Once in a Lifetime: Jeopardy and Catholic 101 🎉

Emily’s episode on Jeopardy in July 2016: Image displays Emily and the other contestants, Hans Huizing and Ellen Corrigan.

Jeopardy Experience: 9 Years Later

In October of 2015, Emily made her way to Boston, MA. This wasn’t just an opportunity to travel and see the New England area, but rather, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to audition to be on THE “Jeopardy” game show! Her father, Carmen, who accompanied her recalled Emily’s attitude and demeanor as “in her element” and that every experience she got to participate in was considered an adventure to be lived to the fullest.

Emily did in fact end up getting to compete on the show, for which we also have her episode in full that you can watch here.

Emily also wrote a series of blogs giving details of auditioning as well as her well documented site-seeing and food experience in Boston. If you’re headed to Boston or interested in going, you might want to pay special attention to what her favorite experiences were:

The Jeopardy experience

So if you have something you’ve always been felt led to do or something you want to take a chance on, we encourage you to face life like Emily did and go after it with excitement and courage! The Lord brought Emily into the world for a limited time that has expired, but we all have expiration dates here on earth that are meant to be spent living for Him and sharing His love in all we do. So start that hobby, try out for that thing you’ve been hesitant on, start that business because we need more courage in the world, especially these days.

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Image of Emily’s book, Ctholics 101

Where to Buy Emily’s Book: Catholic 101

We also wanted to mention one of Emily’s older books, Catholic 101 and where to buy it for those that have been asking and those interested!

Gumroad has copies for $5! Just click “I want this!” and you should be led through the checkout process.

A short summary of the book:
Catholic 101 is 147 pages, divided into four sections (The Basics, The Liturgical Year, and Beliefs/Practices/Sacraments, prayers and resources), and comes with an appendix of basic prayers, a list of American Holy Days of Obligation, a list of resources, and an extensive bibliography. It's designed to be a go-to resource for all Catholics who want to know what the Church teaches, and what Catholics believe. 

Special Edition: Reflection from Aunt Mary 📝

The following is from a wonderful Daily Gospel Reflection (run by the University of Notre Dame) that Emily’s Aunt Mary wrote on July 24th. She loved Emily dearly and was greatly inspired by her journey (and continues to love her still even in parting for the rest of this earthly life). Be blessed by her reflection on faithfulness.

In addition, there is an archive for other Daily Gospel Reflections from former ND Alumni as well as daily reflections in audio form.

Reflection

Mary Heilmann Becker ’87
ND Parent

My niece Emily DeArdo died at age 41 on New Year’s Eve 2023—a day she had long contemplated and prepared for.

“I’ve never doubted my faith,” Emily wrote. “But did I have courage? Did I trust Jesus? … That’s the slow-growing bloom of faith. Faith is the seed. But courage and trust? That’s the result of a lot of dark nights and lots of tears.”

Jesus asks us to have that bloom of faith in today’s gospel reading, and it was the essence of Emily. Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at age 11 and given a projected life expectancy of 30 years, Emily could have had her faith snatched away by the birds of bitterness before it took root. Or, having survived this devastating diagnosis, Emily’s faith could have been scorched or choked by the medical trials she endured over the years—the near-fatal bout of tuberculosis, the double lung transplant, and the loss of her hearing.

But Emily proved to be rich soil that produced a fruitful, faithful life. She lived exuberantly, with courage and trust in God. She competed on “Jeopardy!” as the show’s first cochlear implant recipient, blazing a path for others to follow. She wrote the book Living Memento Mori: My Journey Through the Stations of the Cross, published by Ave Maria Press in 2019, explaining how her faith guided her through many challenges and offering inspiration to readers struggling with their own crosses.

“We wait for the second coming of Christ—we wait for our own resurrection,” Emily wrote. “And as we do this, we show the world that even when God appears silent, we will still love him. We will still follow him. We will still be faithful as we wait.”

Whoever has ears ought to hear.

Matthew 13:1-9
On that day, Jesus went out of the house and sat down by the sea.
Such large crowds gathered around him
that he got into a boat and sat down,
and the whole crowd stood along the shore.
And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying:
“A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
and birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,
and when the sun rose it was scorched,
and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.
But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit,
a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

I'm In Public Discourse! (And a sale!)

I’m very excited to share that an essay of mine has been published in Public Discourse!

This is my first journal piece, and I’m very excited about it. In it I talk about how transplants work, the gift of more time, and (yes, of course) memento mori!

Let me know what you think!

And speaking of the book…

The Ave Maria Press Memorial Day sale is here! Through Monday, use the code REMEMBER23 for 25% off and free shipping. This is a great time to pick up a copy of Living Memento Mori (or get gifts for people!)

I hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Putterings

My garden grows!

