Association Of Catholic Bloggers

In early January of this year, I had the privilege of speaking to four different classrooms of students (5th through 8th grade), at two different schools, about my two Catholic YA novels , Finding Grace and Erin's Ring.  I traveled down to Tampa to be a Confirmation sponsor for two of my nieces, and while there, my sister-in-law arranged for me to visit the Catholic school that her 8th grade triplets attend and also the one where she is a 5th grade teacher. This was the second time I've been given the opportunity to speak to students in a classroom setting.  In May of 2015, I visited my niece's 4th grade class in Chicago, to talk to her students about Erin's Ring after they'd read the book together.  (I blogged about the experience here and here , if you'd like to read those posts.) This guy--my best inspiration and my biggest fan--was there to cheer me on, as always. I can't believe I'm about to say this (gulp!)...but if you...

I was so thrilled to receive this photo recently, via text message, from my niece.  She's a 5th grade teacher at a Catholic school out in the Midwest, and she's having her students read Erin's Ring -- my second YA novel, published by Bezalel Books in November of 2014. I'd love to see Erin's Ring , a story about "the legacy of love and the power of faith," get into the hands of more kids like the ones pictured here (and their parents, too--it's a book for all ages).  Therefore, I'm hosting a giveaway on my blog.  In honor of National Library Week, which is April 12-18, I'm giving away one copy of Erin's Ring , along with one copy of my first Bezalel novel, Finding Grace .  Head on over to String of Pearls to find out how you can enter to win.

In December of 2011, right around the time I was finishing up my manuscript for Finding Grace , I began to search the Internet for information about how to go about having it published.  My cyber-travels ultimately led me to  this 2007 article about Cheryl Dickow, a former middle school teacher who had started her own Catholic publishing house called Bezalel Books .  I was immediately struck by the thought that I'd started writing Finding Grace in 2007, and that was the same year that this article originally appeared in Catholic Review-- and I believe the same year that Cheryl started her company.  I felt an immediate connection with Cheryl and it seemed that God was pointing me in the direction of Bezalel Books. I will always be grateful that I stumbled upon that particular article about this extraordinary woman at that particular time. Cheryl Dickow is not only a publisher; she is also an editor, a speaker, a blogger,...

Knowing God by name allows us to enter into a relationship with him in a very intimate, personal way. While many of us know him as “God” or “Father,” there are a vast array of names to which he will answer—and each signifies yet another of his unique aspects. The Eternal One The name of God is often represented by the four Hebrew letters Yud-Hay-Vav-Hay and is never actually spoken. The High Priests in the Old Testament would have known the correct pronunciation but in their understanding of its sacredness, would have only uttered it in the silence of their hearts. This four letter name is the name used when God identified Himself to Moses as “I AM WHO I AM;” thus identifying Himself as The Eternal One. Adonai To overcome the avoidance of uttering the too-sacred name—or of mispronouncing it, the title Adonai is the most often used substitution for Yud-Hay-Vav-Hay. In the Old Testament, the Tetragrammaton is found as the capitalized word “LORD.” Hashem Like Adonai, HaShem is a very...

I really was blessed by my time speaking with Marcus Grodi on Journey Home. He is a very gracious man and has a very kind, welcoming, and hospitable group of people at the Coming Home Network. Please consider joining Marcus and I and feel free to email me any questions you may have about anything we talked about. I've been so touched by the kind emails I have received since the airing of the show. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_IJSeaAcJc Cheryl Dickow www.BezalelBooks.com

I vividly recall the first really negative review I received on a book. It was for a particular title in the All Things Girl series and the young person who wrote it was fairly scathing in what she said. She identified herself as one of three sisters who ranged in age from 10 to 15. She went on to post her review on all the books. I will freely admit that her words brought tears to my eyes. Two months later, BAM! Another terrible review. I was reeling from it all. To make matters worse, scores of people were saying how helpful the two terrible reviews were. No one was coming to my defense. Words can’t explain how alone I felt—and utterly defeated in my attempt at serving God’s precious daughters. And confused…I had prayed each and every time that I had worked on the books. Throughout long days and nights my prayers stormed heaven; I prayed to the Father that every young girl who read the books would be blessed by them; that these books would be instruments of God’s love for...