Celebrating fathers, celebrating writers, there is so much to celebrate.

I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn. Anne Frank

Father’s Day was yesterday and celebrations took place in backyards, restaurants, and at whatever events kids think their fathers will enjoy. How blessed we are to celebrate Father’s Day. Even if our father is no longer with us, he is part of our life, however big or small a part he played or is still playing.

Now that we are grandparents my husband isn’t the only father to be celebrated. We had a lovely barbeque in the backyard. Our grandson was putting pebbles in his mouth and wanted us to chase him to take them out. Life seems more fun when there are kids around, everything is new, they laugh and we laugh watching their antics.

On Saturday I attended a Local Authors Showcase in the park put on by a Library in Brampton. It was a lovely event and there were ten children’s authors there unless I missed some, and my goal was to speak to each of them and ask if they would be willing to be part of Story Time with local authors reading their books. Everyone said yes, and now I have to make it happen.

If local authors can read their books to children then children meet authors. The books these local authors have written are wonderful. One author wrote about her dream of skating and lessons learned in hockey that aren’t about winning, Nancy Whiteford, “My Skating Journey,” and “It’s More Than Hockey.” Fiona E. Vander Wilp wrote “I Love Being Me,” and “My Shining Star.”  The first story she wrote and illustrated is about a child she taught as an Educational Assistant, and her books have taken on a life of their own. Paul and Tuula Reddit wrote about their beloved dog, “Schluberhound.” These were the authors on each side of me in the park.

The mistake I made was not asking my husband to come with me. This was the first time I attended this event and I went by myself which made networking tricky, I had to leave my table to talk to other authors. Husbands and wives supporting their writing spouses were there in abundance so my husband would have had lots of people to talk and joke with. I think he would have enjoyed it if I invited him to attend, but I assumed (and isn’t that usually a mistake) he would not be interested.

Talking to other authors and hearing about their journeys is interesting. One romance author (and I thought I got her card) but I’ll have to do a little research to get her information didn’t start writing until she was fifty and most of the author’s there are writing more as a pastime than as a way to make a living.

To gain your own voice, you have to forget about having it heard. Allen Ginsberg

Some authors hit it big and some don’t but it isn’t only the quality of books and the writing or illustrating, there is a lot of luck involved, but an artist or writer can’t be discovered unless they do the work. If they do the work who knows where it will lead? I believe we get more out of writing than just having something written. We are not the same person when we are finished writing that we were when we started. Writing is a gift we give ourselves and whatever rewards come after that are a bonus.

An author arrived late with his family and set up behind me, being the first visitor to his table he gave me a copy of his book. His daughter said, “Dad, you’re supposed to be selling them.” I have the book in front of me, a book of poems and prose, “Flowers on the Far Side,” by Jaspal Virdee.

There were about one hundred local authors as part of the Showcase and everyone had a book or books, and a story, but I can’t mention them all so I’ve mentioned the ones that were near me.

If you attend an event with local authors, don’t feel intimidated that if you talk to them they think you should buy their book. Feel free to talk to them, look at their book, take a card or bookmark, or buy the book if you want to, but feel free to talk to them. They would love to talk to you.

If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. Stephen King

First you set out to write a book then very quickly you realize the book was set out to write you. Brandon A. Trean

If you really want to know yourself, start by writing a book. Shereen El Feki

Thank you for reading this post. Please come back and read some more. Have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.