Writing with a Purpose

The other day, I took one of my writing journals to a grandchild's soccer game so I could do some journalling while I waited for the game to begin.

The only person in the stands near me was a woman... who all of a sudden said, "Hey, look!" as she pulled a copy of the exact same journal out of her handbag.

What are the chances? And how cool is that?

"You've met your journal twin," she said to me.

We both smiled.

Some spiritual people that I know tell me there's no such thing as coincidence, that things happen for a reason. So I wondered why this unusual event occurred. 

It didn't take long for me to figure it out.

I write in a journal to help process my thoughts and emotions. I would have shared most of those with my husband when he was still alive, but he died eight years ago from cancer, so I have been figuring out a new way of life since then - one that involves a lot more time alone. Writing helps me release the ideas and emotions - of all varieties - that well up inside me. Once I've put them on paper - writing them out by hand over a longer time versus typing them up quickly - my soul feels lighter. More at peace.

I've reminded myself, in this past year especially, after receiving such nice responses to my latest book, that I write because that's what I am supposed to be doing. It's my calling on this earth. It's one of the things that makes me happy and brings a sense of purpose to my days and nights. 

I enjoy writing about other people and their fascinating lives and accomplishments. As a retired journalist as well as a book publisher, editor, and author, I enjoy sharing true stories and documenting them for historical purposes, and for entertainment too.

In thinking more about the journal I brought to that soccer game, I wondered where I got this particular pink journal. At first, I thought perhaps it was given to me by a dear friend or family member who knows about my need to write down my thoughts to release them from my mind. Then I remembered that I bought this journal at a discount store because of the words on its front cover.

So, in this new year, I feel like this moment of meeting my "journal twin" was a reminder of how I should proceed in 2024 in this different, new life of mine:
 Act, Show, Prove (although when I glanced at the journal cover just now, I thought it said Love instead of Prove, and that's good too).

I'm also reminded that words are important, and I'm grateful to have the ability to use them in my personal life and my profession. 

As Polish-British novelist Joseph Conrad said, “My task...is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel - it is, before all, to make you see. That - and no more - and it is everything.”

Thankful today and every day

There are many people in my life for whom I am grateful – old friends and new, family and those I call family, authors, book buyers, coworkers and colleagues, and so much more.

My work life as an author, editor, and book publisher has been greatly enriched this past year, so I have a few new blessings to add to my already blessed life.

I am grateful to have met and become friends with 101-year-old Reginald “Crash” Harrison of Saskatoon, who survived four plane crashes while serving as a bomber pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. Reg grew up on a Saskatchewan farm and went off to war in search of adventure and to serve his country, like his father and uncles did before him. He flew 19 missions and survived four crashes – none of which were his fault.

Upon his return to Canada, Reg stopped in Ottawa to visit the fiancée of a fallen airman friend. Reg’s dramatic war story turned into a beautiful love story – all of which I’ve documented in my new book Crash Harrison – Tales of a Bomber Pilot Who Defied Death (available on my website). To Reg, for painstakingly recalling all the details and trusting me to share his fascinating life story, I am grateful. I also appreciate the assistance of many people who helped me see this book through to fruition, including Lisa Driver, Mary Harelkin Bishop, Dani Driver, Don Acton, Laurie Harrison, Sylvia Acton, Susan Harrison, Pete Colbeck, Thomega Entertainment, and Creative Saskatchewan.

Reg "Crash" Harrison and author Deana J. Driver, August 2023

I’ve had the privilege of talking about the Crash Harrison book alongside Reg Harrison at numerous events in Saskatoon and to Saskatchewan media – including CTV News Saskatoon, CBC Radio Saskatchewan Weekend, and the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. Plus, he’s been interviewed twice on the John Gormley Talk Radio show! (See the links on our News & Events page.)

My Crash Harrison book has been #1 on the Bestsellers list at McNally Robinson Booksellers Saskatoon, and I recently found out from a friend that the book has been nominated for Best Book in the Prairie Dog Magazine’s Best of Regina 2023 contest! For these honours, I am grateful.

Those who know me personally will tell you that the last seven years have been a time in which I’ve been rebuilding myself after the unexpected death of my husband Al from cancer. Grief will always be with me and my family. We are learning to grow and find happy moments alongside it. And we are eternally grateful for the life and love of Al Driver.

