ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Carmen Marcoux was born and raised in Saskatoon, Canada. She received her Bachelor of Education from the University of Saskatchewan in 1989. The mother of six, she and her husband home-school and are very involved with their parish community. Carmen has been actively involved with music and youth ministries in the Catholic Church since she was very young.
The inspiration for writing
Arms of Love
came in
January of 2002. Though
Carmen never had any intention of writing a novel, she felt compelled to
share this story in the hopes that it would inspire young people to
consider the value of Christian courtship, and to encourage those who
already embrace this ideal.
The
process of writing was exciting and soon Carmen found herself caught up in
the lives of her characters. It
became clear that a literary approach to the whole topic of courtship and
chastity would be a wonderful teaching tool for both teens and
adults.
As one connects with the characters of a novel, it is easy to
identify with their struggles and their pursuit of virtuous living.
The characters that were developed in
Arms
of Love are the kind that stick with a reader for a long time.
Writing
was no chore, but the challenge came in balancing becoming an author with
her vocation of being a wife and mother.
Her husband, Jim, and children, Hannah, Rebekah, Mikaelah, Jacinta
and Matthew were most supportive as they adapted family life to allow for
this new ministry. Soon the
goal to complete and publish
Arms
of Love was one they all shared and worked to achieve.
(Baby number six, Gemma Mary Catherine, was born ten days after
Arms
of Love was completed! Her contribution to the publishing
effort was waiting to be born until after the novel was in print!
Thank you, Gemma!)
The
decision to self-publish came after much prayer and discernment.
The unknowns of dealing with a publisher who might change the
story or never take seriously the mission of promoting the message of
courtship finally led Carmen and Jim to decide on self-publishing.
So began the lengthy process of editing and preparing a manuscript
for publication. (The Lord is
most resourceful at providing people to help in His work!)
The next stage of learning the ins and outs of publishing a novel
was a new challenge, but once again, help was available for that.
The final stage of the process was exploring how best to promote
Arms of Love so that
people would hear about it. (Carmen
and Jim are trusting that the Lord is just as effective at promoting as He
is at inspiring!)
The book was launched on December 20th and is available on-line at this website (courtshipnow.com) and in some retail stores. Ask a book retailer near you to bring it in by contacting us at 1-800-705-7396.
Be sure to place your order and don’t miss out on this enthralling tale of true love, commitment and faith.