Category: New Releases

New Releases, Nurturing Wonder, Offering HOPE, Poetry

Where All Things Meet, Mirror & Mingle

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Greetings to past, present (and continuing) friends of Cladach Publishing… from beautiful Colorado! Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Larry and I are giving thanks for each of you and for all God’s blessings.

I am thankful that lately, as I am doing less editing of our other amazing Cladach authors, I can catch up on my own writing. With joy and gratitude I am announcing …

My new poetry book has just taken wing!

I think my readers will find these 70 poems on nature, the faith life, and love both provocative and encouraging. One pre-reader said these poems helped them “connect their experiences and challenges to meaning and purpose.” Hearing that gives me joy.

Written during the strange, difficult years of 2019-2025, the poems don’t shrink from hard issues. But, as in all my writings, I seek to continually bring us back to hope, wonder, and courage.

Earthy metaphors sprouted up in my heart and mind to paint word pictures of the sacred in everyday moments.

I think you’ll find that the whimsical art and color photos add to the beauty and experience of this book (My thanks to John Timothy Watkin, nature photographer, for the cover photo). And at the back of the book are 12 pages of notes that cast some light on the contexts in which each poem came to be.

FUN FACT:

Dragonflies will wing up the the book’s margin as you flip the pages!

The paperback is available now for $14.00. Click to order (buy one for yourself and one as a gift):

Thankfully,

p.s. As you taste and savor this offering of poetry, may you be renewed in wonder and courage to exclaim with me …

As sapling roots seek communion in intertwined, forested place;
As a smile resolves into laughter, a touch melts in embrace;
As a honeybee homes in on colony after foraging far, alone,
Caught in storms but again re-orienting, hoping against hope—
I flow to You, reach for You, fly into You.

(last stanza of the poem “You In Me and I In You” from WHERE ALL THINGS MEET, MIRROR & MINGLE.)

 

Engaging Culture, Helps for Writers, Inspiration for writers, New Releases, The writing life, Writing the Truth in Love

Writing for Readers in Today’s Culture

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Many readers are also writers—whether published or not.

Are you a writer of sermons, blogs, letters, poetry, memoirs, essays, or books?

I invite you on a journey with me to discover, discern, and re-affirm a creative, organic, adventurous view of writing and publishing ministry today. Join me on this journey by reading my latest book, Write & Publish Organically: Dig Deep, Tend the Soil, Help Newness Emerge.

My vision of faith-based writing and publishing is like growing a garden that is not only productive but beautiful and good and true. It gets you in touch with “what is really real.” It gives life to all touched by the garden: workers, pollinators, neighbors, and consumers of the garden produce.

How does this vision fit within a post-modern, increasingly pluralistic and secular society, and a divided political landscape?

Churches are re-evaluating what ecclesia means, many Christians are deconstructing—and some are reconstructing—their beliefs. A growing number of the population identifies as SBNR (“spiritual but not religious”). They include the “Nones” (no religious affiliation) and the “Dones” (those who have left organized church). In this changing landscape how and what do we write and publish—especially in a sustainable way that will last and continue to grow and have influence?

In Write & Publish Organically, I consider five aspects of what I call organic publishing: Soak, Spoke, Evoke, Provoke, and Stoke. I show how we need to …

  1. SOAK (first ourselves and then our readers) in mentally, physically, socially, spiritually healthy
    nutrients, water, and life-sustaining soil.
  2. Listen to wise words and the Living Word SPOKEN through the ages and still speaking. Then use words ourselves with care and creativity.
  3. Write narratives to EVOKE the beautiful, good, and true, the transcendent within the imminent, to remind and re-enchant.
  4. PROVOKE with our writing, cultivating vision, action, and community for a future of healing, renewal, and wholeness.
  5. Continue to STOKE the fires of awareness, refinement, and relational engagement.

I choose the mindset of an under-gardener. My Father is the Gardener. Working with the Gardener, I purpose to dig, prepare the soil, and sow seeds with well-chosen, apt words. The resulting fruit may never be fully seen or measured. But I will seek to cultivate wheat, not chaff, and do it with love.