As a retired journalist, I admire those who are gifted wordsmiths. On the topic of gratitude, one of my favourite pieces was written by the late Ron Petrie, whom I was privileged to work with while publishing a collection of his Regina Leader-Post newspaper columns. His Running of the Buffalo book was one of the first of about 100 books I have created since I started on this publishing journey.

So Ron gets the last words here about being grateful.

(His "Giving Thanks for a Great Life" column was published in 2007 in the Leader-Post and again in 2010 as the final chapter, "Thankful," of our book. The newspaper column was also buried in the 100th anniversary time capsule at the Saskatchewan Legislative Building in December 2012.)

Enjoy!

 

Thankful 

Whether one day of humility makes up for 364 of selfish bellyaching is a question best left to theologians and ethicists. The point of this weekend is to take stock.

So let it be known that I am grateful.

Grateful to be where I am, for starters.

As a younger man, brash and full of swagger, I considered my calling to be Vancouver, Montreal, even New York. Only now do I appreciate that what I actually fancied was merely the idea of my farmboy self destined for the big city that, in reality, traffic jams, restaurant queues, cut-throat office politics, six-dollar cups of coffee, shoebox apartments and crammed elevators are not for me and never were.

Where I am is Saskatchewan. Thank goodness. With the possible exception of the Maritimes, nowhere in Canada can one find folks with a keener feel for the absurd, with a  more grounded sense of purpose and place, the confidence to enjoy the gift that is a good laugh at one’s own expense. The job description calls me a Saskatchewan humour writer. Hardly. I am a stenographer. I simply take notes.

That my Saskatchewan grows the food that feeds the world makes me guilty of a deadly sin. Pride.

Chances are that in the coming weeks and months, Saskatchewan will be called upon to install both a provincial and federal government. Unlike in too many other parts of the world, this will be accomplished through words, not blood. I am thankful for our British system of parliamentary democracy, for its longstanding tradition that holds my role, political satire, as an indispensable safeguard against the threat of pompous and overbearing authority.

I give thanks for my home. Droopy eavestroughs, cracked driveway and ill-fitted door jambs notwithstanding, I live in comforts unknown to three-quarters of the people of the planet and with conveniences unimagined before the 20^th century, not even by kings, emperors and czars. A hot shower, on tap every morning remains, for my money, one of the greatest accomplishments of mankind.

I am grateful for a wife who, after early shopping for a Halloween supply of miniature Kit Kat bars, hides the bags where only she and I can find them. Also for pretending that she doesn’t know that I know where.

To the men and women of the Canadian Armed Force, I say thank you. The mission our soldiers accepted halfway around the world is reminiscent of the dangers of two world wars that my parents’ generation and my grandparents’ generation had no choice but to face down. Canadians of my own pampered vintage, conversely, have known nothing but peace.

I am indebted to the 2007 Saskatchewan Roughriders, for posting an 8-5 win-loss record and relieving me of the usual journalistic obligation every fall to write snarky wisecracks about my lifelong favourite football team.

For those moments I spend with my kids at our favourite fishing hole, at dance and music recitals, in hockey rinks or on the golf course, I am beholden. It is fashionable among experts in child-rearing to lecture that parents ought not to live vicariously through their children and shouldn’t derive their own happiness from the activities of their sons and daughters.

I am thankful my kids do not read books written by child-rearing experts.

I am grateful for the wherewithal that allows me to provide my children with everything I know they need, if not always for everything they think they want. Putting a child to bed with an empty stomach and with nothing humanly possible to dry the tears must be a parental nightmare beyond all scope of the Canadian imagination.

Likewise, I am thankful for a rising group of young work colleagues who challenge each other through excellence, not gossip or backstabbing; for refrigerated transport, putting fresh asparagus on my plate where, as a boy, there would have been, blech, canned peas; for good friends who laugh too much; for a westside address with its view of the Prairie sunset; for the memory of my mom and dad; for our land of variety, of four seasons, even if the white one is a tad on the long side; for pain-free dentistry; for disposable contact lenses, for, for…

As a professional bellyacher, perhaps I should be most thankful that, on this rare occasion of listing what’s right in life, not wrong, I’ve run out of space.

There’s too much. Here and now, there’s just too much.

 

October 6, 2007

Reconnecting with a special friend and unique story in Brandon MB

As an author and book publisher, I am often asked, "Where do you get your stories from?"

Sometimes, I find the stories or book subjects by researching and asking questions, the way I did when I was a freelance journalist writing for various Canadian newspapers and magazines.