Long time no write! Time is just slipping by and I realized it’s been awhile since I’ve posted here. So here we go!

My garden, as you can see above, flourishes—I even have my first tomato!

It’s little but it’s there!

**In the garden this year I’m growing lavender, sweet basil, mint, and cherry tomatoes. I’ve never grown any vegetables before but when I saw that this type of cherry tomato grows well in containers I thought I’d give it a whirl. My grandpa grew tomatoes in his backyard, and I loved helping him take care of them and seeing the ripe tomatoes lined up on the kitchen windowsill. I didn’t really think they’d grow, but behold! So today I’m off to the hardware store to get a bigger planter, a tomato cage, and a trowel.

I’m hoping to dry a lot of the basil so I can have it on hand throughout the year. The mint is doing well, and the lavender is too, but I know the lavender is really going to be dependent on our weather. I tried to grow it a few years ago and the summer was so wet that it killed it. So I’m hoping we only have a moderately wet summer so it doesn’t drown. I had to really cut the mint back a few weeks ago because it had gone all leggy, but it’s doing better now.

**I’m going to have an essay published in The Public Discourse, probably at the beginning of June! It’s about transplants, gratitude, and memento mori (because I do think about that!) When the article is up I’ll post a link here and on my social media (you can find the links to all my accounts on the blog sidebar).

**Scotland trip planning continues! We’ve booked our tickets for Britannia, The Palace of Holyrood House, as well as some afternoon teas and meals. Can you tell I’m EXCITED?

Hive mind: Best tips for a long flight? I’ve never taken a trans-Atlantic flight! Tell me what I need to know/pack/do!

**In Knitting, I’m obsessed with the Sophie Scarf and the Sophie Shawl. So easy, so elegant, and so fun.

Here’s a completed Sophie Scarf in La Bien Aimee’s Merino Boucle “There Goes My Yarn Diet”

I’m currently knitting the Sophie Shawl in Quince and Co’s gorgeous Phoebe Yarn in the Orion color way. I’m doing the largest size, so you’d need two skeins of Phoebe to knit this up. These are perfect accessories for adding a little bit of flair to an outfit or for keeping the A/C chill off!

Phoebe in Orion

How’s your May going?

My Writing Process

I’m currently working on another writing project (Yay! All will be revealed later!)and I thought I’d share my writing process with you.

I generally write in the afternoons but sometimes I change that to the morning. The morning is usually me reading email, perusing the Web while I have breakfast, writing in my journal, and catching up on the news (although not nearly as much news as I used to read—this is a good thing!). This is also usually when I write blog posts.

I work on big writing projects in the afternoon, and I use pomodoros to do this. I usually write for 1-2 hours (that’s 2-4 pomodoros) and then I’m done for the day. I don’t have word goals, I have time goals.

I work on a rough draft until it’s “done”, in the sense that I’ve reached the end of the story I was trying to tell. I do not re-read at all during this stage. I might read the last few lines of what I wrote the day before, in order to get back into the groove of my train of thought, but that’s as much as I’ll do.

The second phase is the LET IT SIT phase. I like to let big projects (like books) sit for at least a month, so I can let it coalesce and I can get appropriate distance from the project. After a month (at least!), I head into the third phase, which is revising. During revising, I’m pretty critical, but I don’t delete anything; I keep a document called “scrap”, where I’ll place sections that I’ve cut. (I don’t delete them because I might want them later!) Revising is generally a slower process than writing because I’m being more critical and I’m trying to shape the document into something cohesive, as opposed to the “word vomit” of the first phase.

After revising, we hit the second Let It Sit phase. This is also about a month. At the end of this phase, I have choices. I can either ask a writer friend to look at what I’ve done so far and offer feedback, or I can do another round of revising before I offer it to someone else to read.

These are my basic steps. What happens after step five is fungible. I might let it sit again, I might think about submitting it somewhere, I might do a lot of things. But the first five stages always happen.

So there you go—my writing process! Questions? Drop them in the comment box below and I’ll answer them.

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!

Seven Quick Takes--First Friday of Advent

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Hellooooo everyone! :) How are you? How’s your Advent going? We had our first real snow this week!

One of my goals for December is to listen to no news, or read any news, because I don’t need to hear it. So I check a local news station’s website once or twice a day to scan the headlines, and then I click off. Because I do not need to know, you know? I need some peace and quiet.

If “the world is too much with you”, maybe you can try the same thing?

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From the blog this week:

The Find Your Fade Shawl is almost done!

Post-Turkey Quick Takes

Find Your Fade!

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My ebook, Catholic 101, is on sale through today! You can get it for $4, which is a buck less than I normally sell it for. Check it out! These sales give me some extra money which is always nice to have and helps keep the lights on around here. The book is printable, readable on any screen/device, and is also gift-able—just enter the recipient’s email and off it goes! Go get it!

