Five things you didn’t know about “Chastity Is For Lovers.”

WRITING A BOOK IS HARD.

But it’s also exciting. You’re on track for awhile, say a thousand words a day, until — PLOT TWIST — you miss your deadline anyway. There are twists and turns, all-nighters in which you write your favorite chapter, and all-nighters after which you throw out what you wrote.

You can plan for whatever you’d like while you write, but some stuff you just can’t predict. Among the things I couldn’t predict are the first four fun facts below — things you probably didn’t know — and the fifth one, I threw in for good measure:

1. I wrote at least a third of Chastity Is For Lovers on an air mattress. The double-high air mattress, stuck between the foot of my own bed and the bookshelf across from it, was inflated for the house guests to whom I loaned my room. After they left, I sat on it with my laptop and I wrote. And then I wrote, and I wrote, and I wrote. And so on an air mattress (apparently the jackpot for inspiration) is where I wrote — I’m talkin’ for weeks — until I finally retired it and wrote instead on the floor.

2. Listening to “Say Something” by A Great Big World on repeat turned out to be a reliable remedy for writer’s block. Which is entirely inexplicable.

3. I ended a nearly eight-year caffeine fast in order to finish Chastity Is For Lovers. I quit caffeine in college because I am naturally caffeinated. (And because of the time it caused my resting heart rate to reach 150. #truestory) But writing a book meant pulling all-nighters, especially toward the end. In favor of meeting my already-thrice-extended deadline simultaneously as retaining my day job, I got my coffee on, a lot. I stuck with half-caf, mostly, and have since quit caffeine again.

4. I first learned Sr. Helena Burns would write the book’s foreword when she tweeted about it. I am pretty sure I screamed when Twitter notified me via my phone that Sr. Helena had tweeted that she’d write it. Unbeknownst to me, my editor — who knows how much I love Sr. Helena — had reached out to her with the invitation. And obvs, Sister said yes. Best. Surprise. Ever.

5. I want to bring the book to you. When the book launches in the Fall, I actually want to bring it to you. If you’re interested, help me make it happen! How? Tell me the name and location of your church and/or diocese in the comments below.

[Announcement] THE TITLE OF MY BOOK.

I HAVE BEEN HARBORING ANOTHER SECRET.

This one for more than a month.

And I just can’t harbor it any longer.

My book has a title.

So this fall, when you find it on shelves or online, you’ll know it’s mine when this is what it’s called:

[insert drum roll]
Chastity Is for Lovers
Single, Happy, and (Still) a Virgin

I could not be happier with it.
I also couldn’t be more grateful for your prayers and support.
Stay tuned for a cover reveal. Coming soon…!

Talkin’ chastity on TV.

It was an honor last month to be chosen by Great 38 in Tampa to appear on an episode of Our Issues Tampa Bay, called “Young Movers and Shakers.” Host Jenn Holloway asked about my forthcoming book, what it was like to put my virginity in the newspaper, and what advice I have for viewers. Watch below if you’d like, and if you like what you watch, please share it:

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*Please ignore the definition of chastity on screen while I define chastity. The one on screen — from the dictionary — contradicts chastity’s true definition, as defined by the Church. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Thoughts on writing a book.

“I’M GOING TO WRITE A BOOK!” 

I was home alone, except for my dog, when I shouted it. A goal — a dream, really — had been handed to me by an editor at Ave Maria Press, the publishing house that reviewed my book proposal and invited me to write the book I pitched.
A miracle. Truly.
I screamed and danced with my dog, who wasn’t as excited as I was, and I called my mom but she didn’t answer, ’cause she was in a meeting.
In the quiet that followed my response to the news, I sat at the kitchen table, suddenly aware of what the news meant:
I have to write a book.

It was joy and fear, probably like becoming a parent, or something. Like, I want this, this commitment I am getting into, but I tremble humbly and am periodically terrified when I consider its magnitude — when I consider that I am being entrusted with this, that I am responsible for something that is going to affect people.
It is so scary. And it is so exciting.
As of Christmas week, the book’s first draft is done. The work, however, isn’t. I am in round one now of revisions, and am to turn a second draft in on Jan. 13. What is important to me now, as I tweak what I have so far and add to it, too, is this:
the right words.
The words readers need to read to get what they need when they read it.
Every day between now and my next deadline, I will be in the book. My hope is that while I am in the book, you will be in prayer. I will start a novena tonight, to St. Francis de Sales — patron saint of journalists and writers — for the right words as I write. If you’ll join me, in prayer generally, or by committing to a novena, I will be eternally grateful.
Other novenas: