Facing Trial, Finding Comfort, and Keeping Strong

February 24, 2012 By 1 Comment

I reviewed Dr. Michael Norman’s book, Unbridled Grace: A True Story about the Power of Choice, last week, and had the chance to ask him a few questions. Here’s what he shared with me and graciously agreed to let me share with you.

When evil felt the strongest, what was your comfort? 

Throughout our ordeal, there were times of incredible darkness, seemingly insurmountable obstacles and protracted periods with no human hope.  Despite this, especially when the pain was most severe, I received tremendous comfort praying my rosary.  It allowed me (and remains so today) to “pull away” to a place of peaceful solace and escape the pain.  This practice served to overpower the darkness of evil that attempted to envelop myself and my family.

During my rosary, I truly felt embraced by our Lord and His Blessed Mother despite what we were facing.  In addition, during some of the darkest days when the opportunity for rosary was unavailable to me, I remember another tremendous comfort that I held on to. In just a few short hours, I will be praying my rosary and I can escape all of this!

How did you remain strong or at least keep going? 

Remaining strong through our 6 year ordeal was certainly not easy. The emotional roller coaster of highs and lows was incredibly draining and exhausting and the temptation to quit sometimes became very overwhelming.  Some days you are only holding on by a mere thread.

It is certainly God who ultimately sustains all of us, but He does need our cooperation as well.  I remember my periods of greatest strength occurred when I kept my focus on eternity and not the world.  As I did, my choices began to reflect eternal standards and not worldly standards and God’s will became manifest in our lives.  Also, I tried to remain focused on living for and seeking to honor only 2 areas of my life: God and my family. (Nothing else mattered to me).

What in your Catholic faith gave you strength?

I was most strengthened by my Catholic faith upon my discovery of our beautiful theology of redemptive suffering.  Nobody else in all my searching had remotely come close to answering the question of suffering for me.  As I embraced and carried this cross, I began to receive the most incredible gift that is His grace.  As this grew stronger within me, I was then able to share it with my family who grew stronger as well and united all of us together through this storm.

These were the occasions I felt so close to God as to hear His voice and participate in His thoughts.  As we embraced the cross, this gift of grace enveloped us in peace through some of the lowest points of our ordeal.  The cross is how He truly chose to unite with us.  Looking back now, I realize I was never so close to God as during this time of suffering.

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Dr. Michael J. Norman is a chiropractor in private practice in Dallas, Texas.  His new book, Unbridled Grace: A True Story about the Power of Choice, is available on his website, through your local bookstore, or in a variety of online venues.

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A Few Words with Brandon Vogt

August 6, 2011 By 3 Comments

Brandon Vogt isn’t just an amazing guy who’s ten years my junior. (That makes him 11. In case you were wondering.) He’s not just a savvy Catholic with flying fingers on the keyboard and all the connections to make him someone to follow. (His most important work is as a husband and father, he assures me, and I salute him for that. I also acknowledge that he’s more like mid-20s than pre-teen.)

He’s also now officially an author, and his book is GREAT. He was gracious enough to answer some questions I tossed his way, and then patient enough to bear with me when I forgot to get my act together before my trip and post it. Enjoy!


Tell us a little about what inspired you to compile The Church and New Media: Blogging Converts, Online Activists, and Bishops Who Tweet.

Well, as I looked around the world of online Catholicism, I noticed a few things.First, the institutional Church–including parishes, dioceses, and the Vatican–was barely using new media. Second, plenty of individual Catholics were doing great things through blogs, social networks, podcasting, and interactive websites. Third, a number of Catholics understand the potential of new media, but don’t know where to begin. And if they do know the basics, they don’t know how to use new media faithfully and effectively.

So the book was written in response to that landscape. It familiarizes Catholics with the “digital continent” and provides examples, tips, and advice on how to engage it.

This project must have been a huge undertaking. How did it evolve–and even surprise you–from start to finish?

Putting the book together was fairly challenging. A book with one author is difficult enough, but one with twelve contributors, a Foreword author, an Afterword author, and a couple dozen sidebars–each including quotes from experts or Church documents–was a real logistical challenge. I really should’ve thanked GMail in the Acknowledgement section for without it I would have been swamped by the hundreds of emails pertaining to the book.

