“I was Raised Catholic…”

Most people can tell you what they wanted to be when they were children: a policeman, or a teacher, or a movie star.

I think when I was a child, part of me wanted to be a speaker. If you have met me you know I talk a lot. If you knew me when I was young you would know I never stopped talking. I wanted to tell people about my experiences and I wanted to teach them what I knew. Even now, whenever I am at a conference or a live performance or a concert, I always find myself desperately wanting to be a part of it. Back then, I had very little fear of embarrassment, and I didn’t care what other people thought about me.

The other day while talking to a friend, I said something like, “because I was raised Catholic…”

Not, “I am Catholic…”

Not, “because of my Faith…”

I said, “because I was raised Catholic…”

This bothered me to the point I corrected myself right then and there. However, it left me wondering – when did I stop identifying as a Catholic?

Now, I know you may not be Catholic or even interested in my crisis of faith, my dear reader, and that is fine. Please, bear with me. The real question I would like to address is: When did I start caring so much about what people think of me? When did I start becoming afraid of how people would judge me for my beliefs?

As a writer I want my work to reach people. Not only do I want it to reach people, I want it to touch people. I want it to help them in their journey. Growing up I knew that there were people of different faiths and some people who had no faith at all. I want to speak to them, I want to speak with them.

Matthew Kelly writes in his book Resisting Happiness: “I tried to speak to people about ‘the universal call to holiness’, but their eyes would just glaze over. I kept experimenting with ways to say it that connected with people, and then one day while I was speaking, it just came out: ‘God wants you to become the-best-version-of-yourself.’ I knew instantly. I could tell by the audience’s reaction. They got it. It made sense to them.”

I think that is along the lines of what I had originally intended. I wanted the ability to reach people where they were at.

C.S. Lewis was a known Christian and his stories are read quite vastly. Where Man and Monster Meet was heavily influenced by Lewis’s Till We Have Faces and The Great Divorce, both of which I highly recommend.

Dante Alighieri was a Catholic writer. His Divine Comedy is taught in schools around the world. I also recommend that one, not just the Inferno but the Purgatorio and Paradiso as well.

Dean Koontz is Catholic and he is a modern best seller… I was reading his Frankenstein series when I began my first rewrite of Where Man and Monster Meet.

So when and why did I become so afraid my faith would affect my presence as an author?

I could try to blame this on Social Media and the effects it has had on how people treat each other’s opinions, or I could blame it on joining the workforce and how it is typically taboo to discuss religion in the workplace. I could argue that I have recently been struggling in my belief in God and that it was just a slip of the tongue…

But it is important to be honest – particularly with ourselves. In all of my searching for the secret(s) of life, the importance of honesty is the most blatant universal truth I have found; reiterated in life stories, religions, belief systems, literature, etc.

Honestly, I am just a coward. I have been afraid to stand by my faith because of something as silly as sales and public opinion and that ends now.

Please know that I am a Catholic - I want to tell you about my experience’s and teach you what I know about life. I also would love to hear about you and your journey!

So, no matter what your religion or walk of life, welcome to my corner of the internet. I hope you enjoy it and I hope it adds some value to your life.

This month’s advice:

Know who you are. Don’t be afraid to stand by what you believe. And be honest with everyone… especially yourself.

The Road Map

I apologize that this month’s blog is quite late. My original intent was to have them released at the first of each month but that has not been the case. That being said, I have not forgotten you my dear friends and devout readers.

This month I will be providing you with a brief update.

First, Icarus Falls has been out for roughly a month now. I appreciate all of the feedback I have received and I would say that overall the book has been a success. I had a lot of reservations about the book but I am happy to see it out in the world and that it was not a disappointment. If you have any feedback you wish to send to me feel free! Also please don’t forget to drop a review on Amazon! The more positive reviews a book has the more likely it is to be suggested to other people by Amazon.

Second, I have begun working with some other young writers to create another fairy tale anthology showcasing some of our work. We are still in the early stages but I will let you know when that becomes available.

Finally, I have officially decided on which out of my arsenal of stories will become my next book. It currently has no title but I can tell you it will be another Young Adult Fiction that will deal with the theme of loss.