Join me, fellow writers and take the challenge of writing organically.

~Catherine

More about the book HERE.

 

 

 

Authentic Faith, Book reviews, Memoirs, New Releases

A Captivating Journey through the Stages of a Woman’s Life

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We received a beautiful letter from Fran Stedman (a British scholar, therapist, and teacher) who lives “across the pond.” She wrote an endorsement of Alice Scott-Ferguson’s memoir, Daughter of the Isles. Regrettably we we had to shorten Fran’s eloquent writing for use as a book cover blurb.

Below I share Fran’s entire review. Though this review doesn’t mention the ministry and multi-cultural parts of Alice’s story (which took place in Scotland, Ireland, England, Germany, New York, and Colorado) it does offer a vivid look at Alice herself and the themes of her life. So here are the words of British theologian and psychologist Fran Stedman:

In Daughter of the Isles, Alice Scott-Ferguson takes readers on a captivating journey through the stages of her life. With her exquisite prose and poetry, she skillfully invites us to immerse ourselves in her experiences. Through her vivid descriptions, we can almost smell the fragrances and visualize the picturesque sights she encounters, from the gentle sand fringed bays and towering cliffs of her home island to the enchanting scent of flowers guiding ships to safe harbor.

As we delve into Alice’s story, we become acquainted with compelling characters like Granny Nort, a product of the Victorian era, of fairness, justice, and equality within religious institutions. [Then later we see Alice] fearlessly challenging patriarchal norms. She spearheads initiatives to empower women and helps them find spiritual freedom in their true selves in Christ.

Alice and Jim as a young couple on the sandy beach of Papa Stour in the Shetlands

However, in Daughter of the Isles Alice doesn’t shy away from the painful aspects of her life. She shares her heart wrenching experiences of leaving her idyllic island home at age twelve and the profound grief she felt upon losing her soulmate, Jim, after many decades of marriage. More recently, she faced the devastating loss of a second husband, plunging her into a deep grief once again.

One of the remarkable aspects of this book is the journey of personal growth and spiritual development that Alice takes us on. We witness her transformation from a passionate warrior fighting for women’s empowerment to a serene and confident individual who finds solace in the finished work of Christ.

Alice Scott-Ferguson

The humility she displays in acknowledging the need for new perspectives on God’s grace is a beautiful lesson we can all learn from.

It is a beautifully written memoir that takes readers on a poignant and transformative journey. It is a book that will resonate with those seeking inspiration, spiritual growth, and a deeper understanding of what it means to be fully human.

Fran Stedman combines her time as a teacher of Philosophy, Theology, Ethics and Psychology, and an honorary Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist in a low-cost clinic in Central London, UK. She also runs a private practice offering therapy. Fran is a member of the Center of Open and Relational Theology, and she facilitates local theological discussions as well as thought provoking discourse on existential matters for individuals who may feel uneasy in traditional religious settings. Fran recently collaborated on the co-editing of a book of essays by writers worldwide, Partnering with God. She holds a BA in Psychology, BA (with honors) in Theology and Education, and MA in Political Theology.

Top photo: Max Stoiber / Unsplash

Learn more about the book, Daughter of the Isles HERE.

On hopeful paths of prayer and poetry,

~Catherine Lawton

God and Creation, Nature Writings, New Releases, Nurturing Wonder

The Animals In Our Lives

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Who doesn’t love animals and animal stories!

Photos of furry creatures and social-media videos of cute animal antics … books and movies of animal adventures … these are popular because they evoke feelings of wonder, memories of beloved pets, joy and excitement of wildlife sightings, or sensory experiences of a trip to the farm. Here is what I believe about our relationship to animals:

• Animals are our fellow creatures, loved by the Creator.
• Animals can provide companionship, inspiration, and comfort.
• Animals can teach us about the Creator and how to relate to God.
• Animals provide metaphors of our lives that help us understand ourselves.
• Animals (especially those in the wild) represent elements of Mystery.

