1 rich Libsyn https://www.libsyn.com 90 600 Erin Lewis opens her award-winning novel Firetender with G.K. Chesterton’s line that hope begins to dawn only for those who hang on after all is hopeless. She tells Joe Grabowski how that paradox became the premise of a story about a young man who has to hit rock bottom before he can work his way up. One of her characters is always carrying around a copy of Orthodoxy. In This Episode: How G.K. Chesterton’s line about hope dawning after all is hopeless became the premise of Firetender Why Lewis gave the novel’s Channing, a quiet 17-year-old who came to faith through reading books, a copy of Orthodoxy he is always carrying around—her way of showing that people come to God in different ways Joe Grabowski on the paradox G.K. Chesterton saw in the virtues: hope means hoping when all things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all How a parish Chesterton club reading What’s Wrong with the World introduced Lewis to G.K. Chesterton, and why she finds his appeal crosses every age Why the word guild makes a Chestertonian’s ears perk up—G.K. Chesterton was big on guilds—and what the Catholic Writers Guild offers writers, including critique groups that flag writing that sounds preachy Resources Mentioned: Firetender (Chalice Book 1) by Erin Lewis Erin Lewis, Author Shining Light into the Dark, Erin Lewis on Substack Catholic Writers Guild Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton FOLLOW US Instagram Facebook X SUPPORT Consider making a donation Visit our Shop Chapters: 00:00: Introducing Erin Lewis 01:26: Returning to fiction during the shutdown 03:01: Dark themes and “clean fiction” 07:14: A parish Chesterton club 09:01: The Chesterton epigraph to Firetender 10:03: Channing and Orthodoxy 11:39: The paradox of hope 14:05: The Chalice trilogy and a call to the priesthood 18:22: The Catholic Writers Guild 22:08: Book clubs and discussion questions 24:04: Reading together in an age of short attention spans 27:15: Where to find Erin Lewis Produced by Saint Kolbe Studios Uncommon Sense https://sites.libsyn.com/23918/site <iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/43706479/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe> https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/content/208759939