Room of Tears is a spiritual story about heroes, miracles, and faith. It’s also a story about love, death, and tragedy.

In the summer of 2041, 71-year-old Diane O’Connor invites Friar Antonio Ortiz to her home in Queens. The reason is nothing short of mysterious: she has a request for him, which entails giving him a letter and a recording…

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Out of tragedies come heroes and miracles…



At 9:59 a.m. on September 11, 2001, Diane O’Connor’s life as a firefighter’s wife changes forever, shattering her faith. Four decades later, a note still hangs on her kitchen cabinet in Queens,…

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I am so happy My Birthday Is September, and Other Short Stories is on Amazon top 100-best selling list again.  The paperback copy stayed on the list for three weeks when it was first published in September.

After having taught middle school for 17 years, I understand what teens go through…

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Large clouds of smoke were darkening the sky and screams of pain, fear and helplessness were deafening the big apple. It was chaos:  Nobody knew what was happening. A cold intense fear spread across the city and on the faces of the people when they realized they were under attack; terrorists had infiltrated the country.  That heartbreaking tragedy had awakened the world on September 11, 2001.

 

Today, I am watching the program, “9/11: Ten Years Later” with my baby.  I can’t…

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As you are well aware, the 10^th anniversary of the attacks on America took place this past September 11^th.  Like most, I sat idol and watched the children, no older than my own, read their daddy’s names aloud, and proud, in memory. When tragedy strikes, one often remembers the exact moment and location, or even the smell of the brand new carpet that one was sitting upon.  I remember… Continue

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This is a guest post by Heather Jermak; mother of 3, an attorney, and New Orleans resident during Hurricane Katrina.

The 10th anniversary of September 11 is this Sunday. My 12 year old son was 2 on that fateful day, and unfortunately watched the towers fall on TV while I tried to reach loved ones in New York and…

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You’ve heard those jokes before. The jokes that start out with religious leaders walking into a bar and end in some off-color punchline revolving around body parts or selling hair, right? O.K., maybe those aren’t the most common punchlines, but it’s not like I’m really listening anyway, since I can never get past the idea of religious clerics [often of, at times, estranged religions] spending cocktail hour together. Because wouldn’t it be world altering if religious leaders… Continue