Catholic influences guide bestselling romance writer

(CNS photo/ courtesy Nicholas Sparks)
Nicholas Sparks

By Mike Mastromatteo | Catholic News Service

Best-selling novelist Nicholas Sparks’ most recent book, “The Wish,” presents a plot common to many of his successful books.

Told through flashback and reflection over a 24-year timespan, the story follows the life of 40-ish New York City photographer Maggie Dawes, who as a teenager was sent to live with her Aunt Linda — a former nun — while she prepares to give birth to an unplanned and unexpected child. 

‘Buen Camino’ -- Deacon’s book shares a good journey

(Photo provided/ Deacon Ron “Willie” Williams)

By Amanda Hudson | News Editor

Deacon Ron “Willie” Williams of St. John Neumann Parish in St. Charles is a retired literature, composition, and history teacher who is also a three-time Camino de Santiago (Pilgrimage of St. James) walker. 

He has been married 46 years, has five children and six grandchildren and enjoys taking the kids on “Papa adventures.”

Ordained to the permanent diaconate in 1994, he works as a corporate chaplain, leads church missions, prison retreats, and serves at homeless shelters and as a spiritual director/counselor. He has been a member of St. John Neumann Parish for 35 years.

Thriller draws Vatican archivist into intrigue

(Photo provided)

By Sharon Boehlefeld
The Observer

“Gods in the Ruins,” which came out last spring, is the first in Msgr. Eric Barr’s Vatican Archives Thriller series. 

As the book opens in 2003, an 8-year-old boy, Daniel Aziz, receives a gift from Saddam Hussein in Baghdad. The boy, the son of a Catholic archeologist, is surprised by the gift, but not nearly as surprised as he is years later when his father discovers a mysterious artifact in a tomb in Babylon, an artifact that is written in an ancient language – all except for a date in modern English that is said to be the day when the world will end – Nov. 1, All Saints Day in the liturgical calendar.

Filipina-American author debuts with cozy mystery

(Photo provided)

Reviewed by Sharon Boehlefeld | The Observer

For some traditional Filipinos, it’s already Christmas time.

“In the Philippines they have the longest running Christmas season,” says Mia P. Manansala. They celebrate during “The ‘ber’ months — September, October, November, December.”

Manansala, who is a Filipina-American, launched her debut novel, “Arsenic and Adobo,” the first of her Tita Rosie’s Kitchen series, last summer. 

French couple sets example for faithful lives

(Observer photo/S. Boehlefeld)

 For readers with a little imagination, it will be easy to envision the scenes in “Salt and Light” by Bernadette Chovelon as part of a mid-20th century Technicolor movie extravanganza. 

With a backdrop of Paris during La Belle Époque at the turn of the last century, this tale of two lovers and their journeys of and toward faith come to life amid balls, worlds fairs, travels in Europe and North Africa, and more.

Chovelon’s book, however, is not a novel. It is a well-told recounting of the lives of Elisabeth and Felix Leseur, translated into English by Mary Dudro.

Book benefits SVdP Society, among others

(Observer photo)

 By Amanda Hudson | News Editor

Kim-Doan Katrina Nguyen, MD, is Vietnamese by heritage and Catholic since childhood.

She is also a big fan of the St. Vincent de Paul Society as evidenced by her book signing in early August with SVdP as the recipient of $9 per $15 book sold.

“I was able to donate $600,” she says of that event, noting that the money was divided between the four Rockford parish conferences: St. Rita, St. James, Cathedral of St. Peter and Holy Family.

She became active with the Holy Family conference of the SVdP Society in late 2016 and serves on the conference’s fundraising team. Her family’s experiences as refugees and the support they received along the way, are part of her attraction to the society and its spirit, she says.

Forgiving -- Chicago author draws on Catholic education for her mystery Novels

(Photos provided)

 By Sharon Boehlefeld | Features Editor

Tracy Clark’s first published mystery story started one day during a moment when her mind slipped away from a homily at St. Philip Neri Parish in Chicago.

“I looked at the confessional, and I thought, ‘You could put a body in there.’”

When that passing thought eventually coalesced with a character she’d been imagining since she was about 12, “Broken Promises” was born. In that first novel, Cass Raines was the private detective who wanted to solve the murder of her favorite priest in a Chicago parish much like Clark’s own.