Cath-Lit Live: The Love We Vow

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

“Cath-Lit Live!” features brief interviews with Catholic authors who are releasing new books. Hosted by Catholic author and speaker Amy J. Cattapan, “Cath-Lit Live!” gives viewers a glimpse into the latest Catholic books while getting to know a bit about the author as well.

The Love We Vow

 

The Love We Vow by Victoria Everleigh

TV reporter Violet Rosati thought she’d be married with kids and living in the suburbs by now. Instead, she’s single, thirty-one, and starting a new job in Portland, Maine. Her move brings her closer to her boyfriend, Jude, who accepts everything about her – even her darkest secret. While in confession at her new church, she realizes the priest is her ex-boyfriend, Tristan. She hasn’t seen him in seven years and never told him about her pregnancy. He treated her terribly and now he’s a priest?

As she faces old wounds, she finds Father Tristan to be kind, empathetic, and apologetic. Old feelings reemerge. But he’s a priest, and she loves Jude. How can she be drawn to a priest when she has such a wonderful boyfriend? Can she find the life she wants with Jude? Or does she confront her feelings for Tristan and risk the lives they’ve both chosen?

Victoria_Everleigh

About the author:

Victoria Everleigh is an AP award-winning TV news producer-turned-financial coach who finally decided to pursue her dream of writing novels during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. While she wishes she could be a morning person, most of her writing gets done after 10 PM. Away from her laptop, she likes to dance, figure skate, and cuddle up with a good book. She lives in New England with her husband and daughter.

You can catch “Cath-Lit Live” live on A.J. Cattapan’s author Facebook page. Recorded versions of the show will also be available to watch later on her YouTube channel and Instagram.

Copyright 2022 Amy J. Cattapan

Roe v Wade: 46 years later, hurting baby turtles is illegal but, in America, killing baby people is a “guaranteed right”

/1 Comment/in , /by

Sea turtles are protected by Florida’s Endangered and Threatened Species Act of 1977. They are also protected by federal law which prohibits disturbing sea turtles while they are “nesting” (AKA: unborn). The Marine Turtle Protection Act states that “no person may take, possess, disturb, mutilate, destroy, cause to be destroyed, sell, offer for sale, transfer, molest or harass any marine sea turtle or its nests or eggs at any times.”

Yes, we sure love our turtles, especially here in Florida where they nest around the entire peninsula. In fact, we love them so much we have penalties for “disturbing” them. A first offense could cost a person up to 60 days in jail and a $100-$500 fine. A second charge could put you in the slammer for six months with a punishment of $1000. After that, the penalties continue to increase with each additional offense. Federal penalties include jail time and fines up to $15,000 for each offense.

Naturally, we do need laws to protect our wildlife and our environment. But what about “Baby People?” Don’t they count? Why is it perfectly “legal” to kill Baby People who have not been born and you can go to jail for harming or disturbing a baby turtle that has not been born? Does that make sense?

The Loggerhead Sea Turtle is one of these protected turtles. Like Baby People, it can be found all over the world. However, its primary habitat is the Florida coast and the coastline as far north as Virginia. It is estimated that these turtles build 67,000 nests a year along the beaches. The female lays her eggs in the sand and buries them. After two months they hatch, crawl to the sea and begin their lives. Those that survive will live close to 60 years.

It is illegal to harm, harass, or kill any sea turtles, their eggs, or hatchlings. It is also illegal to import, sell, or transport turtles or their products. It is perfectly legal to kill Baby People who have not been born. Since Roe v. Wade was passed in 1973, over 61,000,000 abortions have been performed in the United States. Sixty-one million baby people have been vanquished from existence, many of them burned alive via the saline abortion method. That extrapolates out to, on average since 1973, 1,326,086 Baby People a year killed in America.

In 2017 there were 3.86 million births in the United States. That means that approximately one out of every four pregnancies in our country results in a life extinguished. Sea turtles are given every chance to survive, with the government going so far as to put people in prison who might interfere with their survival. On the other hand, Baby People are welcomed into legalized and sweetly painted extermination camps and, unmercifully and without fanfare or emotion, eradicated.

Whatever are we doing? We civilized people have allowed a portion of our past to be destroyed. We are allowing our present to be vilified by what can only be called a great lie fabricated as the virtue of “helping” women. We have short-circuited the future of our children and grandchildren. We have taken away from them the possibility of another Rembrandt, another Mozart, another Jonas Salk, another Martin Luther King Jr. or even another Abraham Lincoln living among them.

