Faulkner, Mary

views updated

FAULKNER, Mary

PERSONAL: Children: three. Education: Scarritt-Bennett Graduate School, M.A.; postgraduate studies at Boston College, Seattle University, Institute of Creation-Centered Spirituality, and International Institute of Women's Studies in Greece and Turkey.

ADDRESSES: Home—TN. Agent—Linda Roghaar Literary Agency, Inc., 113 High Point Dr., Amherst, MA 01002.

CAREER: Psychotherapist in private practice; Integrative Healing Arts, Nashville, TN, director; adjunct faculty member at Loyola University, and Tennessee State University. Lecturer and teacher of workshops on alternative healing techniques and on women's spirituality. Founding editor, Recovering (magazine), 1986.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

The Eleven-Minute Attitude Adjustment (audio recording), Voxershorts (Chicago, IL), 1998.

(With Robert T. O'Gorman) The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Catholicism, Alpha Books (Indianapolis, IN), 2000, second edition, 2003.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Women's Spirituality, Alpha Books (Indianapolis, IN), 2002.

Supreme Authority: Understanding Power in the Catholic Church, Alpha Books (Indianapolis, IN), 2003.

Easy Does It Dating Guide: For People in Recovery, Hazelden (Center City, MN), 2004.

Easy Does It Recovery Pack: Affirmation Cards, Meditation Book, and Journal, Thorsons/Element (New York, NY), 2004.

Also coauthor of screenplay Alternative Routes, produced by Nashville Public Theatre. Coauthor, with Bob O'Gorman, of "Glad You Asked That," question-and-answer column for U.S. Catholic magazine.

SIDELIGHTS: Mary Faulkner is a psychotherapist who writes and lectures on many subjects, including women's spirituality, and topics related to healing processes, especially those involving the recovery from addictions and abuse. Her book Easy Does It Dating Guide: For People in Recovery offers guidelines for healthy relationships for those people who are recovering from alcoholism or addiction. Subjects touched upon include learning when one is ready to date again; relationships with alcoholics or drug abusers; discussing the past; and having realistic expectations of new relationships. Betsy L. Hogan, evaluating the book in Reviewer's Bookwatch, called it "a powerful and effective tool." Library Journal critic Douglas C. Lord concurred that it is an important book within its genre, adding that Faulkner's prose is "often laugh out-loud funny."

Faulkner and coauthor Robert T. O'Gorman hoped to provide a solid foundation of knowledge about the basic tenants of the Catholic faith when they set out to write The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Catholicism. They felt there was a need for this type of book for both non-Catholics and Catholics alike, in order to define the Catholic identity and to illustrate its great diversity, which is frequently overlooked. The book "has its lighter moments," noted Joel Schorn in U.S. Catholic, but "it is a serious effort." The authors attempt to give a portrait of the church as a whole, including glimpses of celebrations and traditions unique to various cultures: an Irish wake, a Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead, a Native American ceremony, and an African-American mass, among others.

Faulkner explained to Schorn that they took an autobiographical approach to their subject. She elaborated, "We're not speaking as professionals—this isn't the catechism version. We're writing about what it's like to be a Catholic." Common misconceptions about the church are debunked, and terminology and customs are explained. Lives of various saints are also sprinkled throughout the volume. "This isn't a weighty intellectual tome on theology," Michael Sims stated in Weekly Wire, "but it is a thoughtful guide to understanding the day-to-day beliefs and practices of the oldest Christian denomination. And as such, it is quite informative and entertaining." Assessing the book for U.S. Catholic, Peter Gilmour recommended it: "New-comers to Catholicism as well as lifers, curiosity seekers as well as lapsed Catholics, and many others will learn a lot and absorb a new appreciation for the Big Tent of Catholicism by reading this book. Don't be an idiot and pass up this unique, contemporary presentation of Catholicism."

Faulkner told CA: "I've always known I would write, but I didn't know what I would write about. I was discouraged in school because I was a poor speller, but that was before the age of spell check! The most surprising thing I've learned as a writer is to get myself out of the way, and trim the fat."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Conscience, autumn, 2003, review of Supreme Authority: Understanding Power in the Catholic Church, p. 52.

Library Journal, September 15, 2004, Douglas C. Lord, review of Easy Does It Dating Guide: For People in Recovery, p. 73.

Reviewer's Bookwatch, February, 2005, Betsy L. Hogan, review of Easy Does It Dating Guide.

U.S. Catholic, June, 2000, Peter Gilmour, "Odds & Ends," review of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Catholicism, p. 6; October, 2001, Joel Schorn, "Power to the People of God" (interview), p. 24.