“The past few months have made us realise that change is inevitable – sometimes good but sometimes it can be cruel and makes your world go out of control.“
– Louise Hall, Little Book of Hope
I took a few weeks away from the blog for various reasons, but mainly because my brain was frazzled. Our world is in chaos at the moment and it can be very difficult to find light at the end of this strange tunnel, to find hope, as we all do our best to keep our heads above water and to keep the show on the road. I felt that this post was a very fitting one to kick-start my blog again (& me). I hope we can all someday look back on these strange days and remind ourselves how brave we were and how important hope was to see us through these difficult and challenging times.
Irish writer Louise Hall was very much aware that people were struggling and wanted to create something that could help alleviate some of the strains that people were under. She decided to put together a book of reflections ‘a reminder of the gift of Hope inside us all’ and I am delighted to share with you today a piece that Louise has written for us all with details of her new book, Little Book of Hope.
Published July 9th with Peach Publishing, Little Book of Hope was written and published during the 2020 worldwide pandemic and is described as ‘a little pocketbook of reflections to help guide you through difficult times.’
“When the world came to a halt earlier this year, and life as we knew it dramatically changed, it gave people time to think, time to pause and time to reflect. For many, our daily lives move at a fast pace and it’s easy to get caught up in the rat race as we try to juggle family, work and other commitments. For some people, this lull we experienced during lockdown was a gentle reprieve from the usual daily grind. It was welcome. It gave people a chance to catch their breath and time for some much-needed rest.
But for others, the pandemic brought with it a wave of uncertainty and many people experienced increased levels of anxiety with ruminating thoughts and worries. Lots of people have become sick from the virus and as we know many others too have died from it. People are out of work and they do not know what the future holds.
We know that one thing is for certain; and that is that nothing stays the same. Change is inevitable. And though sometimes change can be welcome, sometimes it can be frightening too.
That is why I came up with the idea for Little Book of Hope. It’s my fourth publication and one which I wrote and published during the pandemic. I could see that people were grieving in many different ways and I wanted to reach out to those with something that would help them in times of stress and worry. Designed as a little pocketbook that you can carry around with you and dip into whenever you want, Little Book of Hope contains reflections to gently guide you through the difficult times. It is a reminder of the gift of Hope inside us all.
There is a time for everything.
The time for Hope is now.”
– Louise Hall
Purchase Link – Little Book of Hope
[ About the Book ]
The past few months have made us realise that change is inevitable – sometimes good but sometimes it can be cruel and makes your world go out of control.
We might experience anxiety, low moods, night sweats, exhaustion or worse. We lose all hope and feel that there is nothing to look forward to.
Little Book of Hope helps you find your way back again – through Reflections to guide you through the difficult times, together with: Family. Friends. Rest. Time – for yourself. Walk. Talk. Cry. Grieve. Meditate. Pray. Accept things. Patience.
Dedicated to all those around the world who have lost hard but loved much – that you may re-discover Hope and welcome the beautiful pleasure of joy back into your lives.
[ Bio ]
Louise Hall is a writer of fiction, non-fiction and short stories. She lives in the seaside village of Malahide, Co. Dublin on the east coast of Ireland.
Little Book of Hope was written and published during the 2020 worldwide pandemic. It is a little pocketbook of reflections to help guide you through difficult times.
Pilgrim, her debut novel, is published by Ireland’s oldest publishing house, Mercier Press. It has been widely received and endorsed by Man Booker nominee, Donal Ryan, and award-winning author, Carmel Harrington.
“Deeply moving and evocative prose. Haunting, tender yet hopeful. Pilgrim is a beautiful read that lingers.” – Carmel Harrington
“In this cynical age it’s a joy to encounter such sincerity and wonderfully unexpected to see contemporary fiction as a profession of fervent yet gentle faith. Louise is a brave and human writer, a breath of the freshest air.” – Donal Ryan
She has also published two works of non-fiction, Medjugorje: What it Means to Me and Medjugorje and Me: A Collection of Stories from Across the World with The Columba Press. The latter was translated into Italian and published by Edizioni Piemme.
Her short story fiction has been published in the literary section of The Irish Times and has also been shortlisted for numerous competitions, such as the RTÉ Guide/Penguin Short Story Award, the Colm Tóibín International Short Story Competition and the Jonathan Swift Creative Writing Awards.
She has appeared a number of times on radio and TV talk shows regarding her fiction and non-fiction works and has written for numerous newspapers and magazines.
Twitter ~ @LouHallWriter
Website ~ https://www.louisehall.ie/
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