Great News
So, this isn't ready for facebook yet, only for personal reasons that I don't fully understand myself.
However.
It seems as though I will be published by the end of this year.
I'm on this listserv for Call to Action 20/30, the young adult branch of Call to Action, a (VERY) progressive Catholic organization. I don't affiliate myself much with them except for the emails and the blog. Anyway, in December, they sent an email asking for proposals for contributions to an anthology of young adult Catholics involved with social justice issues. So I sent in my information, and said I would write about my perspective on the sex abuse stuff. They said they wanted 12 writers, and they'd let me know when they made their decision.
They made it. I'm in.
They want 2,000-3,000 words that tell my story, without getting preachy or telling people what to think. If all goes to plan, I also get paid a bit!
The working title for the book is: Hungering and Thirsting for Justice: Stories from Young Adult Catholics.
My own personal title options are: Massacre of the Innocence OR Prevailing Against the Gates of Hell.
*For my non-Catholic readers, the massacre of the innocents is when Herod killed all the baby boys to avoid his throne being usurped. Jesus escaped because Joseph had a dream telling them to leave. My alternate spelling is deliberate. The other is a reference to the "Tu Es Petra" verse that Catholics cite as Jesus giving authority to St. Peter: "You are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it." It's somewhere in Matthew, I think. Possibly Mark. I have also possibly left a few words out. Something about keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever, the bottom line is the same.
I like the first because it illustrates the similarities between Herod's fear of losing power (so he killed all the babies) and today's upper clergy's fear of losing power (so they hush everything up and enable further abuse). I like the second because it is hell, what some of these people have gone through, and how ARE we going to prevail if this hell is eating us up from the inside? It implies that the prevailing is in process, and has yet to be brought to fulfillment.
So that is my update. My piece is due by May 31, but how long it will be after that before it goes to print, I'm not really sure. I don't know how these things work. But I suppose I shall find out! This is, again, assuming all goes to plan. As in, I haven't signed any contract - that happens after I submit the piece and it is accepted for publication.
Working Tally of Projects/Jobs:
Teacher
Seussical Director
Grad School Work
Young Adult Ministry Volunteer
Cinderella, cast
Job Searching
Writing my Story
Church Choir
Let the masterful work of the Holy Spirit begin! (And while She's at it, getting this cold to go away would be fabulous...)
However.
It seems as though I will be published by the end of this year.
I'm on this listserv for Call to Action 20/30, the young adult branch of Call to Action, a (VERY) progressive Catholic organization. I don't affiliate myself much with them except for the emails and the blog. Anyway, in December, they sent an email asking for proposals for contributions to an anthology of young adult Catholics involved with social justice issues. So I sent in my information, and said I would write about my perspective on the sex abuse stuff. They said they wanted 12 writers, and they'd let me know when they made their decision.
They made it. I'm in.
They want 2,000-3,000 words that tell my story, without getting preachy or telling people what to think. If all goes to plan, I also get paid a bit!
The working title for the book is: Hungering and Thirsting for Justice: Stories from Young Adult Catholics.
My own personal title options are: Massacre of the Innocence OR Prevailing Against the Gates of Hell.
*For my non-Catholic readers, the massacre of the innocents is when Herod killed all the baby boys to avoid his throne being usurped. Jesus escaped because Joseph had a dream telling them to leave. My alternate spelling is deliberate. The other is a reference to the "Tu Es Petra" verse that Catholics cite as Jesus giving authority to St. Peter: "You are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it." It's somewhere in Matthew, I think. Possibly Mark. I have also possibly left a few words out. Something about keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever, the bottom line is the same.
I like the first because it illustrates the similarities between Herod's fear of losing power (so he killed all the babies) and today's upper clergy's fear of losing power (so they hush everything up and enable further abuse). I like the second because it is hell, what some of these people have gone through, and how ARE we going to prevail if this hell is eating us up from the inside? It implies that the prevailing is in process, and has yet to be brought to fulfillment.
So that is my update. My piece is due by May 31, but how long it will be after that before it goes to print, I'm not really sure. I don't know how these things work. But I suppose I shall find out! This is, again, assuming all goes to plan. As in, I haven't signed any contract - that happens after I submit the piece and it is accepted for publication.
Working Tally of Projects/Jobs:
Teacher
Seussical Director
Grad School Work
Young Adult Ministry Volunteer
Cinderella, cast
Job Searching
Writing my Story
Church Choir
Let the masterful work of the Holy Spirit begin! (And while She's at it, getting this cold to go away would be fabulous...)