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Category: My Scribbler’s Heart

Author of the Last Straw: An Interview with Karen Kelly Boyce

How did you first conceive the idea for Sisters of the Last Straw?

Sisters of the Last Straw The Case of the Haunted Chapel

It is so strange how God works. I had a Bible study with a number of women for about thirty years. We were great friends and one night at our meeting we started laughing about how we all should have been nuns. Looking around at the five women in the group who are all good women, I had to laugh. We each have our own foibles and personality quirks. I laughed and said that we would probably be kicked out of any order because of our bad habits. Another woman said that we would probably have to form our own order. After much laughter and silly plans for the order, one of the women said, “We better call it the Sisters of the Last Straw.” I wrote my first story about the nuns for those women. Then I decided to write a children’s book to teach children that while all people have faults, we can love God and each other. That is how the Sisters of the Last Straw were created. 

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Bonnets, Baskets, & Bunnies: An Easter 2020 Linkup

Bonnets, Baskets & Bunnies

Amid the odd circumstances of this Easter, we’ve tried to keep our traditions. Streaming religious services isn’t the same as being there, but I’m grateful we’re at least able to do that.

We prayed a modified Stations of the Cross that became part scavenger hunt when the 7-year-old hung the fourteen photos randomly around the house. We made Resurrection eggs (search Pinterest for examples), baked Hot Cross Muffins (found here) and Paska bread, dyed eggs, and in place of the Easter flowers we usually buy, my daughter picked us a bouquet of violets. We’ll re-read a new favorite Easter book, The Other Side of Easter by Beth Gully.

It’s all lovely. But there’s a subtle undercurrent that something’s not right.

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Pandemic Reads

I invited Catholic Writers Guild members on the group’s Facebook page to recommend one of their books for reading during this pandemic. What follows are their recommendations, in the author’s words. It’s a mix of fiction and nonfiction. Choose a fun escape, something to expand your knowledge, fiction that edifies, or a means of deepening your faith.

Also check out this list of reading recommendations at Dappled Things: “Literature in the Time of COVID-19”.

Links below are to Amazon, but you can find most, if not all, at additional retailers and some on additional ebook platforms – maybe even on audiobook.

Pandemic Reading Picks from Catholic Writers Guild Authors #CatholicsatHome Share on X 1 Comment

Relevant Fiction Reviews: Classics (III)

Relevant Fiction Reviews
The Romance of Tristan and Iseult (Dover Books on Literature & Drama)The Romance of Tristan and Iseult by M. Joseph Bédier
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This classic of romance literature, which obviously influenced subsequent classic works, had eluded me for decades. I’d only heard mention of it in recent years and came across this Hillaire Beloc translation at a low cost.

I wish I’d read this in the context of a classroom or group/club rather than independently because there is much absent in the text that would make for great discussion. Responsibility, the nature of love, honor, duty, sacrifice – these are all found within Tristan and Iseult, but not in any depth.

There’s some lip service to God and honor, but the lovers absolve themselves from any responsibility because they just can’t help themselves. They (mistakenly) drank a love potion, you see. Whoopsie.

Despite that disappointment, I found this worth reading as a seminal work, and it did mostly hold my attention.
Classics Dracula, A Christmas Carol & The Romance of Tristan and Iseult: My takes in Relevant Fiction Reviews. Share on X Leave a Comment

Corona Life: 10 Tips to Keep You Sane

A large part of my days revolve around serving my family. You’d think that they’d be the beneficiaries in that equation, but I’ve been reminded lately how good these people are for me.

For a person who has the propensity to live in her head too much, they are refreshingly grounding. They are real. With real physical needs, real childish silliness, real human interactions, and delightful senses of humor.

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A Channel of Your Peace Blog Tour

About the Book:

Would a God who truly loves you allow things to get this bad?

Lapsed Catholic Erin Rafferty has the life she always wanted. Or at least she did, till the moment her fiancé of five years announces he’s leaving her for another woman. Heartbroken and humiliated, a further devastating development leaves her wondering if she can ever live a normal life again.

Mark Ashcroft is a devout Catholic looking for an equally devout Catholic wife. A chance encounter with Erin leaves Mark completely captivated, yet deeply unsettled, knowing Erin is not in a place to accept him, nor is she the model Christian woman he’d hoped to start a life with.

A tentative friendship begins, and Erin finds herself questioning her long-held rejection of her faith, while Mark finds himself healing from memories of his own wounded past.

But as love grows, further tragedy in Erin’s life threatens her burgeoning faith and her hope for a future with Mark.

What follows is a difficult journey of love, surrender, trust, and faith in the ultimate knowledge that Christ is always in the midst of our sufferings.

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