Alumni Spotlight

Describe your book series, the Chalice Series?

The Chalice Series follows one young man’s journey from a dysfunctional upbringing laced with skepticism through his growth in faith as he learns to forgive, relinquishing control to something more powerful than himself. Set in the late 1990s through 2016, these contemporary New Adult fiction novels handle gritty, real-life topics and protagonist Dallas Malone’s fight to overcome obstacles and discern the path God has laid out for his life. I have a passion for supporting vocations, so the Catholic priesthood is a strong theme within the storyline.

Book one, Firetender, was released in January, and book two, Enkindle in Me, was released in June. Both books were published by Full Quiver Publishing and are available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. I have plans for five novels total in the Chalice Series, plus two additional books that shoot off from the main story.

Summarize your professional experience.

I earned my BA in Early Childhood Education in 2001 and taught in public and Catholic elementary schools for four years. Once I had children of my own, I began homeschooling them, with a strong emphasis on literature, especially the classics. Learning alongside my four children from the greats throughout history, such as Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and Chesterton, has given me a lot of self-taught education that comes through in my writing and in some of my characters’ love of literature. I’m currently a member of the Catholic Writers Guild and am always working to improve my skills.

Where did the idea for the series come from?

The story is an interesting one because it contains some St. Pius history. When I first created Dallas and Channing, the two main characters in Firetender, I was a junior or senior at St. Pius. I had already invented the characters when I began Mrs. McPherson’s British Lit and Creative Writing class. We were to write a short story, and my story actually became the major turning point in Firetender. I built the story around that key plot point until it got to what it is today: a story that takes five novels to tell. I couldn’t have imagined as I handed in that five-page short story that one day it would become so much more!

When the COVID shutdowns of March 2020 hit, and all my family’s activities were canceled, I pulled out my old papers and read them, thinking my teenage daughter might like to read the story since she has an interest in writing and literature. But what I found in my old folder was a story ending in hopelessness for two characters I had loved dearly. I think in my more introspective, moody teenage years, this tragic tale was my idea of the end of their story. It struck me that these characters had always been searching for something, but I had never let them find what they were looking for. As a 40-year-old with more life experience, I realized that what the characters were missing was God. As soon as that struck me, boom—I knew exactly what I needed to do with both characters.

Any advice for our St. Pius X young alumni?

My advice is to accept that there is a future God has in store for each of you, and to actively seek His will for your life. No matter how hopeless a situation may seem to you now, your life is in His hands, and He wants you to seek purpose grounded in trust in Him. The dedication in Firetender reads: "To all young adults seeking God’s will for their paths in this earthly life." Book one also opens with this epigraph: “In the struggle for existence, it is only on those who hang on for ten minutes after all is hopeless that hope begins to dawn.” Those words of G.K. Chesterton remind us that many people have moments of hopelessness, but we should hang on to see what God has in store for us beyond that hopeless moment.

The biggest inspiration in writing these books has been my Catholic faith. The series is overtly Catholic, although it contains characters in varying states of belief and with a range of values. My youngest brother, Tim Nadolski ’07, was ordained a priest eight years ago, and that has fueled my passion for supporting vocations to the religious life and priesthood. The Chalice Series is, in part, a vocation story— just like any real human story—as an individual struggles through challenges to discover what it is God wants of him.

What is your favorite memory of St. Pius X?

I have several fun memories of Pius, and many of those involve hanging out, talking, and being silly with friends outside after lunch or during free periods. I’d have to say that my favorite memories relating to classes would be Monsignor Lopez’s religion class, the aforementioned creative writing class, and my journalism and yearbook classes.

Scan the QR code to learn more and to purchase the first two books in the series.