http://www.catholicwritersguild.org/ Catholic Writers Guild en-us Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:59:53 GMT 1440 CPG-Nuke Dragonfly Catholic Writers Guild Online News http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.catholicwritersguild.org/images/logo.gif http://www.catholicwritersguild.org/ http://www.catholicwritersguild.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=43 CWG Member Arthur Powers' short story "The Bridge," won 2nd place in the Tom Howard Short Story Award Contest. "The Bridge," which originally appeared in St. Anthony Messenger and won another award from the Catholic Press Association, is about a priest working in the interior of Brazil. It is always encouraging to see an expressly Catholic story recognized in a secular forum! Another of Arthur's stories (a secular one), "Gilsa," won an honorable mention. Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:59:53 GMT http://www.catholicwritersguild.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=42 CWG Member John Desjarles will be our guest of honor on Sunday's Chat, September21. A convert to the Church, he will talk about his faith journey and how that's affected his writing. Sunday evening chats are 9-11 EST in the Chat Room. BRIEF BIO A former producer with Wisconsin Public Radio, John teaches journalism and English at Kishwaukee College in northern Illinois. His work has appeared in periodicals such as Student Leadership Journal, U Magazine, The Critic, On Being, Student Soul, Apocalypse, The Upper Room, The New Pantagruel, The Karitos Review and The Rockford Review. His first novel, The Throne of Tara (Crossway 1990), was a Christianity Today Readers Choice Award nominee, and his second historical, Relics (Thomas Nelson 1993), was a Doubleday Book Club Selection. He took Honorable Mention in the 1997 Writers Digest Competition (essay), 2nd Place in Fiction in the 2004 Phidian Art Society of Illinois Contest and 1st Place in 2006. He holds an MA in Media from Columbia University and an MA in Writing from Illinois State University, and is currently serving as Vice President of the Illinois Community College Journalism Association. A member of The Catholic Writers Guild, The Academy of American Poets and Mystery Writers of America, he is listed in Contemporary Authors, Who's Who in Entertainment, Who's Who Among America's Teachers, and Who's Who in America. An interview with John can be found in Novel Journey. Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:06:28 GMT http://www.catholicwritersguild.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=41 Our special guest September 7th, 9-11 pm Eastern Time, at the Chat Room. Tom Grace was born, raised, and presently resides in Southeastern Michigan. He studied architecture at the University of Michigan, earning two degrees in the field. In just over twenty years of practice, Grace has worked on projects ranging from modest home renovations to major urban designs for Chicago and London. Much of his work has involved scientific and engineering research facilities, cutting-edge technologies that invariable find their way into his novels. Grace credits his second career as a writer in equal parts to a voracious appetite for books, an overactive imagination, and a compulsive desire to set challenging long-term goals for himself. He wrote the first draft of his debut novel over a year’s worth of lunch hours. Spyder Web was published in 1999, and his writing earned favorable comparisons to Ian Fleming and Clive Cussler. Grace’s hero, Nolan Kilkenny, returned in Quantum (2000), Twisted Web (2003), Bird of Prey (2004), and The Secret Cardinal (2007). In addition to intricately woven plots and break-neck pacing, Grace’s novels are infused with technology that is either state-of-the-art or just over the horizon. His scenarios often seem eerily prescient, so much so that Bird of Prey was cited in a National Security Briefing on the Chinese space program and space-based weaponry. As both an author and architect, Grace lives by Mies van der Rohe’s famous aphorism: God is in the details. Painstaking research underpins each of his novels, creating the factual foundations that support the stories. Tom Grace resides in Michigan with his wife, five children and a yellow Labrador in a modernist home of his own design. Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:44:55 GMT http://www.catholicwritersguild.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=40 News Release: The book “A Journey with the Spirit of Life,” is a part of Jersey Shore Hospital Palliative (Hospice) Care support. From: John Patrick Gatton John Patrick Gatton, Member of CMN and CWG, and Author of “A Journey with the Spirit of Life,” announces that Jersey Shore Hospital, a teaching hospital, is including his book as part of the care package given to families of Palliative care patients. Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:47:35 GMT http://www.catholicwritersguild.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=39 If we were to list 10 things the Second Vatican Council is known for, teaching on media likely would not make the list. The same is true for the great pontificate of John Paul II, where we note his masterful use of the media but rarely any teaching on it. But the council dedicated one of its first documents, the decree Inter Mirifica, to the subject. And the last major document from the man known as "the media pope" was an Apostolic Letter called "The Rapid Development," all about the media. And there's more: documents, letters, papal addresses, a section in the Catechism. Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:11:53 GMT http://www.catholicwritersguild.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=38 PENNSYLVANIA (August 1, 2008) -- The new Catholic E-Zine for children, My Light Magazine, just released their first issue. Inside you’ll find stories, articles, poems and more. “Thanks to our talented authors and illustrators who donated their time and work, our first issue is ready for the world,” editor Jennifer Gladen stated. Ms. Gladen is thrilled to announce the debut. “My Light is special to me,” she explained. “I want to help as many children as possible know and love God.” With the first issue now out, that dream is becoming a reality. The first issue is now available at http://mylightmagazine.com. Media contact: Jennifer Gladen editor(at)mylightmagazine.com Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:18:38 GMT http://www.catholicwritersguild.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=37 Help us to help the guild serve you better. take our MEMBERS ONLY survey. (This is for paying members, please.) Click Here to take survey Sat, 12 Jul 2008 22:02:06 GMT http://www.catholicwritersguild.