Hey there.
Welcome to Mystery and Manners.
Named after the collected essay of Catholic novelist Flannery O’Connor, this substack will similarly include occasional essays on faith, on literature and writing, on place, and what happens when human nature clashes with grace; I may also throw in my experiences with motherhood and homeschooling just for good measure.
It will most likely include less pieces about peacocks, but we’ll see where the wind takes us.
I’m glad you’re here.
I’m Carissa—a wife to a Catholic missionary, mother of three little ones, writer and bookbinder. Although I feel drinking coffee would complete my personality, I don’t care much for it but will take a cup of tea even on a Midsummer’s night.
I don’t have a sense of smell and think Paul Simon is the greatest songwriter of all time (Do your three and five year olds sing “Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover” on a random Tuesday morning or are your kids normal?)
When I was a kid, I wanted to be a veterinarian, then a teacher, then a computer programmer, before I realized that I wanted to write down all of the stories in my heart and my head. (I’m still working on that bit..) I studied Writing and Radio/TV at Franciscan University of Steubenville and wrote my senior thesis on Doctor Who and fairytales which a statement which I feel alone sums up most of what there is to know about me.
I’ve been writing on the internet since 2016, and you can find my writing on several online spaces. I began a blog in 2017 right before our daughter was born and was put to rest this past year. (If you’re one of the OGs from The Myth Retold days, thanks for putting up sticking with me).
Writing online is a tricky business—one can, as I did, easily fall into the trap of focusing too much on SEO and analytics and not much on thoughtful writing. I was saying a lot, but not saying anything new so I tried listening more. So I solemnly swear not to crowd your inbox with fluff just to get the thrill of hitting “publish.”
Care to join me?
If I had to guess, you, dear reader, most likely feel a little out of place in this time and place but feel perfectly at home in a good story. You secretly hope to stumble through a wardrobe and engage in a battle against evil forces that seek to destroy what is Good, True, and Beautiful.
You’re tired of the Twitter feuds, TikTok dances, and hours of doom scrolling. You long for something more, something you can sink your teeth into, something that invites you to contemplation.
You’re not sure who Dua Lipa is and at this point, you’re honestly afraid to ask.
You’re not afraid to wrestle with the vastness of God and come out from the fray understanding only your littleness.
And you believe, as I do, that “Beauty will change the world.”
If that sounds like you, I would love for you to subscribe.
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Care to join me in defying the ugliness of the world?
