Ever wonder how an author writes a story? Sometimes I put down a book like Anne of Green Gables and try to imagine how Lucy Maud Montgomery created Anne. The little orphan girl jumps off the page as a living, breathing character. Let me give you an example. Here is the moment when Matthew Cuthbert first meets the little orphan girl at the train station.
She wore a faded brown sailor hat and beneath the hat, extending down her back, were two braids of very thick, decidedly red hair. Her face was small, white and thin, also much freckled; her mouth was large and so were her eyes, which looked green in some lights and moods and gray in others.
As some of your may know, I also write books for young people- four to be exact. I read books like Anne of Green Gablesfor inspiration. You see I am writing a story about another intriguing character, although this character really existed. Lucia de Santos of Fatima, Portugal became one of the most famous children in history. Lucia, along with her cousins Jacinta and Francisco, were three peasant children who lived in the early 1900’s. From 1916-1917, they witnessed nine extraordinary visions with supernatural visitors.
Come with me as I try to bring this story to life through the eyes of ten-year-old Lucia. I have been working on the rough draft for six months. I arise at 4:30 in the morning, brew up a pot of black English tea and read daily scripture from Magnificat magazine. After teatime, I climb stairs up to the dormer, turn on the computer, and start writing. What is that like? The story unfolds scene by scene, like a little video is playing in my mind. Sound mysterious? In some ways it is.
Come join me on this adventure into creativity, starting from rough draft to finished product. Every week I will post 30 second videos showing where I work, helpful writing prompts, and other tricks of the trade. Along the way you will meet the truly heroic children of Fatima.
Dear Kathryn,
I’m still being introduced to our Lady of Fatima. It’s intriguing that Sephardic Jews ( Iberian Peninsula Jewish refugees) are the beginning of the diaspora from Jerusalem/ and extended holy land following Hadrian’s dispersion of ALL the Jews in 135AD, even those considered by modern-day archaeologists to be of the Church of the Circumcision or Messianic Jews . Does Our Lady call for us Gentile Christians to pursue in prayer & Holy empathy relationships with her people to draw them back to the Olive tree as described by Saint Paul in Romans 11, this being the catalyst for the great awakening in the world Saint Paul describes as a resurrection from the dead ? Is any of her messages affirming Saint Paul’s desire for us in Ephesians to strive for a visible unity of Jew and Gentile that’s complementary like a marriage which he describes as “the one new man” Eph 2:15
Are you familiar with Saint John Paul II’s encyclical “UT Unim Sint” 1995 describing his anticipation of a visible unity between Jew and Gentile Christian?
Thank you for your comments.
There are three main messages from Our Lady of Fatima. In all six apparitions she requested daily recitation of the rosary. She also requested the First Five Saturday Devotions. She requested sacrifices for the conversion of sinners, especially of those at immediate risk of going to hell. The third message is amendment of lives to stop offending God and to obtain blessings and graces from heaven.
In the July apparition, the children saw a terrifying vision of hell that profoundly affected them. In the October 13th vision there occurred the spectacular and documented miracle of the sun. Jesus blessed the massive crowd, truly blessing the entire world-Jews and Gentiles alike- to be one people under His Sonship.