Volume 1. A Franklin Manor Christmas
When Volume 1. A Franklin Manor Christmas, was serialized online by North Country Public Radio, here’s what some readers said.
“A totally shameless tearjerker, a gem of the Christmas genre”
Dale Hobson, poet—The Water I Carry.
“This is very, very good. It would be a great Hallmark film.”
James Moore, co-author of Bush’s Brain and The Architect.
“Preachers will find a wealth of sermon material at Franklin Manor.”
Rev. Dr. Dean Foose, Princeton Theological Seminary (ret)
The Franklin Manor novellas follow erstwhile professor Butch Regent through a year of learning to cope with soul-threatening trials as he renovates the down-at-the-heels former monastery/tuberculosis sanatorium in the Adirondacks where he lives. Through the good offices of beneficent spirits and resident angels, he learns—over and over—hope, trust, and love.
Available now as eBook or in print whenever books are sold. 118 pages.
Each novella has a liturgical season as its setting and theme.
Volume 2. A Franklin Manor Epiphany
In Volume 2, Professor Regent is saved from despair by learning how to see—in particular, an eighty-five-year-old caretaker cat.
Available now as eBook or in print whenever books are sold. 120 pages.
Four more volumes are in process. Spring (Easter) will feature a romance between two octogenarian characters from the first two stories. In summer (Ordinary Time) Fresh Air Fund kids will come up from New York City, put on a play, find a secret room, and have a fine adventure. The final two volumes are set in autumn (All Souls) and early winter (Advent).
12,000 Miles of Road Thoughts. Old Van, Old Man, Recovering Hippy, Dying Cat.
When an elderly Texan couple and their dying cat set out to have some fun by driving an antique Volkswagen camper van from Texas to Puget Sound, they find answers to questions they didn’t know they were asking and are compelled to move to New York City. Available now as eBook or in print wherever books are sold. 188 pages.
In Passing. Scenes from an Unconventional Life
These charming sketches are a refreshing break from the commonplace affairs of ordinary life. They include a humorous encounter in a Bronx hardware store, a walk around the thirty-two-mile shore of Manhattan, a jolly portrayal of an English cattery, lyric evocations of his life in a former sanatorium/monastery, and opinion pieces on language, the church, and patriotism. Impractical choices and fine adventures are told in the style of Willcott’s award-winning newspaper column and blog. Available soon as eBook or in print wherever books are sold.