April Anarchy

When life falls off the balance beam...

Happy Easter, bibliophiles!

I hope you don’t think Easter is over. The liturgical calendar calls for forty days of fasting, fifty days of feasting. God’s nature is joy and life and resurrection. As my pastor said on Easter Sunday, “Eat crawfish for the next fifty days.”

Aye, aye, sir.

But even while we’re celebrating, life tends to intrude. “April Anarchy” is a phrase I stole from the NCAA gymnastics commentators on ESPN; it’s meant to be the gymnastics equivalent of “March Madness.” (LSU is competing in the elite eight tomorrow—Geaux Tigers!) But “April Anarchy” has applied to my own life this month too. I spent a lovely Easter Sunday with my family and attended a beautiful celebration for my sister-in-law’s birthday, but apart from that, April has been…interesting. My eldest son is a junior in high school, and on top of all the usual “getting ready for college” stuff, he had not one but two AP teachers quit about a month before the tests, and now he has to stay after school just to take calculus, which interferes with younger son’s carpool schedule, which interferes with after school activities, which… You get the idea. And I’m sick this week too. April Anarchy, indeed.

Still, it’s Easter, and God calls us to rejoice even in our hardships. He will use all things for good—including anarchy.

Interview with The Catholic Bard

I have a new interview out today on Patheos with The Catholic Bard. It’s part of a series about living Catholic writers. I’m grateful not only to be part of it, but for the effort to highlight modern work. I’ve also never been compared to a Gummi Bear before, so… Enjoy!

New from Chrism Press!

This is a bittersweet release for all of us at Chrism Press: Keeper of Keys, the final, magnificent installment of the Molly Chase series—the very first series we ever acquired—written by my dear friend and fellow Chrism Press founding editor, Rhonda Ortiz. It’s a fantastic book and a worthy conclusion to the multi-award-winning series, but boy, are we going to miss working with Molly and Josiah!

Best to leave the ghosts alone.

Boston, 1793—Federal spies Molly and Josiah Robb have returned to Molly’s childhood home—not to brood on her father’s suicide, but with a mission: woo Boston’s elite and find the traitors infiltrating American intelligence operations. Dinners, parties, church committees, business dealings—the Robbs must throw wide their doors if they are to hear society’s tittle-tattle. Only one door remains locked. No one goes in Papa’s study.

Spinster Anne Lawrence will do anything to placate her wealthy uncle if it means her brother Peter will inherit his fortune. So when Uncle Lawrence asks her to befriend the detestable Molly Robb and hunt down a document hidden in Molly’s house, Anne agrees. Little does she know that she’s being watched in turn.

When Molly tells Josiah that they’re expecting a baby, Josiah is caught between joy and panic—Molly’s late mother lost several children at birth. When Molly’s pregnancy doesn’t go as planned, he wonders if they are reliving her parents’ story.

In this poignant conclusion to the Molly Chase series, Keeper of Keys explores the joys and sorrows of marriage, the weight of sin, the power of mercy, and the true meaning of homecoming.

Anne Lawrence’s expanded role in this book is entirely my fault—Rhonda will back me up on that. Catch up on the series with In Pieces (Book One) and Adrift (Book Two).

Other Cool Happenings

For the second year in a row, more than half of the books Chrism Press released last year have been named finalists in the Association of Catholic Publishers Excellence in Publishing Awards in fiction. Congratulations to Incarnate by Antony Barone Kolenc, The Bicycle Messenger by Joan Elizabeth Bauer, and The Wagers of Sin by Emily Hanlon. I loved working with all of you on these beautiful books, and I’m so happy to see them getting the recognition they deserve!

I also had a great time back in March at the Maker Fair at my eldest son’s school, sharing my books with our community. Oh, how I love indoor, air-conditioned book events full of eager readers!

I hope you all have a blessed Easter season! Don’t forget, I love to hear from you. Questions, comments, memes, whatever—just hit reply or comment on the post in Substack.

Blessings,

Karen