Gloria M. Allan
A Walk on Broken Glass is Gloria Allan's first published novel, no minor feat at the age of 88 years old. Gloria attended UBC and University of Seattle, majoring in English. She began writing as a cub reporter in Toronto, but put her writing on hold once she married and to raise her 5 children. Her busy life included extensive travel with her corporate executive husband, playing golf and bridge. Her love of books and writing never left Gloria; having discovered the story of Elisabeth ("Sisi") while browsing in an antiquarian bookstore in London, England. Gloria immersed herself in Sisi's story, researching and gathering material for this, her second novel. Gloria, a strong woman and role model, despite having macular degeneration in both eyes, continues to pursue her fascination with historical women, researching and gathering information. She is currently working on two novels. She firmly believes the importance of having purpose. For her this includes family and marveling as her grandchildren become adults, leading meaningful lives and sharing stories of strong, independent, historical women.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: A Walk on Broken Glass, Elisabeth, Empress of Austria
Garet Anderson
Garet Anderson is an 82-year-old retired professional engineer. He currently enjoys his retirement in North Vancouver where he plays a lot of Duplicate Bridge. This is his first book. His second book, Killer Space, is well underway and is anticipated in 2021.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Killer Gold
Pat Ardley
Born in the Canadian prairies; a yellow Toyota, the voice of Cat Stevens and a best friend brought her to BC. After a life of adventure on the west coast with the love of her life, building the world class Rivers Lodge in Rivers Inlet, she is now settled in West Vancouver where she tends to a beautiful garden, sings in a bluegrass choir and enjoys many cups of tea and glasses of champagne with friends. Pat can be seen walking the seashore with her beloved dog Lindsay by her side and taking in many a music concert.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Grizzlies, Gales and Giant Salmon Life at a Rivers Inlet Fishing Lodge
Jenn Ashton
Considering herself a writer from around the age of 6, North Vancouver's Jenn Ashton was first published at age 14. She has written in many genres and for many purposes, from children's books, fiction and non-fiction, to newspaper editorials, music magazine columns, course and training materials and academic journals. Currently completing a number of works, you can find Jenn in the Simon Fraser University's Writer's Studio until the summer of 2019. Jenn is a member of The Creative Nonfiction Collective Society, The Federation of British Columbia Writers and Access Copyright.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: The Great Oak Joke & The Tale of Donkey Otey
B.R. Bentley
The author has lived in Bermuda, Canada and South Africa while enjoying a global career as a banker and corporate executive. An enthusiastic sailor, scuba diver, and occasional art collector, B.R. Bentley draws on the knowledge gained from his international travel, business career and recreational pursuits to facilitate his writing. Novels to date include The Cross; The Bermuda Key; and The Banker's Box.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: The Cross & The Bermuda Key
Elaine Eaton Berg
Author of thrillers, children's books, poetry, memoir and comedy skits Elaine Eaton Berg is passionate about her writing. A dual citizen of Canada and the U.S., she was born in Chilliwack, B.C. As a small child she moved to California. When she was 10 years old she moved to northern Alberta to live in the rural community of Shamrock Valley. She has made her home in Deep Cove for the past 30 years and began to paint and write later in life.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Jennifer Anne and the Cats of Bratston Hall & Agnes and Oswald & When Rabbits Cry & Don't Tell Mummy
Swanson Barry
Barry Swanson is a marine naturalist, a steward of the environment, and a singer/songwriter. He lives with his family in the Pacific Northwest and spends summers on the Salish Sea.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Lost Frequency
Alexander Boldizar