God cares for his earthly creatures. He created them, blessed them, called them “good.” He saved the animals from the Flood and then made a covenant with “every living creature.” Many Scriptures display God’s care for animals. Old Testament laws protected animals. Jesus’ parables affirmed and spotlighted them.

In God’s Creatures: A Biblical View of Animals, Susan Bulanda asks: “Is it possible that God has put the desire to care for all animals in the hearts of many people … God’s love for his creation showing through humans?” Later, she adds: “Could there be subtle lessons of love God gives us through our pets?”

I think you will recognize these reciprocal lessons of love—some subtle and some not so subtle—in the stories, poems, anecdotes, and reflections included in this volume.

Sometimes animals are mirrors for us to see ourselves more clearly. I have found my dog to be a barometer of my emotions. His responses tell me when I am getting anxious or when my words sound too harsh; he responds much differently when my tone of voice is sweet and cheerful. It makes me feel bad to see him put his ears back and watch me with a worried expression. It makes me feel good to see him wag his tail and smile at me.

Animals, both wild and domestic, also help us by calling forth our sense of awe. As Thomas Berry has said, we need all of creation, including the animals “to evoke a world of mystery, to evoke the sacred.”

I continually wonder at the wilds of nature that can thrive alongside, often in spite of and struggling to adjust in the midst of, the civilized, tamed, domestic world. When a bird comes close and sings, when a deer steps out of the forest; these surprise sightings thrill. Finding myself sharing space with a wild creature, aware of each other, watching each other even for a moment, is a reminder of not only how different we are, but of what we have in common. Both the animal kind and my kind have breath. We communicate with body language and voice. We walk, run, choose mates, nurture families, search for food, seek shelter. And when we share moments of awareness and attention, the resulting experiential knowledge surely changes or affects us both in some way (hopefully not making us more fearful of each other), perhaps increasing our appreciation of our common creation.

We also share our lives with pets and, sometimes, farm animals. Our human friends learn to accept our animals as “part of the deal.” In a deeper application, the slogan often seen on kitchen towels or plaques, “Love me, love my dog” could, I think, be re-phrased “Love God, love God’s creatures.” Theologians have said as much, and more.

  • Celtic saint Columbanus exhorted, “Understand, if you want to know the Creator, created things.”
  • Orthodox scholar Maximus the Confessor taught the idea that creation (as well as Scripture) is God’s book. “God is ‘encoded’ for us in everything he has made. We are surrounded on every side by his ‘letters,’ his ‘analogies’ in creatures….” Our part is to care for, as well as give attention and respect to, the creatures, and even to praise God on their behalf.
  • Protestant evangelical theologian (and bird watcher) John Stott wrote, “God has given to human beings a midway position between himself and the animals. … In consequence, we combine the dependence on God that is common to all his creatures with a responsible dominion over the [animals] that is unique.”
  • Catholic writer Charles Camosy adds, “Nearly all theologians now agree that the biblical dominion God has given human beings over creation is not a license to use and dominate, but rather a command to be caretakers and stewards.”

I am thankful for all the dogs, cats, fish, chickens, ducks, birds, as well as the rabbits, squirrels, and deer that have been part of my life at different stages. I have cared for them, learned from them, and shared life with them. Many times when I or my family were facing challenging times, our hearts and spirits were lightened because the animals were there.

God, of course, is always there, everywhere, ever present to us; but God, who is spirit, does not have a corporeal body with skin, hands, and feet. Animals (as well as people) help God help us feel our loving, relational God’s presence.

With all this in mind, I enjoyed compiling, editing (and writing a number of) these often-funny, sometimes sad, and always awe-inspiring experiences with animals. I hope our readers enjoy these stories, too. You may find yourself laughing, crying, and appreciating more than ever God’s creatures, the animals in our lives.

On hopeful paths of prayer and poetry,

~Catherine Lawton

 

 

This post first published Jul 29, 2021. It was extracted from the Introduction to the book, The Animals In Our Lives: Stories of Companionship and Awe.The book contains delightful accounts of people with their dogs, cats, sheep, horses, backyard birds, woodland deer, and many other creatures. Our animals—pets, farm animals, and wildlife—inspire our awe, entertain us, help us, teach us, play with us, mourn with us, even work with us. Any animal lover will enjoy this very readable book.

