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This Is For MY Glory: A Story of Fatherlessness, Failure, Grace, and Redemption
This Is For My Glory is a memoir that follows Stephen B. Glenn’s journey from a childhood marked by fatherlessness and emotional chaos to a later life unraveling under the weight of financial collapse, legal consequences, and deep spiritual searching. The book moves between scenes of his upbringing, his complicated relationships with the various father figures who entered and exited his life, and the months he spent in federal prison. It’s a Christian memoir about failure, love, trauma, and redemption. It reads like a blend of personal testimony and reflective narrative, a kind of spiritual autobiography wrapped in a story of loss and return.
The author’s writing is unpolished in a way that feels relatable. He doesn’t hide the messy parts: the shame of prison, the generational wounds passed down through his family, the way fatherlessness shaped every corner of his inner world. What struck me most was how he layered scenes from prison next to scenes from childhood. One moment he’s describing the cold shock of learning the man he loved wasn’t his father, and the next he’s sitting in a holding cell decades later wondering how he became the man who broke trust and ended up stripped of everything. That back-and-forth rhythm works. It shows how the threads of our early lives tug on us long after we think we’ve cut them.
His descriptions of his mother’s pain and volatility felt raw, almost like he was opening a wound that still hasn’t fully closed. And in other places, especially the spiritual reflections, the tone softens into something quieter and more hopeful. Whether or not you share his faith, those moments feel genuine. There’s a scene in the prison gym where he hears a worship song and breaks open, realizing that all the failures he thought defined him were only pieces of a longer story. That moment stays with you. I wish he had gone even deeper into certain relationships, especially the ones that shaped him as a young adult.
The book feels like listening to someone who has finally stopped running and is trying to make sense of what happened. If you appreciate stories of redemption that don’t pretend the journey is smooth, or if you’re drawn to narratives about overcoming generational pain and finding identity through faith, you’ll probably connect with this one. It’s for readers who value honesty, reflection, and the reminder that even the most broken chapters can lead somewhere worth going.
Pages: 237
Hidden Opportunities for Growth
The Year of My Humiliation follows a brilliant but morally adrift plastic surgeon during what he dubs his “year of humility” as he documents his attempts at personal reform—not out of love or duty, but from a cold, self-imposed challenge to bring his life under control after a scandal that nearly ends his career. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
A friend once left his house in anger and accidentally backed up over his child’s stroller, completely wrecking it. The implication was devastating – what if his child had been in it?
What were some of the emotional and moral guidelines you followed when developing your characters?
When developing Michael, I focused on creating a character who could experience a deeply personal, emotional reckoning without losing authenticity. Morally, I wanted his choices to feel grounded in the realities of human behavior—how we resist change until forced, how pride blinds us to our flaws, and how growth often begins with small, humbling acts.
Michael starts as someone defined by pride and control, but I aimed for his transformation to unfold slowly, in moments that reveal his vulnerability. For instance, making his wife tea wasn’t just an act of humility—it was a subtle yet profound shift in how he saw himself and his relationships.
Emotionally, I focused on Michael’s relationships—especially with the hospital psychiatrist and his estranged son. These interactions highlight the vulnerability of opening oneself to others and the uncertainty of giving love or seeking forgiveness. His choices reflect the gradual, messy process of self-discovery and the risks required to change.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
I was deeply interested in the intervention of grace—not as something soft or comforting, but as a force that’s often shocking, even brutal. Grace breaks through our carefully constructed facades and leaves us no choice but to confront the truths we’ve been avoiding. For Michael, this means grappling with the fallout of his mistakes and the painful realities of the relationships he’s damaged.
I wanted to explore how suffering, while deeply mysterious, can act as a crucible for transformation. It’s through Michael’s humiliation—those raw and uncomfortable moments where his pride is stripped away—that the possibility for redemption begins to take shape. Grace doesn’t promise an easy path, but it offers him a chance to rebuild, starting with the messy work of repairing his connection with his estranged son.