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If you would like a signed copy of Living Memento Mori for the holidays, email me. They’re $20 and that includes shipping and a specially designed bookmark and prayer card! The last day for shipping this holiday season is Dec. 17. So you have some time, but…..order early. :)

If you would like a ‘regular’ copy, you can get them at all sorts of places! Here’s the link to my book at the retailer of your choice! (Scroll down a bit to find it.)

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If you’re still looking for an Advent devotional, I wrote two essays in this one. My friend and fellow Ave Author Elizabeth Tomlin put it together and I think it’s lovely! And it’s free!

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For some reason, Christmas is the time for the Harry Potter Movie Marathon. Not sure why. :) But I’m on the third movie now, Prisoner of Azkaban, and I’m also re-reading the books at the same time, so I’m also on that book.

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If you want to support your local Catholic authors, here’s a big list of Catholic authors and their books that I put together!

A Book Two Update! (And happy birthday, Catholic 101!)

Madame Francois Buron, Jacques-Louis David, 1769

So, I promised you a book two update, and here we go !

I talked to my editor, the fabulously fantastic Jaymie, two weeks ago. There have been some ideas bouncing around about what this book should be but I wanted to really nail it down and get a clear sense of direction, and Jaymie graciously provided me with that. (She’s so awesome.)

The idea is: Saints with challenges, whether they be mental, physical, emotional, financial, whatever, and how they overcame those challenges (or learned to live with them) and became saints. What choices did they make that led them to sainthood? How did they keep going even when it was hard? Things like that. So it’s going to be seven to ten saints—not a huge compendium, but a cultivated collection. So that has steered me in the proper direction and now I’m in the outlining/table of contents/sample chapter stage.

There’s no real timeline yet, which is also good, because it gives me time to do the research I need to do and let ideas brew and bubble up, because you don’t want to rush a good thing! Writing Living Memento Mori on deadline was easy because it was my story, so I knew what I wanted to do with it, and even then there were two chapters I sent to Jaymie and said, “I have no idea, tell me if this is crap.” :) (It was chapters 10 and 11, if you’re curious). When Ave Maria Press said go, I went! With this book, I have to lay the research ground work before we go, so to speak.

Also, happy birthday to my ebook! If you don’t have a copy, it’s $5! You can gift it to people, you can print it out and read it on real pages, or you can read it on your computer or e-reader of choice! Go get it!

Seven Quick Takes--The eye is healed up!

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Hi everyone! We’re back!

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So I saw my eye doctor yesterday and my corneal abrasion has healed, yayyyyy! I can wear contacts again! Double yay! He wants me to use eye drops for the next week which is fine, just to add some extra lubrication to my eye, no big deal. I’m very glad that it has healed up because I need my eyes to function! (As in, more than the average bear, because of the ears not working, ha!)

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If you need a cuteness pick-me-up, presenting….Adso! (AKA, the Outlander cat)

And if you need more cute, here’s Patty:

On her baptism say. She looks…..unsure. :) My godson, however, was baptized while he was having a bottle! :)

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Business: There’s a patreon. Check it out! Trying to build another income stream and I am so grateful for all my readers and patrons! Once you’re a writer that doesn’t mean you’re rolling in dough. I get my royalty checks once a year (September and March), and I do have to pay taxes (25%!!!!) on my royalties. So. More income streams are good! Thanks for considering.

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Pro tip: Don’t try to knit anything when you don’t normally wear glasses and you’re suddenly wearing them all the time. I’ll be so glad to get back to my knitting ASAP!

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The gallbladder is healing very well, my surgeon is quite pleased. :) I see my transplant clinic folk onMonday so let’s hope all is well there….I will update you when I get back.

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One of my favorite Marian devotions is the Seven Sorrows Chaplet. Have you heard of it? Read about it and pray it, especially since September is devoted to Our Lady of Sorrows!

If you would like a seven sorrows chaplet, this is where I got mine (she’s a local lady who does beautiful work!)

We're BACK!

Sam guards the books

Hi everyone! I’m back! :)

So the surgery went well. I had my follow-up yesterday with my surgeon and he’s happy. Apparently my gallbladder was very inflamed and angry, so I am glad it is gone! And I’m also betting that the prednisone I take sort of took the edge off the pain of an angry, inflamed gallbladder, so thank you, prednisone! :)

The plan was to stay one night at my parents and then come home, but then, in the middle of the night on Thursday, I managed to scratch my cornea.

While I was sleeping.

And I have no nails. I’m a chronic nail biter. So how I managed to gouge my eye is….a mystery of life!

So the next day I woke up and had lots of pain in my left eye. Which meant we went to the local ER! And lo and behold, I had a corneal abrasion! Not fun!

