BUZZ, BUZZ, BUZZ . . . MORE ON THE GOD FACTOR

Just before we left for nine heavenly days in Nevis, West Indies (high of 83, low of 79 every day) . . . Copy No. 1 of The God Factor: Inside the Spiritual Lives of Public People, a.k.a. My Baby, arrived in the Sun-Times newsroom via Fedex from FSG in New York.

The feeling: beyond words; out of body; over the moon. It’s very shiny — opalescent, I’m told. You could signal ships with the cover. From a distance — say, from across the showroom floor of a book store — the stars shimmer and what we’ve dubbed the “god burst” in the middle glows. Ooooooh.

Upon our return from Nevis (see tiny picture of tan, happy people to the right over here————–>)
I was greeted by temperatures in the teens and another lovely write-up in Publisher’s Weekly (in its Religion Book Line feature) and two invitations to literary festivals: the Los Angeles Times Literary Festival in LA at the end of April and the extremely groovy Calabash Literary Festival in Jamaica at the end of May. Yippee! I’m lovin’ this literary life so far. One love . . .

Below is the nice article Marcia Nelson (she of The Gospel According to Oprah Winfrey fame) and the kinds words the editors at Barnesandnoble.com added to The God Factor posting recently.

Thank you for your support and please stay tuned …

Journalist Probes Faith Views of “Culture Shapers”
by Marcia Z. Nelson, Religion BookLine — Publishers Weekly, 2/15/2006

You wouldn’t think the founder of Playboy or a radio shock jock would have a whole lot to say about faith—at least, not much that might be printable. But religion reporter and columnist Cathleen Falsani coaxes spiritual revelations and reflections out of Hugh Hefner, Mancow Muller and 30 other figures she calls “culture shapers” in The God Factor: Inside the Spiritual Lives of Public People (Sarah Crichton Books/Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Mar.). The subjects of the short, readable profiles include writers, entertainers, politicians and even a retired basketball star: Hakeem Olajuwon, a devout Muslim who prays five times daily and speaks Arabic.

The stories grew from a “God factor” project that Falsani began in 2004 at the Chicago Sun-Times, where she has worked since 2000. She had gotten enthusiastic response to a profile she wrote of rock star Bono, and had done earlier pieces in which people unlikely to have opinions about God spoke about their beliefs. “People were really intrigued,” she told RBL. And though it may strike some as surprising that entertainers have spiritual lives, Falsani, a graduate of the evangelical school Wheaton College, said faith goes beyond a descriptive label. “A lot of people in the book function way outside of institutionalized religion, but that doesn’t mean they’re not people of faith,” she said.

The God Factor launches FSG’s Sarah Crichton Books imprint, which will eventually publish a dozen fiction and nonfiction titles a year. Falsani said choosing a religion subject for an introductory title was bold. “The support has been incredible at the house,” she said. Crichton, publisher of her eponymous imprint, said, “I didn’t go looking for religion but I was open when it came my way.” Falsani’s book came via a dinner party where the two met and the Chicago-based reporter was describing her work with the spiritual reflections of public figures. “You had all these people diving into the conversation,” Crichton said. “It’s a conversation that’s happening all over the country.”

Falsani will be promoting her title on the literary festival circuit, with appearances in Los Angeles, Chicago and Jamaica, among other stops.

From Barnes&Noble:
FROM OUR EDITORS
Religion reporter Cathleen Falsani went in search of a story and wound up with a compelling book about spiritual life in America. Her interviews with dozens of “public people” reveal the stunning diversity of religion in the U.S.: “This may be a nation of believers, but not of one belief — of many.” A partial roster of her subjects indicates the book’s range: Bono, Sandra Bernhard, Laura Esquivel, Melissa Etheridge, Seamus Heaney, Hugh Hefner, Annie Lennox, Mark Morris, Senator Barack Obama, Hakeem Olajuwon, Anne Rice, Tom Robbins. Russell Simmons, and Elie Wiesel.