There you have it! Update complete.

But before you go, this month I would like to bring some attention to a local entrepreneur Jessica Jortberg.

Jessica is an NH teacher who started her own small business - Call It Home.

The idea for Call It Home came about when Jessica made an NH outline on a t-shirt with her “Cricut”

machine, which she uses to create decorations for her classroom and students. Being a firm believer in state spirit she decided to start Call It Home; a small business that helps you create a custom shirt or hat to represent the great state of New Hampshire.

You can pick a style, color, sleeve lettering, the logo on the front or back, size, etc.

Jessica hopes to expand to the rest of New England (and possibly further) to help people represent their homes and has already worked with clients in MA and CT.

There is currently a website in the works but for now you can reach out to Jessica on Instagam @_callithome

So this month’s advice:

Support your local businesses. Keep in mind, it doesn’t have to be done with money. You can leave reviews, share posts, like, and follow. Don’t forget to post a review on Amazon for Icarus Falls or Where Man and Monster Meet, and check out Call It Home!

“Go then, there are other worlds than these…” – Stephen King, The Gunslinger

I was once having a conversation with a friend and they pitched me the idea; what if Metropolis and Gotham City were actually the same city?

(For those of you who are not as nerdy as my friends and I, Metropolis is generally the main city in Superman’s stories and Gotham City is generally the main city of Batman stories.)

The point my friend was trying to make was that each character’s world view affected the world around them.

This past week I conducted an experiment regarding this.

Obviously, the current state of the world is not the most uplifting. Many people have lost their jobs, some people are trapped in close quarters with abusive partners, and there is a constant concern for day to day life as we know it.

Which brings me to my experiment…

I have a rather eclectic group of friends on Facebook. I don’t like to discuss politics on social media or on my site, as I don’t believe it is a productive way/place to do it, but allow me to say this. I have friends on both sides of the political fence and going on Facebook offered little beyond concern and anxiety for me.

I saw my friends demanding each to unfriend the other for a difference of opinion. I saw venom and “ad hominem” (against the man) arguments being tossed around. Posts like “if you believe XYZ unfriend me right now because you are too stupid…”, etc.

So, I deleted my social media accounts from my phone; and you know what? It feels great!

I have checked social media minimally and I have glanced at the news. I’m not an advocate of having one’s head in the sand but I wanted to remove the constant bombardment of people’s opinions, which is mainly what Facebook is comprised of.

When you listen to someone speak or read their posts think about whether or not they are appealing to your emotions, count how many times they swear, listen to their stories and be cognizant of who benefits…Truly wise people do not rely on emotion, they simply speak the truth.

Another thing I did this past week was watch the movie Apocalypse Now (Redux).

The current crisis is difficult but don’t forget all those who have come before us and the crises they faced in their time.

Now, I think we have talked about everyone’s favorite topic enough.

This month I would like to give a shout out to some local do-gooders.

Chantal and I were heading out to get some pizza last weekend and we saw our neighbors had put up a sign “free hot dogs!” As we drove by, we saw a hot dog machine and our neighbor’s sitting out equipped with masks, gloves, and tongs. I took the next road to turn around and double back. I have seen many a lemonade stand but this was new to me.

Turns out my neighbor, Shawn, was recently laid-off from USA foods and he had an abundance of hot dogs. So like most people who have recently been laid-off, his first thought was: “What can my family do to give back to our local community?” So Shawn, his lovely wife Rudy, and their enthusiastic son Luke decided to give away free hot dogs to spread some joy.

Check out their Youtube channel here! And don’t forget to subscribe so you can see what they have planned in the next few weeks!

A quick update for Where Man and Monster Meet:

I am happy to say that Icarus Falls has officially launched! I submitted it to Amazon for review earlier today and it should be available within the next few days.

Similar to my neighbors I am just getting warmed up. I have more books to write and hopefully there will be second anthology work coming out in late summer/early fall that I am working on with some of my friends.

So, this month’s advice:

Do something to gain some perspective and don’t be afraid to push yourself. Remember that there are “other worlds” out there. Try getting off of social media for a week or two or watching a movie about the human struggle. Finally, keep an eye out for free hot dogs!

Till next time!