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Biggest Launch Ever of a Canadian Christian Book

Nov 092011

The Word Guild Members Make Waves with Biggest Launch Ever of a Canadian Christian Book

November 7, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“Sometimes all you need is a reminder that there is something good in the world. A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider: Words to Stimulate the Mind and Delight the Spirit is a combination of short stories, poetry, and works of memoir picked for their inspirational nature, dedicated to finding a shining light in our lives that so often turn dark. The stories within are touching and poignant, and will help readers remember that there is something after the worst of it all. A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cideris a follow up to the previous acclaimed volume, and the sequel executes the original’s purpose masterfully.”

Midwest Book Review, June 11, 2011

Markham, Ontario—Thirty-seven Canadian writers are making history by conducting the most extensive launch ever done for a Canadian Christian book. Since A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider: Words to Stimulate the Mind and Delight the Spirit was released in May, the book’s writers have participated in more than 150 readings and signings in seven provinces.

A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider is an all-Canadian book that is receiving five-star reviews. The inspirational collection of stories by writers who share a Christian faith perspective contains short fiction, poetry, and personal experience articles, all of which provide hope and encouragement.

The contributing writers have held launch events at venues ranging from bookstores, public libraries, churches, and conferences to farmers’ markets, craft shows, summer camps, and apple harvest festivals. The authors are carrying out promotional events throughout autumn—the perfect season for relaxing with a heart-warming book while enjoying a cup of hot apple cider.

Michaels Family Books in Pickering, Ontario, has hosted a number of in-store events featuring readings by some of the Hot Apple Cider writers. Staff member Carrie Jeffrey says, “A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider is a warm, cozy read on a cold night. Filled with inspirational stories, both fiction and non-fiction, it is guaranteed to identify with readers of all ages. It is so refreshing to have a Canadian-authored book that all Canadians can be proud of! A Second Cup is a wonderful gift—just in time for the Christmas season!”

Everyone involved in the Hot Apple Cider anthology series is a member of The Word Guild, a national association of almost 400 Canadian writers and editors who are Christian. Editors N. J. Lindquist and Wendy Elaine Nelles co-founded this organization in 2001.

The first book in this groundbreaking series, Hot Apple Cider: Words to Stir the Heart and Warm the Soul, has nearly 45,000 copies in circulation. A Second Cup is well on its way to bestseller status as well.

Both books are published in Canada by That’s Life! Communications.

To download and print free Study Guides for individuals or groups, find out about author signings or readings in your area, or book one of the writers for your store, church, or discussion group, for Hot Apple Cider, go here, and for A Second Cup go here.

Go here to download the complete press release as a Word document.

Neither Rain, Nor Wind, Nor Flickering Lights…

Nov 022011

… could keep Janet Sketchley's spirits down, or customers from coming out to Chapters in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

Despite heavy rain and high winds, the Chapters Dartmouth (NS) signing on October 30 went ahead. The lights only flickered twice! Attendance was down, but the store staff were very kind and there were always a few customers to talk with. (Janet)

This was my "home" Chapters, and my husband and son came to help.

Appearances and book signings are popping up across the country. Be sure to check out the Meet Us page to find out where.

The Girls Have a Good Time in Pickering

Oct 252011

Even though contributor Bonnie Beldan-Thomson couldn't make it out to Michaels Family Books, she organized a book signing event that ran as smooth as cider, Hot Apple, that is. Good conversations, prize draws and delighted recipients of gift bags and signed copies of the book were just part of the fun. Brian Reynolds, the store manager, who came out on his day off to greet the girls and ensure they had everything they needed, and the bookstore staff were friendly and helpful.

Kimberley Payne, A. A. Adourian, Vilma Blenman and Marguerite Cummings at Michaels Family Books in Pickering, Ontario.

Word On The Street

Oct 142011

On September 25, The Word On The Street national book and magazine festival celebrated literacy and the written word in communities across Canada, and many Second Cup contributors were part of the celebration. The Word Guild members set up booths and tables in Halifax, Saskatoon and Toronto.