So I had Cipro eye drops for a week. (I’ve had Cipro orally, but never this way, so, new frontiers in medicine….) That ended last Friday. My eye is much better but I still have to wear my glasses and no makeup until I see the eye doctor this Thursday (as in, in two days).

WHEW.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that things went well surgically and that I’m recovering nicely. The last two episodes of the Living Memento Mori book club will be next Tuesday and the following Tuesday (September 22 and September 29) at 3:00 PM EST on my Facebook page.

And in the last piece of news, I wrote a quick piece on Flannery O’Connor and put it up on my Patreon page. If you want to read it, join Orchard House Studios! Monthly memberships start at one dollar! There’s a bunch of other patron-only content up to!

And I’m featured on the new Spoken Women Site!

So, I’m back, and so is football—Steelers won and Pitt won, so I’m happy to have both teams at 1-0 after week one!

How are you doing?

Movie Review: Fatima

I wrote a review of the new Fatima movie for the local Catholic paper! Yay!

Here’s the beginning:

There are almost as many film versions of the story of Our Lady of Fatima as there were appearances by the Virgin. With so many versions, do we need another account of the apparitions of Mary that occurred more than 100 years ago? Yes, because this version brings the story of the three visionaries and their world to realistic life. 
 
Other tellings of the story have focused on the three seers – 10-year-old Lucia dos Santos and her cousins, Francisco, 9, and Jacinta Marto, 7 – and what they beheld in a two-dimensional way. The current film gives depth and realism to the apparitions with its vivid storytelling….

Read the rest at the Columbus Catholic Times!

Seven Quick Takes--My Book's First Picture, Gallbladder test, and more!

linking up with Kelly!

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Look at my beautiful baby’s first picture! Thank you Ave Maria Design Department!

Isn’t she pretty?!

So yeah, I love this a lot. They also made me new graphics for Facebook and Twitter so if you follow me there, you’ll see those lovelies!

THANK YOU to everyone who has pre-ordered! If you want to, go here. (It makes a good Christmas present!!!! It’ll just come later, which extends Christmas joy!)

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So on Monday I had a HIDA scan at OSU East hospital. The test wasn’t terrible. Well, at the time. But it did require an IV—to stay in for a few hours.

Well, that was a lovely piece of information….

It’s also a two part test, which I didn’t know.

So, the first part is: Put in IV (poor guy who had to do it…I was laying on the gurney [which was supremely comfortable! Really!] thinking, if we don’t get access, we can’t do this test….) We got access. It wasn’t very comfortable. I have bruises all over my arms right now, so my veins need a break for like, two weeks, minimum.

Anyway!

So we got the IV in. The contrast was pushed in. Then I went out to waiting room for an hour while the contrast worked. OK .

Came back into the room, took the pictures, took about four minutes. Great.

Then we went to part two: AKA, nap time. (I had woken up at 6 AM for this test. I was ready for a nap.)

This part is the “stress test”. They take was is basically the fat content of an Ensure drink and drip it very very slowly —as in it takes an hour—through the IV. This stresses the gallbladder. Then pictures are taken to see how it is moving through.

So I took a nap, then woke up an hour later when the IV beeped. A nurse came, rolled me back to the scan room, took the photos, took out the IV, and I was free.

I was insanely thirsty because I couldn’t drink anything, so I got some Sprite Zeros from the cafeteria, and Dad and I went to lunch. (He had to drive me, per their rules.)

Fortunately I had some phenergan left over from my previous hospital adventures….

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because over the next few days, my stomach was not happy with the stuff that had been forced into me. So I felt nauseated, tired, and just weird for two days. Sigh. But I feel better now, so I hope that I don’t need to darken a medical doorway for the next few months!

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With the newfound energy, I have written out all my Christmas cards and begun mailing Christmas gifts. I want to mail them early. I also live right down the street from the post office so it makes mailing things and getting more stamps insanely convenient.

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I take Christmas so seriously that I have a gift and card spreadsheet.

Yup. I’m weird.

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If you missed it: my post on how girls need a plan!

And: The Real Lucy Pevensie (whose feast day was last week!)

It’s also St. Cecilia’s Day, so here’s some music! And the poem by Dryden!

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Still looking for an Advent journal? You can get Take Up & Read’s!!!! And it’s on sale RIGHT NOW! (as of this writing, Thursday night. I hope it still is when this goes live!)

Seven Quick Takes--the 60th of September

Linking up with Kelly!

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In case you missed it, here’s what’s been going down around these parts this week:

Simplicity Series #1—Reset Day!

Stitch Fix Box #8!

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The reason this post is entitled the 60th of September is because this month has seemed insanely long. Isn’t there a song called “Wake Me Up When September Ends?” That’s how I feel right now. It’s just been so long. And sort of crazy.

One of the big crazy-making things is that I’m in the middle of Doctor Roulette, which I really haven’t written about here, so I probably need to catch you up.