I think the most surprising thing, though, was that everyone I asked to participate gave me an enthusiastic ”Yes!” The contributors are some of the best teachers, writers, and activists within the Church, and many of them are personal heroes of mine. So I was blown away by their willingness to take part.

It’s kind of like writing a letter to the Olympic Dream Team, inviting them to shoot hoops with you in your driveway, and then one day hearing them ring your doorbell asking if you’re ready.

What was your favorite part of the book?

Oh, this is a really difficult question–it’s like deciding which of your children is your favorite! I loved every chapter for different reasons and I think different audiences will each appreciate different chapters.

For instance, Matt Warner and Scot Landry contributed chapters on using new media in parishes and dioceses. Both chapters will be hugely beneficial for those working in official Church communication positions. On the other hand, many other contributors wrote on the art of blogging which will be much more pertinent to individual Catholic bloggers.
So trying to decide on my favorite is like asking me if I prefer pizza for dinner or ice cream for dessert.

What part of your book do you think Mary and Jesus most enjoy or approve of?

Great question! Since Mary always points to the mission of her son–”do whatever he tells you”–and the mission of Jesus is the mission of the Church, I think the whole book would please both of them. For the whole book looks at how new media can serve this same mission: to evangelize, to form, to cultivate community, and to bring about justice.

Considering how surprising and startling both Jesus and Mary are, however, they would probably say their favorite part was the Acknowledgment section, for both are humble of heart.

What challenges do you see facing us as Catholics as New Media grows to be even more a part of how we communicate?

I think the two biggest challenges are actually opposites of each other. As in the rest of the spiritual life, the danger lies in embracing one of two extremes. For example, when it comes to sexuality, the two dangers are puritanism, a rejection of all things sexual or bodily, and indulgence, which is an overvaluing of sex and the body. Chastity is the healthy middle-ground.

With Catholics and new media, the two extremes are avoidance, which usually results from fear, and uncritical adoption, which considers new media to be God’s greatest gift to mankind. I think the wiser response is what I call “prudent engagement.” With caution and awareness of the new media’s danger, we can maximize its power while minimizing its problems.

In my Conclusion to the book I lay out twelve future trends in the Church and new media relationship–six positive and six negative– that help people approach new media with wisdom and prudence.

How do intend your book–and the accompanying website–to help readers as they use New Media?

The website, www.churchandnewmedia.com, will act as an organic extension of the book. It will enable individual Catholics, parishes, and dioceses to use new media effectively by providing extra content not found in the book. To that end we’ve got an active blog where we post relevant tips and articles, and a pretty robust Resources section that should help out a lot of people.

What projects are you working on next? Do you have anything coming as a result of this project?

In terms of new media, my big project is maintaining www.churchandnewmedia.com. The book is only the beginning of this Catholic new media conversation, one I hope we’ll see happening in more places and for many more years.

In terms of future book projects, I’m already working on another book dealing with one of the Church’s dirtiest topics:”social-justice”. Catholic social teaching was one of the most alluring things that drew me into the Church three years ago, yet I think the topic has been mostly ignored, misinterpreted, and hijacked. So I wanted to write a practical book that would illuminate Catholic social teaching through the lives of the saints. I want to show simple ways that we can live with justice and compassion by gazing on the blueprint laid out by the saints.

If you haven’t already, check out www.churchandnewmedia.com where you can learn more about Brandon’s book, find a list of contributors and endorsements, and explore the many special resources. You can also download a free sample from the book and purchase it in paperback or eBook form.
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Julie Davis, Happy Catholic Extraordinaire

July 29, 2011 By 8 Comments

If you’ve been in these parts for long, you’ve heard of Julie Davis. From her popular Catholic blog, Happy Catholic, to her delightful readings at the Forgotten Classics podcast and her insightful involvement in the A Good Story Is Hard to Find podcast, Julie keeps busy.

When, exactly did she find time to write a book?

How, exactly, does she keep smiling when she has all that, and a column deadline at Patheos, too?

Did I mention that she cooks? And that she reads a LOT? And that she is utterly nice and down-to-earth?

Today, she’s agreed to answer a few questions and share her lovely smile with us.

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I’ve been a fan of your blog, Happy Catholic, for many years, Julie, and in fact, I credit you with my own start in blogging. Tell us why you started blogging.

I went on a retreat that our parish offers, Christ Renews His Parish. I was so lit up and made so many new friends that I spent a good part of my day emailing about the things I’d read or seen that I found inspirational. About that time I began seeing this new thing called Catholic blogs mentioned.