Sometimes, the stories walk into my line of vision or hearing, as was the case when my daughter Lisa told me about the indomitable Dionne Warner, the seven-time cancer survivor who was about to speak at a Relay for Life rally in Regina in July 2011 (which made me think Dionne's story was worthy of a great book, which I would go on to write and publish - Never Leave Your Wingman).

Sometimes, as in the case of the book I wrote about former Royal Canadian Navy man John Hanlon of Brandon, Manitoba, the story comes to me through a friend of a friend.

In about 2011, a dear friend of mine, Dexter van Dyke, suggested that he knew of a story that his friend, Elaine Rounds of Brandon, had told him about an elderly man who did something wonderful during the Second World War. 

In November 1944, John Hanlon was a wireless operator on the HMCS Royalmount, which was docked in St. John's, Newfoundland at the time. John knew their convoy would be at sea on Christmas Day, so he and a couple crewmates walked up a hill in St. John's Harbour and cut down some evergreens. John hid those trees in the belly of his ship and pulled them out weeks later, on Christmas morning, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean - surprising his crewmates as well as some English children who were on another ship in that convoy, coming to a safe home in Canada. John's forward-thinking made that wartime Christmas a very memorable day for many people for decades to come.

John had been telling this Christmas 1944 story to his children, grandchildren, his United Church community, and Royal Canadian Legion members at Christmastime for decades after the Second World War ended.

Elaine had told Dexter about the story. Then Dexter told me. We all knew it would make a great book. So I asked Dexter to connect me with Elaine and, thus, John Hanlon.

I met Elaine Rounds in Brandon in May 2012, based only on an introduction via Dexter. Elaine became an instant friend and we have spoken and seen each other several times in the years since then. That first day, she took me and my husband Al to the care home in which John Hanlon was a resident. John's wife Audrey told me the story while John, unable to speak at times at age 90, nuzzled in beside me and bumped my leg when the story got interesting.

Before I left John's room that day, I promised him and Audrey that I would write his special Christmas trees story before that Christmas and I would donate some money from each book to the Royal Canadian Legion (Dominion Command Poppy Trust Fund, which helps veterans and their families). John Hanlon passed away a few days after our meeting.

I fulfilled my promise and wrote The Sailor and the Christmas Trees book a couple months later in a style as though John was telling his Christmas trees story to the reader. When I phoned Audrey to read her what I had written, to make sure I had the details correct, she said, "I can hear John's voice." This brought tears to her eyes and to mine. A nonfiction writer cannot receive a bigger compliment.

I added a biography of John to the back of the book and invited artist Catherine Folnovic to illustrate the first half of the book, with family photos completing the biography. In a spur-of-the-moment decision that first day in Brandon, I had asked Al to take a photo of me with John, Audrey, and Elaine in John's small room. That photo has been a precious memory ever since.

This past weekend, I was storm-stayed in Brandon after a successful weekend at the Brandon's Big One Arts & Crafts Sale. Deciding to not take a chance on driving back to Regina in bad weather, I opted for a hotel room and I also made a phone call to Elaine Rounds to see if we could connect again. We met for supper and spent three glorious hours bringing each other up to date on our lives, relishing in our friendship, and celebrating the wonderful people who brought us together.

Thank you to Dexter, John, and Audrey. But thank you, especially, to Elaine, who knows a very good story when she sees one.

Elaine Rounds and Deana Driver
in Brandon, MB - Oct. 24, 2022

When students asked about my writing and books, it all went well until that excerpt

I enjoy speaking with students about the books I’ve written and/or published but also about the importance of reading and writing to learn, grow intellectually, and make the world a better place. I also enjoy answering questions posed by students during and after my talks. Sometimes I have an answer readily available, sometimes things go slightly awry.

I was honoured to recently talk with students at Robert Southey and Viscount Central schools. I speak about how I started writing at age eight and it grew into a lifetime of loving the written word and working as a journalist, author, editor, and book publisher. I give them some tips for reading and writing and encourage them to try to make a positive impact in the world because of what they learn while reading.

Mrs. Carnegie-Meere with author-publisher Deana Driver at Robert Southey School

I tell students that there is no such thing as a dumb question, because if they don't know the answer, it's a perfect time to find out. I'd rather they ask than assume something that is incorrect.

