Black Friday/Cyber Monday Book Sale at Ave Maria Press!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope you had a great day with your family/friends and lots of food and fun.

‘Tis the season for sales, and I know you’ve been bombarded with the emails (I get them too!), but I want to let you know about Ave Maria Press’s Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale!

Use the code BFCM23 to get 30% off and free shipping through Monday, November 27! If you want to do your book shopping somewhere other than Amazon, this is a great way to do it and support Catholic publishing and Catholic authors, while saving money!

Just click on any image in this post to go to my book’s page on the Ave Maria Press website and enter the code BFCM23 at checkout to get the deal! (Or, here’s another link).

Happy shopping!

ICYMI: Signed book sale!

In case you missed it here, my annual anniversary signed book sale is on!

For $15, you get: a signed copy of my book, Living Memento Mori; a specially created bookmark and prayer card, and free shipping! (Normally this package is $20.)

To order, email me with your address (or the address of the recipient, if it’s a gift) and I’ll send you a PayPal invoice from there! (We can also figure out other ways to pay if you’re not on PayPal).

The sale runs through July 20.

A REALLY big sale!

My book is currently on MASSIVE sale at Ave Maria Press—it’s $2.

That’s right, folks. TWO BUCKS. That’s it!

That makes it a great time to get not only a copy for you, if you haven’t done it yet, but also copies for other people. Early Christmas gifts! Easter baskets! Presents just-because!

This is only happening at the AMP website, so go shop. Do it!

Lent-y goings on!

So, Lent is upon us, and that means it’s time for me to ramp up talking about MY BOOK.

You can get it everywhere ( here is the Amazon link, you can find more links to buy here) ! You can even get a signed book from me! Just contact me—signed books are $20 and that includes a prayer card and a bookmark, and shipping!

If you are in the Columbus area, I will be doing a book signing at the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference next weekend (Feb. 18) at the Ohio Expo Center—details and tickets here.

Happy Thanksgiving! (And a book sale!)

I hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving full of yummy food and time with family and friends! I am thankful for all of you—you readers are really the ones who keep the lights on over here and allowed me to reach my goal of having my story published. I am so thankful that you keep reading! :) You are in my prayers!

That’s a nice segue into….

The Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale at Ave Maria Press!

Use the code BFCM22 at Ave Maria Press and get 30% off plus free shipping! My book will cost you seven bucks. That’s it! $7! (With this deal, that is.) So if you need more copies because you gave yours away to friends, if you think it would make a good gift (it would), or you just want to Lent prep early, this is the sale for you. Go get it!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a great weekend!

Living Memento Mori is a Book Club Selection--And You Can Join!

I’m thrilled that Living Memento Mori has been selected as part of the Seton Shrine’s Memento Mori book club series!

The other books in the series are written by Sr. Theresa Aletheia, who wrote the foreword! So you know this is going to be a great series.

The Seton Shrine is the shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, located in Emmitsburg, MD. You can register for the online book club here; it starts on October 13 (so next Thursday!) I will be joining the book club on the last meeting date (November 17) to do a Q&A!

You can purchase your copy directly from the Shrine if you don’t already have a copy.

You can also register for the entire Memento Mori series and save 35%!

The Seton Shrine is home to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton’s grave, a basilica, a museum, and several historical sites. It’s a wonderful place to visit and I am so glad they chose my book for their book club!

I hope to see you there (virtually, that is)!

It's a Summer Sale!

Ave Maria Press is running their big summer sale from July 11 to July 24 on their website! Use the code SUMMER22 at checkout to save 25%!

So of course that means it’s a great time to stock up on Living Memento Mori!

Get copies for yourself, and for friends and family! This is a great time to do it and support your local Catholic author.

Reader Q&A!

I had a really good question from a reader recently:

What’s the difference between memento mori and the Mexican “days of the dead”?

Now, I am not, at all, Hispanic. I have zero Spanish/Latino heritage in my family. (We’re Italian, German, and Scottish.) So this is based on some light research. If you are Hispanic, please feel free to chime in and let me know where I’m wrong!)

Memento mori is an ancient practice—it actually predates Christianity, with most records saying that it was common in Ancient Rome. But Christianity definitely picked up the practice, incorporating it into art, accessories, and architecture.

Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini in Rome—yes, those are real skulls. And yes, you can visit!

Another part of the church.

In art, you’ll see a memento mori—usually a skull:

Caravaggio, “St. Jerome Writing”, 1605-1606

On of El Greco’s Magdalenes—see the skull on the right?