Alexander Boldizar was the first post–independence Slovak citizen to graduate with a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School. Since then, he has been an art gallery director in Bali, an attorney in San Francisco and Prague, a pseudo–geisha in Japan, a hermit in Tennessee, a paleontologist in the Sahara, a porter in the High Arctic, a police–abuse watchdog in New York City, an editor and art critic in Jakarta and Singapore, and a consultant on Wall Street. His writing has won the PEN/Nob Hill prize and was the Breadloaf nominee for Best New American Voices. THE UGLY won the Somerset Prize for best literary fiction of 2016 and the overall grand prize for "Best Book of 2016" (all genres) at the CAC17 authors conference. It was also a double finalist (literary & humor) for the Indies 2016 Book of the Year prize, sponsored by the American Library Association, and was on several "best books of 2016" lists.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: The Ugly
Joan Boxall
Joan Boxall is a retired English teacher turned creative non-fiction writer. She received a bachelor’s degree in physical education with an English and French major from the University of British Columbia. She taught English, French and PE to teens in Cranbrook and Delta before acquiring a TESL certificate in adult education. She contributes her non-fiction work regularly to Inspired 55+ Lifestyle Magazine. DrawBridge is her first book. She lives in North Vancouver with her husband.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: DrawBridge: Drawing Alongside My Brother's Schizophrenia
Patrick Bruskiewich
I am a Canadian born, Vancouver based writer. I have 225 titles in print with two publishing houses Pythagoras Publishing and Obelisk Press. I am also the editor of three magazines: Pen & Pencil, Art & Eros and Poetic Voice.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: The Naval Quarantine of North Korea: A Personal History & The Death of Masaccio - his Painting the Trinity, and the Hidden Message Within
David Buik
David Buik is a Scottish writer, academic, mathematician and futurist. He is of the opinion that humankind, having demonstrated great skills over the last 200 years, have shown that their desires for self-interest are at the expense of their fellow man and their natural environment. Against a background of soaring human population levels, the potential of humans to cause a sixth extinction appear to be quite likely and even probable. Whether in terms of human health, the interface and understanding of the natural world, or basic equality, humans have shown their trait for short term satisfaction and society's traits to subordinate all to the 'Economic Model'.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Disparitis; Catalytic Events
Maryse Cardin
Maryse Cardin is an author, university communications instructor, coach, consultant and workshop leader. Years ago, she made a life-changing decision to stop self-bashing. She then embarked on years of studying self-talk until she transformed her inner speech. In this book, she shares all her insights, and tools she developed for herself, her workshops, and her university classes.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Speaking to Yourself with Love: Transform Your Self-Talk
Megan Clendenan
Megan Clendenan is a freelance writer and editor from North Vancouver. When she's not writing, she spends her time running or biking through the local mountains or trying to play her violin. She lives with her family and their two incredibly fuzzy orange cats. Offbeat is her first novel.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Offbeat
Evelyn Cohoon Dreiling
Evelyn is a Montreal native who studied Arts at Concordia University whose pursuits, including many years with the Public Service, took her and her family all across Canada. She always had a strong interest in books and writing and plans to continue her genealogical research. She is a member of the North Shore Writers Association. Evelyn feels the pull of Canadian history and loves to tell stories about her own and other ancestors. She presently lives in North Vancouver with her two grown children.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: A Rebellious Spirit: Daniel Tracey & From Colony to Country: Michael Tracey & Canada's Coming of Age: John and Ellen Tracey
Len Corben
Author Len Corben has a long history with baseball and education on the North Shore. Born January 1, 1942, in Vancouver, he played baseball in North Vancouver on Little League, Babe Ruth, Connie Mack, high school and senior men’s teams as well as umpiring baseball and softball for many years. He began writing in high school and with the North Shore Citizen where his “Corben’s Corner” sports column appeared from 1962-71. After a 31-year career as Co-ordinator of Athletics for North Shore secondary schools (1969-99), he returned to writing where he continued pursuing his love of sports, research, history and the North Shore with his popular “Instant Replay” sports history stories in the North Shore Outlook (1999-2014) and the publishing of three books.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: The Pitching Professor: The Life and Times of Ernie Kershaw (Co-Author: Ernie Kershaw)