Image credit: © Can Stock Photo / Gajus

 

Cladach Authors, God and Creation, God working in history, Memoirs, Nature Writings, New Releases, Nurturing Wonder, Offering HOPE

Bobo, Ouyang, and Susan: Experiencing Community

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Beauty, comfort, and caring community can come to us in surprising ways.

Ouyang is a Chinese friend of our author Susan Elaine Jenkins. They became acquainted while she lived and taught school in China for many years. Ouyang appears in Susan’s memoir SCANDALON: Running From Shame and Finding God’s Scandalous Love. If you read Scandalon, then you know how Ouyang helped Susan adjust to life in China and how Susan helped Ouyang better understand Christianity. Their conversations shared in the book are deep and moving and show God’s hand at work across cultures.

So I was delighted when Susan and Ouyang contributed a story, “Bobo the Hedgehog,” to our most-recent release, The Animals In Our Lives: Stories of Companionship and Awe.

“Bobo the Hedgehog” relates a moving childhood experience of Ouyang during the dreary days of the Communist Revolution in China—a period of time with very little beauty, comfort, or caring community. Seemingly by accident Ouyang found all those things—beauty, comfort, and caring community—when he happened upon a rare thing, a rose garden, one of the few gardens sanctioned by the government. And inside that “secret,” gated garden was a kind old gardener who befriended Ouyang. When the old man found a hedgehog by the river, he kept it hidden and let it be Ouyang’s “pet” for a while until the risk became too great and the hedgehog was released back into the wild. But the comfort and joy a pet hedgehog brought to the boy never left him and became a part of who he is today.

The kind gardener (however clandestinely) sharing the creature with him, at a time when families were not allowed to own pets, a terrible time when starving people were eating whatever animals, including pets, they could find … is the type of experience that can give needed hope to a child in a bleak environment.

Ouyang’s childhood memory, written for him by Susan, provides a rare glimpse into what life was like in those difficult times. It also gives a glimpse into the life and character of the boy who became the man, Ouyang.

Soon after The Animals In Our Lives was published, Ouyang found this little hedgehog (pictured above with him) on a river bank. Happy, formative, hope-giving memories again flooded back to his heart and mind.

Ouyang’s story of “Bobo the Hedgehog” is one of many included in The Animals In Our Lives, that demonstrate how animals of all kinds can give us companionship, the experience of awe, and a sense of God’s presence.

 

 

Art in Books, Book Publishing, Christian Art, Devotional, Joy of Reading, New Releases, Poetry

Creative Author and Creative Readers Reflect on our Creator God

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Sample pages from BIBLE POEMS (with reader doodles)

The creativity of Donna Marie Merritt, poet and author of Bible Poems for Reflection and Response extends even beyond her poetic word pictures. She had the idea of giving her readers the opportunity to not only reflect on her poems (which themselves are reflections on the Bible) but to allow space on the pages, including 17 blank pages, for readers to respond with their own poems, thoughts, prayers, drawings and doodles. The book released this month (September 1, 2020). What we’ve already heard from readers tells us this book is encouraging reflection:

  • “These jewels, these pearls each carry a small glimmer of truth, wisdom, stern instruction, and unconditional love.”
  • “I am delighted to take away thoughtful pieces … to meditate on further.”
  • “The questions raised throughout the book help me evaluate, repent, and respond with worship.”

One reader sent us photos of the reflective/responsive art she created on the book pages. You can view those colorful doodles in this short video:

As a publisher I love to bring authors and readers together, and especially I love it when they are reflecting together on God’s truth, creation, and the life of faith. In this way, writing—and reading—a book of poetry can lead to worship expressed in words, art and action.

Creative Nonfiction, Healing & Wholeness, Memoirs, New Releases, Offering HOPE, Storytelling

BRAVE WHIMSY and VULNERABILITY

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The unique style of author Janyne McConnaughey—interweaving literary whimsy, informative narrative, and raw vulnerability—is reaching into the hearts and minds of readers. For instance, in A BRAVE LIFE we find Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz interacting with Janyne’s three adult selves and many child selves.