Mary, Queen of Scots, even had a memento mori watch:

And you can even get memento mori watches today!

For Christians, memento mori is about remembering where we’re headed after this life, because we know that this life isn’t all there is. Our actions prepare us for heaven, hell, or purgatory. Our choices determine our afterlife—so choose wisely! In a less, I suppose, “morbid” way, we can talk about using the fact of our death to decide how we’ll live today.

As you can see, in art, it’s mostly simply a skull, or bones. It’s not decorated in any sense—it’s just a skull.

Now, if you look at dia de los muertos art, the first thing you see is COLOR, from the vibrancy of the marigolds to the creative sugar skulls, and even in the makeup.

A woman depicting “La Catrina”

An ofrenda

And while memento mori is something that you can do every day, the official day of the dead festival runs from Nov. 1 to Nov. 2—which in the Catholic calendar is All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day. The point of dia de los muertos is to remember family members who have died. Ofrendas (“offerings”, as seen in the photo above) are left for the departed—their favorite food and drink, photos of the deceased, and the beautiful marigold flowers are often there.

The sugar skull (“calavera”) is a big part of the celebrations and actually dates back to prehistoric times. The color has a purpose:

The reason a holiday revolving around death is so full of color instead of being gloomy and gray is because we celebrate the lives led by those who are now gone. It’s not simply a day about mourning our loved ones and telling stories of them around their tombstones in the cemetery and our altars; it’s a day about remembering their lives and the impact they had upon us, as well as keeping in mind that just because they’re no longer with us doesn’t mean that they’re entirely gone, because we keep them alive in our hearts and memories.

https://dayofthedead.holiday/sugar-skull/the-meaning-and-importance-of-sugar-skulls (accessed March 22, 2022)

So the Day of the Dead is about remembering and celebrating those who have gone before, and also to appreciate the live that we have right now, since we will soon be on ofrendas or buried in the local churchyard.

The two concepts are linked by the same idea—that life is fleeting, and we have only today.

(If you haven’t seen the movie Coco*, definitely do that—it’s all about Dia de los Muertos!)

It's Time for Lent!

Botticelli, The Man of Sorrows

In case you were unaware, Lent starts on Wednesday. Yes, this coming Wednesday, March 2!

So, let’s talk about Lent, shall we?

First a few things…

• My friend Jen Fitz has written a retreat ebook, called Lord, You Know That I Love You, that is currently free on Amazon. That’s right, free! I highly encourage you to go check it out! The sale runs through the end of the month. (as in, through Monday, Feb. 28, 2022)

• Not sure what Lent is? Or what we do during it? You can check out this post, which has a link to a weeklong series I did on Lenten practices!

• Do you want to know more about the basics of Catholicism? Then you’re in luck! I wrote a whole ebook about them, called Catholic 101! It covers the church year, the sacraments, the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, and lots more! You can read it on any e-reader, as well as on your desktop/laptop/phone, and you can even print it out if you want to read it on paper. It’s $5!

• And, of course, Living Memento Mori is, dare I say, perfect for Lent. If you’d like a signed copy, email me.

My Lent is usually focused on a few things. I can’t fast, but I can abstain from meat, so I do that on the days required (Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all the Fridays of Lent). I also don’t use food for a penance. Instead, I give up book and yarn buying, and with the money I save from that, I use it for charitable donations (ie, almsgiving in Church parlance). Two of my favorite charities are Mary’s Meals and our local diaper bank.

I am single. I know you probably know that, but when I talk about things like penances and living Lent, I want to remind you that since I don’t have a family, I have a lot of flexibility that you might not have. Take what’s good here, and leave the rest. :) So when I say I want to try a monastic horarium for Lent (which I do, generally, try to do during Lent, in order to deepen my prayer life), that’s something that a lot of people can’t do, because they work outside the home, or they have children that wouldn't exactly allow them to pray all seven offices of the Liturgy of the Hours or have a holy hour every week!

I have a few books: Restore and Just Rest (a study of the book of Exodus). I will try to incorporate more offices from the Liturgy of the Hours —right now I say lauds (morning prayer) and vespers (evening prayer) every day, and I’d like to add in compline, night prayer. I can find time for more prayer because I’m going to limit my time on certain social media platforms, mostly Twitter right now, because I know I’m spending too much time there and Lent is a good time to try to restore correct balance in how I spend my time.

Is there anything that you would like to see me do during Lent? Living Memento Mori book club? Stations of the Cross on Facebook Live? Anything else? Please let me know!

What does your Lent look like? How are you preparing for this season?

