Print-on-demand. Publish-a-dud

Well, I just read a book from one of these print-on-demand companies. I was supposed to write a review, obviously to promote it. Could not. It was atrocious. Nobody should publish a book that is full of spelling and grammatical errors, and those were only the obvious faults of the book. Shall I describe the banal plot, hackneyed descriptions of cardboard characters, stilted speech..you get the idea.
I will not even write the name or author here, nor the publisher. But I have learned a lesson. I will not rush to offer to review another such book.

Elizabeth & Mary

Yesterday evening was the Christmas party held by Elizabeth and Mary, my aquafit buddies and two of the nicest women I know. Guests were mostly bridge players and neighbours. I believe I was the youngest one there, not that it mattered. It was a perfect winter scene outside their picture windows, from which one could see the Ottawa River. A small rabbit hopped into view near one window and stayed there for ages, enjoying the bird food on the ground. Perfect.

After the big potluck dinner, people wandered throughout the house; some sitting and gabbing, others downstairs playing pool, and still others in the bridge room, which was where Mary’s computer was located. Mary displayed some of her computer artistry; she spends hours working with photoshop. Her latest project was building a photo display with The Night Before Christmas, to be coordinated with her reading the poem. What a fantastic idea to give to her grandchildren. She believes people should get their stories told, record their own voices recounting their memories, or even just read stories for their grandchildren. “You should do this before you are gone” she informed one elderly lady.

One well dressed woman was sitting with Mary, let’s call her Alice. They discussed places Mary could go to offer this service- seniors homes, hospices, veterans homes…Alice jumped on that and said she would be willing to go there for Mary and laughingly told me that she thought a vet would be a good catch. “He can call the shots, we don’t have to live together, I can visit him if that is all he wants, or not, that’s ok too.” She continued to laugh as she told me that she was looking for a new boyfriend because one of her girlfriends stole her latest one. “I introduced him to a group of my friends, and figured I would wait and make my move on the way home. But he ended up chatting with one of my friends during dinner and I missed my chance. She snagged him. An eighty-year old vixen, that’s what she is” she informed us. But she was still laughing.
With this group, old age does not seem to be something dreadful, I must say!

Sulzenko and Solstice

Let's start with a local author and a local bookstore. Add some winter weather in a little town, and you have the perfect setting for a literary event - at least, for Ottawa.