Most of all, we have taken away the meaning of the beauty and wonder of human life. We have changed it from a wondrous mystery, given to us by God our Creator. Instead, we have turned it into a disposable commodity that can be discarded at will under the guise of “reproductive rights.” Does not “reproductive rights” mean having the freedom to reproduce — not to destroy? Un-reproducing leaves only one result; that result is death.

There is a world-wide abortion counter that ticks off the abortions around the world as they happen. Look for yourself. More than one life a second is being aborted. Genocide of the innocent, living in and out of the womb, is rampant on planet Earth. Whatever have we wrought?

As the great St. John Paul II said, “A nation that kills its own children is a nation without hope.”

©Larry Peterson 2019

The Betrothal of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Joseph is tied to the Protection of the Unborn Children, Marriage and Family

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

January 22 is the day the Catholic Church in America sets aside all else and joins in prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. Traditionally, in the pre-1955 Church calendar, this day was set aside to honor the Betrothal of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Joseph. Today, the Mass for this feast is still celebrated by some religious orders using the Latin rite.

This is such a beautiful thing for the Church to do. By simultaneously joining together the Day of Prayer for the Unborn with Roe v. Wade and the Betrothal of Our Lady, it heralds the beauty of motherhood, and it trumpets the profound, spiritual importance of marriage and family.

“When Mary was engaged to Joseph, before their marriage, she was discovered to be pregnant—by the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly.” (Matthew 1:18)

“Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name Him Emmanuel.” (Matthew 1:23)

In the Old Testament days, Jewish marriages happened in stages. First came the betrothal. At this ceremony, the couple gave their consent. They were now considered truly married. However, before they would actually move in together as a husband and wife, there was a period of time where they spent time away from each other. This could be up to a year, and it was during this separation that the “newlyweds” were to learn from older married couples how to be good Jewish spouses.

In his 1989 Apostolic Exhortation, Redemptoris Custos, Pope John Paul II used the following words to describe the marriage ceremony of the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph: “According to Jewish custom, marriage took place in two stages: first, the legal, or true marriage was celebrated, and then, only after a certain period of time, the husband brought the wife into his house. Thus, before he lived with Mary, Joseph was already her husband.”

When God does things, He sure is meticulous. Mary and Joseph were, according to the law, married. There are those who say that Jesus was born out of wedlock. If the betrothal had not taken place, that might be accurate. But under the law, they were married. There are some would have you believe that Mary was no different than an unwed mother. This is false. The Blessed Mother was a married woman at the time of the Annunciation. She even asked the Angel Gabriel, “How can this be since I know not man?” She is told it will be by the Holy Spirit. The Angel also informs Joseph. Therefore, within the Holy Family, the sanctity of marriage and family is fully protected.

Since the Roe v. Wade and Doe v.Bolton decisions on January 22, 1973, more than 60,000,000 lives have been eradicated. The number is incomprehensible. Yet there are so many who justify this by using the rare examples of teenage rape or incest, Down Syndrome, deformities, lack of finances, and so on. We could also say the Blessed Virgin Mary’s pregnancy was abnormal or irregular. After all, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ total DNA comes from a woman. Biologically, Jesus is not the son of Joseph, the Nazarene carpenter. But this man define’s fatherhood, and his example screams out to all men: Love and protect the child and his/her mom, no matter what. Be loyal and true. Give them your name if you must.

Fittingly, on the 45th anniversary of the two most ignominious Supreme Court decisions ever handed down, as we pray for the protection of the unborn, we can look to the marriage of Joseph and Mary, a marriage established by God and made perfect by His Son.

It is hard to even imagine a better husband or father than a simple carpenter named Joseph. He is an example for all mankind.

We ask the Most Holy Family to pray for all the unborn and children everywhere.

Copyright 2018 Larry Peterson 

Euthanasia–Celebrating the Destruction of God’s Greatest Gift—Life

/0 Comments/in , , /by

IT MAKES SENSE TO ME

Milou de Moor, dead at 19

Euthanasia (aka assisted suicide), is a pathetic concept promoted under the guise of compassion, mercy and kindness. It is no such thing. Euthanasia is not compassionate. It is not merciful. And it is not kind. It is an abomination because it celebrates  the destruction of the greatest gift each and everyone of us has been given by God: the gift of life.

