Another book

Another book is out there now, this one called Jerome Gratian: Treatise on Melancholy.

Tom designed the cover, based on a portrait of Gratian.

This book will probably appeal only to Carmelites and such folks, but if you want to order it, you can already get it at CreateSpace by clicking here. It will also be available on Amazon.com soon, but it may take a week or two to show up there. One blessing is that it is brief (80 pages) and costs $7.95.

Just so you know what it is about:

Jerome Gratian, also known as Jerome of the Mother of God, was chosen by St. Teresa of Avila to lead her Carmelite Reform, but he was at the center of divisions within that community.

Gratian came from a family of respected humanists who served as royal secretaries to King Philip II, and he left behind an extensive collection of his own works. These include accounts of his life, that of Teresa and of the early years of the Teresian reform, reflections on prayer and devotions and other topics of a theological and philosophical nature. Little of this is readily available in English translation. The small treatise translated in this volume, written in the form of a parody of religious legislation, was chosen because of its brevity and its humor.

Also included in this volume is a biographical sketch and a reflection on Gratian's positive teaching.

Like I say, unless you are going for a "complete works of Michael Dodd", you may want to pass this one by. I will understand! It probably mainly will make sense to nuns and priests and such people. Anyone who lives in a religious community will understand the humor.

I am getting close to finishing the writing of the book on Elijah, but judging from my experience with the first two books, it will probably be a month or so before it is available for purchase.

Eventually I will be publishing some short story collections and (I hope) another novel for a broader readership.