2022 Columbus Catholic Women's Conference--In Person!

It was so nice to be back at the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference! Last year we didn’t have one, and the 2020 conference took place before all of the COVID shut downs. It was so wonderful to gather again in person!

The conference day begins with Mass and then there are four speakers scattered through the day, which ends with a holy hour. Breakfast and lunch are also provided, and during the lunch break, I had a book signing!

It’s still surreal to sign copies of my book. I mean to have my book out there in the world and people can read it and buy it and I can sign real copies! It’s insane!

I was also so happy to see my friend Elizabeth Tomlin, author of Joyful Momentum, who also did a signing at the conference!

The day is always a long day (I got up at 5:30 and was in bed at 11!) but it’s so worth it to see friends and to be spiritually nourished. I really loved all the speakers this year, especially Sr. Tracey Dugas:

And Lisa Brenninkmeyer, the founder of Walking with Purpose:

If you’d like to hear the conference talks, you can listen to them here.

And if you’d like a signed copy of Living Memento Mori for yourself, you can use the contact form, or email me!

Living Memento Mori--AMA!

As Lent approaches—which is the perfect time for my book!—I thought I’d do an AMA post!

AMA=Ask Me Anything.

So if you have questions or comments about Living Memento Mori, drop them in the comment section below and I will answer them!

BOOK SIGNING! At the Columbus Catholic Women's Conference!

YES! It’s a REAL EVENT!

I will be signing copies of my book at the Ave Maria Press table at the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference! If you’re attending, come say hi!

I loved doing this in 2020 and I’m so glad to get the chance to do it again.

Al Kresta appearance!

If you couldn’t listen live yesterday, here is the audio of my appearance on Al Kresta’s Kresta In the Afternoon radio show! I had a great time talking to Al about my book, memento mori, and the stations!

Seven Quick Takes: Women's Retreat, a New Book, and Yarn-A-Palooza!

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In the words of Dumbledore (adapted), “Welcome, welcome, to another week of Quick Takes!”

Post from earlier this week, which is proving really popular: Get In The Picture.

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Last weekend, I attended my parish’s women’s retreat, and it was so lovely! I loved the items we received from Pio Prints, a fabulous local company.

Each table had a lovely bouquet of flowers.

I just joined this parish in January, so I hadn’t been to this retreat before, and I hadn’t had a chance to meet many women in the parish. Fellow Ave Author Emily Jaminet was the speaker, and she gave us three fabulous talks that were just what I needed to hear.

Emily’s authored and co-authored several books, and her talks were derived from those books. The first talk was about the Sacred Heart, which was a devotion I’d heard of but hadn’t really thought much about. Emily runs the local Sacred Heart Enthronement group, and it was beautiful to hear her talk about this special devotion! (Her book, Secrets of the Sacred Heart*, is well worth reading to learn more about this devotion).

Her second talk was about Christian friendship (based on her book The Friendship Project*, which is great), and the third focused on making time for prayer throughout our busy days! (Based on her book Prayfully)

My notebook is full of a lot of “thank you, Jesus!” for bringing me on this retreat, because initially, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go. I am really glad I listened to Jesus’ prompting and went. And I told Him so when we had adoration after Mass.

It was also really great to talk to Emily about writing and being a writer, especially since we are published by the same publisher. She was also gracious enough to plug my book several times during the retreat!

There are so many lovely women at my parish who are truly seeking holiness, and it was great to meet them and have good Catholic women’s fellowship!

(Also, want a signed copy of my book for a Christmas gift? Keep reading. ;-)

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Speaking of great Catholic women….my friend Kelly (who runs the Seven Quick Takes) has just published her first book!

I was deeply honored to endorse Better than OK*, which I think (and I wrote!) is vital for parents with kids who have chronic illnesses or other types of issues (I just say issues. I could say special needs, etc. but issues is the word that comes to mind for me!) It’s a beautiful, helpful book and I hope that it reaches the wide audience it deserves!

This sort of thing is something that the pro-life movement needs. We need parents to hear that it will be OK—BETTER than OK!—to raise these children, from parents in the same situations. We need to hear stories like mine that talk about how it’s possible to find job in a hard life. All these things come together to create a culture of life, with support that people need.

So go get this book! Get it! Now!

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In Patty updates: this week, she has become a little girl.

I mean she always was one, duh. But she’s gone from baby/toddler to a little girl.

She has seemingly discovered her sister Bridget’s baby dolls this week, and…what a little mama! I just can’t believe how grown up she is, all of a sudden. Like I said—little girl, not a baby.

