Writing her first novel a leap of faith for Canberra mum
Canberra author Veronica Smallhorn has tackled the intersection of modern relationships with the Church’s teachings on sexuality and marriage with her first novel.
A Channel of Your Peace is aimed at young women but she said it has also received a favourable response from men of different ages. She was inspired by the books of Canada-based Catholic author and publisher Ellen Gable to combine her desire to write with her love of the Church’s lived wisdom.
“It’s not a romance so much as a very Catholic story,” said Veronica who is also a natural family planning educator and wanted to share something of the value that it brings to a couple’s relationship and any children they have.
Pro-life themes run strongly throughout the novel with Our Lady of Guadelupe, the patroness of the unborn, also making an appearance. “I always had a desire to write something that was faith-centred but assumed that a book like that wouldn’t be publishable until I read Ellen’s books,” Veronica said.
The novel’s protagonist, lapsed Catholic Erin Rafferty, is a character who beginning with being abandoned by her fiancé of five years is “really put through the wringer”.
Veronica said that as her story unfolds it illustrates how God never abandons those who suffer.
“I wanted to show how Jesus is really in the midst of our suffering,” she said.
“My hope is to evangelise through fiction and hopefully inspire and uplift people.”
Veronica, who lives with her husband Pablo and their three young children in Chisholm in Canberra’s south, said that her first published work was a Christmas poem that was printed in the local newspaper when she was aged 11.
Her book has been described as a strong debut novel and “masterfully written” by reviewers while Veronica said becoming a published author was a “dream come true”.
Published by Full Quiver Publishing, A Channel of Your Peace is available via Amazon in paperback and ebook.
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