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(If you’re not interested in medical stuff, skip this and go to point four, where I talk about BOOK THINGS!)

So, being post-transplant, and being fourteen years out, is….interesting. Obviously, I am INSANELY GRATEFUL to be at that marker. I am. Never think I’m not. But at the same time, it’s a Brave New World of Medical Stuff, because it’s rare. So when things happen, there’s not a lot of research to go on. There’s just…..talking. And guessing. And seeing what works.

Essentially, all summer we have been messing with insulin, because my blood glucose levels have been off. (I”m trying to keep this as medical jargon free, but when I say this, what I mean is my A1c, not my BGLs. If you’re confused, I can explain in another post, so let me know if you want that much detail into my life!)

So my team decided to put me on some long-acting insulin.

But……that didn’t work. First, it didn’t lower my BGLs, which I was testing twice a day, and second, insulin is a hormone. That means it can affect lots of parts of your body.

For me, that meant—headaches. Not sleeping. Weight gain (DAMN IT), and insanely inappropriate mood reactions. If Big Ben threw an interception I wanted to break things. If someone parked next to me at the supermarket, I became incandescently angry.

This is not appropriate.

And the scariest part for me? Forgetting things. Words. Ideas. What I was doing. This is not good. I rely on my brain, and words are my trade. I can’t be forgetting them! I need to be mentally sharp.

(But you’re never mentally sharp, Emily, says the peanut gallery….)

I did some digging and found out that when you have too much insulin—as in, you have WAY too much, and your body doesn’t need it—this is what happens.

And this is the problem. My body is weird. Not just the transplant weird, but weird for a CF person. I’m what’s called “pancreatically sufficient”, which is rare. It means my pancreas works like a normal person’s, not like a CF person’s. I don’t need to take enzymes to help digest my food, because my pancreas does it. I never had CF related diabetes.

And my A1c starting rising once I hit menopause—so there’s probably a connection there as well.

So, long story short, my team is sort of confused, and I’m seeing an endocrinologist the day before Halloween. That’s one reason I haven’t been writing as much this month, because things have just been crazy, but also my body has been through a lot, and I’m trying to be nice to it. Which means, chilling out, after all the non chilling out. :-P

There are some other issues, too, mainly that I don’t have a great track record when seeing endos, because they look at me and go, you’re really messed up, what do you want me to do about it?

But anyway, that’s at the end of October. Yay.

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in the meantime!

BOOK THINGS!

People are starting to ask for interviews, which is….weird. I mean, good, but weird.

The cover is 99% done. I’ve seen it. I can’t show you yet. If you want to be the first to see it, subscribe to the blog!

It’s really pretty, I like it. :)

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Hockey season starts soon and this makes me very happy!

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I am going on retreat next week, so if you have prayer requests, I am honored to take them with me! Drop them in the combox, or use the contact page.

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If you haven’t seen the Word on Fire team’s newest entries in their Pivotal Players series—Fulton Sheen and Flannery O’Connor—I highly recommend them! They’re great! Flannery is a really important influence for me, in how to live as a Catholic and a writer, and I write this quote from her at the beginning of all my journals:

I feel that if I were not a Catholic, I would have no reason to write, no reason to see, no reason ever to feel horrified or even enjoy anything. I am a born Catholic, went to Catholic school in my early years, and have never left or wanted to leave the Church. I have never had the sense that being a Catholic is a limit to the freedom of the writer, but just the reverse. … I feel myself that being a Catholic has saved me a couple of thousand years in learning to write. (The Habit of Being *)

So I love the Flannery film. It was also nice to learn more about soon to be Blessed Fulton Sheen—I had read some of his books, and I knew of him, but the film does a great job fleshing out what I knew.

(Also, in a nice twist, a college friend of mine composed the music for both films. Go Sean!)

And I really don’t think we can improve on Fulton and Flannery, do you? :) Have a great weekend!

*==Amazon Affiliate Link

Seven Quick Takes--Writing Updates, Birthdays, A Wedding....

Linking up with Kelly!

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If you missed it, my sister got married last week!

It was a beautiful day! I’ll have more about travel logistics up soon, as well as the second part of my April trip…..bad me, I know! I’m being a slacker blogger!

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But I have a reason to be slacker blogger—it’s time for edits! Which means:

via GIPHY

I got edits up to Chapter 11 (there are 15 main chapters, plus the prayer section, and the intro and preface, so 17 chapters and prayers) from my editor yesterday, so now it’s time to DIVE IN. So if it’s quiet around here, that’s why. Amuse yourselves by looking through the archives!

(Or buy Catholic 101! $5!)

-III-

So yes, I’ll be in the office, by Corgi corner, writing. :)

What is Corgi Corner?

