Internship and Amusement in DC

 

I've had a quiet couple of weekends as Michael and the kids have been up in WA DC. Max has had a wonderful and busy six weeks as a congressional intern and I'm so happy Michael got to see him in this capacity on his last day. My guys are at a silent retreat in VA (offered by FSSP) and Dagny is experiencing Christendom. I can't wait to hear all about it.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Shoot

With Max home just for a few days, I wanted him to take some author pictures. He brought out the Canon--I should've taken a picture of him! Here are some of the bloopers with errant hair, mosquito slapping, trying out a serious pose and dissolving into laughter.

 

 

 

But there were lots of good pictures. The clouds rolled in at the perfect time, reducing glare on my glasses. In fact, this was the first picture that Max took. We were done in 20 minutes but I spent 2 hours playing with the software for fun. I went with the head tilt :) Feeling very professional. So grateful to have my Max home.  

 

June Celebrations

I never get tired of the view from the choir loft. Today we celebrated the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. He is the patron of our diocese, our little Latin Mass choir, and also my little blog. He's the only created human being besides Mary whose birthdays we celebrate in Church, given their importance in salvation history. All other saints, it's their death day that's the feast day, for it's their entry into heaven. Fr. Tomlinson gave a beautiful homily but the one thing that touches my heart is that although some, like John or Jeremiah, were called from their mothers' womb, so are we. Every human who's ever existed has a unique purpose. But millions of children are aborted because they are inconvenient. We speak of choice, but it is Satan's choice. Evil. We must fight it however we can. I pray and write.

Max has been interning in DC these past six weeks and I hope he will fight the good fight if he chooses to become a politician. He's on his way home. Michael and Dagny went up there to see him in his element.

So I've had a quiet four days, reading, writing, praying, and formatting BOUND. Oooh boy, I can see why people hire out the print formatting. It truly is a pain. But I'm learning, the cats my constant companions. But Sundays I rest. Went to the beach after Mass. Tide was high, hardly any beach at all, so sat on the rocks and enjoyed the salty spray. So, so beautiful.

 

Bodach Books

This is my new publishing venture--Bodach Books--books to elevate, enlighten, and entertain. I just love this logo that Derrick Alderman designed for me. I'd wanted two Bs back to back and a cross. My little sketch looked like a beetle but Derrick's design is more than I could ever have dreamed about. It denotes and connotes so many things, besides just the name. The suggestion of the cross is magnificent. It even matches the cross I wear that belonged to Michael's paternal grandmother, Tilly. The there's the V for my Christian name, which means Victory (through Jesus Christ our Lord). The Bs also remind me of a butterfly and transformation.
  

The first book to be published will be BOUND, a YA contemporary, cover and details to follow soon. Sooooo exciting! BB will be a great avenue for my YA and adult books, and also niche books. I tell you, there's not been a better time to be a writer than now because there are so many avenues for publication.   

I've been praying about self-publishing for over a year now. BOUND has been submission-ready for the past five years. I kid you not. I tried getting an agent for a couple of years but even the very complimentary agents didn't want to take it on. One agent was especially helpful; he planted the seed to self-publish. He felt the industry had changed and less open to a counter-cultural book like mine. Surely there would be one publisher, I thought, who'd like to invest in my book. I started sending it out to publishers. Again, a few great rejections--what an oxymoron--but I kept trying off and on. Mostly off, though. I was busy writing other books (I will have three new picture books out in 2019!!!) I told myself last year that I will try again in earnest to find a publisher for BOUND, but when I was down to micro-presses, I thought I might as well take all the risk and publish it myself. And now I wish I'd done this five years ago!!!

I'm learning a lot about self-publishing and hope to share good resources with you. Two of the most helpful have been Joanna Penn's Successful Self Publishing and David Gaughran's Let's Get Digital. A new edition is available but this first edition on my kindle was comprehensive. I especially enjoyed many of the success stories of midlist authors. It gives me great hope for my venture as well. Of course, there's so much I don't know and I don't know what I don't know, so please do educate me. Thank you! 

June

I love summer and the month of June!!! Dagny and I are enjoying sleeping in and working in the afternoons, and staying up late to watch movies. When she gets off work early, we go to the beach. So fun. It's hot and humid and the air is fragrant with the smell of jasmine and I love all the wildlife I get to see on my walks.



Copied from the Catholic Miscellany

If the Easter season brings many first Holy Communions and Confirmations, then the season after Pentecost brings many ordinations. We were so happy to be able to go to Fr. Rhett's ordination Mass on the Feast of the Sacred Heart and despite stormy weather and our late arrival a friend ushered us near the front where there was a nearly empty pew behind the deacons.  The entire liturgy is so beautiful I cannot express it. Especially moving is the Litany of saints when the priest-to-be prostrates himself. Also when the Bishop lays his hands, blessing him, then anoints his hands. This is his prayer: "Be pleased, O Lord, to consecrate and to sanctify these hands through this Anointing and our benediction ... that whatsoever they shall have blessed may be blessed, and whatsoever they shall have consecrated, may be consecrated and sanctified, in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ." A priests hands are holy. They now have the power through the Holy Spirit to turn ordinary bread and wine into the Body and Blood of our Lord. I never cease to want to kiss their holy hands. It is so beautiful to see so many priests on the Altar and the blessings they bestow upon the new priest. After Mass, what a round of applause when the seminarians trotted out front!!! We pray for them and all who are discerning and of course for all holy priests. This is my favorite one: 

O Jesus, Eternal Priest, keep Thy priests within the shelter of Thy Sacred Heart, where none may touch them.
Keep unstained their anointed hands,
which daily touch Thy Sacred Body.
Keep unsullied their lips,
daily purpled with Thy Precious Blood.
Keep pure and unworldly their hearts,
sealed with the sublime mark of the priesthood.
Let Thy Holy Love surround them from the world's contagion.
Bless their labors with abundant fruit,
and may the souls to whom they minister
be their joy and consolation
here and their everlasting crown hereafter.
Mary, Queen of the Clergy, pray for us: obtain for us numerous and holy priests. Amen.

So thankful for these spiritual fathers and my dear husband, who is molding himself after our heavenly Father. Our children are so blessed to know the very concrete love of a father as well as his tender mercy. God bless all fathers. St. Joseph, pray for us.