I started a new podcast!

(Also, 3 tornadoes ripped through my town)

Hi, I’m Haley! Book midwife (editor) and author. Hello to new subscribers and welcome all.

Friends,

Do we have a lot to catch up on! Last Friday I was all set to sent out the exciting news that the new podcast I’m hosting has launched after months and months of hard work. But things did not go as planned on Friday. Indeed, they did not. Instead, three tornados hit my town. I’ll tell you the whole wild tornado story but first, I want to share about this new project!

A year and a half ago I hung up my podcasting hat. I’d been co-hosting The Fountains of Carrots podcast for eight years (8!) with my friend Christy Isinger. It was an absolute joy that built a beautiful community of listeners, some of whom gathered with us in TX for a weekend bookish retreat and some of whom joined us in England for a literary pilgrimage. It was hard to say goodbye but after transitioning to a full-time position for the first time in a decade and struggling to recover from a couple of years of intense stress (a move across the country! work, school, and family transitions! pandemic homeschooling!) it was time.

As we settled into our live in Florida I focused on my work as a children’s book editor for Word on Fire Votive. And I found myself preoccupied by the questions:

• How do stories shape a child’s imagination?

• How can writers, artists, parents, and educators offer narratives of hope in a culture that fills our young people with despair?

• How do we introduce children to beauty that leads them to the Gospel?

• Can good books really change the world?

I found myself longing for a podcast that interviewed great writers and talented illustrators about the stories and art that formed them when they were children. I wanted to glean wisdom from their experiences and creativity and discuss my burning questions with them. And it seemed to perfectly align with my work for Word on Fire. The Votive Podcast was born!

My wonderful Word on Fire colleague Nathin Voeller has been producing the show and we’ve been hard at work recording great episodes for the past few months. You can listen to the trailer (that shares my vision for the project) and the first episode, an interview with Nancy C. Brown about G.K. Chesterton, Harry Potter, and books about death. I’m really proud of what we’ve created!

I can’t wait for you to listen. Subscribe to the show wherever you listen to your podcasts and if you love it, leave a review, if you please. The next episode drops on Friday the 24th! It’s good to be back in the podcasting saddle.

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Okay, and now for the tornado story. On Friday morning it was cloudy and dark my son had just walked out the door to go to the bus stop when my phone shrieked at me with the tornado warning and urging us to take cover immediately. Knowing the bus would be there momentarily, I wondered what would be safer for my son—get on the bus and get into the school (just up the road, he’s the last stop) or hunker down with us at home? I made the split second decision to run out and grab him and I’m so glad I did.

As we ran back to the house lightning was picking up and things were getting serious. Weather updates confirmed that three tornadoes were ripping through Tallahassee. The lights were flickering on and off and the wind was howling. We sat in the innermost room with the fewest windows—well, most of us did. My son decided that it was a great opportunity to make himself a real breakfast and was frying bacon. It didn’t take long for the storm to pass but I’ve never been through anything quite like it. What we didn’t know at the time is that one of the tornadoes was passing right across the street. I would have been much more concerned had I known how close we were to its path of destruction!

Thankfully the worst we got was downed limbs and branches around our yard.

The tornadoes tracked for more than 20 miles right through the south side of the city. Hundreds of homes were destroyed or severely damaged. Thousands of trees are down. And the city estimates that about 500 utility poles were snapped or fell due to the 115 mph winds. Six days later the city is still working to restore power to many neighborhoods. It has been…..wild.

Just as we thought things were calming down on Tuesday morning our internet service was restored. But minutes later there was a huge boom and the power went out. A branch from an oak in our front yard had fallen onto the power line and was on fire. Schools were still closed so we all drove over to Daniel’s parents house so we could enjoy their AC and I could use their wifi for work. Thankfully, our power was restored Tuesday evening. Today we have internet, electricity, AND school is in session. Sweet normalcy! It’s been quite a week for our community.

Friday, May 10th is a day I’ll remember forever. Beginning in catastrophic tornadoes it ended with most of the city in the dark but with the aurora borealis in the sky—in FLORIDA!

My son and I walked along our dark street staring at the purple and pink northern lights—just barely visible to the naked eye. In absolute awe. It was beautiful. Oddly, it shows up MORE in photographs than it does to the eye. But it was a sight to behold. I am still processing the past few days. Reeling a little bit at the destruction that left our family safe and sound with merely a few fallen limbs in the yard. To live in a world of such danger and beauty! How can we not experience wonder to exist in such a world?

Please pray for the homes and businesses that were destroyed last Friday. Tallahassee’s road to recovery will be very long.

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Time is running out to join us this summer!

On the fence about coming to Belgium and Germany with Fr. Harrison Ayre and my husband Daniel and I this summer? Now’s the time to sign up! 🇧🇪 🇩🇪

If you’re looking for a small group to travel with, daily Mass, beautiful cathedrals and abbeys, and the best Trappist breweries in the world, join us! We have 6 spots left before we close the trip at 30 people. And time is running out to reserve your spot!
⛪️ 🍻

You can check out the registration page: Heavenly Hops Pilgrimage with Fr. Harrison Ayre to Belgium and Germany.

And below you can view the full itinerary (except one update is that we’ll be flying home from Frankfurt rather than Cologne):

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Wishing you all a wonderful almost weekend! And a huge thank you to all those who upgraded to a paid subscription this week. This is a reader-supported newsletter so if you enjoy getting these emails, please consider supporting this Substack by upgrading to a paid subscription with the button below.

Thanks for reading!

Haley

(Editor of Word on Fire Votive, Author, Podcaster)

Haley’s books

Haley’s Children’s Mystery Series about Mouse Nuns

Haley’s Book on Jane Austen’s Novels

Haley’s Book about Radical Simplicity