a book cover reveal!

the mystics are getting a word

A few years ago, wearied from the trope of the blushing porcelain feminine saint, I started reading the writings of the female mystics for myself. I wondered what I would find if I took in their words and experiences at face value, woman to woman, rather than through the filter of mansplaining theologians or watered down history. I suspected I might like them; that I might even see myself in them.

I never could’ve guessed the glaring prescience I would find; never expected them to transcend time to speak to sexual expression and consent, or the divine feminine, or ecospirituality, or mother wounds, or horror, or the fight for self-belonging, or any other topic on the minds of modern women. I’ve never been happier to be surprised.

Teresa of Ávila, Margery Kempe, Hildegard of Bingen, Julian of Norwich, Catherine of Siena, and Thérèse of Lisieux have been my best friends and big sisters over the past three years — and in September I hope they become yours, too.

Preorders are now open for The Mystics Would Like a Word, and I can’t overemphasize how much it helps writers for you to preorder your copies rather than wait for the release date. You can get it wherever books are sold, but Barnes & Noble is offering 25% OFF all preorders through the end of today for members. (Becoming a member is free!) And it’s a hardback, so that 25% really helps.

I can’t wait for you to read it. I hope you love these women as much as I do!

- Shannon