Enter the glorification of this process via legalization. The “muckety-mucks” and sophisticates who know what is best for everyone have succeeded in having this practice legalized in Belgium, the Netherlands, the states of Oregon, Washington, and Vermont, and one county in New Mexico. In the state of Montana they have what we would call “de facto” euthanasia. There is no law on the books. They “just do it”–no problem. The twisted logic in this narrative called euthanasia or assisted suicide is nothing more than egotism and meism stretched to its secular limits. The fact is this: every human life is sacred unto itself. It is a gift from our Creator and we are each responsible for how we treat this gift. It is NOT up to governments and people to decide who should live or die.

Look at the photo above of a young woman named Milou de Moor. Milou was stricken with lupus when she was 12. The course of the illness caused her not only pain but also mood swings, blackouts, and depression. By the time she was 16 she requested to be euthanized. Life had become too hard and painful to bear any longer. And her own mother and father and sister encouraged her to do it.

It makes sense to me that if a teenager is afflicted with an autoimmune disease and is severely depressed and requests to end her life, all she might need is the encouragement of her parents and sibling(s) to push her to finalize that request. If her doctors are telling her how painless her non-life will be and how easy it is to arrive in non-life, how easy does it become to go there? People who encourage another who is weak and vulnerable to begin with, to take his or her own life and help them to do it,  have entered into a dark celebration of nothingness. They have joined forces with others who rejoice in choosing death over life. How utterly sad that is.

There is such a thing as palliative care which  includes end of life care rather than the option of ending life. There are medications, and counselors and treatments for all types of illnesses and disabilities. Drugs for depression and severe pain are available. But what is always most important is the great intangible that you cannot see or swallow or touch. This I can attest to from experience: that  the love and support of family and friends combined with an abiding faith in the Creator of life is the true power that transcends any celebration of nothingness.

There is a strange irony in the tragic saga of Milou de Moor. Apparently her date to be euthanzied had been set. Then at the last minute her general practitioner decided that he could not go along with her dying. When Milou heard this, she ran off to her family’s apple orchard and hanged herself. The parents are outraged at the doctor and are suing him for NOT killing their daughter. Think of the long-term ramifications of such a thing. Will doctors now be told that they MUST take lives to spare their own careers and futures?

California is next up to bat. That state’s euthanasia law has been passed and it awaits Governor Brown’s signature. Whatever have we wrought?

©2015 Larry Peterson. All  Rights Reserved.
Image credit: Bioedge.org.

Another Secular Triumph–Helping Laura Kill Herself

/3 Comments/in , /by

Her name is Laura and she is 24 years old. She is a healthy woman who lives in Belgium. She wants to die. Why does she want to die? Because, as she says, “Life, that’s not for me.”

My initial thoughts were that this young woman is severely depressed or on drugs. She is only 24 years old and healthy. She has a whole life ahead of her. Why would she want to die? Plus, this story is all over the print and broadcast media. Why isn’t someone helping her?

Isn’t there anyone who has offered to give her the necessary counseling, spiritual guidance, or antidepressants to help her see that her own “life” is not her enemy? Is there no one who might convince her that her life is a one-of-a-kind, precious gift? Is there no one to prevail upon her that her life is rarer than the rarest diamond and more valuable than all the world’s riches combined? Cannot someone show her that she is the only one in the history of the world who is SHE or will ever be SHE? Well, my friends, Laura lives in Belgium and apparently in that country not too many people give a damn about the value or sanctity of life.

In February of 2014, Belgium approved legalized euthanasia for children. I believe this supposedly sophisticated, civilized, and pompous nation has earned the title “The Great Nation of Self-Annihilators.” In Belgium you are witnessing Nihilism in all of its twisted “splendor.” This is encapsulated in the total rejection of the value of life as witnessed in the upcoming assisted suicide of Laura.

How sad, how disgraceful, how blatantly sinful. Doctors have given Laura the go-ahead to kill herself. They will help her to be “successful.” Why would doctors do this? In Belgium many of them feel that life and death are really not such a big deal in the first place. Laura says that she has been considering suicide since the age of six. Are you kidding me? She says that she was ONLY six when she started thinking that she “didn’t want to live at all.” It is hard to even fathom such thoughts bouncing around inside the head of a six-year-old who has not even reached the age of reason.

Laura has had psychological problems her entire life. In high school she was a “cutter,” self-mutilating her arms. Her father had been an abusive drunk and her mother left when Laura was a toddler. She grew up with her grandparents who loved her dearly, but maybe the trauma of her parents’ behavior was too much for her and drove her into depression. It does not matter. What matters is that this child had problems and no one gave a damn. She was left to grow with a festering and debilitating sense of “nothingness.” Now they want to help her kill herself. This is Nihilism run amok.

