Dr. Lisa Theus

Historical Fiction Editor

Lisa Theus thinks one of the best ways to get to know somebody is their favorite books, and she credits Eiji Yoshikawa’s Musashi with helping her fall in love with her now husband. Her favorite works include (listed chronologically!): The Epic of Gilgamesh, Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War, Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Thomas à Kempis’ Imitation of Mary, the poetry of John Donne, J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, Robin McKinley’s The Blue Sword, and Pope Benedict XVI’s Jesus of Nazareth.

She has spent most of her life training herself how to think like an ancient Roman (she earned a PhD in Classics at Rutgers University and taught college courses for several years). Eventually, she left academia for something more stable–working first as a church secretary for her local Catholic parish and now as an assistant for a financial advisor. She can’t keep her head out of history or rich worlds, however, and she loves reading about noble heroes and the difficult pursuit of virtue–however that may manifest. Bonus points for an engaging cast of characters and strong worldbuilding.
When she isn’t working for her paycheck, she’s pursuing the life of a freelance writer and editor; building her own worlds; volunteering in her community; or playing video games with her husband.

Corinna Turner

Fantasy Editor

Carnegie Medal Award nominated author Corinna Turner has been writing since she was fourteen and likes strong protagonists with plenty of integrity. She has an MA in English from Oxford University, but has foolishly gone on to work with both children and animals! Juggling work with the disabled and being a midwife to sheep, she spends as much time as she can in a little hut at the bottom of the garden, writing.

She is a Catholic Christian with roots in the Methodist and Anglican churches. A keen cinema-goer, she lives in the UK. She used to have a Giant African Land Snail, Peter, with a six inch long shell and an even larger foot, but now makes do with a cactus and a campervan! 

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Brave Water by Sarah Robsdottir

What if you had to risk your life for a simple cup of water?

Saving the Statue of Liberty By Andrea Jo Rodgers

Can John save the Statue of Liberty and keep from getting kicked off the team and out of the Academy?

Finnian and the Seven Mountains (Vol.2) By, Philip Kosloski and Michael Lavoy

Can one map be the key to stopping the Viking Invasion?

Mary, Seat of Wisdom By, J.T. Frodin

A child’s journey with Mary to discover why her heart is pierced.

August Books To Pray With: For Political Leaders

A book list to fuel your prayers for the world’s political leaders and grow your Catholic empathetic imagination.

PANIC! (unSPARKed #3) by Corinna Turner

It’s a three hour drive unSPARKed, and for city-folk, anything might cause PANIC!

Doctors, Assassins, and Other Tyrants by Katherine Campbell

Kidnapped princes, delusional assassins, and a dim-witted unicorn. What could possibly go wrong?

3 Mistakes New Catholics Make (& 2 Remedies)

Five common errors new converts make and how to avoid them from a convert 16 years in who did all of these so you don’t have to.

Heavenly Hosts: Eucharistic Miracles for Kids by Kathryn Griffin Swegart, O.F.S.

Teach your children about the real presence through these short bedtime stories.

Sisters of the Last Straw Book 1, 2 & 3: by Karen Kelly Boyce

Exploding kitchens, runaway goats, and ghosts in the chapel. Life in the Little Sisters of the Last Straw is never boring.

Sister Aloysius Says, “Pray, Pray, Pray.” By Linda Etchison Illustrated by Denise Plumlee-Tadlock

Sister Aloysius teaches children how to be active in their prayer life.

For Those Fleeing Their Country: June Books to Pray With Series

A reading list to reflect on the plight of migrants and refugees. We pray that migrants fleeing from war or hunger, forced to undertake journeys full of danger and violence, find welcome and new opportunities in the countries that receive them.

The Singer not the Song by Audrey Erskine Lindop (AKA The Bandit and the Priest)

A priest and a bandit king face off for the fate of a small Mexican town in this thrilling western adventure.

Where to begin with Dorothy L. Sayers?

A Detective novelist who believes in conscience, and in the reality of redemption.

Our Lady of the Roses by Janice Lane Palko

Could Rome spark romance between a fashionista and an inventor-engineer?

Treelight by Colleen Drippe

When the planet of Treelight’s contract changes hands the Star Brothers send an agent to discover the corporation’s plans for the sleepy little space colony.

From the Shadows by Jacqueline Brown

In a broken world, Bria tries to unite a family even as she struggles to keep hope alive.

Through the Ashes by Jacqueline Brown

Fans of The 100 and Runaway’s and The Gifted will find this YA story riveting.