God's Grace and Grace Kelly

Laura Pearl has started an online women's book club called "Grace Filled Tuesdays."

If you haven't yet checked it out, it is just week #2 and well worth the time!

Explore God's grace...and a heroine whose namesake is Grace Kelly!

Could That Best-Seller be Bad for Your Health?

There’s growing evidence to support the idea that fiction books can be good or bad for you. It’s a drum I’ve been beating on for a very long time.

I begin supporting my own belief about this by going directly to Scripture: Brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things (Philippians 4:8).

Books, after all, cause us to think of things. Whatever fills the pages ultimately fills our mind.

But this doesn’t mean that books ought to be boring. I’m not interested in reading boring books—or publishing them either!

This directive in Scripture shouldn’t translate into fiction books that don’t capture our interest and don't take us on an adventure.

I was invited on Catholic television where I was asked to talk about the newest trend in YA fiction (young adult fiction): the fastest growing audience of YA books is adults! This is because adults love the adventure, characters and even intrigue found in a cleverly crafted YA book—and they like the way they feel when they are done reading it.

So I wasn’t surprised when I recently read in the book Hildegard of Bingen’s Medicine that “It is detrimental for the nerves if persons are always reading new thrillers, or the newest bestsellers.” It goes on to say how the nerves can, however, benefit from reading excellent books and even recommends re-reading them.

I immediately thought of a few amazing fiction books that I had planned on re-reading this fall and now feel even more excited about doing so:

1.     The Green Coat byRosemary McDunn. Love this book!

2.     The Gate by NancyCarabio Belanger. Easily a classic!

3.     Finding Grace byLaura Pearl. I plan on joining her 2015 online book club for the book.

Of course, these are also the reasons that we ought to immerse our tweens and teens in great fiction as well—and these books are a perfect start!

Grace-Filled Tuesdays

I'm so happy to announce that Laura Pearl (author Finding Grace and upcoming Erin's Ring) is going to be offering an online book club this winter!

Right about now, people are settling into their routines and especially in the midwest we are feeling the beauty of autumn begin to descend. Some trees are changing colors and many of us are ready to settle in with a good book at the ready.

Honestly, nothing is better to do during the shorter days where there is a bit of time now and again than to turn to a great read and Laura's book, Finding Grace, is just such a read. It is a book that takes you deep into the story (Just read any of the great Amazon reviews!) and brings you out the other end incredibly satisfied.

So if you are looking for something that is extra fun, consider reading Finding Grace this fall and joining Laura for her online bookclub come early 2015 for Grace-Filled Tuesdays!

Right now Finding Grace is available on Kindle for just $4.99 and you can follow Laura's blog to keep updated about her online bookclub.

Finding Grace has received the Catholic Writer's Guild Seal of Approval so you can be assured it is good for you and good for your teen daughters, too!

God bless!

Sometimes the Stars Really Do Line Up

When Laura Pearl first brought Finding Grace to Bezalel Books, I was impressed with her writing. At Bezalel Books, we don’t publish everything that comes our way—even if the author is willing to pick up the publishing costs. Rather, we read a sample chapter or two, a synopsis and then get a “feel” for the author’s passions and skills. Pretty much the Holy Spirit is part of everything and we are okay to say “no” if things don’t seem like a good fit.

Laura was a great fit.

Laura’s work at marketing and blogging and even entering the world of Twitter continued to impress me. Laura is the mother of five grown sons and I am the mother of three grown sons so there’s that, too. But I just continued to find her wit and insight to be inspiring. Every time I read a blog of hers I found myself smiling or laughing or in some way connecting with her spirit.

So it was that I began praying about approaching Laura to write a second book with one big difference: this one would be on our dime. We’d take the chance on her because what we saw in her first book and in her continued foray into the world of Catholic fiction really captured what we are about at Bezalel Books.

Needless to say, after months (literally) of praying, I approach Laura with the proposal for a second book. Knowing it took Laura years to write Finding Grace in between her duties as wife and mother, I also knew that I had a timeline in mind—as well as a smaller book. 

Finding Grace is epic. The sort of book that continues to draw you back and that you really sink your teeth in.

I wanted Laura to condense her abilities into a book that would be considered Young Adult but would capture the interests of all ages—from tween through adult.

Now it was Laura’s time to pray…

The contract has since been signed and Laura has just sent me the first six chapters of Erin’s Ring.

Once in a while, the stars line up and God’s blessings are so evident it feels miraculous. That’s how I felt reading these chapters of Erin’s Ring. This will be the sort of book that makes the YA audience the fasting growing audience in literature among adults.

We’ve got a spring 2015 release set for Erin’s Ring; in the meantime, I highly recommend Finding Grace if you haven’t yet come up with a great summer reading book. If nothing else, check out Laura’sblog. You’ll be glad you did!

(the picture used is ID 5121949 © Connie Larsen | Dreamstime.com)

The Company We Keep!

If we are known by the company we keep, then hats off to one of my favorite authors--Laura Pearl--for the company she is keeping on Amazon!

Check it out:

Customers who bought Finding Grace by Laura Pearl also bought The Ear of the Heart by Mother Dolores Hart; Come My Beloved by Ellen Gable Hrkach; Past Suspicion by Therese Heckenkamp; and Frozen Footprints also by Therese Heckenkamp (which I am currently reading and loving!).

Congratulations, Laura!

check out Laura's blog at: http://mumsie2five.blogspot.com/

or follow Laura on Twitter @Finding_Grace_

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