Laura has told doctors that she needs to kill herself because, as she says, “life, that’s not for me.” They readily agreed and Laura has now set a date for her death injection to be administered in her apartment. The actual date has not been publicized. She is planning her funeral and writing final words to be read. Doctors and mental health professionals are happily helping her along on her death journey. I cannot get it out of my head that she is only 24 years old and healthy and doctors are gladly helping her to kill herself simply because she asked them to help her do it. Whatever has happened to the moral fiber of people around the world?

Secularism has infested the entire world with its self-fulfilling message of false happiness. Belgium, a country that is 75% Catholic, voted 2 to 1 to pass the child-euthanasia law. The bishops in the country begged them not to vote for it. It did not matter. The attitude of many people is: what do God’s representatives know about real life? For that matter, what does God know about real life? If poor Laura wants to kill herself to be happy, why not. And then they go to church. WHATEVER!

Well now, if you do not have God in your life and believe that death leads to nothing then you probably find comfort in believing that “nothing” cannot hurt you. It follows that being dead will make you happy. How sad and perverse is this? But it proves one thing. While the secular world fights to eliminate God from our lives, it is God who is desperately needed back in their lives. For with God comes Hope and Love and when a person has that Faith in their lives they are not asking compliant strangers with fancy diplomas to help them die. Especially when they are only 24 and filled with life.

© Larry Peterson 2015. All Rights Reserved

Celebrating Our First Christmas with Alzheimer’s Disease: Laughter Allowed

/5 Comments/in , , , , , , , , /by

IT MAKES SENSE TO ME

by Larry Peterson

I guess the first time I realized that something was really wrong was about a year and a half ago. I have a bedroom I turned into an office, and I was sitting at the keyboard clicking away. I sensed someone behind me and turned to see my wife, Marty, standing there. She had a strange look on her face. I remember the moment because fear was etched across her face. “Hey,” I said. “What’s the matter?”

Then I noticed she was trembling. I stood up and went over to her and put my hands on her shoulders. She stammered and sort of whispered, “I don’t know. I think I need your help.”

“Okay, what is it?”

Marty turned and headed down the hall past the living room and into the kitchen. I followed and noticed that she had her “cookie” stuff out.  As she had done so many times in the past, she was about to make the best old fashioned, home-made, chocolate-chip cookies I have ever had. Like a child, I said, “Oh, awesome, you’re making cookies. So, how can I help?”

She sighed and shook her head.  She began to cry and, looking at me, said, ” What is all this? I don’t know what it is for?”

The woman who had made thousands upon thousands of these cookies over the years had no memory of previously doing what she had done so many times before. She had placed the needed supplies on the counter and went to use the bathroom. When she returned a few minutes later, what had been virtually second nature to her had been erased from her mind. It was all gone.

She had come back to me for help because she KNEW something was terribly wrong inside her head, and this time the sudden, specific memory loss was scaring the hell out of her. She sobbed, “What is happening to me?”

She had been sick with Lymphoma since 2011. She had endured numerous cycles of chemotherapy to fight the disease. Anesthesia, required because of surgery in August (needed to repair a broken ankle), and an attack of A-Fib (Atrial Fibrillation) in September exacerbated the cognitive dysfunction. She was officially diagnosed as having Alzheimer’s Disease* on September 28.  And now we are approaching our first Christmas together with Alzheimer’s as our unwanted Christmas guest.

Guess what? It is OK. He will not ruin our Christmas. He is welcome to join us. That is because we have started to laugh again, more and more. And we are laughing at the insanity of living in Alzheimerville. And trust me, it can get quite wacky.

I have always had a bit of a flip attitude. It probably has helped me get through some tough times. So when Marty goes to the cardiologist and goes to sign in and cannot remember her name she looks at me for help. I smile and say, “Who cares Lucy, they know who you are. Just put down Lucille Ball.” She starts to laugh and I laugh and I write her name down for her. Not an issue.

The past ten years of her life seem to have literally vanished from her brain. She does not remember us getting married. (We were both widowed and married eight years ago. She has no clue.) So she asks me if we are really married. I show her our marriage license and pictures from our wedding. She is shocked. “I can’t believe it, ” she says. We really ARE married.”

Now, every night I say to her, “Okay, we can sleep together tonight. It’s not a sin.” She always laughs at that.

There are so many little, extraordinary things that happen every day. Being asked the same question over and over can become unnerving. I have turned it around to where I start by giving her the answer. For example, she asks me ten times a day, “How do you feel today?” After a few times I answer, “Today I feel like seeing you and that makes my day shiny.” It is a ridiculous answer but she likes it and I like it too.

