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! 

Sister Aloysius Comes to Mercyville By Linda Etchison, Illustrated by Denise Plumlee-Tadlock

A young nun teaches children how to offer up their daily irritations to God.

Siren Spell by Karina Fabian

Immortal dragon Vern can handle anything—until a curse turns him human…

Night Prayer by Brother Bernard Seif, SMC, Ed.D., DNM

The Motto Suaviter Sed Fortiter (Gentle But Strong) informs this historical mystery novel about the founding of the Salesian spiritual family and its various branches.

Unconditional Surrender By Evelyn Waugh

We should not invite evil as a means to display our courage.

Please Don’t Feed the Dinosaurs by Corinna Turner

A series of dino adventures that has been doing better what the mainstream Jurassic Park series only recently attempted.

The People’s Choice- Top 10 Genres in Catholic Literature

The book-geeks have spoken! Top favorite genres in Catholic literature July 2018- July 2019

Jennifer the Damned By Karen Ullo

A story of a teenage vampire without the glamorous tempting allure, trying to really live in the real world.

How the Dragon Awards Could Uplift Catholic Fiction

If you don’t like current state of mainstream publishing and wish there were more widely available alternatives, this is your chance to help make that a reality.

Feel-Good Books For Pandemic Summer

Book Therapy to chase the blues away

Through the Ashes by Jacqueline Brown

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

End of Year Releases

The newest stories in Catholic literature! End your year with a good book.

Theology In the Bottle: Where Cana Meets the Cross By A. P. Schreck

Prayerful meditations to pair with your journal and a glass of wine.

Beneath Wandering Stars by Ashlee Cowles

A young girl goes pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago on behalf of her brother and finds her place in the world.

Silly Sophie’s Summer Sunday Morning By: Alexandra Sizemore

Keep holy the Lord’s Day—joyfully–with Silly Sophie the Spaniel.

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

The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

I knew this book was going to be scary. What I did NOT expect was to be left with a deep feeling of peace and comfort.

Max Medal Knight, Volume 2 By Voyage Comics

To save his mother, Max must don his knight’s armor for the first time.

Ad Limina by Cy Kellet

The Bishop of Mars faces intergalactic espionage on his journey from the frontier of space to the ancient halls of the Vatican.

Infernal Affairs by Declan Finn

St. Tommy finally comes face-to-face with the warlock that has been behind the events of the previous two books while fighting off hordes of everything from gangsters to vampires.

The Wind That Shakes The Corn: Memoirs of a Scots Irish Woman by Kaye Park Hinckley

Sold into slavery on her wedding night, an 18th-century Irishwoman struggles to free herself from her thirst for vengeance.