Novel Thoughts blog
  1. John Herreid

    Detective fiction and mystery novels have a long pedigree in the Catholic world. This may seem strange: Catholic and Christian authors writing about murder and crime? What’s up with that? Yet when you look at the long list of detective fiction writers, you’ll find many prominent names among them: G.K…. Read more »

    Tags: author interviews detective fiction mystery writing

  2. Ignatius Press Novels

    “The Creative Catholic” interviews

    May 3, 2017 2:38 pm Leave a Comment

    In Catholic World Report, writer K.V. Turley has been doing the great service of interviewing a wide range of Catholic writers and artists. So far, he has spoken with a number of authors including Catholic novelists Michael D. O’Brien and Fiorella De Maria. Here is a complete list of the… Read more »

    Tags: author interviews Catholic writers Fiorella de Maria michael d. o'brien

  3. T. M. Doran

    Every writer brings a perspective to his or her creative work, but there’s a difference between bringing a perspective to storytelling and using storytelling as a means to impose the author’s views on the reader. With thousands of radio and television shows and an unfettered Internet, the commercial and cultural… Read more »

    Tags: fiction ideology politics writing

  4. Ignatius Press Novels

    “A Masterpiece of Detective Fiction…”

    March 31, 2017 6:10 pm Leave a Comment

    For those who love classic mystery tales, the latest novel by Fiorella De Maria really seems to have struck a chord. In Catholic World Report, Dr. Kelly Scott Franklin says: Thus it is with joy that we welcome a newcomer to the pantheon of literary detectives. In a line of… Read more »

    Tags: detective fiction Fiorella de Maria mystery reviews the sleeping witness

  5. A Well Told Story Translates into Any Language

    February 21, 2017 4:14 pm Leave a Comment

    “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen. The man who never reads lives only one.” ― George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons   James Casper’s novel Everywhere in Chains has been translated into Polish under a new title: Listy do Penelopy, which means Letters to Penelope—pen-pal communication,… Read more »

    Tags: Eastern Europe Everywhere in Chains James Casper reviews translation

  6. Read Aloud: Confessions of an Older Sibling

    December 5, 2016 9:00 am Leave a Comment

    I have not written for quite some time, but after some recent conversations with my 22-year-old brother, Christian, I had some inspiration. I am the oldest of four and two of my siblings are not even out of high school. There is a seven year gap between me and Christian,… Read more »

    Tags: Narnia Read aloud siblings Tolkien

  7. John Herreid

    We Need Art

    October 14, 2016 9:42 am Leave a Comment

    A few months ago, gazing at a stream of political squabbling on my Facebook feed—some of it my own fault—I decided to do something different. Having recently been to one of the local art museums here in San Francisco, I decided that since most days I arrive early to work,… Read more »

    Tags: art art appreciation

  8. T. M. Doran

    An Unlikely Hero

    October 5, 2016 1:54 pm Leave a Comment

    If we desire a literary hero, Bilbo Baggins wouldn’t be at the top of the list. Even those who opt for a hobbit hero would likely gravitate to Frodo, or maybe Sam Gamgee, and many “Lord of The Rings” devotees would select Aragorn, Gandalf, Eowyn, or Faramir. Harper Lee’s Atticus… Read more »

    Tags: Heroism The Hobbit The Lord of the Rings Tolkien

  9. My oldest grandson, Eli, is a couple months short of his sixth birthday as I write this. He has a phrase that he picked up during a visit to Disney World: “It’s magical.” He uses it now whenever he discovers some new, shiny, wonder-inducing beauty. I thought of this when… Read more »

    Tags: book reviews michael d. o'brien the fool of new york city

  10. Ignatius Press Novels

    Michael O’Brien to receive Aquinas Award for Fiction

    September 1, 2016 5:40 pm Leave a Comment

    The 2016 Aquinas Award for Fiction will be given to Michael D. O’Brien for his novel Elijah in Jerusalem at Aquinas College’s Second Annual Tolkien & Lewis Celebration in Nashville, Tennessee. Joseph Pearce, the acclaimed literary biographer and director of the Center for Faith and Culture, will present the award… Read more »

    Tags: aquinas award for fiction joseph pearce Lucy Beckett michael d. o'brien

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