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=36 Patrick Madrid and the Envoy Institute of Belmont Abbey College proudly present a very special 3-day conference: Join Patrick Madrid, Dr. Peter Kreeft, Teresa Tomeo, Dr. Paul Thigpen, Dr. Douglas Fortner, and many other leading Catholics at this first-annual Envoy Institutue Summer Conference! Seating is limited, so please, register now. Dear Friends, I'm very pleased to announce our first-ever Summer Conference, this coming July 11-13, 2008 at the beautiful campus of Belmont Abbey College. Our theme this year is "Combating Relativism and the Culture of Death on College Campuses, in the Media, and Beyond!" We are very fortunate to have a stellar line-up of excellent Catholic speakers, including Dr. Peter Kreeft, Raymond Arroyo (invited), Teresa Tomeo, Dr. Paul Thigpen, Serrin Foster, Jim Burnham, and several other luminaries. I'd love for you to join us at this first-ever Summer Conference, and to make that as easy as possible, we've prepared a section of the Envoy Institute website that provides all the details, speaker bios, conference schedule, maps, info on local hotels, etc. Click here to get all the details. Seating will be limited to just 280 people, so it's very important that you sign up right away, if you'd like to attend. Click here for the online sign-up form. At this conference, we'll be tackling the culture of death head-on with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the timeless truths of His Catholic Church, showing how you can be part of the solution in the effort to build a culture of life. Please be there! In addition to fellowship with a few hundred other committed Catholics, daily Mass in the beautiful Belmont Abbey Basilica, and lots of time spent learning from some of today's top Catholic leaders, this conference will also afford you a great opportunity to tour the lush, beautiful campus of Belmont Abbey College, meet the monks, and explore the Abbey's rich and longstanding heritage. I'm confident you'll find your visit very pleasant and enjoyable. Don't forget, we have a powerhouse lineup of great Catholic speakers who will be addressing urgent issues that affect you, your children, your community, and our nation as a whole. You'll be able to personally meet and mingle with all the speakers, and peruse their books and CDs, which will all be available for purchase at the conference. Get your picture taken with Peter Kreeft or Raymond Arroyo! Naturally, because space constraints mean that fewer than 300 will be able to attend this dynamic Summer Conference in person (sign up right now, if you want to be among those lucky ones!) , we will be professionally recording all the talks, and they'll be made available via downloadable video and audio files on the Envoy Institute website. Stay tuned for that development. If you're able to join us for this exciting, one-of-a-kind Summer Conference, please sign up right now. I hope to see you at Belmont Abbey College this July 11-13! With all best wishes in Christ, Patrick Madrid Director The Envoy Institute of Belmont Abbey College Fri, 27 Jun 2008 03:33:17 GMT http://www.catholicwritersguild.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=35 CWG member, Elaine Lyons Bach is touring her book, Gentle Journey, on line this month. Please follow a link and leave a comment of support! Here's what she told me: I would like to announce that Gentle Journey is currently being featured on a blog tour on Christian Fiction Review for the month of June. The first link to the tour is http:cfrblog.blogspot.com; that connects to http://forstrose.blogspot.com/ which has an interview and review. The next link is http://cathischatter.blogspot.com/. Then http://www.authorlauradavis.com. The Regency novel is meant to appeal to people of all ages. The main character, Eden, is the daughter of a Church of England Vicar who encounters an agnostic employer as well as all sorts of circumstances that call for her faith to be employed. I am a cradle Catholic who has taught many years in Catholic schools, so the opinions expressed by Eden are from a Catholic point of view, though points where Protestants and Catholics might differ are not brought up. I wrote the book to offer an alternative to the lack of morality found in the romances so many of my students were reading. Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:22:45 GMT http://www.catholicwritersguild.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=34 Dear Members! We’ve got some new CMN developments that will put a big smile on all your lovely faces! The Catholic Marketing Network’s president, Alan Napleton, is extremely interested in supporting our mission and is providing wonderful opportunities for us to grow our Guild and promote our work. I urge you all to seriously consider attending the Catholic Marketing Network conference (Somerset, NJ, August 6,7 and 8 ) – for free, remember – in order to do an author signing on one or all of the days of the conference. The CMN will be promoting such events in advance, through mailings to every single member of the network and notices to all attendees, ensuring increased traffic to our booth! Alan says attendees love author signings. Karina Fabian, Meredith Gould and Ellen Gable Hrkach are already signed up! The rest of you have very little time to make this important decision, because we have to submit the author names and dates in advance. The deadline is June 30th! This is your chance to promote yourself and your work to Catholic readers, media and publishing. If you absolutely cannot attend, please send promotional materials to me ASAP (laminated book cover, book marks, ordering forms, other information to be handed out at the conference, give-away books if desired). We will promote your work for you! And that’s not all! As guests of the CMN conference in August, we will be given a FREE room in which to hold a meeting of Catholic writers! What a gift to be able to meet each other in person! Let’s show Alan that we’re serious and get as many members as possible to come down to the conference. The rooms at the hotel adjacent to the conference center are $129/night, but there are much cheaper places within a five-mile radius. Consider meeting some friends and sharing a room! Opportunities like this don’t come along every day or every year. Not only do we have a chance to promote our books effectively in the presence of top industry professionals and meet each other face-to-face, but our booth will be right next to Alan’s (who is a joy), and every single person who stops to see him will have a chance to meet us! Don’t miss this golden opportunity to promote yourselves in the world of Catholic publishing and media. After all, what did you join the Guild for? Sincerely, Lisa Mladinich Conference Coordinator lisamladinich(at)optonline(dot)net Thu, 19 Jun 2008 03:36:28 GMT