Anne Faye

Today is the day I am featured on the Image and Likeness Blog as one of the contributors to the Image and Likeness anthology. You can read my interview here: https://imageandlikenessanthology.wordpress.com/2016/12/26/interview-with-contributor-anne-m-faye/ You can purchase the anthology here: http://amzn.to/2ixeS6y

I recently read Scribbling in the Sand by Michael Card. The book offers a reflection on creativity in terms of faith Card begins with the Gospel story of Jesus scribbling in the sand. A woman had been accused of adultery. The Pharisees had brought her to Jesus as part of a trick to find out what he would do. Instead of saying anything, Jesus bent down and wrote in the sand. Once he finished writing, he stood up and stated "Whoever is without sin, let him cast the first stone." We have no idea what Jesus wrote and it really doesn't matter. What Jesus did that morning created a space in tome that allowed the angry mob first to cool down, then to hear his word, and finally to think about it . . . It made time stand still. . . .Jesus' action created a frame around the silence - the kind of silence in which God speaks to the heart. In short, it was a supreme act of creativity. It was art. . . . All the art ever done in his name since that day cannot hope to be more...

I'm thrilled to have a short story, "The Walk," published in Image and Likeness to be released on St. John Paul II's feast day, October 22nd.  If St. John Paul II ever summarized his Theology of the Body, it may have been when he said, “Man cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself.”  But how does this sincere gift look when lived out by human beings with all their failings?  What happens to our humanity when we withhold that sincere gift?  What does life require of us when we give most deeply?     Full Quiver Publishing brings you this moving collection of poetry and prose, featuring some of today’s brightest Catholic literary voices, including award-winning authors Dena Hunt, Arthur Powers, Michelle Buckman, Leslie Lynch, Theresa Linden, and many more.  By turns edgy and sweet, gritty and deft, but always courageous and honest, the works contained in Image and Likeness explore countless facets of human lov...

Today, I am thrilled to host Karina Fabian as a guest blogger. By day, Karina is a mild-mannered reviewer of business software and services for TopTenReviews.com. After hours, she’s a psychic intent on saving the world; a snarky dragon who thinks he saves the world all-too regularly, a zombie exterminator who just wants her world clear of undead vermin, and Catholic religious sisters whose callings have taken them off our world. Needless to say, her imagination is vast, her stories legion, and her brain crowded. When she’s not converting her wild tales to stories, she’s enjoying time with her husband, Rob, their four kids, and their two dogs.   Her new work of Catholic Science Fiction, Discovery , is now available. Five Rules of Incorporating Faith into Fiction With the Enlightenment era came an anti-religious fervor that not only permeated science and philosophy but also literature. Now, some 200 years later, the pendulum is swinging back, and people are again interest...

Reader's Favorite just posted a 5 Star Review of Sunflowers in a Hurricane. Sunflowers in a Hurricane by Anne M Faye is a tender and sensitive story that is also heart wrenching and emotional. George and Dottie share a powerful love that is cut short when Dottie dies in childbirth. George is left alone to raise his daughter, Katherine, if he can. As time goes on, we find George alone, but he befriends his new neighbor, Ruth. Ruth is a thirteen-year-old girl and has moved into her grandma's house with her mother, Cheryl. Cheryl has her own story of a broken heart and a life changed by circumstances. She and Ruth have returned to put things in order after Cheryl's mother's death. Returning to Meadowbrook was never in Cheryl's plans, but now she is here to deal with the present while trying to avoid the past. As George and Ruth become closer and their lives intertwine, the unusual friendship may be able to heal new and old wounds for all three of them....

In the July/August edition of Writer's Digest , Donna Baier Stein writes about using art as inspiration for writing. Inspiration can come from anywhere, but visual images can be an especially powerful source of writing ideas because they appeal to our senses and are in themselves a creative act. Stein offers some suggestions about where to find images including museums, online art collections, local galleries, books of art from the library, and collections of poster prints. I would add photographs to that list. We are bombarded with photo images today and every one has a story. When using these images as Ask questions about the image. Who is in it? What is the backstory? Can you think of an alternate backstory? Many works of literature have been inspired by art (and no doubt the opposite is also true). And yes, I have done this myself. My novel The Rose Ring was inspired by the wallpaper border in my kitchen. I spent years thinking I wanted to write a story about someone who l...

I recently read the New York Times Bestseller, The Versions of Us by Laura Barnett. This is an incredible debut novel. This is definitely a secular novel, but the prose was amazing and the story line kept you thinking. I didn't want to put this one down. It tells the story of Eva and Jim throughout their lives. It actually tells the story three different ways (which if you have a poor memory like me can be confusing - I had to keep going back to remind myself what was going on in that particular version). The only thing that happened for certain was that they met in college and that there is a lasting connection between them. After that, their lives took radically different paths depending on what they chose to do next, although their lives do intersect in various places. Like life itself, all three versions had their joys and pains, but it made me think about the choices we make in life and how seemingly inconsequential decisions as well as the bigger choices can have long...

Sunflowers in a Hurricane by Anne Faye Read Chapter One and Chapter Two . Chapter Three 1986 Ruth “I   don’t understand why we have to leave today. You know the party is tonight.” Kim and I had been planning it for a month. She was counting on me. We were celebrating finishing 7 th grade. It was going to be our first boy-girl party ever. Not to mention, by some miracle, a few of the popular kids were supposed to be going. Plus, Kim had said that Angie told her that Pete said that Ron, who was the cutest boy in school, might make an appearance. And I was going to miss it. This sucked big time. “I know and I’m sorry. But we’ve been over this. We need to get to Massachusetts. There are arrangements that need to be made.” My mother did not seem sorry. In fact, I was convinced that she was taking some weird joy in ruining my life. “Can’t they be made a day later?” I shoved my suitcase and backpack into the back of our beat up two-tone brown s...

Sunflowers in a Hurricane by Anne Faye Read Chapter One . Chapter Two August 1972 Cheryl   I   found myself at the outskirts of town, by the river. I had returned to the scene of the crime. The river had always been a sanctuary for me. I used to spend hours out here, alone with my thoughts. It was such a beautiful, peaceful place. It was such a secluded place, and it had betrayed me. I watched the river rush past me, heard its music as it traveled on its way. I wanted to be part of it, able to escape to places unknown. It was there, calling to me. All I had to do was answer. I could escape. Everything would go away. It would be just me and the water. It would take me where I wanted to go – where nothing and no one could ever hurt me again. I felt the cross around my neck. It had been a confirmation present from my parents. Suicide was a sin worthy of hell. There was no question of that. Yet, wasn’t that my destination anyw...