Sister Diane Carollo discusses new book The Final Destination
By Natalie Hoefer
It was just another ride on a subway bound for Manhattan—normal people going about their daily lives.
A young Catholic woman makes her way to interview for a job at a medical center, where experiments on human embryos are performed.
A professor who turned from Catholicism to atheism reviews a draft of his book debunking the myth of God.
A woman reflects on her current affair with a married man.
A young man looks at a picture of his live-in girlfriend.
Their lives take a drastic turn as a terrorist detonates a bomb in their subway car.
And so the stage is set in Servants of the Gospel of Life Sister Diane Carollo’s book, The Final Destination. The book addresses Catholic teaching on the “four last things,” namely death, judgment, heaven and hell.
In an interview with The Criterion, Sister Diane, who works as director of religious education at St. Luke the Evangelist Parish in Indianapolis, discusses the origins of the story line, her purpose in writing the novel and what she hopes her audience walks away with after reading the book.
Q. How did you come up with the idea for the story?
A. “First, I want to say that I love Christian fiction, reading it and writing it. It’s an excellent way to evangelize and catechize.
“The idea for the book came to me after reflecting one day on the evil of terrorism. My brother [Steve] lives on the East Coast. I grew up there and travelled on the trains. He travels on them regularly. I’m always concerned for him. He was there when they brought down the twin towers—he worked in the financial district.
“An idea planted in my mind in a conversation with my brother. He might have said something like, ‘What would happen if it happened here on a train?’
“So I imagined what would happen on a train going to Manhattan. I reflected on terrorism as it is unfolding in our lives today. I think of these terrorists and the concept of free will. I wanted to penetrate into the mystery of God’s love for us that is boundless, and how God’s truth can short-circuit our sinful behaviors in that instance between time and eternity.
“The idea of the book is rooted in reality in terms of terrorism and abortion, and that we live in this culture of death that tries to deny God and find substitutes for him. Those four final things [death, judgment, heaven and hell] are so important to reflect on—that’s the real truth.”
Q. How did the story develop? Did you have it all mapped out, or did you find ideas coming to you as you wrote?
A. “It’s like I’m watching a movie. An idea will come, and then it unfolds before me and I write it down. I don’t necessarily know what’s going to happen next. I never know what’s going to happen to the characters. The characters begin to take on a life of their own. They become real as I write. I never know how it’s all going to turn out until the end unfolds before me.”
Q. Why did you feel it was important to write on the topic of the “four last things”?
A. “Going back to the idea that we live in a culture that attempts to trivialize life—[those who buy into that culture] think life becomes something negotiable and controllable. The ‘four last things’ turn us toward God’s truth and our final destination. When you clear out all the lies that are perpetrated in this society, all the God substitutes, the fact remains that we come into the world and we have to exit it, and that exit is for all eternity. The four last things turn our attention to God and our eternal salvation, eternal life. What’s more important than God and the salvation of our souls?”
Q. What do you hope readers walk away with after reading your book?
A. “I would hope that they desire eternal life with God and want to be holy or be saints—whatever word they identify with. [I hope] that they want to be closer to God and want to do his will.”
Q. Who is your intended audience: individuals, groups, Catholics, non-Catholics?
A. “It could be used any number of ways. At the back, there’s an appendix that really explores the teachings of the Church on the ‘four last things,’ with questions for reflection.
“It could be used by individuals or study groups or book clubs. Catholics or non-Catholics could read it, although non-Catholics would have more questions. But the appendix would help them. I didn’t want [the book] to become so fantasized that it wasn’t rooted in our belief.”
Q. Where can people purchase your book?
A. “Unfortunately, a lot of Catholic publishers don’t publish fiction, so I decided to go the way of e-books because it’s inexpensive. So the book is only available electronically because it’s just cheaper that way. And so many people are now reading books on Kindles and Nooks.
“[The Final Destination] is downloadable on www.Amazon.com, www.BarnesAndNoble.com, and www.Smashword.com. For a paper copy, [the reader] would have to download and print it off.”
Q. Do you have any other books in the works? If so, what, and when do you expect them to be completed?
A. “I’m exploring an idea with another individual who has an interest in writing. She has her doctorate in theology. My graduate work was in sacred Scripture. We’re discussing doing a non-fiction [book] that would benefit people who are praying, searching, seeking more of their spiritual life. It’s at a very primitive stage.
“I would like to continue writing. As long as there’s an audience, I’ll continue.
“But I don’t want to crank out books for the sake of cranking out books. I want people to use them for spiritual growth.
“People have told me they had a conversion experience after reading my first book [The Final Choice]. I want other people to profit from this book. I don’t want people to just have an enjoyable read, but [for them to reflect on] what did it provoke in [them], how did it challenge [them], how did it make a difference?”
(The Final Destination is available in electronic version. For $7.99 it can be downloaded from www.Amazon.com, www.BarnesAndNoble.com and www.Smashword.com. For a paper copy, simply print it off once purchased and downloaded.) †
