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!

Hoarfrost-covered Winter Wonderland

Although fog can lead to some serious traffic accidents, the mist in the winter air of the Canadian Prairies can lead to hoarfrost - ice crystals forming on wet surfaces - and some beautiful scenery.

Yesterday, we took a short stroll in Wascana Park, which at 2,300 acres is larger than New York's 843-acre Central Park. The park includes the Saskatchewan Legislative Building, University of Regina buildings, and City of Regina buildings. It has a unique tripartite operating structure.

The Legislative Building is undergoing reconstruction, so we concentrated our walk on an area to the east of that grand building, overlooking Wascana Lake.

Here are some photos of the hoarfrost-covered scenery. Enjoy!

This is likely the last blog I'll post in 2014, so we hope you have a wonderful holiday season.

These 'NOEL' candle holders have been in my husband's family for decades.

Al's dad began teasing Al's mom years ago by convincing our children to occasionally rearrange the letters to spell 'LEON' instead of 'NOEL'. 

Sometimes it would take awhile before Mom noticed, and our children and their grandpa would eagerly watch for a reaction any time Mom came into the room where the misspelled Christmas greeting was waiting for her.

When Mom finally saw the changed letters, she would inevitably act annoyed and ask, "Who changed these letters?"

Then Dad and the kids would giggle at their shared silliness.

Our adult children still pull that stunt on their grandma, and we look forward to it happening again this Christmas season, fondly remembering Al's dad in the process.

So from our home to yours this Christmas ...

... Joyeux Leon!

Book Giveaways Lead To Giggles

This Christmas season, we decided to donate some of our DriverWorks Ink books to elementary and high schools in our home community. It's sort of a continuation of what we do with a number of our books – donating $1 from each book sold to a worthy charity – but donating to schools also has other benefits for us:

1)      More local teachers and school administrators learn about our small, local publishing company and will soon know about some of our great books written by Prairie authors; 

2)      We get more local stories into the hands of local children;

3)       We get our Prairie authors’ works to more potential customers that they cannot physically reach themselves;

4)      We reduce inventory for some books that have stalled in sales and pump up potential sales of some of our best-sellers just before Christmas; and

5)      We connect personally with more local people, which has led to some other unexpected results.

This last point is the reason for this blog.

We’ve had a few chuckles and several heart-warming moments because of Al’s deliveries of books to schools this past month.

So here, for your Holiday enjoyment, is a replay of several interactions between my husband and publishing partner, Al Driver, and individuals at some Regina and area schools.

Al’s routine was always the same – enter the school through the main doors, go to the office and present the books to office staff, along with a personal introduction and a letter explaining our company and our donation of books.

* * *

At one elementary school, he met two young lads who were waiting inside the school office. A little boy who was six was sitting with his six-and-a-half-year-old buddy. They'd already said ‘Hi’ in response to Al’s ‘Hello’ and had answered his question of their ages. (Al’s coached children for decades, so he is well-versed in how to relate to the little gaffers.)

Being an avid fan of the Detroit Red Wings hockey club, Al was wearing his Detroit Red Wings jacket. The six-year-old looked and looked, and then asked, “Do you play for that team?”

Al:  No. I’m way too old.

Student: Then do you coach them?

Al: No.

Student: Where did you get the coat?

Al: It was a birthday gift from my grandsons and their mom and dad (knowing the boy could relate to that).

Student: (After thinking for a moment) When was your birthday?

Al: June.

Student: Oh.

* * *

A young boy asked, “Are you here to help us with our Christmas concert?”

Al: No. Is somebody coming to help you with your concert?

Student: Yes. (Then he whispered) Our teacher said there will be a surprise.

Al: Well, if I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?
          Student: (thought for awhile, then said) Yes.

* * *

A teacher was in the hallway by the office with a group of girls in about Grade 4. The students were learning a dance for the Christmas concert. Al had go around and behind the teacher to get to the office.

The teacher started backing up and almost backed into him. Then she asked him if he’d like to join in and learn the dance, too.

Al declined. “They don't want to see me dance. It would be bad.”

The girls all giggled.

He carried on to the office, hearing tittering in the background.

* * *

At one high school, an office secretary came running over the second that Al set a Never Leave Your Wingman book down on the counter on top of the pile of other books.

“This is my favourite book ever,” she said. “I just loved it. Any time I see anything now about Dionne and Graham, I read it. How is she doing?”
            Al was pleased to respond, “She’s doing very well.” (See a YouTube video) Then he introduced himself and our company and said why he was at the school with the books.

“(Gasp!) You published this book! Your company published this book?”

Al replied, “My wife and I did. We’re a small company. Better yet, my wife wrote this book.”

“Oh, bless her. It’s a beautiful book. I want to take you and introduce you to the librarian because you’re giving us free books.”

The librarian was thrilled with the donation and was told by the office clerk, “This is one of the best books I’ve ever read.”

* * *

Some of the older schools do not have offices in the immediate vicinity of the main doors, so Al had to go searching a couple times. At one school, a little girl about eight years old looked carefully at Al as he walked into the school.