I cannot count the things that have been moved to the strangest places. I have found the Parmesan cheese in the towel closet, unwashed clothes in the dryer. She makes coffee and tells me it is the worst coffee she ever had and I should let her make it. She has hair curlers that keep vanishing. I have found them in the garage, in the refrigerator, and under the kitchen sink. We had been searching for them and when I found them in the refrigerator I said loudly, “Here they are.”

She was standing nearby and turned to see me lifting the bag from next to the milk. I quickly asked, “Can I use these for curly fries?” I began to laugh and she shook her head and smiled. I gave her a hug, opened the freezer door and tossed the curlers in. “They are not frozen enough,” I said.  She began to laugh and so did I and, although shrouded in a dark moment, we laughed our way into the brightness of a new moment.

Marty has been captured and imprisoned by the most insidious of diseases. It is like a computer virus slowly deleting what is in memory. So far the last ten years are gone. That cursor is still clicking delete, delete, delete. The day will come when she will not even know who I am. I will do my best to keep her laughing and smiling as long as I can, and as long as she understands why we laugh.

As for me, I must admit, this entire situation has been wearing me down. There is a lot to do as a caregiver. I traveled a similar road with my first wife, Loretta, who died 12 years ago from cancer. She was sick a long time, but she never lost brain function. That is a very difficult thing to deal with 24/7. But you do what you have to do. If a man and a woman love each other that is the way it should be, HAPPY to be there for each other, no matter what. We both took vows before God and man to that effect and, for me, they remain in full force until death.

Our biggest friend in all of this is our Catholic faith. It is there for us through the Holy Mass, through Our Lord Jesus, through Our Blessed Mother and through the examples and intercessions of so many great saints, reinforced every day by prayers from our family and friends. In fact, I did attend Mass this morning and I had a bit of an epiphany. I was feeling a bit sorry for myself when I realized I had been given a Christmas gift from God Himself.

This gift is my ill wife afflicted with a disease that is unstoppable and incurable. She is foremost God’s child, and now she needs someone to take care of her just as she did years ago when she was a child. We met at church and were married in church. An unlikely couple, I know that God brought us together. Maybe this is why. Because during the Christmas season of 2014 I realized that besides a wife, HE has given me one of HIS children to care for. I will do my best to make Him proud. I will also do my best to keep us laughing. It is all GOOD.

MERRY CHRISTMAS
________________________________________________________________________

* In case you do not know this, Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia are NOT the same thing. Alzheimer’s is the number one cause of dementia but there are over 150 different causes.

 

Copyright Larry Peterson 2014

Fortnight for Freedom: Freedom to Serve (and Love)

/2 Comments/in , , , /by

fortnight-for-freedom-logo-colorFortnight for Freedom: Freedom to Serve

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has adopted this modifier—freedom to serve—for the third annual Fortnight for Freedom campaign. Most people are aware of the legal battles being waged in this country, and readers of this blog even more so. The intent of the current wave of laws and regulations is to force religious entities (whether “corporate” or individual) to renounce their moral compass and bend to the will of the government.

As Catholic Christians, how are we to respond? Many are called to write letters to their Congressional representatives and Senators at both state and federal levels—and this is an action all of us can take. Many work tirelessly behind the scenes to support various facets of Catholic work, whether it’s running a food pantry, providing for the needs of unwed mothers, or establishing hospitals and schools for the good of all served, without prejudice or prerequisites.

Some are called to speak for the rest of us. Archbishop Cordileone of San Francisco tangled with Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi over the March for Marriage last week, and the result was a clear and courageous letter. Then he exercised his rights as an American and his leadership as a Catholic Bishop as he spoke at the March for Marriage.

Unlike the secular us versus them approach that inflames divisiveness, though, Archbishop Cordileone responded with a call to love.

This, too, is something we can all do. No, it is the one thing we are all called to do, even unto death.  

It is too tempting to fall into the us versus them abyss. It is far too easy to judge. But we are called to recognize our commonalities with our fellow earthly travelers. We are told by Jesus that we are to serve them, to offer them love, even as we reject and resist what is forced upon us. We are to pray for those who persecute us and love our enemies. Yes, we are to do the work placed before us, but we are to do it with hearts filled with love, and we are to do it joyfully.