These themes—grace, suffering, and redemption—felt essential to me because they mirror the way real change often happens: unexpectedly, painfully, yet profoundly. They remind us of the hidden opportunities for growth buried within even the most difficult experiences.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
My next novel is more a metaphysical one, about a woman’s journey through a life review after a possibly fatal accident (yes, that’s ambiguous for a reason!) Its release isn’t imminent – I want to deliver a compelling and thought-provoking story. To keep in touch, follow me on Facebook and/or sign up for my email list on lilyfieldpress.com.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website
Michael, an arrogant pediatric plastic surgeon, believes he controls his own life and his wife Rosie’s, until the discovery of Rosie’s duplicity punctures his self-importance and leads to tragedy. Consumed by remorse, he begins journaling his attempts at reparation, beginning with small, humbling acts – like making his wife’s morning tea.
But proving he’s emotionally fit to wield a scalpel again demands more than trivial self-abasement. Under the scrutiny of a hospital psychiatrist with unorthodox methods, Michael’s carefully constructed justifications crumble, exposing the raw truth he’s desperate to avoid.
Struggling to repair the damage only deepens his humiliation. And the one person who might pave the way to his redemption – his son, “the Jackass” – hasn’t spoken to him in years.
And he has no intention of starting now…
“The Year of My Humiliation” resonates as a tale of psychological and spiritual battles against family, God, and self – delivering a riveting, thought-provoking examination of the human heart and the life-changing power of forgiveness.
The Year of My Humiliation
The Year of My Humiliation is a raw, unfiltered dive into the mind of a brilliant but morally adrift plastic surgeon during what he dubs his “year of humility.” Framed as a daily journal, the story documents his attempts at personal reform—not out of love or duty, but from a cold, self-imposed challenge to bring his life under control after a scandal that nearly ends his career. His goal? Make his estranged wife a cup of tea every morning. That’s it. But the deeper you go, the clearer it becomes that this isn’t just about tea. It’s about control, shame, ego, resentment, and—most surprisingly—grief.
The writing floored me. There’s this calm, clinical precision to the narrator’s voice—understandable since he’s a surgeon—but it’s constantly bumping up against his inner chaos. You can feel it. The scene on Day 1, where he’s fumbling through the kitchen trying to make his wife tea for the first time in twenty-four years, was so mundane it was funny—and also sad. That tension carries through the entire book. One minute, I’m smirking at a sarcastic jab; the next, I’m sucker-punched by something brutally honest. Because underneath the smugness and detachment, there’s someone flailing to connect but absolutely terrified of intimacy.
What really hit me were the glimpses of his daughter, Michaelina. Especially the part where he looks at a school photo and focuses not on her face—but on a stray lock of her hair. That small detail holds so much love. He can’t say he misses her or that he’s grieving, not directly. But the book is full of these sideways confessions.
There are moments, though, where the narrator gets under your skin. He’s sexist, elitist, often cruel, and just plain selfish. He compares having intercourse with nurses to fast food and bashes his son with unrelenting bitterness. But I couldn’t stop reading. Because as much as I wanted to condemn him, I also wanted to understand him. When he meets Dr. Thurman, the psychiatrist who’s tasked with evaluating him, the power struggle between them is electric. She sees through him, and he hates it. She tells him, “You may be Mr. Expert on human faces, but I’m the expert on human shame.” She nailed it. That’s what this book is really about I think—shame, and how we hide from it.
This isn’t a redemption story, at least not in the traditional sense. It’s more like watching someone flail toward the possibility of change, failing often but trying in fits and starts. And maybe that’s more honest. I wouldn’t say the narrator grows into a better man—he just grows more aware of how much damage he’s done. The final chapters aren’t triumphant. They’re sobering.
I’d recommend The Year of My Humiliation to readers who like their fiction sharp, introspective, and full of complicated characters. It’s not a feel-good story. But it feels real in that uncomfortable, vulnerable way that stays with you.
