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Faith leads correspondent to pen first book |
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The book " An Angel On My Shoulder," written by correspondent Lori Szepelak, is now available for purchase.
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Dec. 20, 2010
By G. Michael Dobbs
Managing Editor
Lori Szepelak easily admits that if someone had told her a year ago she would be writing a book, she would have thought the person "crazy."
That would have been before she came to understand that she has guardian angels in her life.
Szepelak's feature reporting is familiar to the readers of Reminder Publications and her first book, "An Angel on my Shoulder," is now available.
Szepelak is a person of faith and in 2008, after the passing of her mother, she noticed something in photos of a trip to the Berkshires she and her husband took: two flashes of magenta light among the green landscape.
In other photos of family events and vacation views, there were slivers of color where they shouldn't be as well as circles of light.
Two frighteningly close encounters while driving on Interstate 91 also convinced her that someone was watching out for her.
It wasn't until the fall of 2009, though, she was able to understand what was happening. Szepelak met with Wendy Birchall, an angel reader, who told her the appearances of light in her photos were manifestations of guardian angels.
The angels requested that Szepelak write about her experiences and she began work on the book.
"It's been such an incredible experience," she told Reminder Publications. "There's been no other way to explain it."
For example, concerned about the design of the book, Szepelak asked her angels, whom she believes are her mother and father, for assistance. Shortly after, she picked up a copy of The Women's Times and her eyes immediately were drawn to an ad for designer Robin Brooks, who specializes in spiritual books.
"I've always asked and they've always come through," she said of her angels.
The cover of the book is a photo she took while on vacation with her husband Bruce on the Caribbean island of Bonaire. Bruce is seen kayaking in front of her and Lori recalled how she was concerned that fatigue would prevent her from making it to shore. She asked for help and did find the strength to complete the trip. In the photo she took, a large magenta image appeared among the clouds, which she said looked like her father. Another image in the clouds resembled her mother.
Szepelak admits in the book that Bruce was at first skeptical of the photos. He thought the digital camera Lori was using was defective, so he bought a new camera and shot some pictures himself. On a business trip to Delaware, a circle of light appears in an ordinary shot of his hotel room.
A Catholic, Szepelak is giving copies of her book to two priests with whom she is friends and is eager to learn their reactions.
She said that when a person "opens yourself up, thing can happen."
Her goal for the book is that her story can provide inspiration and healing for others. She intends to donate part of the sales to charity.
She said she has been told, "my journey is just unfolding . but I don't know where I'm going."
She believes that everyone is here for a reason and over time those reasons become clear.
The uncertainly doesn't concern Szepelak. "When I need a message, a confirmation, it comes through," she said.
Just released, the book is currently on sale through Szepelak herself, although she hopes to shortly have an on-line source for it as well. The book costs $23.90, which includes sales tax and shipping and is available from Wings and a Prayer Press, P.O. Box 217, Southampton, Mass., 10173.
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