These are some of the students' questions (and my answers) from that day:

-          “What’s your favourite animal?” (I replied that I have allergies, but I guess dogs are okay. The younger kids often ask me personal questions instead of questions related to the books I’m discussing. Or sometimes they will simply state a fact based on something they heard. After telling them of my book The Sailor and the Christmas Trees about a man named John, two or three younger students will inevitably tell me they know someone named John – which is nice, but it's not a question and I encourage them to instead ask a question starting with Who, What, When, Where, Why or How.)

-          “What’s your favourite food?” (Chicken. I’d eat chicken for every meal every day.)

Mrs. Jantz with author-publisher Deana Driver at Viscount Central School

       "What is your favourite book that you’ve written?” (I like all of them for different reasons. They’re all like my babies and you should never choose a favourite baby, but I guess I'll choose Never Leave Your Wingman because it's an inspiring true story that can be enjoyed by almost anyone in any family. Almost everyone is affected by cancer. And The Sailor and the Christmas Trees is great for children and adults too. My other three books are out of print.)

-          “Is that coat book true?”  (Yes, The Little Coat, written by Alan Buick, is a true story about a Canadian soldier and a Dutch girl who met during the war. They gave her a coat made from an army blanket.)

-          “Did you see that coat?” (Yes, my husband and I saw the little coat in 2015 when it was on display at the Military Museum in Calgary. It was on loan from the Canadian War Museum. It’s really beautiful.)

-           “Aren’t you going to ask us what our favourite animal is?” (Um… no, not today.)

-          “Who's your role model?” (My mom. She was a teacher before she had children and she encouraged me at a young age to be creative with my writing. I learned my love of the English language and writing from her.)

-          “Can you read something from the Fun on the Farm book?” (I read Mary Harelkin Bishop’s short story called ‘A Snack For Mom’. At another reading that day, I read Keith Foster’s poem ‘Thanksgiving Memory’.) 

-          “What would you change about one of your books?” (That’s a question I’ve never been asked, but most writers I know are unhappy with some part of what they’ve written. We always want our writing to be better. Even though it's won an award and been praised endlessly by readers, I’d go back and tighten up the text of the Never Leave Your Wingman book. I wrote the book and published it quickly, within a year, because I was concerned that Dionne Warner, the seven-time cancer survivor I wrote about, might die while I was writing that book. She is still very much alive and living her life to the fullest while fighting her ninth cancer diagnosis. The day I met Dionne and decided to write and publish her story, I asked her what would happen to the book project if she died while I was in the process of writing. It was a tough question but I needed to ask it. We agreed that if we could help one person by sharing her inspiring story, my book would go ahead. After the book was published, Dionne told me that if she’d known me better, she would have answered, “What happens if you die?” It was an excellent point that is typical of what her outlook on life can teach us about how to live our lives. Live life to the fullest. No regrets.)

-          “Are you writing anything right now?” (I’m working on two new books. Author Alan Buick, who wrote The Little Coat, and I are writing short stories of Canadian war veterans who could have died had they made a different decision or been in a different place during the war. I also want to write some true stories about Prairie pilots and their adventures. So if you know anyone who has a story of a Canadian war veteran or a fascinating pilot adventure, please let me know.)

-          “I want to do freelance writing? How do you recommend I get started?” (This was a one-on-one question posed after one of my presentations. I told the student to be persistent, to keep track of everything they have ever had published, even if there was no pay for their work. You must build a resumé. When I began freelancing in September 1983, I visited the public library twice a week and looked at every magazine on the racks to see which ones matched my skill set and my interests as a writer. I mailed writing samples from my journalism career to many of these magazines and made several long-distance phone calls, which were expensive in those days, but I received no responses. In early 1984, I attended a burn symposium on my own, listened to the morning’s speakers, then phoned The Medical Post in Toronto and talked to their editor about the physician speakers and their topics. I asked if the magazine wanted stories from this first-on-the-Prairies conference and they agreed to accept four or five articles. This began a 30-year freelance career with that and other publications. Be persistent, be passionate about your writing, work hard, be good at what you do.)

