The City Mother's First Christmas

A year in the life of a debut novelist.

My novel The City Mother began years ago as a series of hastily-typed notes while on maternity leave with my two children, born 22 months apart.

In an online writing group, a draft novel emerged over many evenings and weekends. The manuscript lived in a three-ring binder in my closet, its accompanying vision board tucked in a desk. To my mind, the images of a gargoyle overlooking a city, a baby, the poet Baudelaire, and a sorrowful Virgin Mary evoked the story’s Gothic elements, though not its modern American setting, nor its humor.

In February 2022, The City Mother was published by Chrism Press, with cover endorsements from Mary Eberstadt and Abigail Favale. It garnered positive reviews from Front Porch Republic and The Washington Free Beacon, along with several good reviews (and one by an anonymous grump who DID NOT LIKE IT) on .Amazon.

I was delighted to participate in seven podcasts about the novel, including chats with Helen Roy of Girlboss, Interrupted, Michele McAloon of Cross Word, and Dr. Stuart Squires of Catholicism and Culture. “If you read one novel this year,” McAloon wrote of The City Mother, “this is the one you want to read.”

In May, on the evening before Mother’s Day, I gave a reading at my hometown bookstore. We catered the event with chocolate, cheese, and wine and — regrettably — bought too much, forcing me to take home the leftovers. (Clearly, I need to write more books.)

In September, I was thrilled to attend the Catholic Imagination Conference at the University of Dallas. I spoke on a panel of nonfiction writers and got to hang out with my Chrism editor, Karen Ullo, and numerous other authors I admire. The Catholic literary scene is vibrant and growing in 2022, and I’m happy to be part of it.

In October, I attended a talk by Chesterton scholar Dale Ahlquist and gave him a copy of The City Mother. Weeks later, he emailed me to say that he “enjoyed it immensely” and planned to review it in Gilbert, the magazine of The Society of G.K. Chesterton. Also, I recently learned that the novel will be featured in the next season of Stories on Stage Davis. What a way to wrap up a wonderful year.

If you haven’t read The City Mother , consider buying a copy to read over the holidays.

Or, if you read and enjoyed it, consider buying additional copies as gifts for the fiction readers in your life.

Either way, thanks for reading my Substack newsletter, where I share new work. I wish you a Merry Christmas and will see you in 2023!