We love the way Janyne weaves delightful, fictional characters into her narratives. In Janyne’s previous book, JEANNIE’S BRAVE CHILDHOOD, Alice of Wonderland appears throughout (and rumors are she may return in a future book). But Dorothy of Oz and her Yellow-Brick-Road companions, even Oz himself, fit perfectly in A BRAVE LIFE.

Janyne McConnaughey PhD

In this new book, Janyne shares the story of how she lived her adult life with the effects of childhood trauma and attachment issues. Janyne describes her “Yellow Brick Road” journey that taught her about the abundant life and the many ways it had been stolen from her by childhood trauma. A BRAVE LIFE offers hope and insight to all who have persevered and silently suffered without knowing why…. and it provides a handbook to help Christians in the church minister to those who, as children, were victims of the unspeakable.

Janyne bravely paints a word picture of how a childhood-trauma survivor experienced adulthood—including multiple moves and transitions, marriage and parenting, and a college teaching career—all the time coping through dissociative “split” personalities.

It was a confusing life fraught with “emotional landmines,” but Janyne’s healing journey led to her “Emerald City” as all the parts of Janyne learned to trust each other and work together—which they do beautifully in this book.

Jesus shows up in A BRAVE LIFE also. The scenes where Jesus talks with Janyne’s various selves are descriptive, not prescriptive. They describe what Janyne heard the Spirit of Jesus say to her heart, true words that helped heal the effects of what trusted adults had wrongly said to her way back when she was 10.

Just as pushing back the curtain revealed the “real” wizard of Oz, Janyne had the courage to push back the curtain and reveal her feelings of being an “imposter,” of dissociative pain and struggles and their root causes. We agree with Pathway to Hope director, Kiersten Adkins, who says of Janyne, “May her courage inspire us to find safe spaces for ourselves and be those safe spaces for others.”

If you long to find your own safe spaces in which to heal, and to help (not hinder) others’ healing, you may want to join the many readers being encouraged, informed, and helped by the BRAVE series.

(Note: The three graphics above created by Janyne McConnaughey and posted on Facebook. Used here with permission.)

Book Publishing, Cladach Authors, Marketing Books, New Releases, Poetry

Publishing During the Coronavirus Pandemic and Social Isolation

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Photo by Julentto Photography on Unsplash

Like everyone else, Cladach has felt the effects and isolation of the virus. Especially in these ways:

  • Amazon, where many of our sales happen, has de-prioritized orders, sales, and shipping of books during the pandemic as they concentrate on shipping more urgently needed items. But, the good news is we’ve heard from customers that their orders are on the way. Amazon has our books in stock and will fulfill orders, though the ship time may be longer than usual. So go ahead and place those orders!
  • Postponed spring titles and uncertain release dates. But the following books will release in 2020 (dates to be announced):
    • A BRAVE LIFE by Janyne McConnaughey, PhD
    • BIBLE POEMS by Donna Marie Merritt
    • UNPAUSED : Poems by Alice Scott-Ferguson
  • Author events cancelled. Here are a few examples:
    • Catherine Lawton (that’s me) was scheduled to teach three workshops at the Colorado Christian Writers Conference, which had to be canceled, but conference director Marlene Bagnull says she plans to save the 2020 program in 2021. Conferees can look forward to my workshops on these topics in May 2021 in Estes Park, Colorado: 1) Poetry, 2) Creative Nonfiction, 3) Marketing
    • Janyne McConnaughey (author of BRAVE and now living in Seattle) has had to cancel her early May trip to Colorado Springs, where she was scheduled to participate in the Mountain of Authors event and do a book signing at a local shop.
    • Alice Scott-Ferguson had anticipated a trip in April to Monument, Colorado for a Pen Women’s event, meeting with friends, authors and readers and selling copies of Pausing in the Passing Places.This event was postponed.
  • As we’ve all heard, small businesses, including those in the book business, have suffered because of lower sales, closures, layoffs. One way to support local independent bookstores is to purchase books through the nation-wide, excellent and efficient online Bookshop program, Books are shipped directly from printer/warehouses, and the profits from these online sales are shared among all participating, local independent bookstores. Cladach titles that are available through IndieBound are also searchable and orderable through Bookshop. For instance, you can find my new book, Glimpsing Glory, at Bookshop HERE.
  • We all feel the isolation. “Staying Home” and social distancing can bring out creativity and is surely teaching us some important and hopefully lasting lessons if we will listen in the solitude to what our very-present God is whispering to us. May it be so. May healing and hope spread through our world, and may we come together again soon!
  • Some heartwarming stories are coming out of this difficult season, as people choose to show generosity and a giving attitude. Donna Marie Merritt (author of forthcoming BIBLE POEMS, who lives, writes, and works as a librarian in Connecticut) shared this happy, heartwarming report: “Last night I was feeling helpless, looking at a box of children’s books [that she authored] sitting idle because there are no book events right now. Then … I posted on a local FB page that any child in need of a book right now could get a signed copy from me free. Within hours, the entire box was signed and waiting in bags on my porch for pick-up. I had unemployed parents reach out, parents with bored children, parents who can’t bring their kids to the library during this crisis. It was the best ‘book event’ of my career. And some have begun sending photos.” [Photos posted below with permission].
Book Publishing, Book reviews, Joy of Reading, New Releases, The Publishing Process, Why Publish?

Full Circle: Capturing Imaginations, Hearts and Minds

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Engaging Culture, Fiction, Freedom, New Releases, Offering HOPE

A Story of Resiliency, Integrity, and Community

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Each generation must find its way amidst cultural changes, clashes and conflicts. Carolina and Mauricio had to do this in the new novel, PRAIRIE TRUTH (just released). Reading a good historical novel not only gives the reader momentary escape, but paints a colorful picture and historical perspective that helps to clarify the conflicts of today.

Like the characters in PRAIRIE TRUTH, and like those who actually lived in the San Luis Valley of New Mexico / Colorado in the 1800s, I can look back at generations of my own family tree and find abundant examples of people fleeing persecution, oppression, and hardship to seek an identity, a living, and fulfillment.

My husband’s Danish forebears immigrated to America when Germany took over the southern section of Denmark on which their farm was located, and attempted to conscript their sons into the German army.

My Scots-Irish ancestors had earlier found their way to America amidst turmoils, persecutions, and deprivations in their part of the British Isles.

My great-grandparents found their way to a homestead in Eastern Colorado to seek new opportunities.

Members of my mother’s birth family found their way to the agricultural fields of California to escape the poverty of the Dust Bowl and Great Depression era in Oklahoma and southeast Colorado.

Another great-great grandmother, who is said to have been a Cherokee Indian escaped from the Trail of Tears, hid at the back of a tobacco farmer’s fields in Indiana and raised his illegitimate child. That child, who grew to be my great-grandfather, took the farmer’s name, avoided school, farmed steadily, and carved out a quiet life raising a family and serving the Lord, keeping silent about his parentage.

Fact can be stranger than fiction, and that makes fiction like PRAIRIE TRUTH believable. In this historical novel, a young woman born on the Colorado prairie to a white settler’s daughter and a Cheyenne Indian, never fully accepted by either culture, leaves home and rides her horse toward the mountains and high valleys southwest of Denver. There she learns the language and customs, and blends in, at least for a time. There she make friends, proves her abilities to contribute to the good of a community, and falls in love.

She finds out that her new community itself—the San Luis Valley of Colorado in 1888—is racially and culturally and religiously mixed also. Wars have been fought and won or lost. Borders of nations and states have been re-drawn. They must adjust to new language, new laws, and prejudices. But also, new opportunities present themselves.

The sufferings, traumas, and separations of the past were as real as those of today. The challenges of the present may feel insurmountable at times. But learning how resiliency, integrity, and community have carved paths of hope in times past, gives us courage to face into our problems today with renewed faith and hope for a better future.

~Catherine