Here's a little peek:

"Word On The Street"

Drayton Library

Oct 072011

Glynis Belec and a gregarious group of A Second Cup contributors were at the Drayton Public Library back in July. She shares some of the highlights with us.

"Drayton Library"

What a super Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider signing at the Drayton Library (say that ten times fast!) Sadly, due to a sudden family health concern, Bonnie Beldan-Thomson was unable to attend. But, we did honour her, and Adele Simmons skilfully read Bonnie’s story to a rapt audience. We had a great evening of song and readings. My dad was there and was reduced to tears after Donna Dawson’s story. As Adele followed up by singing “Try a Little Tenderness” (my mom’s favourite song), his heart was full.

Ruth Smith Meyer made us laugh and assess our own attitudes towards marriage, and then left us hanging…so that the curious would have to read ‘the rest of the story!’ Donna not only stirred our hearts with her words, she shared her musical gifts and tag-teamed with Adele throughout the evening. I shared my story and was glad that Sue (who made an appearance in my story,) dropped by to support us. We had cider and apple crisp, coffee, tea and cookies galore. The door prize, which consisted of Apple Cinnamon Cheerios, Apple Chips, Lindt Chocolates, Special Cookies, books donated by Ruth and Donna, handmade apple-themed cards donated by my daughter, Amanda, and a copy of the first Hot Apple Cider book went out to the former librarian from the public school. I was thrilled she won it.

One of the other librarians thought the title was a wonderful one. She said the Hot Apple Cider original was in constant demand over the winter and she has a feeling the second one will be, too. So Nancy and Wendy, thanks for that. We were also asked to come back again in December.

Thanks to Ruth, Donna & Adele for coming and helping to make a joyful noise at the Drayton library.

Happy writing, all! Glynis Belec.

House of James–Toe Tapping Fun and Hot Apple Cider

Oct 012011

Recently, contributors, Paul Beckingham (from Hot Apple Cider), Ed Hird and Bill Bonikowsky were whooping it up at the House of James in Abbotsford, British Columbia.

"House of James"

Ed Hird has plenty to share about the evening over at his blog. We thought you'd want to see what all the buzz was about.

A Second Cup of Comfort on the East Coast

Jul 192011

Janet Sketchley hosted the East Coast portion of the Canada-wide launch of A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider in April at Regal Road Baptist Church, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Participants enjoyed servings of hot apple cider (the drink) and samples from A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider (the grace-filled and encouraging stories). Guest reader was local author Janet Burrill, who shared an excerpt from her novel on the Halifax Explosion, Dark Clouds of the Morning.

"JS"

Sharing Smiles in Stratford

Jul 162011

Contributors Donna Fawcett, Denise Rumble, Ann Brent, Ruth Smith Meyer and Glynis Belec were busy having a good time spreading cheer and A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider at the Gospel Lighthouse bookstore June 25.

We thought you might like to take a peek.

"Gospel Lighthouse"

We'll keep you posted…

A Second Cup Goes To Tokyo

Jul 092011

Recently, Wendy Elaine Nelles, co-editor and contributor to both Hot Apple Cider anthologies found out you don't have to go very far to get to the other side of the world. Here's what happened:

What a small world! My parents and I were at a little country restaurant in the middle of nowhere, attached to a butcher shop called De Koning Meats, near Jarvis/Port Dover. (Wednesday afternoons they offer a special roast beef dinner for five dollars.) The restaurant was packed with patrons and summer cottagers from Port Dover.

We saw a group of seven people come in and take two tables, but didn't pay attention. Much to our surprise, two of the people came to our table while we were eating our homemade beef vegetable soup.

Turns out, the people are almost like family to us. The great-grandfather, Les, now deceased, had worked as our farm foreman for 40 years. His son Reg grew up with my father and is a close friend of my dad's. Reg's son Steven Willson, his wife Jacquie (DeBoer) and three teenaged daughters had just flown into Toronto a couple of days earlier from Tokyo. They are missionaries who work at the Christian Academy in Japan, where Jacquie is the director and Steve is the property manager.

They came home to Ontario for a short unplanned furlough this summer to get away from the stresses of the tsunami that had plunged Japan into a lengthy crisis. By pure coincidence, the Willsons came for the roast beef special before heading to the family cottage on Lake Erie for a few days of much-needed R&R.