And what a fun stage—to hear her talk and to get to play dolls with her, like her sisters are doing—but it’s also sad to leave behind baby Patty.

Fortunately Baby Maddie (my niece, my sister Melanie and BIL Jason’s little girl) is on her way!!

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Speaking of Maddie, I’ve started working on her blanket!

It’s a variation of the one I made Patty….

Which in and of itself is a variation on the Sully blanket pattern. (I don’t do the picked up border.)

or this one, I’m adding a small garter stitch boarder to keep the ends from curling up. You can’t really see it here (the bottom part, you can, imagine it doing that all the way around), but I don’t block blankets and with stockinette stitch (which this blanket is), I want there to be less curling. So basically every time I make this I modify it a little bit!

I’m using Rowan’s Baby Cashsoft Merino, which has cashmere in it, because, why not, and she is my first niece. :) (Well first niece or nephew, for that matter.) It’s so great to work with! I’m using the colors turquoise, rosy, snowflake, and lavender (in that order of striping) and I’m almost done with the first turquoise stripe. Because of the stockinette pattern you can’t see it really well, but I took a photo for you anyway (above)!

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OK before we continue Yarn-A-Palooza, CHRISTMAS BOOKS.

If you would like a signed copy of Living Memento Mori for Christmas, then please email me. They are $20, and that includes shipping, a bookmark, and a prayer card. I can make it out to anyone you want! They are great gifts!

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Back to yarn. :) I recently ordered these beauties, to make into a shawl:

And Christmas knitting has begun! I didn’t do too much of it last year, but this year, I’m making a few things for people. Do you make hand made gifts for anyone? I’m using some really soft yarn that will make up into great winter accessories!

Labor Day Sale at Ave Maria Press!

Happy Friday everyone!

There will be quick takes later but I wanted to post this first—Ave Maria Press is having a Labor Day Sale! You can get Living Memento Mori for 10% off through Monday! (As well as everything else they sell.)

Enter LABORDAY21 at checkout and there you go!

Another great resource is Ave Maria Press’s Notetaking Bible. I’m using it for my Bible In A Year studies. I’m ridiculously picky about Bibles and especially paper—I use fountain pens, sharpies, all sorts of markers, and I want them to work and not make a mess. That doesn’t happen with this bible—seriously. I can use fountain pens to make notes and there aren’t issues with feathering. (Sometimes, depending on the ink, it can bleed through a bit, but it’s not a big problem and it hasn’t happened often to me.)

It’s also a one-column Bible, which I like because it’s a lot easier to read!

There’s the hardcover or the imitation leather (which is the one I have). Take your pick!

So go shop! :) Enjoy!

Writing: The State of the Wicket

“Woman Reading”, Edouard Manet

I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about a second book. (Including from my doctor!)

“Are you writing one?”

“What are you writing about now?”

“So you’re writing a second book, right?”

Welllllllllllllll.

(It’s not bad news, don't worry.)

Here’s the deal.

For someone to get to write a second book, the first book has to sell.

Yes, it’s true. It all comes down to money. A publisher has to see sales to think, “Oh, OK, this person has an audience, so it’s worth our outlay of cash to support this person’s writing and give them a book contract.”

So, yes, if you want another book, you have to buy the current book.

I know so many of you have, and I am incredibly, stupendously grateful for your support. Everyone who has left reviews, or written blog posts, or bought copies for friends—I love you. I am so grateful to you.

If you would like to buy a copy, her are all the places you can get it:

Amazon

Ave Maria Press (they often run sales, and I always post about these on the blog and on my social media accounts)

Barnes and Noble

As a NOOK book and on Kindle

Books a Million

Indiebound (you can also order it through your local indy bookstore!)

Wal-mart

Also your local Catholic bookstore or indie bookstore can order it for you. Just ask them! They will do it!

I hate, hate, hate selling things. I hated selling candy bars for school, cookies for Girl Scouts, and cheese and sausage for choir. I HATE it.

But I know that if I want to earn any money writing, I have to ask people to support my writing. Which….I hate doing!

But it’s necessary.

If you already have Living Memento Mori, you can also get Catholic 101, my ebook about the basics of Catholicism, inspired by the years I taught first grade CCD. You can download it, read it on iPad or Kindle, or even print it out! You can gift it!

AND newsletter subscribers get 15% off the $5 price!

Another way is to support my Patreon. It’s more behind the scenes notes on creativity and what I’m working on than here, and it’s somewhat sporadic in posting, but there re goodies you can get and things that I only post there. So if you’re really interested in my inner workings, or just want to support my writing, that’s the way to go. Memberships start a dollar. You can become a patron here!