Finally, I thought that if I put the things I found in one place that it would be simple for my friends to come there to see them. Ironically, few of those friends actually do read my blog. However, I was surprised to see that a lot of other people did. So that was fun in a new way.

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You’ve been blogging for a number of years. What keeps you going?

I have considered stopping several times. Thinking that either Happy Catholic was getting stale or that perhaps my time might be better spent in God’s service elsewhere (because, let’s face it, by now it is an actual ministry as well as my own self expression).

Every time I am really wondering if I should keep going, I get an email or comment telling about how God used the blog to touch someone. I take that as my answer and keep going. Also, it is just part of who I am by now. I think in blog posts much of the time, as you probably do also.

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Who is/are your special patron saint(s) and why?

I have several saints that I am close to. My actual patron is Martha (from the Mary and Martha story in the New Testament). I was looking over a list of saints before I was confirmed and saw that she was the patron saint of housewives. I love being at home and cooking (though not cleaning). That aside, I figured that was as good a reason as any.

Little did I know that, once again, God was being sneaky in pairing me up with the perfect “big sister” to help me get through some of my worst tendencies. I love Martha’s friendship with Jesus to the point where she’d complain about her sister to him. I love the fact that she took his correction to heart so that the next time we see both of them in a big party, Mary is center stage washing Jesus’ feet while Martha is serving in the background. I love that she had the boldness to go to Jesus asking for her brother Lazarus’s healing and then went to him and said that she knew he was the Messiah. Those are all things I would like people to be able to say about me someday.

Another close and early saint “friend” is St. Augustine. We converts have to stick together. And I really appreciate his, “Grant me chastity and continence God, but not yet.” How many times have we all have had similar requests? Maybe not about chastity, but about something.

Another is St. Teresa of Avila. I like her sassiness and straight forwardness when she steps in a mud puddle up to her knee and God tells her, “This is how I treat my friends, Teresa” and she responds, “That is why you have so few of them, Lord.” She can say that because they are such good friends and because she speaks to him person-to-person. Yet while she was traveling everywhere in frail health, founding convents, she also was one of the greatest contemplatives ever. I continually learn about prayer from her. I am not a good pray-er so I need lots of help.

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Recently, Servant Books released a book by you, Happy Catholic: Glimpses of God in Everyday Life. What’s your favorite section or quote from Happy Catholic?

That is kind of like saying which is your favorite child. They are all favorites but for different reasons (the children and the quotes!).  However, one that I come back to time and again is from Futurama. It just seemed so unlikely to me that a show like Futurama would have an entire episode about God and his way of doing things so that no one can put their finger on it. Naturally, they did it in a completely sassy way, but as we can see … I like sassy. Plus God is talking to Bender in the only language that Bender understands, that of crime. Just the way he does to us.

It also exemplifies what I think so many people miss when they dismiss pop culture entirely. God’s in that just like he’s in everything else. Anywhere someone values the truth of honest story, they’re telling us something about his nature.

Here’s the excerpt:

Jesus in the Rearview Mirror

God: Bender, being God isn’t easy. If you do too much, people get dependent on you. And if you do nothing, they lose hope. You have to use a light touch, like a safecracker or a pickpocket.

Bender: Or a guy who burns down a bar for the insurance money.

God: Yes, if he makes it look like an electrical thing. If you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all.

Futurama

We are so often left like Moses, who asked to see God but only saw his hindquarters (see Exodus 33:23). We see evidence of God only in hindsight. Even then it can be very difficult to tell definitively that there was divine intervention unless you are the person for whom the miracle was done.

Anyone who has experienced a miracle will tell you that when God sends you a message you recognize it, even though others might not. Others are measuring by verifiable results. You are experiencing something that cannot be measured.

Miracles are love letters.

The Lover and the beloved understand. It is enough.

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What do you find is the most compelling part of your story as more people read your book and you share your story with them?

If this doesn’t sound too presumptuous, it is that I get to see a little of how the Holy Spirit works.  Honestly, I am very often humbled by what people say that God shows them when reading the book. Very little of what they have found is what I put in there, if that makes sense. They are getting messages that I didn’t specifically write. That is God at work.

