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! 

Secrets Visible and Invisible, An Anthology 

Tales of courage, compassion and virtue in compelling and naturally engaging Y.A. short stories.

God Made the Moonlight by Erin Broestl, Illustrated by Jean Schoonover-Egolf

A beautifully illustrated bedtime story that helps your child see the beauty of nature as God’s personal love letter to humanity

Brothers by Corinna Turner

To fulfill his dream and become a priest, a young man must sneak across borders and find his way to freedom.

Shadow in the Dark by Antony Barone Kolenc

An immersive mystery and an amateur sleuth set in the walls of a 12th century English monastery

Servant of the Suffering: Rose Hawthorne by Voyage Comics

The great-great-great-granddaughter of a Salem witch trial judge is on her way to Catholic sainthood.

Feel-Good Books For Pandemic Summer

Book Therapy to chase the blues away

Milestone to Manhood: A Christian Rite of Passage to Help Your 13-Year-Old Son Make the Leap from Boyhood to Manhood by David Arms and Steven Arms

One father’s quest to help his sons learn what it means to be a man – and how you can start your own tradition.

Hologram by Walker Larson

Aaron is the only one who can see through the holograms.

Good to the Last Drop by Declan Finn

Marco thought his problems were over when he took on the vampire council, until he gets bit by a werewolf. Will this ruin things with his vampire girlfriend?

Spooky Catholic Reads

Books with the themes of the All Hallows season grouped according to scariness level.

Books To Pray With: Feb For the Terminally Ill

Every month in 2024 Pope Francis has a monthly prayer intention. Every month we will release a book list that will draw your heart and soul deeper into prayer on these topics.

Three Last Things or The Hounding of Carl Jarrold, Soulless Assassin by Corinna Turner

The last day of a convicted murderer’s life: Can he save his soul in time?

Lord of the Rings & the Eucharist by Scott L. Smith

What do trees have to do with Bread & Wine?

The Fire of Eden (The Harwood Mysteries Book 3) by Antony Barone Kolenc

The mystery of a stolen treasure might hold the key to Xan’s discernment about whether God is calling him to the priesthood or to Lucy.

A Fisher of Women: The Tale of the Forgotten Healer of Galilee by Catherine Magia

Before she and husband were Saints, Peter and his wife struggled just to heal themselves

Lying Awake by Mark Salzman

A cloistered nun confronts her faith when she realizes that the private revelations she has been given might be the product of epilepsy.

McCracken and the Lost Oasis by Mark Adderley

A swashbuckling adventure into Catholic history and archeology.

Celtic Crossing by Len Mattano

Relic lost, and faith found.

The Wistful and the Good by G. M. Baker

Two weeks after the sacking of Lindisfarne, Norse traders aren’t welcome in Northumbria. But they’re here. Does a Viking really have a chance with an English noblewoman?

The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene

“Virtue, the good life, tempted him in the dark like a sin.”