OK after all that, Patty cleanser!

She has EIGHT teeth now!

OK so on to fun things: projects!

There are a few projects I’m working on.

The first one is Catholicism and Outlander, and I talk a lot more about that over on Patreon. I’m in the research phase of that one right now! (Which means reading and watching TV, POOR ME!)

The other one is a really, really basic knitting series. As in, yes, needles come in packs of two (I seriously did not know this). I know that I wanted something like that when I was starting, and it didn’t exist, and even “beginner” books were not really for beginners! So I’m working on that as well.

And that, my friends, is the state of the wicket!

SUMMER SALE at Ave Maria Press!

Want to get your own copy of Living Memento Mori?

(Of course you do. There’s no other answer here.)

Or maybe you’re like my mom and you want to start your Christmas shopping early?

Ave Maria Press will help you out!

There is a SUMMER SALE going on right now.

Get 25% off EVERYTHING with the code SUMMER21

Here’s the link to get my book at the site!

The sale runs through 7/18, so hop to it! :)

And if you have read the book (and you have, right?) please leave a review on Amazon! It’s so helpful for sales!

The SIGNED BOOK SALE is on!!!

I put signed copies of Living Memento Mori on sale once a year—during my transplant anniversary! So starting TODAY and going through July 12 (Monday at midnight EST), you can get FIFTEEN PERCENT OFF my signed book package!

Here’s what’s included:

• signed copy of Living Memento Mori

• a specially designed bookmark and prayer card

• shipping!

If you’d like a copy, please email me and I’ll get you set up! This is also a great time to buy signed copies for gift giving!

Living Memento Mori Is an Award Finalist!

I am insanely happy to announce that Living Memento Mori has been named a finalist in the Association of Catholic Publishers Excellence in Publishing Awards! Publishers submit books to the ACP and the finalist list was just announced. The winners will be announced in June.

I am thrilled to be a finalist (just like all the Oscar nominees say, it’s an honor to be nominated—because it is). My book is in the “general interest” category. Here’s the entire slate of nominees in the category:

You can see the entire list here, as well as click on links to find out more about each book and purchase it.

Thank you to Ave Maria Press for submitting my book! (And thanks to all of you for reading it! :) )

Seven Quick Takes--Second Shot!

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Hi!

Let’s start with what was on the blog this week:

Living Memento Mori on Catholicmom.com!

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Depending on when you’re reading this, I will either be on my way to get my second COVID vaccine, or I will have it! My parents and I are fully vaccinated!!!! Woo woo!

That means—MASS NEXT WEEKENDDDDDD. Church for Holy Week!!!!

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It also means the I’ve booked a trip to see Patty and crew this summer!

Patty and her oldest sister, Susie, on their grandparents’ Texas ranch.

Looking for cows.

Do I even NEED to tell y’ll how excited I am to get to see Patty? No? OK. :) :) Seriously SO EXCITEDDDDDDDDDD. And to see everyone else, of course. I haven’t been to Houston in a few years. My sister used to live there before she got married, so I’ve been there twice. Once to see Mel, and once to see Diane when her daughter holding (Susie) Patty was A BABY. Seriously. She’s 12 now and playing lacrosse for her school and I’m thinking, you were just Patty’s age!

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I am prepared to spend the weekend feeling not good, but that’s OK. I have meds here and entertainment. Worse comes to worse, I just sleep it off.

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I am actually KnoMari’ing everything. I’ve done it before, but it wasn’t really thorough, I sort of half-did it, which is a no go. So the first thing was clothes. Oh my goodness WHAT a clothes purge. I’ve gotten rid of all sorts of things and it definitely makes me feel good. (I am donating everything, not tossing it unless it’s really just I crappy shape, like shoes with holes [why do I even have them?!] or things that are ripped.) I’m not really going to do books because I ddi them before I moved and I have my own system. So I’m finishing clothes and then I’ll move on to papers, which I actually have a fairly good handle on, but it can’t hurt to go through them again. I don’t think I need my tax return for 2006 anymore, right? :)

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Don’t forget STATIONS OF THE CROSS on my Facebook page tonight at 7:00 EST!

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And finally, if you’ve read Living Memento Mori, please leave a review on Amazon or goodreads? THANK YOU! They’re so helpful in getting the word out! (It can be the same one both places!) Also on goodreads, be sure to add it to your shelves!

-BONUS-

Do you remember Little Billy? He would’ve been a year old on St. Patrick’s Day. Please pray for his parents and family!