This. :)

It’s a Corgi Calendar that my friend Sarah sent me for my birthday, a card with a leaping corgi on the cover, and my Susan Branch Royal Corgi mug, because hello it’s THE BEST.

I fill the mug with tea, and I write. Corgi corner keeps me going!

-IV-

Happy First Day of Summer! It’s been so rainy here that when the sun is out I feel like Gollum:

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It’s only going to be 75 today so not quite warm enough to swim, but warm enough to get outside and squint at the bright thing in the sky!

-v-

We’re hitting the big Birthday Stride in our family: Dad’s birthday was on Wednesday, my new brother in law’s is today, my mom’s is tomorrow, mom and dad’s anniversary (their fortieth!) is on the 30th, and that’s also my grandma’s 89th birthday.

WHEW!

-VI-

The trip to CO was our big trip of the summer so the rest of the summer is delightfully free. Of course I’m working on edits because they’re due before the Fourth of July, but after that, who knows what’s going to happen? Well, other than clinic in July—the big yearly testing date, with CTs and bone density scans—and then my fourteenth transplant anniversary on the 11th!

-VII-

I also need to update you about books I’m reading but we’ll do that later…..I’ll add it to my blog list. In the meantime, tell me what you’re reading! I’m always looking for new titles to pick up!

Seven Quick Takes--the book has a title, the Jane Re-Read, and summer kicks off!

Linking up with Kelly!

-I-

Hi everyone! Happy Memorial Day Weekend (if you’re in the U.S.)! It’s sort of the unofficial kick off to summer, so there will be barbecues and parties all over the place, and I begin the Great Jane Re-Read, where I re-read Jane Austen’s novels every summer. Want to join me? I’m starting with Sense and Sensibility.

-II-

In case you missed it, my book has a title! It’s a great one! I’m really excited! (Can you tell?) As soon as pre-orders open I will share it here. And, again, as a reminder: If you want book news first, before anyone else, sign up for the mailing list.

-III-

In other book-y news….

Better Together is Take Up & Read’s new summer study! I just got my copy yesterday and she’s beautiful!

This book is all about Biblical Hospitality. Sometimes we get scared of hospitality, because we think we need to have the perfect house and the perfect food and the perfect playlist. That’s not what God calls us to do at all. Hospitality is simply sharing and gathering with people. We aren’t meant to do Christianity alone. Let’s get over the idea that hospitality has to be perfect!

This book would make a great summer study—I do hope you’ll join us!

-IV-

The big event of the summer is that my sister is getting married in Estes Park, CO, in June. So we’re all in the midst of preparing for that. I’ve got my packing list written but I haven’t actually started packing yet. And yes, I know I owe you a Denver travelogue, so that is coming, I promise!

-V-

This California bill is a terrible idea, on multiple fronts—if you live in California, email your reps about this?

The confessional has to be a place of absolute confidentiality. It just does. The state can’t mess with this, or it puts priests in a horrible position—they will either go to jail, or be excommunicated. And it put us, the laity, in a terrible position, because how can you be totally open in confession if you know the priest can repeat what you say? (Not that any priest worth his ordination would.)

No bueno, California! Stop it!

(article version of the video above here)

-VI-

Final edits for the book are being done! Well, not final final. Final as in, for the first draft. My editor will be getting me notes and I imagine next week will be a flurry of back and forth sending. :)

-VII-

And while Memorial Day is the kick off of summer in the U.S., let’s remember what it’s really about.

Seven Quick Takes--The First Draft Exists!

Linking up with Kelly!

I.

The FIRST DRAFT EXISTS!

Yay!

When I first got the contract information, the fact that Ave Maria wanted a first draft by June 1 was daunting to some people I talked to. “Can you do it in two months?”

HELL YES I CAN.

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II.

Why was I so confident?

Because I have journalism training. And political training.

And when you have both of those, you learn to write quickly, on ridiculous deadlines.

Deadlines? WHAT DEADLINES.

So, thank you to Professor Kelly Messinger in college for all the Chimes Wednesday nights where we ate Chipotle and wrote into the wee hours! And edited! And wrote! And edited!

III.

Now, that doesn’t mean it’s always easy, because sometimes….

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But then I apply my Maxim: You cannot edit a blank page.

Get anything on the page. Anything. Let it sit there and then come back later and edit it. You never know what can happen.

Chapter 10, for example? WENT OFF THE RAILS. I had no idea where I was going with that one, and we went somewhere I had not anticipated. But there it is!

(It might not stay the way it is. LOL.)

IV.

Speaking of writing—my ebook, Catholic 101, is now $5!

That’s it. Five bucks, y’all.

Go get it!

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V.

I also promise to have the Denver travel posts up next week. This week was just nuts, with getting the first draft done….oh, and getting a new CI processor!!!!!!!

VI.

So, if you want more on the CI, you can visit my series here. Basically I was glad to have hearing, but the processor I had had shortcomings. I couldn’t use the phone.

