Lovin' the Connections

In our work as book publishers (and my work as a writer), we meet or talk to some great people. We hear the most fascinating stories and there are often strange, wonderful connections between us.

On the last day of Canadian Western Agribition in Regina, Saskatchewan, a woman came to our booth and accepted one of our leaflets containing information about all our Prairie books. She said she was travelling and didn't want to take too much home with her, so she probably would not buy a book, but she was interested in what we had on our table.

We chatted more and I asked her where she lived.

In Ontario, she said.

"Where in Ontario?" I asked.

She said, "Near London and Stratford."

I replied that when I was a teenager, I was part of a youth exchange and I spent 10 days on a farm near a little town named....

Her reply? "I live in that town."

WHAT?

That's just bizarre.

Of all the communities in Ontario, she lives in the small town that I stayed in 40 years ago? Come on. That's a crazy coincidence.

We chatted further. I tried to recall the name of my host family and we exchanged email addresses to keep in touch.

Cool, huh?

Oh, yeah. She ended up buying a book after all.

What can we say? Our stories are irrestible.

Here's Al, chatting with one of our many wonderful customers at Agribition.

(I'm the photographer most of the time, so that's why you seldom see me chatting with customers, unless you're there in person.)