Super Girls and Halos - A Fun Interview with Author, Maria Johnson

Copyright 2017 Allison Gingras. All rights reserved.

A longtime #1 FanGirl of the author, Maria Morera Johnson,
it is my pleasure to share the launch of
her inspiring new book – Super Girls and Halos.
On Sale Now!

Wanting to find a fun way to introduce Super Girls and Halos – I decided to share an interview with the author! Maria’s answers are in bold – which seemed appropriate given the boldness with which she writes. While her new book can be light in tone, *SHAZAM* it is thoroughly rich in insightful and encouraging content!

Super Girls and Virtues

Maria, can you take us into your thoughts? I am so curious as to how one contemplates the virtues of justice, prudence, fortitude, and temperance, and thinks ooh, female superheroes! Saints, I get, but the superheroes connection definitely begs a desire for more explanation.

I get a variation of this question a lot, and to be honest, it wasn’t really that way by design, but the Holy Spirit has a fun way of suddenly turning on the lights for me.

I knew I wanted to talk about the heroines’ strengths, and I knew there were specific character traits I wanted to talk about — certainly Wonder Woman and Justice. As I started making lists of these attributes, I saw a pattern emerge. Boom!

A Super Saint Posse

I thought you had exhausted what I refer to as a Saint Posse in your first book, My Badass Book of Saints. The subheading My Companions on the Quest for Truth, Justice, and Heroic Virtue, hints you have more saintly friends to share with us. While I am aware this new book is not a sequel to Badass, I am wondering: will we met new companions, learn more about those introduced before, or find a mix of new and familiar saintly friends?

There are all new Saints in this book, and I hope I do have a good mix of favorites and new ones. St. Clare of Assisi is paired with Rey from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I include St Kateri Tekakwitha and St Mary Magdalen, too. Then, I bring along St. Mary MacKillop, who was teased by a pope for having been excommunicated, and St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, who is one of my new favorites. I hope the book intrigues people and leads them to read more about these and other saints.

Super Role Models

As I mentioned in my first question, Super Girls and Halos includes the Cardinal Virtues (justice, prudence, fortitude, and temperance).   Let’s say I fancy myself a pretty decent person, do I really need to grow in knowledge and understanding of the virtues? What benefit are these virtues to us mere mortals as compared to our superhero friends?

I think that most of us fundamentally want to be good. To that end, we seek role models that demonstrate positive traits that we’d like to emulate. These heroines have qualities that are positive and worthy of emulating, but we really need more than just “being good.” Framing these characters with the cardinal virtues, and showing those virtues in the lives of saints can encourage us to seek more than just being good, but being holy — seeking and trusting and loving the Lord as the saints demonstrate.

A Super Sales Pitch

Let’s put on our imagination caps – this will be fun! So, I am perusing the books on the shelf of my favorite Catholic bookstore. I see Super Girls and Halos on the shelf. This particular copy of the book has superpowers – it can talk! What does it say to entice me to bring it home to read and share with the Bible Babes (aka the faith-sharing small group that meets weekly at my home)?

You crack me up…

Ok, what would the book say? It wouldn’t say anything; it would send out a laser beam and grab you right away! I mean, you gotta be a little curious about what the super girls have in common with the saints, don’t you? I think Ave Maria Press is my superpower — they did a great job with a fun title and cover design!

An interview with @bego about #SuperGirlsandHalos by @reconciledtoyou @avemariapressClick To Tweet

About the Author:

Maria Morera Johnson (l) with Allison Gingras. Copyright 2017 Allison Gingras. All rights reserved.

Maria Morera Johnson is the author of My Badass Book of Saints (Ave Maria Press), which won first place in the inspirational category at the 2016 Association of Catholic Publisher’s awards. She also contributed to The Catholic Mom’s Prayer Companion and Word by Word: Slowing Down with the Hail Mary. A CatholicMom.com blogger, Johnson retired in 2016 from her position as a composition and literature professor and the director of English learning support at Georgia Piedmont Technical College.

Personally, I would just describe Super Girls and Halos author Maria Morera Johnson as super cool, super funny — and an all-around super fantabulous ‘sharer’ of the Faith!  ***Then again I AM her #1 FanGirl

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Copyright 2017 Allison Gingras