Another Day, Another Donut

I'm heading to the Pasqua Hospital in Regina, Saskatchewan this morning. Not because I'm sick, but because I'm meeting the inspiring eight-time cancer survivor Dionne Warner, the subject of my book Never Leave Your Wingman.

About once a month, Dionne and I sign books in the foyer of the hospital, just in front of the Gift Shop (which sells the book for us) and across the aisle from the Robin's Donut coffee shop. We meet all variety of wonderful people - including cancer survivors, their spouses and friends and family members, Allan Blair Cancer Centre staff, hospital staff, folks going to the hospital for health reasons or to visit... plus random strangers who quickly become friends.

It's always a fun time. It can't help but be fun when you're hanging out with Dionne Warner. She just makes EVERYTHING fun!

On one occasion, we were laughing so loud and so long as we signed books and visited with folks that two staff members from the Robin's Donuts shop came over to see what was going on.

So come by to say 'Hi' today. We're there from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

We won't buy you a donut, but we will give yo a hug. Hugs Are Free - and they don't go to your hips!

Here's Dionne and me - in February at a Pasqua Hospital gift shop signing

Unforgettable stories of unforgettable people

A journalist's job is to interview various people, tell the stories of those subjects and then forget about them - or at least set the thoughts of those subjects aside for a while - and move on to the next story.

But there are some people who are very difficult to forget.

These are the people who belong in books.

They are the Dionne Warners, Bob Elliotts, Walter D. Williams's and Colette Bourgonjes of the world.

They are the people who inspire, give others hope, continuously lend a hand and who deserve our attention and admiration.

We are proud to share the stories of some of these unique individuals - especially those named above. All of them are unsung Canadian heroes in their own right.

We invite you to purchase our books about these amazing people and, at your own pace, do as they did in the old days and:

"Read All About It!"

Day of Pink - Anti-Bullying

Today is the Day of Pink - raising awareness about anti-bullying. I wore pink today while I worked on new and existing books projects and such...

But our youngest daughter Dani said it best. She is a school teacher, a humanitarian and a talented singer as well (especially when she is not fighting a spring cold).

We invite you to visit her blog post and see why we are so proud of her on this Day of Pink: http://theotherdani.blogspot.ca/2013/04/day-of-pink-anti-bullying-day.html

Spring Brings New Book Ideas

For the purposes of this blog post, I am going to try to ignore the obvious contradictions between the weather outside...

(too much snow - and don't get me started on the worries about flooding!)

...and the calendar...

(where did March go already?)

...and concentrate instead on the concept that It's Spring!

For us, Spring means a new start outside as well as inside - with a major focus on new books for the coming year.

In the past couple of weeks, we have met three or four new aspiring authors who have asked many questions about self-publishing their books through DriverWorks Ink. A couple of these would-be authors have already given us samples of their manuscripts and asked for our advice and possible assistance in turning their work into quality books that we think you will be interested in reading. And if I say so myself, the bits I've read so far look very promising!

We're taking a couple of those manuscripts with us this weekend as we travel to North Battleford, SK for our next trade show. So if there is a lull at the Agri-Mex show (this Thursday & Friday, April 4 & 5, Noon - 9 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m), or just enough traffic to keep Al busy and me otherwise occupied, you might see me engrossed in the words on my laptop.

Feel free to bring us your book ideas, too. The more, the merrier - for all of our readers!

We hope to see you in the Battlefords this weekend. Take care!