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Author: CAstfalk

Carolyn Astfalk is a wife, mother, and author of contemporary Catholic romances, including her latest, All in Good Time. She formerly worked as a communications director and now works just to keep her head above water. Find her books on Amazon and her other words scattered around the blogosphere and social media.

Seven Quick Takes

7 Quick Takes

Massachusetts Vacation Edition

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By chance, I finished listening to the audiobook version of The Mayflower Bride by Kimberley Woodhouse just before we left Hershey for Boston. We hadn’t even planned on visiting Plymouth Rock, but it ended up we did. I had a greater appreciation for the pilgrims and their sacrifices than I would have had otherwise. I needed a bit of a refresher. The rock isn’t much to look at, but it’s a quaint town.

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Interview with Civil War Romance Author Amanda Lauer

Your trilogy of Civil War romances offer a blend of American historical fiction, sweet romance, and a gentle faith. How do you blend those to satisfy fans of each of those genres?

This actually came rather easily to me, because this is the kind of book that I have been looking for since I started reading historic romance novels in high school. I love writing books that are based in fact, involving real-life figures and that highlight historical events in an engaging way. The primary characters in my books are Catholic, so featuring how their faith, like mine, is interwoven into their day-to-day lives came naturally to me. As far as the sweet romance goes, everyone loves a good love story with a satisfying ending! My preference in what I consume and in what I write is to give readers a glance at our couples’ romance without describing every detail. The rest is up to their imagination! 

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My Summer Reading Accountability Post

Because the to-be-read pile looms large, both in physical books and in electronic books, I’ve created by own accountability post to keep me on track this summer.

I’m way behind.

Way . . . way . . . behind.

As proof, check out this list of books I meant to read in 2017 and didn’t.

Guess how many I’ve read as of midway through 2019? Go ahead, hazard a guess.

Three. Of the ten books I listed, I’ve since read three.

Then there’s NetGalley with thirty-eight books awaiting my attention.

The books I’ve won.

The books I’ve agreed to review.

The classics.

And, oh! The ones my kids have begged me to read.

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We Crave Fairness, We Need Mercy

Children have an innate sense of justice and fairness. If you spend any time with kids, you know the plaintive cry “It’s not fair!” surfaces with enough frequency to make a drinking game based on its utterance a dangerous affair.

Many times a week, I hear myself responding to those cries with a trite, “Life’s not fair.” In other words, “Suck it up, buttercup.”

True enough. And yet those words don’t take away the niggling rub that, well, gosh, it’s not fair.

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