Now….I might be able to use the phone! I mean, what?!

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I can listen to my voicemails and understand them!

So far, this new processor is a game changer.

VII.

Oh, one more thing about the draft—a question I’ve been getting a lot is, “Well, didn’t you have to write the book before you submitted it?”

Short answer: No. Most places, for non-fiction, want a proposal, with a chapter sample, but not the whole book. I’ll talk more about the parts of the process later (especially in my newsletter!). But, no. I had to write the book to the proposal specs.

An Old School Easter Daybook

Remember how we used to do these all the time? Bringing it back. :) At least for this week.

“Resurrection of Christ and Women at the Tomb”, Fra Angelico

Outside my window:

The tree outside my porch. Isn’t she pretty?

Wearing:

Jeans and a navy blue and white stripped shirt that I’ve had forever and probably need to stop wearing outside the house, LOL.

Reading

I’m on a Laura Ingalls Wilder kick so I’m re-reading the series; I’m on By The Shores of Silver Lake. I’m also reading The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder, and I’ve got Cranford in my bag for the trip I’m taking this week.

Plans for the week:

I’m going to visit my sister in Denver for her bachelorette party! Yay! So that’ll be fun. I’ve never been to Colorado.

Celebrating:

Easter! It’s an octave, so that means that it’s EIGHT DAYS OF EASTER. So be sure to keep celebrating! The Easter season is actually fifty days long, culminating in Pentecost. So get your celebration on. We fast and abstain and do penance for forty days of Lent, but then we have fun for fifty days! So have fun!

(But don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.)

If you normally give up meat on Friday, you don’t have to this coming Friday, because of the Easter octave. Yay! Woo woo!

I don’t pray the Glorious mysteries at all during Lent, but for the next seven days they’ll be all I pray when I say my rosary. Gotta fill up on the good stuff.

Around the house:

I’m putting up some wall art over at Orchard House. My couch has STILL not arrived and that’s holding up a lot of the art work because I want to see what works when the couch is here. But I have up two Rose Harrington prints in my office:

Aren’t they pretty?

Speaking of the office….

Writing:

I’m doing pretty well on the book! I’m really excited about this. I’m almost 2/3 of the way done! Some of the chapters have been pretty substantially re-written from my first draft, but that’s ok because now they’re better. My editor is great. (She’s also patient, which is nice. Sometimes I get all rabbity in my thinking, meaning I’m all over the place. She helps. :) ) I want to have a draft of chapter 10 (Jesus is Stripped of His Garments) before I leave on Wednesday.

Listening to:

The “hallelujah!” chorus from Messiah and the studio cast recording of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (not the Disney movie. The musical that’s derived from the Disney movie. It’s good stuff.)

Sharing Contemplation:

In the Gospel of Matthew, the women at the tomb left quickly with fear and great joy.

Fear and joy go together a lot of the time, don’t they? I got the book contract and then I had to write the thing and I’m afraid I’ll write crap. :-P You get pregnant and you want a baby, but then….labor! Right? I’d never noticed that sentence before. Fear and joy, co-existing all the time.

Getting the transplant call—-fear and joy.

Bet you can think of your own examples.

Maybe I’ll put this in the book? :)

Other good things:

BLUE JACKETS!!!! Their second-round series will be with either Boston or Toronto and will start this week (most likely). That series is going to game seven, so whoever will play will be tired, to say the least—but the Jackets can’t let up. Hope they don’t! Very excited about this series!

A Little Catholic 101 on Easter and Pentecost

And I’ve started a monthly newsletter-y thingy JUST for blog subscribers. They will find out all the book news first, they get special behind-the-scenes glances of things, I might even do book giveaways, WHO KNOWS. Anyway, you don’t want to miss this, so SIGN UP.

Please and thank you!

Did That Really Just Happen?

Well, guys.

It happened.

I have a book contract.

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Yes. IT’S TRUE!!!!!

I’m going to write a book for Ave Maria Press, uniting my story with a Way of the Cross. The book is tentatively titled The Way of Your Cross, and it’s devotional in nature. It’s going to incorporate Pope St. John Paul II’s Salvific Doloris (On the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering), Scripture, all sorts of stuff.

I am thrilled to death. And also flabbergasted. And….just amazed. It’s sort of like the world’s best caffeine high.

I’ve been going around the world like Belle in the bookshop.

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I mean, it’ll be a real book! On REAL SHELVES! That people can REALLY GO TO A STORE AND BUY!

I feel a lot like Jo in Little Women. “I'‘M AN AUTHOR!!!!”

I can’t quite process this.

(Last GIF, I swear:

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The book will be for sale next Lent, we’re hoping. That’s the goal.

Now I have to write the thing.

