A Festival of HOPE!

Wow, Catholic author, Barry Michaels is giving us what we need right about now and "just what the doctor ordered." What am I talking about? Well, I'll let you listen to Barry himself in just a moment describe this awesome festival that will run all through the month of November to celebrate HOPE and the release of his new book, Your Guide to Spe Salvi: Saved in Hope. Barry has a whole line up of Catholic authors (myself included!) who will be bringing you messages of hope throughout the month of November.

From Barry:

"The Festival of Hope will be a month-long blog event that will be dedicated to and celebrate the theme of Christian hope.

There are several important aspects to this event:

– I’ll be reflecting on hope and offering some interesting resources for further reflection, understanding, and prayer.

– (More exiting to me) I’ll be hosting a series of guest bloggers, talented Christian (both Catholic and non-Catholic) authors and artists, all offering some rich and helpful reflections on the theme of hope.

– Finally (and also exciting to a book-nut like me), you’ll also have the chance to win some very worthwhile prizes while you’re here! I’m reluctant to proceed with this one, because there’s a great collection of books and other items sitting in a box in my office, ready to be given away to you and other visitors, and the more I look at them, the more I want to keep them for myself. They’re excellent! (Don’t worry, I promised the authors I’d give them away to you.)

Our Guest Bloggers

Let me tell you about those guest bloggers, because you’re going to be interested. As of today, our Festival of Hope guest-blogger line-up (authors who have agreed to serve as a guest blogger for a day) includes:

– Mike Aquilina, vice-president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology and author of a list of extraordinary books, including Signs and Mysteries: Revealing Ancient Christian Symbols, The Fathers of the Church, and The Resilient Church

– Tim Drake, one of the premier Catholic journalists in the United States, longtime reporter for the National Catholic Register, and author of the new book Behind Bella, as well as Young and Catholic: The Face of Tomorrow’s Church

– Pete Vere, a canon lawyer and the co-author of several popular books for Catholic readers, including Surprised by Canon Law: 150 Questions Laypeople Ask about Canon Law, Surprised by Canon Law 2, Pied Piper of Atheism: Philip Pullman and Children’s Fantasy, and More Catholic than the Pope: An Inside Look at Extreme Traditionalism

– Sr. Kathryn James Hermes, FSP, the author of Making Peace with Yourself: 15 Steps to Spiritual Healing, The Surviving Depression Journal: A Companion through the Tough Times, and Prayers for Surviving Depression, and a member of the Congregation of the Daughters of St. Paul

– Nancy Carpentier Brown, author of The Mysteries of Harry Potter and The Father Brown Reader and Catholic education expert

– Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle, a participant in the Pontifical Council for the Laity’s recent international congress on the dignity of women, and author of The Domestic Church: Room by Room and The Heart of Motherhood

– Dr. Heath White, assistant professor of philosophy at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and author of Postmodernism 101: A First Course for Curious Christians

– Mary DeTurris Poust, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Catholic Catechism and Parenting a Grieving Child: Helping Children Find Faith, Hope, and Healing after the Loss of a Loved One

– Regina Doman, Catholic artist and author of Angel in the Waters (a personal favorite children’s book of mine) and The Shadow of the Bear

– Karina Fabian, science fiction author of Infinite Space, Infinite God and Firestorm of Dragons, and president of the Catholic Writers Guild

– Lawrence Klimecki, Catholic artist and illustrator of S Is for Saints

– Ellen Gable Hrkach, author of the novel Emily’s Hope, a columnist on the new website for Catholic catechists, AmazingCatechists.com, and a frequent contributor to Family Foundations magazine

You will be hearing from all of them on the topic of Christian hope on this blog during the Festival of Hope! Is that cool, or what? (That’s where the list is at now; I hope and expect that it will expand a bit before November 1 rolls around. I’ll keep you posted.)

Books and More for You

Not only will you get the insightful contributions from that gang of contributors; you’ll also have an opportunity to win something from a long list of prizes I’ll be giving away that mostly includes a bunch of excellent books, plus a few other great things thrown in for fun. (Many of these books have been donated by the authors themselves, some have been donated by my publisher Pauline Books and Media, and a few are on me.)" (Continued here on Barry Michael's blog)

Be sure to visit Barry's blog by clicking on the link above to see what else Barry has to say about this event and the month of November. There's much more. I have only teased your appetite for books and inspiration!

God bless!

Donna-Marie