Having heard a great deal about Steve and his family, but not having seen them in years, our conversation was a delight.

During the tsunami and radiation crisis in Japan my mother was fervently praying for a young cousin on her side of the family, Keri, from Seattle, Washington, who married a Japanese-American Christian named Richard Nakamura. Richard, Keri and their five children are serving as missionaries in Tokyo.

Richard mentioned in one of his emergency prayer letters that he barely had enough gas left in his car's tank to get his oldest children home from the Christian Academy the day the tsunami hit and Tokyo traffic was gridlocked. We made inquiries, and only then realized that the grandson and great-grandchildren of the man who had worked his whole life on our rural southwestern Ontario farm were actually good friends with my mother's relatives from Seattle, thousands of miles away in Tokyo!

Of course, they had absolutely no idea they had one common denominator (in addition to their shared Christian faith) — the Nelles and Miles pioneer farming families in Ontario. Kind of a Six Degrees of Separation thing.

I went to my parents' car to get Hot Apple Cider and A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider to give as gifts to Steve, Jacquie, Lauren, Rachael and Caitlin. I asked if they had room in their suitcases for a little piece of Canada. They said they already had book one (I vaguely recall sending one over in 2008 when Steve's parents flew to Japan to visit) but they were delighted to get book two. They all plan to read A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider, then they will donate it to the library at the Christian Academy in Tokyo. (As a matter of fact, a tired missionary needing some encouraging stories of hope is probably reading A Second Cup with his feet up at the cottage right now.)

Finally, the Willsons' eldest daughter Lauren will move from Japan to Ontario to attend Redeemer College in Ancaster this September, and was very keen to hear about the evening school writing course that N. J. Lindquist will be teaching there this fall, where I will be the guest teacher on November 2. (Of course, last year's writing course at Redeemer College was where Mary Ann Benjamins heard about The Word Guild and Hot Apple Cider for the first time, and decided to write and enter her true story. Her chapter "Holding God's Hand" was only the second time she'd been published in her life, and she is now working for The Word Guild!)

Further proof of our small world and divinely-orchestrated "coincidences"… and A Second Cup is enroute to Tokyo.

Bonnie Beldan-Thomson in the Spotlight

Jul 072011

Bonnie Beldan-Thomson, contributor to A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider, had an inspiring interview with Peter Kazmaier recently about the popular anthology and her part in it.

Here's a little peek inside:

KAZMAIER: Bonnie, by all accounts Hot Apple Cider has been a success in a relatively small book market like Canada. How many books have been sold? What prompted the issue of the second volume?

BELDAN-THOMSON: Hot Apple Cider has 45,000 copies in circulation. The warm reception it received is one of the reasons for creating A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider. Readers wanted more.

But writers, as well as readers, benefit. Being a contributor to one of these books provides a unique opportunity for developing one’s craft through an intensive editing process under the tutelage of editors, NJ Lindquist and Wendy Nelles. Contributors to these two anthologies gained first-hand understanding of the many steps required to take a book from manuscript to printing to sales.

Another benefit to the contributors is that they become part of an on-line community where they connect and learn from each other.

KAZMAIER: In A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider, your story Love in the Ice and Snow is an intensely personal account of a daughter visiting her aged father. I presume this was based on your own experience. How did this story come to you?

BELDAN-THOMSON: The characters, setting and plot of this story are fictional. However, my understanding of how it might happen came about because of the last years of my father’s life.

The experience of losing someone you love to dementia, bit by bit, day by day, is difficult and painful. My comfort came from looking not at the parts of my father that had gone missing, but at the bits of him that remained intact. I saw this the day my siblings and I took musical instruments to his nursing home. He no longer communicated verbally and gave no sign of recognizing us, but when we played familiar old songs, he began to sing, not just the tune, but words. And he sang not just the melody, but harmony. In spite of evidence to the contrary, my dad was there.

Read the entire interview on Peter's blog.

Congratulations, Bonnie. Your contributions are sure to continue blessing many.