In a sense, it helps make sense of the Bible for me. I look at all those different books written over the ages by so many different people and all pointing to Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit flowing under and within those words for each of us is what does the real lifting of pulling it all together for God’s work. To have a book (or blog) that is touched by even a hem of the Holy Spirit’s cloak (so to speak) is astounding and eye opening.

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You keep quite busy with your writing and podcasting. How do you balance your vocations–wife and mother–with your evangelization efforts in New Media?

First, I’d have to say that I never see anything I do as “evangelization in New Media” because that sounds so deliberate. I wind up stumbling into everything I do, simply because it is so much fun.

As I mentioned before, the blog was an outgrowth of what I was already enjoying telling friends. My podcast Forgotten Classics grew out of my desire to push people into trying books that I loved but that I couldn’t get them to read simply by writing about. Who knew that an atheist would ask me to read Genesis and comment on it as literature because it is so ingrained in Western culture?

Likewise, my participation in reviewing audiobooks for SFFaudio grew out of my desire to get free books. I became friends with Jesse and Scott at that blog and occasionally participate in their podcast, where sometimes we wind up talking about faith and Catholicism in the most unexpected ways.

Scott is also Catholic and our desire to talk together about the Truth that we saw in popular books and movies led to our podcast A Good Story is Hard to Find.

I am no saint. But when I look at the way that I’ve stumbled into these projects, yet knowing while stumbling that it is also part of God’s plan somehow, I wonder if when we look at saints like Mother Teresa and pity them for the hardships they bear … if we aren’t off base. We’re seeing it from the outside. If they are doing what their nature tells them to do, in cooperation with what God pushes them toward, then maybe it is easier to be a saint than we think.

Maybe, as Thomas Merton’s friend told him, all we have to do is to want to be a saint. Our willingness is all God needs. He will do the rest.

As for how I balance things, I have an amazingly tolerant and supportive husband. Every time I have brought up one of these projects, he practically shoves me into it. Sometimes, I have been waiting for him to say no and willy-nilly I find him buying a mixing board, converting a computer to home use, and setting me up to record.

Also, I have had to learn how to say no more often myself. I have some projects, such as our parish’s Beyond Cana marriage retreat, where I was very involved for several years and then had to back out so that I could write the book and also because they needed to grow beyond my involvement. I don’t think I could add anything else right now without giving something up. And … it must be said … I don’t love cleaning house. So I teeter at the edge between acceptable cleanliness and what would embarrass us if people dropped in. Did I mention that I have a very tolerant husband?

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What has been the greatest blessing in all of this, for you?  In all this work you do in the new evangelization, at the end of the day, what do you count as your greatest success?

God told me to start the blog when I was wondering if I should. I am positive he also wanted Happy Catholic (the book) written based on the astounding coincidences and timing that brought up the possibility of writing the book. Likewise, he has used my podcast in ways I never would have thought of.

So what is my blessing out of all this? To be his servant. I can never do it as well as I should. But to do what I love, in these communities in which he has placed me, for the one whom I love most … what could be better than that?

There are plenty more Quick Takes over at Conversion Diary, so don’t miss the fun!

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Behind the Veil with Steve Nelson

July 22, 2011 By 1 Comment

This week, I’m blessed to share a delightful guy with you…drum roll, please. Meet Steve Nelson, who blogs at Everything Esteban, tweets as @steve_nelson, and has a major hand in one of my favorite online resources, SQPN.

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Tell us a little about your work with the Star Quest Production Network (SQPN).

For the past two years or so, I’ve been employed by the Board of Directors of SQPN (Star Quest Production Network) as its Executive Director.  As anyone who works with a small non-profit organization knows, I have to be a Jack-of-all-trades in this position.  Linda Nielsen (our CFO) and I are responsible for all the rather mundane aspects of the corporation, including accounting, budgeting, a certain amount of public relations, and facilitating the other work of the Board of Directors.

Fr. Roderick Vonhogen is, of course, the main creative brain behind SQPN.  He’s awfully fun to work with because you never know what new idea he’s going to come up with.

We have a number of on-going audio programs (podcasts) that tell the story of Catholic Christianity and reach out to the secular world in a friendly and helpful way.

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This fall, there’s an exciting Catholic New Media Conference (CNMC) shaping up, and you’re in charge of the details, right? Share what’s going on for this year’s CNMC.

