What to do on a cold winter's day?

Why, curl up with a good book and a few good dogs, of course!  Or with a good dog and a few good books. It's the perfect way to spend this eleventh day of Christmas.

Around here, I have multiples of both - good dogs and good books.  Not only do I have lots of books, I have a whole shelf  full of books that have been written by my friends, or to which my friends have contributed a story and/or a series of illustrations.  Memoirs,  novels, recipe books, children's books, and - yes - books about animals.  

A few of the books my friends have
written or to which they have contributed

Some of the titles have been self-published, some have been selected and published by companies that choose manuscripts from among the thousands that are submitted to them every month.  Some - such as Tillie and Maude by Sylvia Holt, or Journey by Carol Anne Lawry , or any of the Chicken Soup books - are available on Amazon.  Others are not, and are sold through websites or word of mouth or at local craft fairs and flea markets.

Robyn Gerland and Sylvia Holt
selling their books in Chemainus

Liz Maxwell Forbes at a book signing in Crofton,
autographing  a Chicken Soup book
in which she is piublished

Some books are small enough to fit in your purse, others are heavy enough to need some muscle to hold it up while reading. The majority are very light reading, perfect for a rainy day when your energy level is low and concentration isn't your strong suit.  They may not be modern renditions of War and Peace, but they all are pleasant reads.

The newest of the batch is a recipe book by my friend Lorelei Rondeau .  Called The Gutsy Cookbook:  Recipes for digestive health, it was released just before Christmas, and will soon be available through a website which is currently under development.  The recipes, developed by Lorelei after ulcerative colitis led her to modify family favourites,  look and sound tasty and down-to-earth.  Having eaten at her place on several occasions, and having been the recipient of many of the healthy treats she has baked, I just know this is one recipe book that I will enjoy.

Yum!

And then there is one book that will be of particular interest to those who come to my blog to read about animals:   In the Company of Animals:  Stories of Extraordinary Encounters, edited by Pam Chamberlain and published by Nimbus Publishing. It is an anthology of true stories about animals, written by Canadian authors, including Farley Mowat, Anny Scoones, David Adams Richards, Linda Johns, and....oh yes....yours truly. You may recall I was being interviewed on CBC Radio recently about my story in this book (you'll find the link for the podcast of that interview in this blog post ).

  You'll find my story right at the beginning of the book - the first one.

And, yes, the book is available on Amazon as well as in many bookstores across the country.  Go buy it - you'll be glad you did!