& PLAY IT AGAIN! A Century PLUS of North Shore Sport Stories
David Crerar
David Crerar grew up on the lower slopes of Mt. Seymour and now lives on the lower slopes of Grouse Mountain. In 2009 he created the Bagger Challenge, a contest to see who could climb the most North Shore peaks in a season; since then over 700 people have participated; that project led to this book. David is a partner in the commercial litigation group of the Vancouver office of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. For 15 years David served served as an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law, lecturing in civil procedure. He is the author of Mareva and Anton Piller Preservation Orders: A Practical Guide (Irwin Law, 2017). He is also the co-editor and a co-author of British Columbia Business Disputes, as well as the leading Canadian text on civil procedure, The Civil Litigation Process. He serves on the boards of the Vancouver International Marathon and the Canadian Media Lawyers’ Association and is a member of the BC Mountaineering Club and the Alpine Club of Canada. David is an outdoors fanatic, and especially loves adventures with his four children on trails, lakes, oceans, and rivers. He has completed more than 175 marathons and ultra-marathons, on road and trail, and in 2018 completed a project to run every single road on the North Shore. He aspires to visit every national park in North America with each of his children.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: The Glorious Mountains of Vancouver’s North Shore: a Peak Bagger’s Guide
Lilia D’Acres
Lilia D'Acres is the Lieutenant Governor Award winning author of 'Lions Gate' (Talon, 1999). She has taught Writing and Literature committing herself to the literary arts. She founded the George Woodcock Centre for the Arts and Intellectual Freedom Fund endowed at the UBC Library.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Secrets of the Span: Lions Gate Renewed
Bobby Dazzler
Bobby Dazzler is pen name (a higher-self pseudonym) taken on by the author Jasbir Rai to become a healer for humanity after being a retailer for 30 years. She is an entrepreneur, spiritual innovator, rebel, ideas, generator, thinker, though philosopher, mover/shaker and lover of people. She learned much from people daily in the retail world, a learning which she now used to elevate the true nature of humanity towards light and awakening. Accessing knowledge from the divine creator, she shares this esoteric light, helping humanity rise to higher vibrations. She has a BA from Simon Fraser University (1996) and Certificate in Liberal Arts (SFU, 1993). She resides in West Vancouver, British Columbia with her two children.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Retail Jail: Retail Apocalypse, G-D's Eye: Universal Awakening
Abdou Fall
Abdou Fall was born on September 11th, 1987 in Senegal, West Africa. He completed all of his education in French, the official language of Senegal. Abdou received his first Master’s Degree in Applied Economics from Gaston Berger University in 2011. He then moved to Montreal, Canada and achieved his second Master’s Degree in Economics in 2013. Upon graduating from The University of Montreal, he worked for three years as a Senior Financial Advisor for a major banking conglomerate in Vancouver, B.C. Abdou’s background as a millennial and a French-speaking West African (living in English-speaking Canada) endows him with a unique perspective on global progress. Currently, Abdou lives in Vancouver, Canada, where he writes full-time.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Women of all Countries Unite!
Robert Falls
Robert Falls, Ph.D., R.P.Bio., has an extensive history in resource science, working in academe, the energy and environment industries, and in government service. Robert began his professional career with the Marine Biology Division of B.C.’s Royal Provincial Museum. Since that time Robert has managed a range of projects in the natural gas, bio-tech, clean-tech, and renewable energy sectors in Canada, the US, and in China. Robert has acted as a Senior Advisor to the GLOBE Foundation of Canada’s Energy and Environment program and UBC’s Sustainable Development Research Institute. Robert is currently an Adjunct Professor at UBC's Forest Sciences Centre, and Executive Director of The Aquatica Foundation. Robert was presented an “Award for Innovation” by B.C. Premier Christy Clark in 2011 for his role in a climate mitigation project directed to the protection and restoration of sensitive ecological lands.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: CARBON PLAY - The Candid Observations of a Carbon Pioneer!
