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The Rose Ring is on the Catholic Writer's Guild Book Blast

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Each month, the Catholic Writer's Guild chooses one book to "Book Blast" - featuring it on blogs, tweets, etc. This month, "The Rose Ring" was the lucky winner! But you don't need to be a member of the writer's guild to take part. If you'd like to help promote my book, please share a tweet or Facebook update or write a blog post to run this Saturday 8/22/15. I'd be so thankful! Here is the relevant info to share: It has the Catholic Writer's Guild Seal of Approval Tweet or FB share: The Rose Ring - A heartwarming love story about the power of forgiveness. http://amzn.to/1IUDPkU ‪#‎Catholic‬ ‪#‎fiction‬ ‪#‎romance‬ Currently on sale on Amazon - $7.99 on paperback and $.99 on Kindle My website is: http://annefaye.blogspot.com/ The full description of the book: Left at the altar by Zach Richards ten years ago, Julia Manning has buried her pain by leading a quiet life working at a bookstore, helping her sister, visiting resident...

Book Review: Libraries

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Libraries (Roads Reflections) is a visual delight for anyone who loves libraries. An oversized coffee table book, it contains few words - only a paragraph about each library rendered in several languages, but the incredible photos do a great deal of talking. Libraries from around the world from times medieval to modern are featured, with an emphasis on the unique architecture of each one. One can't help but wish it were possible to step into the pages and actually visit these beautiful locations. It definitely could prompt a bibliophile to add to one's list of dream places to visit in a lifetime.

Movie Review : The Rewrite

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In the romantic comedy The Rewrite , Hugh Grant plays a screenwriter who won an Oscar fifteen years ago, but now is unemployed and broke. His agent arranges for him to take a job teaching screenwriting in a university in upstate New York. It's the last thing he wants to do, but he has no choice. There, he gets off to a bad start, sleeping with one of his students and insulting a tenured formidable member of his department, played by the amazing Allison Janney, by telling her he hates Jane Austen, her area of expertise (a fact made all the more funny due to Grant's prior role in the Austen classic "Sense and Sensibility"). He then meets a single mom played by Marisa Tomei who both challenges him and brings out the best in him. While it definitely has some morally questionable moments, this is a laugh-out-loud funny movie, filled with great supporting characters, and is ultimately a story of redemption. Those who have ever dreamed of becoming a screenwriter will find...

Novel Living: Collecting, Decorating, and Crafting with Books

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"Novel Living: Collecting, Decorating and Crafting with Books" is a treasure for anyone who loves books, both to read and as an artistic object. Lisa Occhipinti discusses collecting books, creating a library, preserving and conserving, and crafting with books. The accompanying illustrations add to the beauty of the text and will have any bibliophile smiling with delight. I like that she advocates both keeping books and giving them away. "A book on your shelf is tangible, finite, and yours alone, and keeping it is the surest way to preserve its power." She acknowledges, however, that a personal library is a "living thing, always evolving, growing, and shedding, only to expand again. Thinning out is a necessary part of collecting books and maintaining a library. I loved her various ideas on how to shelve and display books and while I don't have the energy to take on the book art projects she describes, I'm now eager to find some book art to liven up...

#ShowUsYourList My Picks in Catholic Fiction

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With so many people complaining about a certain movie currently in the theaters, Erin Cupp has challenged Catholic bloggers to post their lists of recommended books/movies on Shrove Tuesday a.ka. Mardi Gras with the hashtag #ShowUsYourList. "Blog a list of at least three works of quality fiction that illustrate truth, beauty and goodness.  These can be books, movies, podcasts, whatever, but they MUST BE ENTERTAINING" and then challenge those complaining about the current state of fiction to promote what is good! So, these are my picks:   Rachel's Contrition (Chisel & Cross Books)  - by Michele Buckman - winner of the Catholic Arts and Letters Award a few years ago, this is hands down the best Catholic fiction I've ever read. I read it twice and both times was riveted. Rachel Winters had nothing, won it all, and then lost everything After the death of her daughter, grief-spawned delusions cause Rachel to lose her husband, her home, and custody of her ...

25 Years of Journals

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I started keeping a journal on December 31, 1989, shortly after my 15th birthday. The first one was a Christmas present from my parents. I had been admiring blank books in my local bookstore all that year and was so thrilled to get one. It seemed so full of potential. I started keeping a journal because I knew I had a poor memory and I wanted to remember how it felt to be fifteen. Interestingly, it took me a little while to actually trust my journal. I started out by writing fictionalized names and changing details a bit, but within a couple months, I settled into a more truthful routine. My plan, even at 15, was always to bequeath these to a granddaughter someday. Very presumptuous of me, I know, to imagine a future in which I have a granddaughter, and to think that she would want these! At 15, I couldn't even imagine being 20, much less 40, yet here I am. I have now filled 23 of these books, writing on average once a week. In the pages are also tucked various memorabilia of...

NaNoWriMo - My Half-Marathon

I had written back in October that I was thinking about doing National Novel Writing Month this year, and I'm happy to report that it worked out well for me. It's the second time I've done this and both times I went in with the attitude that I would write what I could write doing the month, knowing full-well that 50,000 words simply wasn't going to happen. This year, I actually started October 28th, but I had to skip a few days during November so I figure it all works out in the end. I've often compared NaNoWriMo to a marathon experience. In light of that metaphor, I apparently wrote a half-marathon with a final total coming in at 25,024 - 92 double-spaced pages. I'm happy with that and thankful for the experience. I'd love to say that I'm going to continue and finish by January 1st, but let's be reasonable - this is December, and in the list of priorities in December (actually, in the list of priorities for most months), writing fiction is prett...