She sternly asked him, “Are you supposed to be here?”

Al refrained from smiling and asked, “Are you the hall monitor?”

“Nooo!” she replied, annoyed at his insolence.

He told her that he was looking for the office and had some stuff to drop off there, which seemed to appease her. She pointed him in the direction of the office and let him go on his way.
            (She’ll probably be a policewoman or security guard some day.)

* * *

Eight-Time Cancer Survivor’s Beauty Gives Back

Inspiring eight-time cancer survivor Dionne Warner of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada is the face of a new campaign of Look Good ... Feel Better Canada called ‘Beauty Gives Back’. And we could not be more pleased or proud to call her our friend.

Dionne’s story is one of overcoming the odds, beating cancers of the breast, then brain, and then two bouts of liver cancer before spending seven years volunteering at the Allan Blair Cancer Clinic in Regina. During that time, she helped hundreds of patients through their treatments by sharing her positive, never-give-up attitude, and encouraging them to continue to fight this disease.

In December 2009, Dionne was diagnosed with Stage IV cancers in her liver, lungs and bones. She began dressing up in costume each week for her chemotherapy treatments and before long, she and her husband – her wingman – Graham, began to both dress in costume and dance into chemo as music played to accompany their themes.

Dionne Warner’s first costume/theme, Dec. 2009

I met Dionne and Graham in June 2010 and knew instantly that both of them were worthy of a book. It would be an inspiring book about this amazing couple and their never-ending, positive attitudes that showed their commitment to doing all they could to beat this disease and bring hope and laughter to others in the process.

  

  

Buy the Book

I promised Dionne and Graham at our first meeting that I would write their story and publish a book about them and their journey by the following June – which I did. The result is Never Leave Your Wingman: Dionne and Graham Warner’s Story of Hope.

The book has become a national best-seller in Canada, with copies also being purchased by readers in numerous countries around the world. It’s also in an e-book format, available from your favourite e-book retailer. Never Leave Your Wingman won an Honorable Mention in the Biography category of the 2013 Great Midwest Book Festival in Chicago, and continues to sell well and spread the Warners’ story of hope with all who read it. We repeatedly hear stories of how the book has helped cancer patients and their families, and many readers who have no connection to cancer, live happier, healthier lives by focusing on the positive and taking control of their own health.

Dionne has been a fan and supporter of the Look Good ... Feel Better campaign since shortly after she beat her second cancer. Here’s an excerpt from the Never Leave Your Wingman book:

In October 1997, a little more than a month after her second brain cancer surgery, Dionne attended a half-day workshop with the Look Good … Feel Better program, an initiative of the cosmetic, toiletry and fragrance association to help cancer patients feel better about themselves. She was also interviewed and photographed for a story in the Summer 1998 issue of Images Magazine, which was available through the Shoppers Drug Mart stores. In the photos, the beautiful bald-headed Dionne showed how to wear hats and scarves to feel more comfortable as a woman undergoing cancer therapy. Her husband was beside her in one of the photos and the headline read: ‘The Power of love – Dionne faced cancer twice in two years and beat it both times’. 

Dionne spoke about her struggle to feel attractive after her initial hair loss with the breast cancer chemotherapy and how she gave up all attempts to try to improve her appearance. “I felt so unattractive. I thought, ‘Why bother with makeup?’ So, if I had to go out, I’d just put on a hat and that was about it.’ The support and love from her husband, family and friends helped her to overcome her own insecurities as she healed from her surgeries, she said in the article. “Dionne decided to attend a Look Good…Feel Better workshop because she knew she needed something to make herself feel better. And, in October 1997, actually on the day before she was photographed for the Look Good…Feel Better magazine, she went,” said the magazine article.

“At the workshop, I put on one of my hats because my head was cold, and everyone commented on it! It’s a real thrill that I was asked to be the hat model for the magazine, because I’m a hat collector – I have about 30 different types of hats,” she says. “I feel so much better about myself; the workshop really made a difference to me.” 

Dionne had learned about the Look Good … Feel Better program through the cancer clinic. In the article, she encouraged all other cancer patients to attend a workshop, use the products in the gift box provided for participants, and start feeling better about themselves. “Thanks to Look Good … Feel Better, my skin is incredible, I feel great and everyone tells me I look good, too. It’s a wonderful program, and I know that anyone who participates will feel the same way!”

Dionne has supported the program since then and credits it for helping her to maintain a positive attitude while she goes through her cancer treatments.

In November 2014, Dionne was called upon again by her friends in the Look Good ... Feel Better program to share her story in a huge, inspiring way – through their new Beauty Gives Back campaign.

Once you’ve recovered from watching the inspiring video above, we invite you to view the City TV Toronto news clip of the launch of the campaign at the 2014 Mirror Ball charity fundraiser in Toronto, Ontario. 

We’re sure you will agree that Dionne Warner is an amazing, inspiring, walking miracle.

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.