-          “Can you read us some of that book about horses?” (This was not my finest moment as a speaker. I have never read excerpts from Bryce Burnett’s humorous cowboy poetry to a group of students, so I picked up Bryce’s latest book, Horses, Dogs and Wives, and skimmed the pages to find a suitable poem. I saw one that ended with “farted” and decided to keep looking. I landed on the ‘Rover’ poem instead, but I should have looked more closely at the last couple lines first. I'd temporarily forgotten that cowboy poetry usually has a surprise ending. As I finished reading that poem, the entire group of Southey students gasped and then laughed, while I sheepishly grinned. I later apologized to the teachers for reading what some might have considered an inappropriate poem for the students, but the teachers insisted it was fine. See the poem below for yourself. Would you have read it to kids in Grades 6 to 9?)

Thank you to both schools for the invitations to speak and to Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild for subsidizing the Viscount reading. Thank you to the students of both schools for their attention and their questions.

Mrs. Elaine Jantz, librarian at Viscount Central School, wrote about my presentation at Viscount school:

“Deana Driver came to our school for a presentation and spoke to our students about her books, writing and publishing. She is an awesome presenter, she kept them all engaged and hearing the stories about how the books came to be was so enlightening and made them even more interesting to get and read. The story about a shy, farm girl going on to be a journalist, then writer, editor and publisher, really inspired some of our students as to how far you can go and what you can do if you try. She gave them great insight into how to start writing and keep going. We very much enjoyed her visit!”

(Read about a Robert Munsch question I was quickly able to answer.)

A Future Reader Is Why I Write

It always blows me away when children recognize the Never Leave Your Wingman book. I am slowly getting used to adults telling me they've read and enjoyed this inspiring book about a seven-time cancer survivor and her wingman husband, but children's comments always surprise me. Pleasantly.

At a recent signing at the Chapters bookstore in Regina, Saskatchewan, a little girl came up to me and said, "I have this book at my school!" She gently touched the book cover as though it was a precious diamond or her favourite toy.

I asked which school she attended. She replied, "Douglas Park." 

I asked about her school because I and Dionne Warner, the subject of the book, have each spoken at various schools in Regina and elsewhere. I have not yet presented at that school and I wasn't sure if Dionne had either, but no matter. I was pleased that she expressed interest in the book.

As they were walking away after our chat, the little girl's father commented that his wife has posted on Facebook about the Never Leave Your Wingman book. Again, I was pleasantly surprised but I did not ask any further questions. 

I know! That was very difficult for this woman who has spent her entire adult life asking questions of others. But I fought my inquisitive journalist urges and refrained. Instead, as they walked away, I called out to the girl, "Keep reading and learning!"

She called back, "I don't know how to read!" I again was surprised. She was so intelligent and interested. I had not thought about her young age until then.

"I'm sure you'll learn soon and be great at it," I told her.

I turned back to my table of books and said to myself, "And that is why writers write. For future readers like her."

You Deserve The Best - The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I watched the movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower the other night. It had been on my 'movies to watch' list for quite some time, and the fact that one of the executive producers is a family friend was another reason I wanted to watch this film.

James/Jim Powers, who produced the movie with the film's writer Stephen Chbosky, is the oldest son of Ken and MaryBelle Powers, who have been dear friends of ours for many years. Ken is a retired United Church minister and he was the first full-time minister of Heritage United Church, the church I attend in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. I give Ken the credit (and sometimes the blame) for pushing me out of my comfort zone and helping me further discover my abilities as a writer, but mostly he pushed me into having the courage to stand in front of a crowd and read scripture. This was the first step on the long road leading to me becoming the confident public speaker I am today. It's easier to stand up and speak in public when you are surrounded by loving, supportive people.

But back to the movie. I loved it. The movie is described as a story about an introvert freshman who is taken under the wings of two seniors who welcome him to the real world. Without saying too much about the plot, the script was well-written, thought-provoking, and surprising. The characters were strong, sound, and complex. The acting was superb. The main characters played by Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, and Ezra Miller stayed with me long after the movie was over and I found myself reliving parts of the movie and pondering many of the lessons within.

There were two phrases (of many quotes from the movie available here) that have stuck with me. They are so strong in my consciousness that they inspired me to write this blog and put the quotes together with photos I have taken.

As a journalist and as a human being, I have seen so many cases of the past inappropriately defining the future for some people. I hope for a world where the past only helps and doesn't hurt us.

This second phrase was used twice in the movie and it made its point with me both times, as I watched the actors, and as I thought of people I have met and whom I have read about who somehow do not believe themselves worthy.

Holiday Fun with Books, A Movie, and My Wedding Dress

Hi there. I hope you had a nice Christmas season. Ours was great, especially on Boxing Day, when both of our daughters and their partners were visiting from out-of-town and we were able to spend the evening with our son and his family.

