Excited by the Shortlist– and Thank You

Last week the shortlist for The Word Guild writing awards was posted.  Having submitted my book published last year, I was both excited and nervous about reading the list. I watched for familiar names and people I knew; there were many.

As I read the headings and titles more closely, I remembered entries in other years and the pain of not placing. Is the pain larger with a book? I don’t know.

There was the category of Books:Life Stories, the one I had entered. I paused, holding my breath… My book title and name were there, listed alphabetically by author’s last name. For that moment I focused on one thought, My book is on that list, and let it sink in. Then I called a friend to tell her the exciting news.

For much of that day, between sending and receiving messages of congratulations, I got little else done. My husband was fortunate to get supper that evening, with dessert added. The dessert in celebration, I suppose.

Excitement mixed with humility. It’s not just about those named on the list; it’s also about the steps along the way, the small publication credits, the rejections that make us step back and assess things, as well as the people who helped us get there.  The journey continues, for I’m still learning. I suppose we all are.

For me, it’s been fellow writers, critique members, certain editors who guided my first writing efforts toward publication, and friends and family members who have cheered me on. It’s been about workshops and conferences where I’ve learned more about the writing business and submissions. For those one-on-one meetings that I signed  up for with a good deal of courage and trepidation. For my book, it’s been about my family and community members and their willingness that I could write a piece of  their story, and still others who gave me the time for an interview and answered my many questions.

Thank you all for your support and encouragement in the process. It has meant so much that it’s hard to measure. And while we sit at our desk writing, or sit in the author’s chair at a book signing, the one who is always with us and makes things possible.

Now we wait, anticipating again, the outcome and award-winners of all categories that will be named at gala. There’s plenty to do until then.

Read below and follow the link for the entire press release.

PART ONE

New Finalists Vie for Top Prizes in Canadian Christian Writing Awards

New record total of submissions expands The Word Guild’s popular Christian Writing Awards

as new contestants join familiar names in the list of finalists.

TORONTO – On June 13, The Word Guild will present Canada’s top Christian writing awards for 2012, rewarding the best in Christian writing during 2011. Awards Administrator Mary Ann Benjamins reports a record of almost 360 submissions – up more than one hundred over last year!

Entries in the 35 award categories included non-fiction books, novels, articles, columns, blogs, poems, and scripts and screen plays. The article categories proved most popular, attracting a record 199 entries, with book categories not far behind at 158.

The quality of entries remains high. Audrey Dorsch, a judge in one of the book categories, remarked, “It was very difficult to choose among the top three in the category – but that sort of difficulty says a lot about the calibre of books entered.”

To read more, go here.

C. R. Wilker, author of Once Upon a Sandbox

Editor and contributor, Big Ideas for the Big Stage

Saturday Snapshots–Cheering on my little sister

I scanned some old photographs that my mother gave me. Here’s one  of my sister, Mary, taking her first steps. I’m cheering her on.

This is what I was doing last Saturday. Two of my daughters and their fiances were there cheering me on. A wonderful Easter display behind me, looking less like a bookstore.

Saturday Snapshot meme, At Home With Books: To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see.

Book signing at Chapters Waterloo

 

Photo by A. Wilker

Saturday March 10th, I signed copies of my book, Once Upon a Sandbox, at Chapters Waterloo, in Waterloo, Ontario.

The table was set up near the front entrance of the store, right in front of the colourful Easter display. The table was set up with a tablecloth, my books and a small vase with pink-tipped roses. I added my sandbox prop and had my pen handy.

It was good to see all who came and make some new connections and to reconnect with others. Thank you for coming. Thanks to Chapters staff members, especially Anne and Sheila, for your attention and assistance.

Blogging today at Canadian Authors Who Are Christian

 

As a published author with The Word Guild, I posted today on the blog, Canadian Authors Who Are Christian. Go there to read my post. When you arrive there, you just might want to stay around and read postings by some of the other authors as well. Enjoy!

