorcery, action-adventure fantasy release. In this excerpt, Kora meets her brother on his way home from school (Zac is eleven. Kora is seventeen). It’s a fun scene because it reveals so much: Kora’s love for Zac, her fear for him, the uncertainty and…
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Creative Writing with the Crimson League 