This will be our fourth annual CNMC and this year it will be held in Kansas City, Kansas.  Archbishop Joseph Naumann and the staff of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas have been very welcoming and supportive of this year’s event.  At their invitation, we will be located at the Savior Pastoral Center, the converted former seminary of the archdiocese, so I suppose it will have a bit of a “college” feel to it.

We’ve got some excellent speakers again this year.  Sean Patrick Lovett, director of Vatican Radio, will share his experiences and Vatican perspective on Catholic media.

The American perspective will come from Sr. Anne Flanagan (aka “the nunblogger”) from Pauline Books and Media.  I’m very excited about both of these speakers.

Our workshop and breakout presenters will include our good friend and well-known author Lisa Hendey (CatholicMom.com) and writer and speaker Pat Gohn (AmongWomen and Patheos).  They will provide our attendees with invaluable advice and resources for the spiritual formation of the “Catholic Communicator.”

Matthew Warner and Jeff Geerling (both from flockNote.com) will be our resident techies.  For those looking to incorporate new technologies into their online presence, especially the use of “social media,”  you won’t want to miss them.

In fact, we believe what they have to offer is so invaluable, we are offering an extra day of workshops preceding the CNMC for some extra focused presentations.

Besides the speakers and presentations, the CNMC has become an excellent networking event for all involved in Catholic media, whether they are authors, podcasters, and bloggers or clergy and parish webmasters.  I think anyone would benefit by attending.

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What’s the biggest challenge you’re facing as you work behind the scenes on this year’s CNMC?

I think we have organized an excellent conference for this year.  I am very excited about it.

The challenge now is to get the word out so we can have as many people attend as we have room for.  I hope your readers will consider coming and pass the word about the CNMC to their friends and colleagues.

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What are you personally most looking forward to at the CNMC?

I am very excited to have Sean Patrick Lovett and Sr. Anne Flanagan in the same room together.  Not only do they have unique and interesting perspectives, but they are just wonderful people to be with.

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How is this year’s CNMC going to be different than in past years?

Each CNMC has been in a different part of the country and has had a different flavor to it.  This year will have a Midwest flair to it and since all activities will be at the Savior Pastoral Center, I think we will have even more opportunities to get to know one another.

We’ve also incorporated some shared spiritual time to the schedule, including Morning and Evening Prayer and Sunday Mass.  Being a former seminary, the Savior Pastoral Center is an ideal location for this.

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Why should all try to get ourselves to the CNMC this year?

It will be two days of sharing and learning about Catholic media, particularly how to incorporate social media and new technologies into personal, parish and organizational communication strategies.  So much of the New Evangelization is going to start in the online world.

In my opinion, everyone working in Catholic evangelization and outreach needs to learn what these new techniques are, how to be spiritually formed for this type of work, where to meet others working in this field, and to be encourged to begin.  This is what we’re hoping the CNMC will provide.

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For those of us who won’t be able to attend, is there a way to be involved?

Absolutely!  Please encourage anyone you know who working in Catholic media to attend.  This might be your pastor, parish webmaster, organizational leaders, or anyone who has a blog or podcast and promotes the Catholic faith.  Anyone interested in Catholic evangelization and outreach is invited.

If you cannot physically be present at the CNMC, we plan to stream live video from some of the presentations during the CNMC.  We know that much of the SQPN worldwide community cannot come to Kansas City, so we will do our best to share the conference with them.

For registration information and to follow all the CNMC news, please visit http://cnmc.sqpn.com.   As we get closer to October 1, we will post information about how to tune into the presentations.  You can also follow CNMC news on Twitter at www.twitter.com/cnmc.

Don’t miss the other Quick Takes today over at Conversion Diary!

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Seven with John Desjarlais

July 15, 2011 By 2 Comments

Today, in celebration of the release of John Desjarlais‘s latest book, Viper, I bring you the man himself!

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Tell us a little about what inspired you to start writing, and how it’s evolved in the last few years.

I’ve been writing since third grade when my story ‘A Present for Polly’ was mimeographed and handed out to the class. I wrote spy novels in junior high (it was the age of James Bond, The Man from UNCLE, The Avengers, I Spy and so on) but I didn’t publish anything until I was in my thirties.

I began to place short literary fiction in magazines. I got interested in a novel after studying Irish monasticism for a documentary I was scripting (I was working for an educational media company).

