After 24 years as a freelance journalist, I made the decision last fall to give up my gigs with the last two newspapers that I’d been writing for. My final story in The Business News came out at the end of 2022, and the last story for The Compass newspaper (published by the Green Bay Diocese) was published late this spring. Below is the final column I wrote for The Compass. I got nice feedback from this, especially from fellow journalists, some who said my words expressed exactly how they felt after a long and storied career in this field. Below the column is a follow up on how the alleged “retirement” is going…
Nineteen years at The Compass? Where has the time gone? I still remember the day Pat Kasten and I met at the former St. Joe’s Middle School in Appleton when we were guest presenters discussing our careers in journalism. The friendship we formed that day turned into a rewarding work partnership.
Some 400 stories later, I’m wrapping up my work with The Compass to devote my full-time energy into my career as an author. My “one-and-done” novel published in 2014 became the base of my six-book Heaven Intended Catholic Civil War series and the springboard to writing sweet historic romances and time-travel novels.
In the last two decades I’ve covered Your Catholic Neighbor features, vocation anniversaries, the Bishop’s Appeal, Faith Formation, choirs, musicians, service projects, outstanding students, liturgical celebrations, renowned speakers, conferences, theatrical productions, and just about everything in between.
I’ve had some of the most incredible moments, met and gotten to know so many amazing people, and have deepened my faith because of these experiences. It’s been a pleasure spotlighting individuals who give so much of themselves to their churches and communities, never looking for recognition.
The folks I’ve interviewed range from bishops to priests, religious sisters, authors, speakers, ambassadors to the Holy See, musicians, chefs, radio hosts, models, movie producers, actors, and apologists for the Church. There were the everyday cradle Catholics, converts to Catholicism, and reverts to Catholicism all striving to become a better version of themselves on a daily basis and make the world a better place because they were here. Many of these people became friends and sadly, some of those wonderful people have since passed away. I pray for their souls as I know they’re praying for mine as well.
So many moments stand out in my time at The Compass. Like when a grandfather was battling a devastating disease and said that he praised God every day that he was given this cross to bear rather than his wife, children or grandchildren. Or the mom who proclaimed that her number one goal in life was for her children to be with her in heaven one day. I’ve worked for that same thing myself ever since hearing her words.
The hardest interview I ever had was talking with a young man who was dying of cancer, leaving behind a wife and two young children. His attitude was admirable and inspirational. I wrapped up the interview early because I couldn’t hold the tears back.
My husband John and I strive to live a life of gratitude and I will say I’ve been lucky and blessed to have had a career as a Catholic journalist. Every assignment was different, every person had their own unique story to tell, and every day I felt privileged to be able to share those stories with the world.
Thank you to Pat Kasten, Sam Lucero and Jeff Kurowski for your leadership and editorial skills through the years and to all The Compass staff with whom I’ve worked. And my deepest appreciation to the readers of The Compass for keeping this paper alive, allowing me to have a career that most people would just dream of. It’s been a life-changing experience sharing all these stories with you. God’s blessings to you all.
When I was doing journalism full time, I had an average 8-hour workday. Since my “retirement,” I’ve been inundated with work for my upcoming books, writing up to 12 hours a day — not only during the week but weekends and holidays too. They say that you have to make hay while the sun shines. The good Lord is shining down sun on me every day lately. My book Royal & Ancient comes out October 2, and A Faith Such as Heaven Intended comes out somewhere near the end of the year. Having two books release that close together means that inevitably when I receive a round of edits for one book, then a round of edits comes for the other book as well, usually within the same week. If I was allotted five weeks to make the corrections and edits, that meant it was 2.5 weeks for one book and 2.5 weeks for the other book. That’s a lot of editing in a short time.
To make things even more interesting, I’ve been offered a verbal contract for a book set during the time of King Henry VII, with the manuscript due September 1. Because of vacation time we had planned for the summer, that is the equivalent of writing a 50,000+ word novel in 10 weeks. A challenge for even the most prolific writer!
Between now and September 1 I have 29 workdays. I’m 25 percent through with the manuscript. If I can successfully write two chapters a day for each of those 29 days, I’ll make it. Note: each chapter is approximately five pages long and each page, with research, takes about 1 hour to write.
I’m praying for the fortitude to get this book written on time! The hardest part for me is developing the plot. So, I’m praying for inspiration as well.
Thanks for following me on this author’s journey! Comment below and let me know what’s keeping you busy this summer!