Over the past year, I’ve made mention several times about an anthology of young adult Catholic voices that I’ve been working on. Last week, my co-editor and I heard back from the publisher, and this morning we confirmed that the project is a go. The book will be available in the fall, hopefully by September, in print and ebook editions. I can’t wait to hold it in my hands, and more importantly, to share these stories of passionate, gutsy, smart young adult Catholics with the world.

I’m also excited to be moving into the phase of book production that has before now been purely hypothetical to me. Although I’ve seen dozens of magazines, one poem, and one short story through publication, this will be the first time that I’m moving through the post-acceptance process of something that I’ve pulled together on my own, and not because I was hired to do so by someone else. I also very much appreciate knowing that I’m “on the right track,” as our publisher referred to our submission as one of the “most professional proposals” he’s ever seen. That’s encouraging, since I’m now regularly putting together similar proposals to shop my young adult novel to agents and publishers.

If you want to meet some of the writers featured in the upcomingHungering and Thirsting for Justice anthology, check out the Young Adult Catholics blog. And if you’d like to read some high-quality, thought-provoking Catholic/Christian/Spiritual literature, definitely check outACTA Publications, a publisher I admired years before knowing they would publish my first book project. In particular, I recommend one of their newest offerings, Grace Notes by Brian Doyle, and the book that first put them on my radar, Remaining Catholic: Six Good Reasons for Staying in an Imperfect Ch.... I have a long list of additional books from their catalog on my “To-Read” list. They’re definitely a publisher to watch, and I’m thrilled to be working with them.