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WELCOME

to Traces of Magic

by

Rev. Patrick Dolan

Traces of Magic
Books by Rev. Patrick Dolan
(Available in audiobook, paperback and e-book)

Rustic characters use good magic and prayers to help unicorns and other creatures stop an assassin's guild from inserting a weather control spell into a pre-colonial Kentucky valley.

A spell book from an assassin sorcerer causes fear in the city and its destruction lets in a major devil whose very touch kills by fear.  Plans to heal the rupture begin.

Trapping that devil requires all members of the community (clerics, magic users, holy knights, druids, barbarians and rangers) to trick the devil back into hell and reweave the protection net.

After the devil is gone, the Assassins still hold the weather control spell and the characters seek to remove it from their power without damaging the valley.  

Click on any book to find out more information and see a sample of each on Amazon.

Traces of Magic - 1 minute Video Trailer

​Excerpt from the Kirkus review, where they mislabeled these "folklore literature" stories as fantasy:  "This first book in Dolan’s fantasy series has an intriguing premise, which the author discusses in some detail in the foreword; in it, he intriguingly notes that the inspiration for this novel came from his own speculation on what a Celtic-Norse community might have been like if, in the 12th century, it had settled in an uninhabited region of what’s now Kentucky."

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"Each book in the Traces of Magic series is a riveting magical adventure story so blended with reality that it will make you wonder if it really could have happened."   

--Dr. David Overley, MD, Louisville Kentucky

 About the author

 

Father Patrick Dolan is a retired US Army Brigadier General chaplain who served more than 25 years (including 4 times in Iraq)--concluding his duties with the National Guard, where he mentored all the state chaplains in the Nation, and also gave spiritual guidance to all National Guard Generals.  His experience there, as well as a PhD chemist and as a Catholic priest, flavors all the characters.

Contact info: 

Our Mother of Sorrows parish

747 Harrison Ave

Louisville, KY 40217  or

MUCL@hotmail.com

From an Educator: “Traces of Magic” is a truly epic, ingenious, imaginary journey not only across the clearly identifiable landscape of Kentucky, but across another landscape that reveals the profound impact our choices have to promote good or evil, fear or courage, love or hate. As a Catholic school principal, it is refreshing to read a book for young readers that is both adventurous and suspenseful while highlighting the importance of knowing and living the truths of our faith in a way that is transferable to real world experiences. To get the full impact, however, you must read the entire series; it is a landscape you will not easily forget!

Kathy Fehder, 

Corpus Christi Catholic School Headmaster,

Simpsonville, KY

Book of Poems: 'Vigil Light Echoes'
now available for free download
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Folks have asked for the book of poems and prayers that has just been completed. We are uploading it for free, and it can be shared with anyone interested.

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Click each to download it, or a hard copy can be purchased from the printer, New Hope Publications, which has added it to their catalogue.

 

Blessings!

 

Fr. Pat

Eucharist for Scientists

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Colors of Spirituality

Spirituality for Beginners

A couple of months ago my car engine overheated—far from anywhere.  Making the mistake of trying to let it cool and add more radiator fluid to limp home, it continued to overheat to the point that it was not drivable and I had to wait hours to get a tow truck to bring it to the repair shop in Louisville.  Sadly, newer cars have lots of plastic parts near or on the motor, one of which had cracked to let out the coolant in the first place.  Today I found out that the head-piece of the motor was leaking also, and hopefully it will be fixed by tomorrow evening so that I can do the church services this weekend I had promised.

 

Expensive as any of these repairs might be, I need to have safe and trustworthy transportation to accomplish the duties still incumbent on me.  My bicycle won’t suffice—although it did when I was in graduate school more than half a century ago.  Others keep telling me that I need a new car; but I refuse to listen because I cannot get a car (at any price) that has the design and features of this car—which I actually like even though it isn’t a pickup truck.

 

Life is filled with blessings and disappointments, things that work and things that break down.  Part of the calling to follow Jesus, who “had nowhere to lay His head”, is to put up with whatever comes our way in this life—knowing that by following Him truly and well we will have things better in the next.  Part of that “better” is that having Him, none of these other issues (cars, houses, health, benefits of any kind) will matter at all.  Mid-January Blessings!

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