Obviously I will keep you updated! If you want to know about book stuff FIRST, then please sign up to follow the blog, so you get all the news first!

Thank you for all the support and prayers, everyone! It means the world to me!

Seven Quick Takes!

Linking up with Kelly!

—1—

Lent is coming soon! (It’s in a little over a month, if you can believe it.) Take Up & Read has a beautiful new book for Lent, focusing on the Gospel of Matthew, called Hosanna.

We have new writers, some new design and prayer pages, and all sorts of other goodies that you can read about here.

Making it EVEN BETTER is that right now the book is ON SALE! That’s right—price drop! We don’t know how long this will last, so go grab your copy!

I love the gospel of Matthew, so I was thrilled to contribute an essay to this book. I’m sure you’ll love it!

—2—

Did January feel like it lasted FOREVER to anyone else? Whew. I’m glad that month is over. February always feels like it moves pretty quickly, but it’s also the last full month before my move, so it feels like time moves even faster.

—3—

I’m still Kon Mari-ing the house. I’ve done clothes, books, papers, and I’m in “komono” (AKA EVERYTHING ELSE), but even that is moving well so I should have that done in the next week or so. Yay!!!!

—4—

A brief bit of policy wonkery (if you’re new here, I worked for the state government for ten years, so in a past life I lived, ate, and breathed policy wonkery). This really isn’t about policy, per se, as it is about common sense:

If you are contacting a representative about a policy proposal that you support or do not support, please remember to be respectful, to be brief, and to contact your representative. Please don’t call a representative that doesn’t represent you (as in, you live in Ohio, but you’re calling a senator from Colorado or Hawaii). This irritates the staffers and does not make them happy. They want to know what their constituents think. Not what everyone in the country thinks.

And if you call your elected representative for any reason, please be nice to the person on the phone. It is not that person’s fault that you are having issues with whatever you’re having issues with. If you are mean, that does not make them want to help you! Do not make the person answering the phone cry with streams of curse words! STOP IT!

—5—

Do you re-read books? Please tell me you do. To me, half the fun is in re-reading. I read so quickly that if I didn’t re-read, I’d be really bored. Re-reading is good!

—6—

My friend Richelle asked me if I’d read all of Dickens’ novels. I haven’t'; I’ve read 10 of his 15 novels (A Christmas Carol is considered a novella, and I have read that as well). The last five I have to read are Nicholas Nickleby, Barnaby Rudge, Martin Chuzzlewit, Our Mutual Friend, and his unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

If you’re looking to start reading Dickens (he’s not my favorite, but he is an important writer), I’d suggest starting with A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist (because just about everyone knows the basic story), and A Tale of Two Cities, which is one of my favorites. These are all pretty short, too, which is a plus, given that some of his novels are the size of bricks.

—7—

I’m also watching Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat on Netflix. The series is good, but he book is even better (same title), because it EXPLAINS THINGS, like why you should boil potatoes in salt water before you roast them! I had always wondered about this and now I know. (It’s because you get the salt in to the potatoes—if you just roast them, then you toss salt on top of them and that doesn’t really penetrate said potato).

Seven Quick Takes--Groundhog, Give Me Spring

inking up with Kelly!

—1—

There is no way I will complain about 100 degrees this summer. Nope. No way, no how.

—2—

(Athough, extreme heat does make it hard for me to breathe…..but so does extreme cold. But it’s EASIER in the heat, to do things like take out trash. :) And get the mail. I can just go out and do it quickly. In the winter, it means boots, hat, gloves, scarf, big coat…..it’s a production, similar to:

—3—

Should we talk about February goals? Sure, let’s do that. I’m still doing the contentment challenge, (the first month went well! I am proud of myself!), I sent out the book proposal (SQUEEEEE), I saved money for my emergency fund, went to confession, and I did pretty well getting into my Bible every day! I only missed FIVE DAYS all month, which is pretty awesome, guys. I’m happy about that.

—4—

For this month:

Monthly goals: Contentment Challenge month two; more to emergency fund, finish Kon Mari-ing the house (I’m almost there! In the komono category right now, which is basically everything in the house that isn’t clothes, books, papers, or sentimental items. It’s a lot, to put it mildly), go to confession, and attend the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference!

—5—

Weekly goals:

Contentment Challenge devotional reading; meal plan; blog; artist date (part of The Artist’s Way—going out once a week to do something fun, that fills the creative well in you—it’s been hard with this weather but I”m trying!), and a holy hour.

—6—

Daily goals:

Examen before bed (basically examination of conscience), exercise (I just signed up for YogaGlo again. I did that last year and it was REALLY helpful for me, so back we go!), keep a food journal, and reconcile my checkbook every morning (I use the Every Dollar program for this).

—7—

And finally, some cute Corgis and Harry Potter (thanks to my friend, Abby, for showing me this!)