Review of Finding Grace from Life of a Catholic Librarian

My very good on-line friend Tiffany, a librarian and fellow book enthusiast who blogs at Life of a Catholic Librarian, recently offered this review of Finding Grace , my first novel for Bezalel Books.  (There is also a short endorsement from Tiffany on the back cover of my second novel, Erin's Ring--which coincidentally just happens to feature a character who is a Catholic librarian!)



Thanks for your support of my books, Tiffany!

"Meet the Author" Interview

Finding Grace, my debut novel (published in 2012) is a story set in the town where my husband and I grew up--Plattsburgh, NY.  And like me, its young heroine, Grace Kelly, turns 14 the summer of 1972 and gets ready to enter the local Catholic high school.

It is only fitting then that it was an old high school friend from Plattsburgh (who was a few years behind us--a classmate of one of my younger sisters and one of my husband's younger brothers) who was instrumental in giving me the opportunity to talk about that book with Ken Huck of Radio Maria.  This wonderful gal--who lived right down the street from my husband, on the shore of Lake Champlain--belongs to the same parish as Ken these days, and she knew that he had a show called "Meet the Author," where he talks to writers of Catholic works of fiction and non-fiction.  God bless her, she gave him a copy of Finding Grace; and God bless him, he liked it enough to want to bring me on his show (where I was able to chat about Erin's Ring as well).

When January 15 (the scheduled date for the interview) rolled around, I was a bundle of nerves before I went on--but just as with the Catholic Vitamins podcast interview back in December, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be.  In fact, I enjoyed the experience more than I would have thought possible.

If you'd like to listen, here's a link to the interview (I'm the second guest--about 32 minutes in): http://radiomaria.us/january-15-2015-vivian-dudro-and-laura-pearl/. 

Mom's Books and Good Intentions

When our youngest son was packing up his stuff to head back to Notre Dame (for his final semester before graduation!  Yikes!), I saw his carry-on bag sitting on the edge of the bed in his room.

Yes, those are copies of Finding Grace and Erin's Ring in there, right on top.

I have no illusions that my baby--who didn't inherit his mother's obsession for reading and who has only a few months left to matriculate at one of the most beautiful and opportunity-filled universities in the USA--will actually spend his off hours with his nose in his mommy's books.  Aside from his studies, he has ROTC responsibilities that take up a good deal of his time.  And he has a nice group of friends who are just as sick of books as he is by Friday afternoon, so that the last thing they're thinking is, "TGIF!  Let's crack open some novels and hunker down for the weekend!"  (College kids: they just don't get how great a plan that actually is!) So I'm not going to expect him to call and tell me he's finished them.  But I love it that when he left home after his last Christmas vacation as a college undergrad, he had those two books close at hand for his flight out to Indiana.

I love his good intentions.

To put it quite simply: I love that boy.

Real-Life Inspiration in Dover

Today over at my main blog, String of Pearls, I take you on a photo tour of Dover, NH, the setting of my second YA Catholic novel, Erin's Ring.  Dover has a rich history, and I mined the part about its 19th-century Irish immigrants and the impact they had on the town to find inspiration for this novel.

Here's a sneak peak...

To see the rest and read more about Erin's Ring, click here and head on over to String of Pearls.

Curling up with a Good Book!

A dear old high school friend, whom I haven't seen since the Reagan administration, just posted this photo--wherein she is curled up on her couch, reading Erin's Ring--on Facebook, with the caption: "This pajama fest I have going on includes slippers and a warm blanket, football, coffee and Kahlua and a really sweet story that I can't seem to put down!  #Erinsring #myfriendcanwrite."

Doesn't this look like the most relaxing way ever to spend New Year's day?  I want to hop into this picture and hug this wonderful, loyal, supportive friend! (#feelingblessed)

And doesn't this cozy scene make you want to head on over to Amazon and order your very own copy of Erin's Ring with which to curl up?  (Or perhaps you could contact me via email, if you'd like to have me send you a signed copy.  Just click over to String of Pearls and find the "EMAIL ME" button on the sidebar.)

That could be one of your New Year's resolutions: to read more Catholic fiction in 2015.  And Erin's Ring might be a good place to start!  ;)