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Irmgarde Brown

I am a retired librarian/manager, a long-time blogger, a photographer, a playwright and director, an active volunteer in the Havre de Grace arts community, a friend to the Village of Hope, Zambia, a student in the Living School for Action and Contemplation, and an Episcopalian after forty years in the non-denominational church. I am a widow, the mother of three adoptees from Eastern Europe (now grown), and a grandmother of two. Sister Jane is my first published novel while Sister Jane's Lenten Journal is novella that overlaps Sister Jane by 40 pages and ends on the same day. Sister Jane's Lenten Journal begins on the first day of Covid in Washington state. And now, I am offering a true short story, The Blue Bicycle, for signing up to my mailing.

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Sister Jane

All her life, Jane believes she is small-town ordinary. . . until she isn’t. Some people brand her a witch because of the cat while others believe she has a demon. Her family thinks she’s ready for the nursing home, and the down-and-out reporter assumes she’s a fake. But nobody, including Jane, can figure out how she does it: heal the sick. All the sick. All the time. Is it a gift of God? The Church is divided. Then, everything erupts when the foreigners arrive along with the government people and the scientists. Will Jane become a pawn or save herself?

An Author Posse

by Irmgarde Brown

My adult son has a group of friends he started with back in middle school. We call them the posse. They laugh together, they hang together, they support each other, and yes, they get in trouble together. I thought they’d split up after marriage, or parenthood, or girlfriends, or out-of-town jobs. But no, they’re still together after fifteen years. I’m looking for an author posse. Granted, I can write alone, but the rest of it? I need a gang.

by Irmgarde Brown

Certainly, Sister Jane (and its companion novella, Sister Jane’s Lenten Journal) examines healing in a variety of ways: physical, emotional, and spiritual. In the last several months, I have been struggling with another kind of pain that requires healing—organizational trauma.

Opposite of Faith is Not Doubt, but Certitude

by Irmgarde Brown

Other people have known this. I just heard it for the first time last week at my Symposium as part of the School for Action and Contemplation. And once I heard it, I knew I needed to ponder it. At the time, I assumed the phrase was original to Richard Rohr, but a quick Google search seems to give Anne Lamott the attribution, although she uses the term, "certainty." Same thing. Although Rohr's use of "certitude" has more flair. All good. I like Lamott too.

by Irmgarde Brown

I don’t remember when I became intrigued by the church calendar. Certainly not while I was active in Charismatic and Evangelical churches, where the only calendars celebrated were Christmas and Easter week. At my Methodist church, we acknowledged Advent with the lighting of candles on a huge wreath (3 purple and 1 pink) but they didn’t have much meaning for me. When my late husband and I adopted our children (aged 4 & 5), we had a variety of Advent calendars, one with tiny books that told the Christmas story and two others that involved daily chocolate. I don’t think I need to say which calendars were the most popular.

by Irmgarde Brown

It was a great day, December 15, 2021. Kirkus published their list of “Best of Books for 2021,” specifically for Indie authors (that can mean anything from self-published authors to Small Press authors – like me), and there was Sister Jane, front and center. Hurrah!

Irmgarde Brown

Irmgarde Brown

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An Author Posse

The Path to Healing

Opposite of Faith is Not Doubt, but Certitude

Why a Lenten Journal

Best of 2021 But It's 2022