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Susan Brinkmann

Award-winning journalist, author, speaker, and Secular Carmelite.

Featured Books

The Chronicles of Ariella: Lioness Lost

When investigative reporter, Ariella “Ari” Dalton, wakens on the morning of November 29, 2021, she has no idea that the course of her life is about to change forever. And it all begins in Book One of this six-part series with the murder of an old man who found the secret to everlasting love after a sad and loveless childhood that was uncannily similar to her own. Assigned to cover the case for The Pennsylvania Tribune, Ari is led into a macabre and violent world of Satanic gangs while collaborating with an elite FBI squad led by the very handsome – and very Catholic – Supervisory Special Agent Jesse Sandoval.

The Chronicles of Ariella: Falling Into Place

In Book Two of this six-part series, investigative reporter Ari Dalton is once again forced to confront the evil workings of the Satanic gang, Hades Hood, while investigating two more hate crimes at local churches that leave yet another innocent sacristan dead. Working closely with FBI Supervisory Special Agent Jesse Sandoval, their attraction to each other becomes even more apparent, as does their paradoxical worldviews.

The Chronicles of Ariella: A Higher Love

In the third book in this series, investigative reporter Ari Dalton is forced to come to grips with the terrifying reality of evil as it manifests in yet another gruesome hate crime that claims the life of a young female sacristan who was just weeks away from being married. At the same time, Ari comes face-to-face with her own demons in a single terrifying moment that sends her fleeing from the New Age world she once espoused.

Hi, I’m Sue

People ask me all the time how I can write so many books, so fast. My answer is – I have no idea.

The truth is, my writing ability started a long time ago, when I first became aware that I didn’t talk like the other kids. I had a lisp. For a child named Susan, or Thuthan as I pronounced it, that was a big problem.

Read My Books

Chronicles of Ariella

Book One opens with Ari experiencing a recurring dream about a near-death experience she had at the age of 16 when she fell into a diabetic coma and died for 15 minutes. The dream always ends the same way, with the words “Little girl, wake up!”

Like a Catholic Series

The “Like a Catholic” series introduces readers to the often difficult to understand teachings on Catholic mysticism as taught by the Mystical Doctors of the Church – St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and St. Therese of Lisieux.

Sue's Conversion Story

When I decided to return to the Church, I did so kicking and screaming. No way was I going to let God change me into a “Jesus freak” who runs around yelling “praise the Lord” at inappropriate moments.

St. Therese of Lisieux

Live the Little Way explores the teachings of St. Therese of Lisieux’s Little Way of Spiritual Childhood and offers practical tips on how to incorporate this spiritual path into contemporary life.

Spiritual Warfare

In 1972, Pope Paul VI spoke boldly and precisely about the nature of evil. He urged Christians to realize that evil is not a concept, a symbol or a deficiency of some kind – it’s a person – and it’s vitally important to understand this in order to have a “correct Christian conception of the world, of life and salvation.”

Latest Blog

Jekyl and Hyde: The Battle Between Grace and Nature

Jekyl and Hyde: The Battle Between Grace and Nature

There's a little bit of Jekyl and Hyde in all of us. The inclination to choose wrong over right is a persona battle everyone of us has had to fight ever since Adam and Eve made the original "bad choice" by opting out of paradise for nothing more than a lousy apple....

How God Sees Our Prayers

How God Sees Our Prayers

For those of us who worry about how "good" our prayer can possibly be when we’re constantly barraged by distractions or dryness, the following story will make you feel a lot better! I was at a silent retreat in suburban Philadelphia years ago when a Carmelite friar...

Everything is a Grace

Everything is a Grace

These famous words of St. Therese of Lisieux have been a guiding light for my path in the spiritual life. They taught me so much about both God - and myself – and in ways I could never have imagined. For example, people like me who are small and weak of soul, who...

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