An inspiring post on one way to approach this challenge appeared on Saints 365 last month. It went straight to my heart and has stayed with me since. It’s a reflection on Max Lucado’s book You Are Special, a children’s story with even more relevance for adults, especially in these volatile times. God loves each one of us, no matter who we are or what we believe—or who/what we believe ourselves to be. Our role is to strive toward the heart of Jesus, which is full of truly unfathomable mercy.

It may be easier to do battle—and I do not discount that some people, maybe all of us, are called to that role—but before battle of any kind, we are called to love. Love, without self-righteousness; love, without prejudice; love, without pride.

Just love.

Can we find the courage to see our persecutors through the eyes of Christ? Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. These words, uttered by Jesus and echoed by St. Steven, must be our focal point.

Let’s try.

Meanwhile, let us go forth to love and serve the Lord.

*Here are links to my previous Fortnight for Freedom posts on this blog:
Freedoms We Hold Dear: Freedom of Religion and Freedom of Speech
Religion and Politics: A Polite Conversation

Cheerleading! Mutually Beneficial Author Support

/3 Comments/in , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , /by

Cheerleaders Doing Routine --- Image by © Royalty-Free/CorbisThere are a lot of us out there. Authors. With great books to share. Too often, though, we feel alone in our endeavors, trying to get readers to notice us in the roiling sea of other great books. This is a great time to be a writer! It’s more possible than it has ever been to publish a book. But that means that all sorts of other people are doing the same.

Whether you are independently publishing your work, under contract with a traditional publisher, or working with a small, online press, the business of marketing one’s work falls more and more upon the shoulders of the author. “But I just want to write,” you say. Hey, I’m with you. Me, too. But that’s  not our reality anymore.

How do we get “out there” where someone might notice?

First, write a quality book, no matter the genre. If you’re publishing independently, surround yourself with an expert team of editors, formatters, and cover artists. First impressions matter. Don’t give the reader a reason to skip past your book; give them a reason to stop and look at it, really look at it. Hopefully, they’ll be intrigued enough to click the ‘buy’ button.

Then, the meat of this post: Network. Before you ask people to spread the news about your book, make sure you’ve nurtured relationships with them, and have crowed about their successes. You can do this well before you are ready to publish your own work; in fact, that’s the best time to create these relationships. Have you gone to Catholic Writers Conference Live? Or participated in the online CWG conference? How about the Writing Retreat? Or any other writing focused activities? What about the CWG Facebook page? Have you interacted with other writers in any of those venues? I hope so, because that’s crucial for the next step, which is:

Celebrate with them! Post their new releases or awards on your Facebook page. Use your blog or Twitter to let your followers know there’s something available that’s worth their time. If you’re on Twitter, find and follow some entities that reflect your interests; they may reTweet for you and expand your reach.

Buy and read your friends’ books, and then review them on Amazon and Goodreads. *Caveat: Always say something nice, or don’t post a review. This does not mean you can’t be honest, but be honest in a kind manner. Personally, I never give a review with less than four stars, and even if I didn’t like everything about the book, I focus on what I loved about the book—or, if it’s in a genre that’s not  my favorite, focus on what readers of that specific type of book will enjoy about this particular one.

Here’s an example of how this might work. A few weeks ago, Erin McCole Cupp contacted me because I’d done a cover reveal on my upcoming release, Hijacked, on CWG’s Facebook page. Would I like to trade read and reviews with her? She’d recently published Don’t You Forget About Me, a cozy mystery. I said yes, and posted reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. She upped the ante and asked me to be an interviewee on her blog the week my book comes out. I said yes (!), and then tagged  her on a My Writing Process blog tour/relay. With any luck, some of my readers will be interested in her work and some of hers readers, in mine. That’s just with two authors! Imagine what can happen when more get in on the fun!

(And did you notice what I just did? I linked Erin’s website and the Amazon link to buy her book to this post. I purposely do this for everyone I mention on both my CWG and personal blogs. What goes around comes around…)

Join writing organizations and establish relationships with authors you respect. Be a cheerleader for them, and hope they’ll return the favor when it’s your turn. Yes, it’s time consuming, but it is well worth the effort—not just because they’re going to help you sell books, but because they are wonderful people and their friendships enrich your life.

Are you feeling a little less alone now? I hope so! If you’ve had success in the arena of networking, please share your story! What are the elements that contribute to that success?

 

Stay in the Know

Join Our Newsletter

Members and supporters can get the latest on CWG news and events by signing up for our newsletter.

Catholic Writers Guild
P.O. Box 77
Eaton, IN 47338

About
Membership
Connect
Showcase

Blog
Contact
Terms of Use
FAQs

Pray with Us

Click Here