Hey there! The Pageturning Report is a little late this month. I’ve been swamped with work and various commitments, but I wanted to let you all know what I’ve been up to.
Recently Pageturning passed 170 subscribers!!!
Thank you so much for joining me on this adventure. I have many exciting projects to share with you this summer.
Summer projects!
I’ve signed up for another three months of fiction coaching with professional writing coach Katelin Cummins. I’m working on a fantasy novel that’s been in my head for years, and that I’ve tinkered with from time to time. My goal is to write at least 30,000 words for the novel this quarter.
Hopefully, I’ll be able to begin revisions on my nonfiction children’s book very soon. I’ve already started some preliminary research for a sequel.
I’m also hard at work writing essays for three websites: The Word on Fire Blog, The Voyage Comics Blog, and Busted Halo.
My latest articles and essays
Busted Halo
How Decluttering My Office Created Space for New Career Goals
Even though the process of emotional healing can be a wrenching, even painful, experience at first, I’ve found that simple acts of trusting in God’s goodness, and cultivating a healthy detachment from old ways of thinking and doing things, can be truly transformative.
Voyage Comics
“Level-Up” in Virtue: Lessons from the Super Mario Bros. Movie
When we face our spiritual battles — lifelong struggles with doubts and temptations — we can call on the assistance of the saints and holy angels. They can be our “co-op players” and provide “power-ups” in the form of the graces that their prayers obtain for us from Almighty God.
Let there be. . . a classic sci-fi dystopian novel
A Canticle for Leibowitz is science fiction in its pure form. That is, it is a story about science itself, and about man’s relationship with science. What sets it apart from other works in the genre is that it is also a book that is deeply concerned about science’s relationship with faith and how this relationship has influenced society across the centuries. In this first installment in a three-part series of essays we shall examine each of the Leibowitz novellas individually and explore what each one has to teach us.
Word on Fire
A “Declaration of Dependence” on Almighty God
[Fulton] Sheen’s solution to the travails of 1940 should be our response to the wars that plague us in the twenty-first century: each of us must make a personal “Declaration of Dependence” on Almighty God. The key to peace begins with repentance. We will begin to be truly free from fear and hopelessness when we repent in humility. For as St. Paul reminds us, “for freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1).
Podcast life!
The Secrets of Movies & TV Shows
Do you have certain movies that you can watch over and over and never get bored? I’m joined by Mike Creavey and Mike Denz to discuss our favorites; what makes a movie rewatchable; and how streaming services have changed rewatchability.
The Adventures of Tintin is a 2011 star-studded animated film based on the famed comic book series. I’m joined by Jack Baruzzini and Victor Lams to discuss what makes the movie good for all ages and the moral messages it includes.
The Secrets of Middle-Earth
I join Jeff Haecker, Kaitlyn Facista, and Thomas Sanjurjo to celebrate Dads as we discuss the fathers of Middle-earth, both good and bad, including both biological fathers and spiritual fathers.
Smeagol or Gollum? I’m joined by Thomas Sanjurjo, Jeff Haecker, and Kaitlyn Facista for a deep dive on the character of this Ringbearer, his motivations and roles in various media, the latest video game featuring Gollum, and the controversial opinion: Is Gollum the secret hero of LOTR?
My reading life!
Here’s a few of the books I’ve been reading this month:
Travels with Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck
Life of Christ by Fulton J. Sheen
The Children of Húrin by J. R. R. Tolkien
Return to the Future by Sigrid Undset
Extraterrestrial Intelligence and the Catholic Faith by Paul Thigpen
My friend
recently released his new uncanny fiction collection Webs and Shadows. I’ll let Paul’s description speak for itself:In a quiet corner of England lies the county of Barsetshire, nestled between Somerset and Wiltshire. This rural landscape is of little note to the average Briton today, who sees little more than woodlands and fields, and not the strangeness that lurks beneath. In the shadows of the Lobwold and the back alleys of Barchester, mystery abounds if you know where... and how... to look.
Webs and Shadows pulls back the curtain on the hidden history of Barsetshire, from the aftermath of the Ice Age to the end of the second Elizabethan Age, and contains nine weird tales set in 'the edge of nowhere.' Pierce the webs and cast light into the shadows as you tread the secret paths of Barsetshire between the First and Final Champions of the British Isles.
Please check out Webs and Shadows and support a very talented indie sci-fi/fantasy author!
Farewell for now!
Thanks again for all of your interest and support. I plan to post a few more special updates this summer, so stay tuned!