The thrilling true story of Saint Columba of Iona captured my imagination. Here was a hot-tempered warrior-monk who went to war over a book and, in remorse over the thousands slain, exiled himself among the Picts of Scotland where he dueled the Druids, miracles versus magic, to prove the power of God. He’s the first man recorded to have encountered the Loch Ness monster.

This was great stuff for a novel, I thought, and it became The Throne of Tara, released by an evangelical publisher in 1990 and re-released in 2000.

My research included the rich trade in relics during medieval times, and the thriller/romance Relics set in Crusader Palestine was the result, published in 1993 (re-released in 2009).

I’d planned on another historical, with Aristotle, the Father of Logic, solving a crime. But I learned early on that a British writer had done this already, and I changed my idea. I’d have a rhetoric/classics professor who was familiar with Aristotle solve a seemingly irrational mystery by applying Aristotelian logic. The research during Relics exposed me to mystical phenomena such as the stigmata, and I had my premise: a stigmatic priest seems to bleed to death on Good Friday – a miracle or a murder? This became Bleeder.

I became a Catholic toward the end of the drafting, and the book took on a deeper Catholic coloring as a result, with wise advise from my editor at Sophia Institute Press.

The sequel, Viper, also has a strong Catholic flavoring to it, but it is an organic part of the story and never forced, never preachy. Because of this, I’ve had good reviews from both secular and Catholic reviewers. I’m pleased about that.

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What’s the greatest challenge you face as a Catholic writer?

Strange to say, it may be to avoid becoming known as a ‘Catholic writer.’ I’d like my work to have broad appeal and not be judged in advance by such a tag.

I realize there are marketing considerations where Catholic readers want some assurance that the work is respectful and accurate about Catholic matters. And I’m not embarrassed at all about being knownas Catholic.

Even so, there is the possibility of becoming ‘ghetto-ized’ as a writer, that is, so identified with a religious niche that no one else will want to touch the stuff. I’d prefer to be known as a thoughtful, stylish writer who happens to bring his worldview to bear on his work without becoming overbearing.

That doesn’t mean we can’t deal with openly Catholic characters and practices. But we needn’t be limited to them, either.We just have to be true to how we understand the world works. I’m very interested in the work of Flannery O’Connor and Graham Greene, and Episcopalian Susan Howatch is another writer I admire who walks this fine line.

In keeping with the spirit of your question, though, a great challenge is to avoid becoming sentimental, saccharine, and so certain about everything that the work comes across as contrived or preachy.

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Give us a glimpse of what we can expect in Viper.

Haunted by the loss of her brother to drugs and a botched raid that ended her career with the DEA, insurance agent Selena De La Cruz hoped to start afresh in rural Illinois. But her gung-ho former boss needs her back to hunt “The Snake,” a dealer she helped arrest who is out of prison and systematically killing anyone who ever crossed him. His ‘hit list’, appended to a Catholic Church’s All Souls Day ‘Book of the Deceased,’ shows Selena’s name last.

Working against time, small town prejudice and the suspicions of her own Latino community, Selena races to find The Snake before he reaches her name while a girl visionary claims a “Blue Lady” announces each killing in turn. Is it Our Lady of Guadalupe or, as others believe, the Aztec goddess of Death?

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What was the greatest challenge you faced as you worked on Viper?

By far, the greatest challenge was developing a credible Mexican-American woman as the protagonist. So much could go wrong with me, a 50-ish Anglo man, writing her story. I was so obsessed with getting this right that my wife says I was speaking Spanish in my sleep – and I don’t speak Spanish.

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What’s your favorite part of the story?

Clearly, it is the climax where – well, that would be spoiling it. I’ll just say that it involves a really, really big snake that is aggressive, poisonous, and always hungry.

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What inspires the crime and action that we find in Viper and Bleeder? How do you come up with the authenticity when you’re obviously a law-abiding citizen? Does your day job play into your fiction at all?

Let me reply to the authenticity question first. This is where skillful research comes in. There are many books and web sites on police procedure, crime investigation, forensics and so on, and every mystery writer I know works hard at getting the facts right. I’m a college professor, so I take research seriously. For example, I took a firearms course to learn how to shoot the pistol that Selena uses, a P226 Sig Sauer.

Your first question touches upon why we write (and read) mysteries at all. Mysteries – classic murder mysteries, I mean – connect with something deep inside all of us. They are the modern form of the medieval morality play, where the sleuth is Everyman (or EveryWoman) who works against time, big money, a determined antagonist, daunting odds and her own flaws to expose evil and to restore the balance of justice. At the end, readers who identify with the successful hero or heroine feel a little better about the world and about themselves.