Author of Once Upon a Sandbox                                        

www.carolynwilker.ca

Upcoming events:

Storyteller at Steckle Heritage Homestead Farm, 811 Bleams Road, Kitchener, ON, Winter Fun Day, 11-12am

Book signing, March 10 at Waterloo Chapters store, Waterloo ON, 1-3pm

 

Launch of Eyes Wide Open by R. K. Livingston

This year in late September, when I was a reader at Word on the Street in Kitchener, a fellow writer whom I had never met  came to my reading and introduced herself.  Robin had also published her book, Eyes Wide Open, in 2011, originally intending the book for her family.  While our books are both about memories of growing up and of our families, her stories take place in a Northern Ontario community and mine for the most part in southwestern Ontario on our family farm.

Robin Livingston comes from a  family of storytellers. When they gather around a room together, they remember the antics and events of their youth. Encouraged by a friend, she committed the stories to blog at first, then to a collection on paper, which is this book.

Robin invited me to be guest author at her launch,  a role I was pleased to fill.  Together, we planned this event, worked on promotion for the event and prepared ourselves for the day. Since I am also a storyteller in the oral tradition, I asked if she’d mind if I tell one of my stories from Once Upon a Sandbox, then read a poem. Robin was pleased with this plan.

Last Sunday, on a rainy afternoon, we met in a spacious room  in the Evergreen Senior’s Centre in Guelph. Tables and chairs had already been set up, refreshments were prepared, and a dark blue tablecloth on the tables where we’d display our books and do our signing. The door prizes awaited and we waited for our guests to arrive, and they did, in spite of the rain. What better way to spend a rainy afternoon.

Room 4 at the Senior’s Centre, set up. Robin’s display set up on the left. (Photo by Joy Benson)

Nikki Everts-Hammond, emcee for the afternoon event (Photo by Judy Brown, friend of guest author, Carolyn Wilker)

Robin reading from her book, Eyes Wide Open (photo by Joy Benson)

Carolyn Wilker, telling the story “Trip to the Woodlot”  from her book Once Upon a Sandbox. (photo by Judy Brown)

Mementoes from Robin’s family home, artfully arranged by a friend (photo by Joy Benson)

I’ve read several stories and look forward to reading the rest of the book. Robin’s book jacket says

Eyes Wide Open is a collection of stories that span the lives of four generations of the Landy family. From lost boys to beaver tails and frog legs, each of these adventures … is a slice of life served up with smiles and laughter.

Doesn’t this make you want to read her stories? Go here to purchase her book.

Once Upon a Sandbox, available at Words Worth, Waterloo, ON; Chapters Waterloo; Upper Case Books, New Hamburg; Merrifield Book Shop, Woodstock; and Fan Fare Books, Stratford; as well as Chapters.ca

Once Upon a Sandbox– Update

Here’s an update on what’s happening with my book, Once Upon a Sandbox.

    Book launch, Kitchener

  Tavistock Public Library, answering questions after the reading

Tavistock Fall Fair, promoting book and editing business

Toastmasters and storytelling experiences have been a great help to me as I give readings and promote my book at events, including our hometown fall fair and Word on the Street in Kitchener, two very different venues. I was delighted to see so many friends and acquaintances, as well as people I didn’t know.

Upcoming Events:

Friday, October 14th,  Stoney Creek at a Senior’s Luncheon, reading, storytelling and books available for purchase

November 19th, book signing in Woodstock, Ontario, at Merrifield’s Book Shop

You can also purchase my book at the following stores:

Words Worth Books, Waterloo

Chapters Waterloo, Waterloo

UpperCase Books, New Hamburg

Merrifield’s Book Shop, Woodstock

FanFare Books, Stratford

Family Cookbook– More, Please!

Our family cookbook, published by Gateway Publishing Co, Ltd.

Our cookbook came off the press and was shipped last October; we had it in time for our family Christmas dinner in late November. And though most of the books had already been distributed, a good deal of buzz travelled around the room that day as people turned pages in a copy for the first time, as they leaned in together to point out their recipes, some of which had been used for our Christmas potluck dinner that day.

