Despite the world’s dangers, ultimately, ‘we all stand on human ground.’

COVER STORY: Readers who have been enjoying Greg Garrett’s moving and thought-provoking fiction and nonfiction through the years will not be surprised to learn that his dramatic new novel, Bastille Day, turns on one particular broadcast by a cynical TV reporter and one particular sermon by a compassionate pastor. These are worlds Greg has bridged in his long career as a media personality, theologian, scholar and author.

Please enjoy our cover-story interview with Greg in which we will take you to Paris, where Greg was poised for the launch of his exciting and inspiring new novel. In fact, Greg helped us illustrate this cover story with an array of colorful photos of locations from Bastille Day.

And, if you enjoy this story, please take a moment to share this story with friends via social media or email.

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From Our Writers—

Laura Elizabeth

Want to meet this cozy author?

COZY MYSTERY NOVELIST LAURA ELIZABETH has more than a dozen events already scheduled for the launch of Volume 1 of her new mystery series. Some are for private groups; many are open to the public. Especially if you might find yourself in Georgia or the Carolinas in coming months, please check out this listing of Laura’s events, so far.

Want more information about visiting the island that inspired Laura Elizabeth to create the fictionalized setting for her cozy series? We just learned that the Daufuskie Rental Group, which has a great vacation-oriented website, is going to be providing copies of Laura’s book to some of the first families to book accommodations on the island in coming months. Thank you Daufuskie Rental Group for supporting this creative project to entertain readers and shine a light on this wonderful, historic island!

We know you’ll enjoy this novel, so you could also preorder your copy right now from Amazon.

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Howard Brown

‘The story is the great equalizer’

THIS WEEK, Howard Brown introduces us to his own speaking coach Rina Rovinelli, founder of Speaker Slam.

They talk about how Rina got started as a speaking entrepreneur and how people can learn to become effective public speakers even if they are afraid of the idea of standing up in front of people.

“The story is the great equalizer,” Rina says in this podcast and that’s a theme we celebrate here at our publishing house as well.

You can listen to this latest podcast right now by clicking on this link to visit Howard’s own Shining Brightly website. (His podcast links are in the center of his home page.)

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Holidays & Milestones

Taking Steps Toward Father’s Day?

ARE YOU PLANNING FOR FATHER’S DAY? Stephanie Fenton’s column is helpful reading! Her column tells the fascinating story of how long it took to reach a national consensus on this holiday. Plus, as always, Stephanie offers some links to some fun Father’s Day activities as well as great recipes for this special day.

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Juneteenth

Celebrations are starting earlier in June

HOLIDAYS & FESTIVALS COLUMNIST STEPHANIE FENTON reports on the ever-expanding awareness of our national holiday Juneteenth in 2023. As usual, she’s got links to fascinating resources, including some great recipes.

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WANT TO SEE ALL OF THE UPCOMING HOLIDAYS & FESTIVALS?—It’s easy to find our annual calendar of global observances. Just remember the web address: InterfaithHolidays.com

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Faith & Film

ED McNULTY, for decades, has published reviews, magazine articles and books exploring connections between faith and film. Most of his work is freely published. Ed supports his work by selling the Visual Parables Journal, a monthly magazine packed with discussion guides to films. This resource is used coast-to-coast by individuals who love the movies and by educators, clergy and small-group leaders.

Here are some of Ed’s most recent free reviews and columns:

• MAID—Ed McNulty writes: “This 10-episode series about an abused wife and mother has more heart and insights than a hundred super hero epics. The series is based on the memoir by Stephanie Land Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive.”
• TED LASSO, Season 3—Ed loves this popular TV series and now offers his own faith-and-film reflections on the series.
• SABBATH—Ed McNulty offers his review of Martin Doblmeier’s documentary Sabbath, starting with a detailed look at the first part of the national broadcast. For more on this inspiring documentary, you also may want to read our Cover Story interview with Martin, which is headlined: “Do you know it’s healthy to observe ‘Sabbath’?“
• THE STARLING GIRL—”Writer and director Laurel Parmet explores faith, paternalism, and sex in this tale set in a fundamentalist Christian community in rural Kentucky.”
• THE LITTLE MERMAID—”Any questions I had about the wisdom of remaking the classic film that revived the flagging Disney studio back in 1989 were quickly dissipated when Halle Bailey appears as Ariel, the unsatisfied daughter of underseas King Triton (Javier Bardem).”
• MEMORIA—”Acheampong Weerasethakul, who often goes by the name of Joe, teams with Tilda Swinton to tease our minds with a most unusual cinematic experience.”
• ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET—”The film, directed and written by Kelly Fremon Craig, follows the novel very faithfully, with every member of the excellent cast contributing to the humor and insights, so that I think fans of the iconic book—it sold 90 million copies!—will agree that the long wait has been well worth it.”

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