A critic might say that mystery novels are escapist, since they offer a fantasy world in which justice prevails, right always wins over wrong, and love finds a way. But what’s wrong with that? That’s healing.

In addition, mysteries are close to the barest human desires and fears, and because they deal so openly with death, they have a built-in opportunity to explore life’s higher mysteries. Bleeder is a book-length contemplation on the mystery of undeserved suffering.

All literature tries to make meaning out of the frightfully short dash between our birthdate and departure date on our tombstones. The mystery novel is a good vehicle for this, and is entertaining, too.

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As someone who can’t wait for the next book from you, tell us what you’re working on next.

I’m working on the third book in the series, which deals with life insurance fraud and ‘viatical settlements’ where life insurance policies are sold to brokers who bundle them, securitize them into bonds and sell them to third-party investors who divide the full death benefit upon the death of the original seller. They are called ‘death bonds.’ It’s a huge industry in this country.  It’s in many peoples’ interests to make sure the sellers die within a prescribed time fame, before the investors must take over paying the premiums. Selena, an insurance agent, notices something very odd going on with some of her clients – well, that gives you an idea.

John Desjarlais blogs as Johnny Dangerous and the scoop about all of his writing is featured at his website. You’ll find Bleeder, Viper, and all of his other work at Amazon.

There are plenty more Quick Takes over at Conversion Diary, so be sure to visit!

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Quick Takes, Neeta Lyffe Style

December 10, 2010 By 2 Comments

Today, I’m honored to share an interview, Quick Takes style, with one of my favorite authors and an inspiration to me in my own writing, Karina Fabian, about her latest release, Neeta Lyffe: Zombie Exterminator.

1. Confession: I haven’t read this book yet (though it’s in my pile), but I couldn’t resist the chance to interview you during your book tour. Though I generally shy away from horror these days, I’m eagerly anticipating reading this. Karina, share your approach to horror (because I sense a lot of humor in it, and I like that).

I don’t approach horror.  I sort of slink away from it, tippy-toe, if need be.

If it weren’t for the fact that zombies automatically put it under horror, I’d call it comedic science fiction.  It takes place in the future, and zombie-ism is a disease.

It’s definitely a comedy.  Think The Apprentice meets Survivor meets Night of the Living Dead.  Plus, there’s all kinds of political and social satire, a little slapstick, some jokes that made my teenage daughter say, “Mom!” with that mix of horror and pride. Not as many puns as my usual comedies, but Neeta isn’t a punster.

2. I know this novel came about, in some small way, because of the Zombie Cookbook. www.zombiecookbook.net Tell us about that connection.

Neeta Lyffe is the main character in “Wokking Dead,” where she and her partner, Ted, take on an infestation of zombies in a Korean restaurant.  People enjoyed her quirky outlook so much they asked the publisher if a novel was coming out.  Kim approached me at a time when we were getting goofy with some online friends.  The idea of reality TV came up and I had an inspiration–a reality TV show where Neeta trains exterminators.  I had only one line to start:  They ate Eidleberg.  The rest flew from there.

3. Give us a taste of Neeta Lyffe as a person. If I ran into her on the blogosphere or at a restaurant, what would she be like?

Sweet. Sensible.  Very down-to-earth.  She’ll talk to you about zombie extermination, but if you want to discuss fine art, she’d love it. (That was her major, incidentally.)  She doesn’t like the fame of having hosted Zombie Death Extreme, but she’s glad she was able to increase awareness of the dangers of zombie-ism, and how the average person can protect themselves.  That’s why she does what she does–to make people safer, whether it’s from roaches in the cupboard or zombies in the alley.

4. What’s your favorite part of this book?

The characters.  Neeta turned out to be so much more than I imagined her.  Roscoe was the most fun to write.  I enjoyed snippy LaCenta, Crying Katie and Stuttering Spud.  I knew I had Brian St. James, the radio host, down perfectly when my teenage daughter gagged and declared she knew guys like that and didn’t understand how anyone would date them.  You know, I still don’t know what happened to Gordon in North Korea, but there’s nothing as much fun as writing an ex-Marine with issues.  I also learned the proper way to spell OOH Rah!  Even the bit-part characters that came out of the woodwork to star in the documentary in progress were a blast to write.