Our cookbook is more than a cookbook; it’s a piece of history.  In it are photos of family groups, their  children and grandchildren, all descendants of the late William and Ardena Herlick, my maternal grandparents. The gathering of material, pictures, recipes and stories took a great deal of time and extra prodding, but those who contributed are pleased, as are those who now have a copy.

My cousins and I thought a cookbook would a good way to record our history. The project took longer, as many do, and became more detailed than even I could imagine. But eventually, this writer, editor, and project manager, along with my most helpful assistant, Peggy, got the project together and off to press.

William and Ardena on their wedding day

Even months after, I’m hearing, ” I like that recipe.”  Then someone answering, “It’s in the cookbook.”

I’ve tried a few new recipes from the book too, some that have become new favourites. My mother, who has always enjoyed trying new recipes, is also delighted with the recipes and also for the history of her family that it represents, and that the project concluded in such a pleasing way.

My mother and her siblings grew up in the country on a farm in a time when money was often scarce, when their parents stretched every resource they had to feed and clothe their eight children, making the best use their large garden produce and the cattle, pigs and chicken they raised for food. The depression was a challenging time, but my mother said they were protected from many harsh realities of that period.

As a member of the next generation, I sought to frame much of what I had learned and that my cousins and I had experienced in our growing up years, values and learning that our parents passed on.  As it relates to our gathering around the table for meals and times of celebration with one another:

“We recognized our blessings, one, that we have never gone hungry, but also that our family has been blessed with so many good cooks, men and women who know how to take good quality meat, fruit and vegetables and create a tasty meal, and a family who, when we gather as an extended family, fills the table with home-cooked goodness.”    -from Introduction to More, Please!

The story is not over, of course; succeeding generations will write that part. Yet I hope, in time, they will take out their well-used copy of More, Please! and look at the pictures and stories once again, even if they choose to use only a few of the recipes within.

If you, the reader, should take on such a project, we wish you the best in your endeavour.

My grandmother’s recipe book

A small inauspicious notebook. Lined paper in a stapled notebook bearing yellowed edges, splotches of ingredients that spilled over from the mixing bowl.  Pages loose and pulled away from the staples that once held all the pages together. Written in pencil mostly, but sometimes a blue ink pen. Recipes taped in, but most of them hand written— recipes from her sisters, her daughters whom she taught to cook, and from  friends and neighbours.

My grandmother was a good cook, and my mother says, if a thing could be done fast, her mother could do it, but if it took too much time, she didn’t make it. Details are slim in this cookbook; it’s no literary work of art.  Much is assumed— that women knew how to mix and measure, that once they had the list of ingredients, maybe a few verbal instructions from the person sharing the recipe, that they could go home and make it. Recipes come in all kinds, many of them desserts, but occasionally a main course casserole. An exception to the usual recipes, there was one for wallpaper cleaner.

Recipes may have been shared after a Sunday dinner or over coffee. They might have come by way of a community dinner. Women cooked to feed their families and knew how to use the meat and produce they bought at market or the grocery store. Well, perhaps there were some who could not cook, but I haven’t known that to occur within my mother’s or my father’s families.

a page from Grandma’s cookbook

As I leafed through the fragile little notebook, I came across a recipe for Banana Butter used for cake filling. Evidently Grandma had tried this recipe and found it not to her liking. She drew an”X” across the recipe and wrote beside it, “No good.”

We’re gathering recipes for a family cookbook. One of Grandma’s all time favourites is tea biscuits. Mom shares that recipe and says that her mother was responsible for raising a bunch of good cooks, and she doesn’t only mean her sisters.

The book will contain anecdotes and photos as well. Excitement is mounting with family members waiting for the finished copy.  It’s a large project, with the gathering of material only part of the process. It’s worth doing, even if it takes tugging and calling to get some of those contributions. One thing for sure, future generations of the family will know that their ancestors liked to cook, and they will know the sort of dishes that people especially liked to make.