On December 27th, I went shopping with our daughters and we visited a local bookstore - Chapters Gordon Road, Regina, SK - to buy some books, of course, and to see our own books on the shelves.

As an author and publisher, I always check out the 'Saskatchewan's Own', 'Local Authors', and 'Regional Interest' shelves of Canadian bookstores. Several of the books we've published are visible in this photo - the award-winning children's book Jamie and the Monster Bookroom is top left under the green sign, Interrupted With Bipolar is on the second shelf on the left, and my award-winning, best-selling Never Leave Your Wingman book is on the second shelf on the right.

      

No matter how many times I see books published by DriverWorks Ink on store shelves, that vision always sends a thrill through my body. I do love books ... and I love writing them, editing and publishing them. 

Watching first-time authors find their books on a bookstore shelf is also one of my favourite experiences.

Our daughter Lisa Driver found her award-winning spiritual wellness book, Opening Up: How To Develop Your Intuition And Work With Your Angels, on this bookstore shelf ...

...  right beside my award-winning Never Leave Your Wingman book! That makes sense. A book written by Lisa Driver should be beside a book written by Deana Driver. 

While at the mall that afternoon, the girls and I had a little fun with a wintery scene cut-out.

Our two daughters are in the top photo, while I am mugging it up with our youngest daughter, Dani, in the bottom photo. What fun!

Later that evening, before sitting down to watch the Corner Gas Movie (which Al and I had already seen, had thoroughly enjoyed, and were looking forward to seeing again), talk turned to Lisa and her fiancé Kyle's upcoming wedding.

Lisa had already chosen a wedding dress during a shopping trip in the fall, but I had not thought about my own wedding dress until this moment.

Our daughters were surprised to hear that my wedding dress has been in a vacuum-sealed storage box since Al and I were married in January 1976. We've moved the box with the rest of our things from apartment to house to house over the years.

You should have seen the looks on our daughter's faces when they heard this news. It was priceless.

Also priceless are these photos - which were taken as we pulled my dress out of its storage box for the first time in 39 years, and each of our daughters modelled my dress - just for fun.

I was pleased that the dress had been so well-preserved. (The blue in the sleeves is packaging to keep the lace from crumbling, I imagine.)

39 years later, the dress still looks great. I was impressed.

Lisa tried on my veil. Hmmm ... maybe she'll wear it as 'something borrowed'. We'll see.

She also checked our wedding photo to see what the veil looks like when it isn't all wrinkled.

 Dani got a kick out of my dress, too.

It's a little too big for her, but it was fun to see her wearing my dress anyway.

Lisa looked great in my dress, too, but it didn't fit her either. And those sleeve bands are not exactly in style today. Still ... you could 'shorten it and wear it again', as they said about bridesmaids' dresses in one of my favourite chick-flick movies, 27 Dresses.

Nah, I don't think that's going to happen.

After we put the dress back in its storage box - minus the vacuum seal - the girls asked how much my dress cost. They were surprised to find that I had many details recorded in our Wedding Album. (That's what I do - write it down!)

The dress was sewn by a woman in Regina. The satin fabric, lace, zipper, and veil cost a total of $39.32. (That was big money in those days.) Although I don't have a receipt from the seamstress, we recall that she charged about $100 to sew the dress. The fabric for the two red velvet bridesmaids' dresses totalled $90.73. Ah, those were the days.

Sharing these memories and my dress with our daughters was priceless. What a great day!

I also saw a note in our Wedding Album about a detail that Al and I had both forgotten. We went on our first date on January 7, 1974, when we were taking a Journalism Administration course at SAIT in Calgary. Exactly two years later, I was the main attraction at a bridal shower in Regina, Saskatchewan, just 10 days before our wedding. Wow. Time flies when you're having fun.

So on this, the 41st anniversary of our first date, I celebrate family. Especially my husband - and DriverWorks Ink publishing partner - Al Driver. 

Happy Anniversary, Al! And here's to many, many more!

Award-winning Books & Their Foil Sticker Problems

Of all the problems for an author or publisher to have, this is a good one. Should you put a gold foil sticker on your award-winning book’s cover or not?