Anne Farrer
Anne Farrer has a life-long passion for writing and a knack for turning out an entertaining sentence. She is a well-regarded brand strategist and marketer, who currently finds great satisfaction wrestling with the writing of her first screenplay. She is a proud resident of North Vancouver with roots in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island. Her debut book, Exit this Side, is a small collection of stories drawn from experiences commuting on the SeaBus. She was dared to finish it and self-publish, and therefore was compelled to completion in order to spare her dignity.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Exit this Side
Jon Ferry
Cambridge-educated Jon Ferry has worked as a correspondent for Reuters news agency, a columnist for the Vancouver Province newspaper and a reporter for the Toronto Globe and Mail, the Edmonton Journal and the Victoria Daily Colonist (now Times Colonist). A North Vancouver resident, Ferry is the author of the poetry book Charred Horses (Prominence Publishing) and co-author of The Olson Murders (Cameo Books).
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Dark Wood
Rosalind Ferry
Rosalind Ferry was born in Zimbabwe and spent her formative years in the highlands of Kenya where her father was a doctor, her mother a nurse and where she developed a love of wildlife, the outdoors and a passion for riding horses. After training at the Middlesex Hospital in London, England, she has spent her entire working career as a physiotherapist, most of it in the Canadian province of British Columbia, where she set up her own private practice in Deep Cove. She has lived with her husband, raised her son and worked in this amazing community for over 35 years. She has combined her keen interest in postural alignment, balance and vestibular disorders with an enthusiasm for dressage and other equestrian pursuits. She believes that, unlike most wild animals, many stressed city dwellers have lost the ease and fluidity of movement required to maintain their physical health and overall well-being.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: The Posture Pain Fix
Michele Fogal
Michele has always felt a sense of kinship with quirky and diverse people. As a bisexual author, writing love stories that explore the rainbow of human experience is both a pleasure and a calling. Her work celebrates the divine nature of diversity, and the sacred, messy work of intimacy. If you’d like to know when Michele releases new books, bonus content, book club questions, and sneak peeks, you can sign up for her newsletter at michelefogal.com. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Wattpad or Goodreads, and nudge her to get off there and write more.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: King of Snowflakes, King of Rain
Jackson Ford
Jackson Ford is the bestselling author of The Frost Files series, beginning with The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind. The series has been translated into multiple languages, and optioned for television. Under his real name, Rob Boffard, he is the author of the sci-fi trilogy Outer Earth.
He is a former award-winning journalist and broadcaster, with stories appearing in The Guardian, Wired Magazine, the BBC, io9, and more. He most recently edited The Master Switch, a commercial audio review site. He lives in Vancouver, Canada.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Adrift, The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind
Daniel Francis
Born and raised in Vancouver and a resident of North Vancouver since 1987, Daniel Francis is the author of 30 books, principally about Canadian, BC and local history. He was the editorial director and principal writer of the mammoth Encyclopedia of British Columbia, hailed on its appearance in 2000 as one of the most important books ever published about the province. His biography of Vancouver mayor Louis Taylor, L.D.: Mayor Louis Taylor and the Rise of Vancouver, won the City of Vancouver Book Award in 2004. In 2017 he was awarded the prestigious Governor General’s History Award for Popular Media (the Pierre Berton Award) which recognizes excellence in bringing Canadian history to a wide popular audience.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Where Mountains Meet The Sea: An Illustrated History of the District of North Vancouver
Steve Galliford
Steve Galliford enjoys exploration - from hiking in the mountains to researching new scientific discoveries. And he likes to invent stuff. Years ago as a new dad, Steve often played with his active imagination to create "weird & wacky" bedtime stories for his children and their friends. These popular evening events eventually inspired Steve to put pen to paper, starting with The House at the Edge of Space. "After my kids turned into adults, I still got to hang out with young people through coaching youth sports teams. I think grown-ups can learn a lot from children & I hope I never lose my fun-loving curiosity. What can make the heart beat better than a sense of adventure?" Steve Galliford lives happily with his partner (and mother of their children) in North Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: The House at the Edge of Space