Pages: 352 | ISBN : 0967149266
Being Transparent
In Being Transparent, Wilda Rodriguez tells the heartbreaking story of how she dealt with her son’s drug addiction. This emotional book is a collection of journal entries that she wrote over the years, and it depicts the raw and honest nature of her emotions. Rodriguez struggles to cope with the most challenging season of her life, unsure of where she went wrong as a mother. In her hopelessness, she finds refuge and relief in religion. Wilda focuses on reminding people that there is a God out there. You also gain internal peace and tranquility by being transparent with him and trusting him to do the right thing.
Wilda Rodriguez has bared herself in front of her readers by sharing her brutally honest story in Being Transparent. Her intimate thoughts are openly written so that people can connect with them and feel less isolated. Through this inspirational book, she illustrates how being transparent with herself, God, and others gave her journey a head start and eventually led her to heal. Furthermore, Rodriguez has shared in-depth the steps she took that gradually helped her gain inner peace and acceptance. Finally, she has written her realistic experience in a raw and honest tone which exhibits how discombobulated and tangled she really was.
Rodriguez has written this book authentically from the core of her heart in hopes of reaching out and helping those in similar situations. The author also discusses how addiction affects not only the victims but those around them too. She narrates the events that took place over the years while offering truth, answers, and comfort as well. People usually feel suffocated and helpless in such situations, which is why she advises them to embrace reality and trust in God’s plan; by doing so, she rekindles their hope and helps them through an impossible time.
Being Transparent: My Story: Facing my son’s drug addiction is Wilda Rodriguez’s heartbreaking and inspiring memoir. Her true story shares the pain she experienced the questions she had no answers to, and the path she took to self-healing and acceptance.
Pages: 57 | ASIN : B0BMRVVBZ1
Fingerprints of God
Fingerprints of God by Melanie Burgess takes young readers on a scenic adventure of where on earth we could possibly find God’s fingerprints. With each question asked, it beckons us to look deeper into the truth behind everything. That God, in fact, made it all with his goodness and greatness.
This beautifully done children’s book shows children how to find God in all that surrounds us. His goodness is in everything we see, and the art and illustrations in this picture book are captivating. I was so enthralled that I couldn’t help but linger on each page long after reading the narrative.
I enjoyed that there were verses from the Bible sprinkled throughout, connecting the dots for the reader to put together. It shows that the author is well-versed in the Bible, it’s teaching, and how the information was researched and put together expertly. I also appreciated all the animal facts at the very end of the book because it felt as though the author knew people would want insight into all the creatures in the story and made sure to include it all.
Fingerprints of God is definitely an excellent book for young or beginner readers due to the simple language that the author has used. In addition, kids are so curious and are fascinated by animals, which, in my opinion, is what makes this the perfect story to get conversations started about God and his workings with young children.
Pages: 36 | ASIN : B0BBLG44GM
Christmas Begins With Christ
Have you ever wondered what Christmas was all about? Why do we get presents and celebrate with our loved ones? In Christmas Begins with Christ by Gina Kirkland, we are taken on a beautifully magical explanation of the meaning of Christmas. The story is told through poetic prose and charms you quite thoroughly from your head to your toes.
The author does a splendid job incorporating the Christian faith along with other non-religious traditions that all play along in the celebration of Christmas. The illustrations by Marissa Napolitano are so magical and whimsical that, as an avid reader, I found it hard to turn the page. The characters and backgrounds were awe-inspiringly gorgeous and added to the rhythmic tone of the author’s words.
This is a perfect story not just for young readers but adults as well. It truly felt like Christmas to me, and it would be a great addition to my own family’s holiday reading library to get us in the spirit. The dedications from the author to her family were tear-worthy and left me blurry-eyed before I even started the story. I am so glad she was motivated to write this book because it was simply meant to be. It’s like when you read an amazing book and just know it was fated to be written, and you can’t stop recommending it. This is one of those books. It was dazzling from start to finish. I look forward to reading more books from this author and undoubtedly adding them to my family’s reading library.
Christmas Begins with Christ is a magical Christian-based picture book teaching children about the meaning of Christmas. This educational story will entertain and enlighten young children as they follow along through the pages.
Pages: 32 | ASIN : B0BD7C5QRJ
LITERARY TITAN 