I’ve been saddled with this pleasant conundrum several times in the last eight years – ever since the second book I wrote (Never Give Up: Ted Jaleta’s Inspiring Story) won an Honourable Mention in the Biography category at the 2007 Hollywood Book Festival. That now out-of-print book was also shortlisted for Publishing In Education and for Reader’s Choice at the 2007 Saskatchewan Book Awards.

It is pretty exciting when a book you’ve written or worked on wins an award of any kind, so my business partners and I purchased gold foil stickers locally to announce the Hollywood Book Festival award. We were excited and decided to save time by carefully placing the stickers on the covers of most of our books, trying hard not to cover any part of the face of the book’s subject or any of the book’s title words. We thought we had made some clever decisions about sticker placement on that dark blue and black cover. A while later, we discovered that not only does a black, glossy cover show every mark and fingerprint, but a lower-quality foil sticker can show signs of handling, too, with scratches quickly appearing and some of the wording disappearing with the handling. Argh. Lesson learned, I thought.

A couple years later, Seeds of Hope: A Prairie Story by Mary Harelkin Bishop won several awards (Finalist in Children's Literature at the 2009 Saskatchewan Book Awards, Honourable Mention in Teenage/Young Adult at the 2009 Nashville Book Festival, and Honourable Mention in Teenage at the 2008 London Book Festival). Again, we purchased foil stickers. I can’t remember whether they were purchased locally or through one of the award competitions, but they were foil and presented similar problems. Although we placed stickers on only a few books at a time, the lettering would come off if we weren't careful with the books. Some of the permanent adhesive stickers also eventually showed signs of wear.

In following years, we added more books to our stable of award-winners:

-          -  The Little Coat: The Bob and Sue Elliott Story by Alan J. Buick received an Honourable Mention in the Biography category at the 2010 Hollywood Book Festival

-          -  Never Leave Your Wingman: Dionne and Graham Warner’s Story of Hope by me, Deana J. Driver, received an Honourable Mention in the Biography category at the 2013 Great Midwest Book Festival

-       -     Letters to Jennifer From Maudie & Oliver by Sharon Gray received an Honourable Mention in the Cats category of the 2013 Animals, Animals, Animals Book Festival.

  

We did not purchase stickers for any of these books. We announced our wins via media releases and social media, with posters, and small Post-it notes on the covers at various selling venues. A temporary sticker seemed to do the job just as well, but we did add the words ‘National Bestseller’ to the cover when we reprinted The Little Coat.

We recently entered our five newest books in the 2014 Great Midwest Book Festival, and were absolutely thrilled that ALL FIVE books received awards. As a Saskatchewan Publishers Group e-brief stated, DriverWorks Ink “cleaned up” at the awards festival:

-          -  Opening Up: How To Develop Your Intuition and Work With Your Angels by Lisa Driver was the Winner in the Spiritual category

-         -   Homegrown and other poems by Bryce Burnett received an Honourable Mention in the Poetry category

-        -   After the Truck Hit: Jennifer Kuchinka’sTrue Story by Jennifer Kuchinka received an Honourable Mention in the Wild Card category

-          -  Gina’s Wheels by Mary Harelkin Bishop received an Honourable Mention in the Children’s Books category

-         -   Jamie and the Monster Bookroom by Kerry Simpson with Jamie Simpson received an Honourable Mention in the Children’s Books category.

So that’s a LOT of awards ... which is wonderful, but it brings us to the current conundrum of whether to put stickers on those book covers or not.

 

I admit that I am a bit of a purist when it comes to covering up our book covers. We work hard to try to ensure that our book covers tell the stories of what’s inside while enticing potential readers to pick up the books and take a closer look.

Which part of the artist’s creation or the carefully chosen photograph should be covered permanently to announce an award?

Do award stickers even matter? Do people make decisions to purchase a book because the book has won an award?

I’d love to hear your feedback on this. 

At our recent DriverWorks Ink Open House/ Christmas Party, a friend commented that she appreciates gold foil stickers to announce awards and we should definitely be purchasing some and placing them on all our award-winning books. She said she recently purchased an award-winning children’s book from a Winnipeg author. She told us that the author had one gold sticker on her display book and then, once our friend had purchased the book, the author placed a foil sticker on our friend’s book. Clever, I thought. But a bit time-consuming if you are at a busy signing or event.

What do you think?

Stickers or no stickers? Do they matter to you when you purchase a book?

While you’re at it, please tell me where you would place an award sticker on our newest award-winning books. I look forward to your response.