5. What are the larger issues you’re addressing with Neeta Lyffe, or is this just a fun read?

Frankly, I was in it for the sheer escapism. Any deep-seated issues the literary world finds are theirs.  (So, English proffs reading this–please use it in your classes if you like, but don’t fail some kid because their interpretation isn’t “the right one.”)

6. As a practicing Catholic, how does your faith impact your writing when you are writing in these non-Catholic genres and arenas? (OK, this question feels lame, but if you see what I’m getting at, I’ll work on rewording it better.)

First, I make no claims to putting anything “Catholic” in Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator, except for the Pope (and the Baptist Convention) agreeing that zombies may be the embodiment of evil, but it’s perfectly okay to defeat them with a chainsaw rather than a crucifix.  (Of course, the Baptists would say “Raid rather than Revival.)

I’m a character-driven writer, so my stories get driven by the characters.  So, for example, Neeta had no qualms about cutting off a guy’s head after he’d been bitten by a zombie.  To her, it’d be worse if he came back and went after his family, as zombies often do.  Roscoe, who is a professional reality TV contestant with personality to match, never lets you know if he’s straight, gay or both.  (He jokes that he’s “not particular.”)

However, I don’t cross certain lines.  I may play with innuendo, but I try not to glamorize sin.  Neeta tells her sexy new boyfriend that she’s waiting until marriage, so don’t even go there.  If Roscoe has a date during the course of the book, he never told me–and I didn’t ask.  Roscoe was a riot to write and fun to read, but nobody will read his character and think, “I want to be like him.”  As for Neeta chopping off Bergie’s head–once a zombie bites you, you die fast and come back. It was defense, but she still takes a lot of heat for it.

7. What books are you reading these days, Karina? What novels inspire you?

I was reading some children’s books to get into the swing of things for a Catholic kid’s book I want to write.  However, I’m the obsessive type, so I can either read or write, and at the moment, I have too many writing demands.  On the non-fiction side, I am reading a book of saint quotes.  It’s research for a novel and a school planner I’m writing, and inspiring besides.

Thanks again to Karina for joining us. Be sure to stop by and check out the other variations of Quick Takes that are hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.

Interested in learning more about Neeta Lyffe? Karina will be all over the blogosphere during her December book tour!

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Quick Takes with Michelle Buckman

November 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Michelle Buckman has been quite gracious to me this week, not only agreeing to a giveaway (enter! enter! enter!) of her awesome book Rachel’s Contrition, but also doing a guest post about the writing of it.

Now, to top off the week in a vein that’s very worthy of the laughing I do among friends, she shares seven fun facts about herself. My thanks to her for being such a sport and so generous with herself and her time!

-1-

At one time, my kids had 60 pets. Really. Luckily we have six acres and only two of them lived inside. (Note to self: Never ever have ferrets again.)

-2-

Because I was born in New York and grew up in Canada, my husband’s family always teased me for being a Yankee until my husband had to go work in Detroit for three months. When he came back, he sat at the dinner table listening to me go on for ten minutes about everything the kids were doing, then suddenly burst out laughing and said, “Boy, do you ever sound Southern!” I’ve never forgiven him for that.

-3-

I’m done cooking supper when the smoke alarm goes off. (Who has time to stand in the kitchen watching food cook?)

-4-

When I was a kid, I got home late for supper one night and my mother wouldn’t let me sit at the table. I felt terrible, so guilty! Later I found out it was because there were twelve people at the table, and I would have been an unlucky thirteen. I’ve inherited some of her Irishness, for sure.

-5-

I am not a funny person, which is why my novels are dark, but I wrote a humor column for five years (that’s why this is so hard–I’m not funny!). My family learned that anything remotely weird they did would end up in the local paper. Sometimes the need for material extended to outsiders. One time a cashier messed up my pumpkin because she wouldn’t stop the conveyor belt at the register. I wrote about that pumpkin in my next article. The next time I went to the grocery store, every single employee made a point of saying hello and asking if I needed help!

-6-

I once wrote ten articles in a row about cement for a construction magazine–it was a hard subject. (See how not funny I am? Ha)

-7-

The kids hate me because I’ve taught them so much about plotting and storytelling that they can never enjoy movies anymore–we all know the ending five minutes into the film.

For more Quick Takes, be sure to visit Conversion Diary.

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