Thoughts on a life

We’ll be attending a memorial service this evening for my Aunt Bea. She died earlier this week of lung cancer that had spread to her liver before she was even diagnosed. It’s been an uncomfortable last few months for her, but a time she focused on her family.

Bea’s remaining sisters and a sister-in-law had brief visits, as she was able and as she requested. I’m guessing that few others of our large extended family saw her in those last months. I sent my love in a pretty card, letting her know I was thinking of her.

When Mom talked about her over the past weeks and monthts, she’d declare, “I’m going to miss her so much.”

Auntie Bea, we’ll all miss you.

My aunt lived in Toronto for many years before coming back closer to home. I remember a train ride to the big city with my sister. Mom and Dad had taken us to the station early in the morning, paid our fare and waved good-bye. Bea and her husband met us at the Toronto station and took us to their apartment—a high rise. We could look out the balcony window and see across the tops of buildings, one of them Weston Bakery. On that mini-vacation, we went to the Exhibition, a rare opportunity for my sister and me. The Ex with all its activity and crowds, its hawkers and food booths, made our home-town fair seem like a miniature replica. The thing I remember most about that outing were not the rides but the sombreros we brought home, our named embroidered on the crown in the same turquoise as those  pompoms dangling from the wide brim.  Bea and her husband took us back to the station and waved good-bye. She took good care of us, and we had a good time.

A later time, Auntie Bea came for a visit  to our home; she took my sister and I to see Doctor Zhivago at the theatre. The movie was sad and the scenes and images stayed with me a long time, but I also remember that day as a time spent with my aunt. We were building a relationship.

My friend Linda and I, with the blessing of our parents,  planned  a vacation in Florida. I had just graduated from college and Linda had another year at university.  We were flying to Florida to stay with my grandfather, go sightseeing and also visit her great aunt and uncle. Mom and Dad took us to the airport  that morning and waited while we checked our luggage. We were flying standby, and found that we could not get away that day, yet our suitcases went on ahead. Since summer is a busy time on the farm, my parents could not come back again the next day, so Mom called up Aunt Bea and asked if we could stay the night, and if she could drive us to the airport the next day. That was fine, my aunt said. We stopped and bought toothbrushes and then headed for my aunt’s apartment, where we stayed overnight anticipating the flight the next day. Auntie Bea got us to the airport in plenty of time.

I loved Auntie Bea,  for treating us like she wanted to be treated,  for her wry humour and for being herself. Life had not always been easy for her, yet she attended family gatherings, after an absence of years, and reconnected with her siblings and parents. What I admire most is the way she has reconnected with her children from her first marriage, loved them, along with her adopted children, kept in touch with them over the years, and made time for all her children in those last months. That’s love.

So Auntie Bea, you’ve asked for donations instead of flowers. As I say good-bye today, know that I have appreciated and loved you, and I’ll miss you. These words are my gift to you.

Family Squeeze– Phil Callaway

I’ve just finished reading another book by author, speaker and columnist Phil Callaway. This is not a commercial, but a whole-hearted and warm thank you to him for sharing his life experiences, offering hope and humour in an often challenging situation.

Phil Callaway was keynote speaker for the Write!Canada conference in 2005.  I have never laughed so much in one keynote speech as I laughed that day. Indeed the hall was quaking with laughter during his presentation, and not at him, but in the humour he presents that we identified with. I have read more of his books since then. I laugh and cry with him as he shares his stories.

In Family Squeeze, published in 2008, he addresses the challenge of raising teenagers while caring for aging parents, while balancing personal life. Here’s one of his lines, “Poverty is hereditary; you get it from your kids.”

You’ll find much more of that humour between the pages of his books. Enjoy this clip of Phil Callaway about his book, Family Squeeze: Tales of Hope and Hilarity for a Sandwiched Generation.

Maybe you, too, will go in search of his books or hear him present a keynote speech some day. Enjoy!