Novels
Catchlight
Catchlight is a photographic term for the reflection of a light source in a person’s eyes. The novel Catchlight is the story of how, if we stay present in painful circumstances, we may just find the family we’ve been looking for.The Keene family comprises four grown siblings who can rarely be found in the same room; their mother, Katherine; and their stepfather, Bill. When Katherine is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, the family is thrown into chaos. Narrated by youngest sibling Laura, a thirty-three-year-old, recently divorced therapist, and her brother James, alcoholic and deadbeat dad, the novel explores the tangled emotional terrain of relationships with grown siblings. As Katherine’s illness isolates her from the world, it brings her children into closer contact than ever—contact that causes first conflict and then, slowly, a form of communion.
Catchlight won the Fairfield Book Prize in 2019 and will be published by Woodhall Press in September 2020. {Want details on when Catchlight is available, plus behind-the-scenes communiques on the process of making the book? Sign up here for the VIP list.
The President’s Daughter
When the President’s seventeen-year-old daughter disappears from a fashion show in Paris, her best friend finds herself in the middle of a shitstorm.That’s the premise of my young adult novel-in-progress. I’m super excited about it!
Praying the Seasons Devotional Series
Praying the Seasons is a series of daily devotionals for Advent and Lent. Although liturgy has fallen out of vogue with the modern non-denominational Christian movement, I find that the traditional liturgical seasons allow me to pray through and experience the seasons of Jesus’ life and the life of the church throughout the year. This practice also allows me the freedom to pray through whatever season of life I am encountering at the time: seasons of drought and plenty; seasons of despair and hope; seasons of illness and health. I hope that this series, Praying the Seasons, will draw you deeper into your faith.Journeying Through Advent: Daily Devotional (Praying the Seasons Book 1)
Readers call Journeying Through Advent:
“a meditative delight”
“relatable and honest”
“accessible regardless of denomination”
“vulnerable, personal, theologically deep”
Journeying Through Lent: Daily Devotional (Praying the Seasons Book 2)
Readers call Journeying through Lent:
“[a devotional book that] has the potential to set us on the long road to freedom, healing, and wholeness”
“a wonderful heartfelt journey”
Essays
Story “Engage,” included in Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Best Advice I Ever Heard
“The day I started college, my dad gave me one word of advice: ENGAGE.”
Have a few words of wisdom changed everything for you? Has a piece of advice from a friend, or even a stranger, opened your eyes?
We asked the public to send us stories about the one piece of advice that reoriented them, solved a problem, or changed the trajectory of their lives. And we present an amazing new collection in these pages—101 stories that have the power to change your life, too.
Essay “From a Writer to Her Self,” included in the collection Now What?: The Creative Writer’s Guide to Success After the MFA
The alumni, faculty and students of Fairfield University’s MFA in Creative Writing program share their experiences, advice and hard-learned lessons on surviving and thriving as writers. A unique blend of practicality and inspiration, this guide features personal essays, editorials, poetry, articles, instruction, checklists and other resources authored by more than 40 writers who have faced the challenges and demands of finding their places and voices as authors.