Last fall, I raised a glass to toast a friend and fellow author.
I had just signed my book contract and submitted my manuscript for my Screwtape-inspired novel The Bellbind Letters. We were celebrating these wins—but also commiserating. She had just learned that a well-respected writer would soon be publishing the very book that she had always dreamed of writing.
“Don’t fret over this!” I assured her with confidence. “If this is the Lord’s will for you, you will write it in a way that is completely unique to you. Don’t listen to the voice that says ‘If someone else wrote it first, it’s not worth trying.’” I added, “That’s Screwtape talking.”
My words would come back to haunt me just a few short months later. Not one, but two other authors announced the release of their own Screwtape-style books for Christian women. My publisher decided to delay the release of The Bellbind Letters. Mine wouldn’t merely face competition—it would be last in line.
With disappointment and angst swirling in the pit of my stomach, I immediately texted my friend: “See, someone else wrote my book first, too!” I paired the note with a laughing/crying emoji to fully capture my emotional state.
It hasn’t been easy. But I tried to follow the example of St. Ignatius, who once said that if the Church dissolved the Society of Jesus, he would allow himself 15 minutes to grieve—then move on and accept God’s will. I can’t pretend to know what the Holy Spirit is doing with this triple-dose of satire for women. But such a flood suggests that this message is desperately needed in our time.
So I sighed, took my fifteen minutes, and surrendered the book’s future to the One who inspired it.
I curled up with a cup of tea and read both books cover to cover while I waited for my edits. My Dear Hemlock, by Tilly Dillehay—an Evangelical pastor’s wife—follows its “patient” throughout her life as a married woman and mother. Sincerely, Stoneheart by Catholic speaker Emily Wilson unpacks the cultural lies women tell themselves. Both are lovely books, with reviews lauding them as powerful and even transformational.
The voice returned: “What could you possibly hope to add to the mix?”
The original Screwtape-imitator, esteemed Catholic philosopher Peter Kreeft called his own 1998 copycat The Snakebite Letters “a shameless plagiarism,” defending the genre of imitations thus: “I have no shame about it, because I’m sure Lewis wanted such ‘plagiarisms.’” What did he mean by this?
Fiction is a powerful device that lowers our defenses and holds up a mirror to our souls. In this inverted genre, demonic disgust also reveals to us the radiant beauty of precious things—and how easily we overlook it.
Kreeft had something to say about spiritual warfare and society. Dillehay explores a woman’s struggle to love both her husband and her Savior. Wilson helps women reject lies and embrace their belovedness. Lewis, Dillehay, and Wilson penned books for broadly Christian audiences. Kreeft and I write for Catholics.
After reading these variations and having written one myself, I can confirm with confidence that my advice to my friend was correct. Each of these “shameless plagiarisms” shines with its own brilliance—something only its unique author could bring forth into the world.
So, what makes The Bellbind Letters unique?
Unlike Lewis’s newly converted Christian, my “patient” is a Catholic mother striving—imperfectly—to live a holy life. Lewis emphasized the psychological currents beneath modern philosophical and cultural trends, with relationships playing a minor role. My book, in decidedly feminine fashion, reverses this: relational vices take center stage, with cultural undercurrents swirling below.
And while Lewis wrote of “mere Christianity,” I write from the fullness of Truth in the Catholic Church. To my knowledge, The Bellbind Letters is the only “shameless plagiarism” where you’ll find the Mass, the Eucharist, Confession, and Our Lady taking center stage—described, of course, in all their “despicable filth” (as the demons would say).
I believe each of the seven deadly sins and Ten Commandments appear somewhere in The Bellbind Letters (though I’d have to do a full audit to be sure), making it a uniquely immersive examination of conscience in fictional form, perfectly timed for its Lenten release in 2026.
None of these books says everything. But each says something true, beautiful, and worth sharing.
Ultimately, only the Holy Spirit knows what He intends to do with each of these books. I'm grateful to be part of the conversation, and I can’t wait to share these letters with you. I revisited my letters last night with the usual bout of author anxiety—half-expecting to cringe and furiously rewrite whole sections. Instead, they touched me again, making me shiver once more at the deceptive power of sin.
If nothing else, the Lord has worked to soften my heart and strengthen my will to do good. And that, my friends, is worth every letter.
AMDG,
Samantha
Around the Web
A look at where my work has taken root lately—articles, interviews, and conversations in the wild world of the internet.
Earlier this week, I was asked to submit a list of my published work from the past two years. It was a fun exercise to review those pieces and interviews as a whole, reflect on their trajectory, and imagine where the Lord might be leading in it all—a sort of professional Ignatian examen.
As I’d already compiled the list, I thought I’d go ahead and share it with you fine readers in case you stumble across a topic that is of interest to you:
Articles and Essays:
Artificial Wombs, Artificial Love at Public Discourse
RFK and the Silencing of Debate at Crisis
Are We Fundamentally Good? A Response to Allie Beth Stuckey at Crisis
How to Talk to Kids about Abortion at CatholicMom.com
Book Review: Now and at the Hour of Our Death at CatholicMom.com
Raising Prolife Kids at CatholicMom.com
Women Deserve Better Than Abortion at Word on Fire
On Bringing Children to Mass at CatholicMom.com
Does Genetic Testing Put Babies at Risk? at Crisis
Why Contraception is Dangerous at Catholic Review
The Problem with Postmortem Conception at Catholic Review
Elon Musk and the Reproductive Revolution at Public Discourse
Podcast Interviews:
Books: Mama Prays | Reclaiming Motherhood from a Culture Gone Mad
Web: www.snstephenson.com