Sonia Garrett
Sonia Garrett has worked as a dancer, clown, actor, and Drama Teacher. She has run her own business as a franchise owner for Gymboree Play and Music, and now seems to have settled down to being a mom, teacher, storyteller and writer. She was born in England, went to school in Australia and returned to England for university where she graduated from the University of East Anglia with a BA (Hons) in Drama and English. She lives in Deep Cove with her stunt performer/co-ordinator husband, Rich, and their daughter, Jacquie. Maddie Makes Money is the second book in the Maddie Series.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Maddie Makes Money, Maddie Makes a Movie
C.E. Gatchalian
C.E. Gatchalian is a queer Filipinx-Canadian author and theatre-maker born, raised and based on unceded Coast Salish Territories (Vancouver). A graduate of the University of British Columbia's Creative Writing program, he is a two-time finalist for the Lambda Literary Award whose plays have been produced locally, nationally and internationally. Double Melancholy is his first non-fiction book.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Double Melancholy: Art, Beauty, and the Making of a Brown Queer Man
Patrick Hill
Patrick Hill is an extensively travelled civil engineer and has written several books on travels he has made with his wife Heather and countries he has visited. He has an active outlook and his driving force is "Do it Soon.....Do it Now". He left London after the War immigrating to Canada, then an immigration period in the Outback Australia before returning to Vancouver, an environment which he considers the best he has seen.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: So Where Do You Go at Night?, Travel with Me
Shelly Hrdlitschka
Shelley Hrdlitschka is the author of eleven novels for teens and two illustrated children's books. When she's not reading or writing she can be found hiking in the North Shore Mountains. She was born and raised on the North Shore.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Lost Boy, Dancing in the Rain, Allegra
Georgia Hunter
Georgia Hunter is a Canadian author/artist residing in North Vancouver, Canada. She taught school for the Vancouver School Board. Georgia is a multi-talented and gifted visual artist working in a variety of mediums. She holds a degree from the University of British Columbia majoring in Fine Arts. She did further studies in sculpture at the University of Lethbridge and Visual Communications at the Medicine Hat College. She received the Board of Governors’ Award for Art and was twice awarded a bursary for high grade point average for Visual Communications. Georgia’s sculptures have gained recognition in the wider art community in the years following her formal training. Her stories are highly influenced by her journeys to beautiful and exotic places. For example, Yubi and the Blue-tailed Rat is a story that began after visiting an ancient lavender mill on the island of Hvar, Croatia. Other stories are rooted in South Africa, Cuba and Eastern Europe.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Yubi and the Blue-tailed Rat, Yubi and the Good Dog of Tangibad, Little African Bear, Herraduras de la Suerte, Lucky Horseshoes
Crystal Hurdle
Crystal Hurdle teaches English and creative writing at Capilano University in North Vancouver. She is the author of the poetry collection. After Ted & Sylvia and her poetry and prose has been published in many journals, including Bogg, Canadian Literature, the Dalhousie Review, Event, Fireweed, and the Literary Review of Canada.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Teacher's Pets
Anosh Irani
Anosh Irani is the author of four acclaimed novels: The Cripple and His Talismans, The Song of Kahunsha, Dahanu Road, and The Parcel. His novels have earned numerous accolades, including international bestsellers, multiple award nominations, and listings as "Best Books of the Year" by major outlets like The Globe and Mail and CBC Books. Irani's play Bombay Black won five Dora Mavor Moore Awards, including Outstanding New Play, and his anthology The Bombay Plays was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award. His new play, The Men in White, garnered three Jessie Richardson Award nominations. Irani’s works have been translated into eleven languages.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: The Parcel
Jiwen
Jiwen is a member of the Chinese Canadian Writers' Association and the iQIYI Literature Star Writers Team. She is also the lead writer for the Jiangsu Network Literary Glen. Originally from Nanjing, China, she immigrated to Canada in 2012 and began her writing journey in 2016. To date, Jiwen has published seven books—five in Chinese and two in English. These works are part of a series titled Nanjing Story. Due to her deep connection to Nanjing’s culture, readers often refer to her as a "Nanjing cultural ambassador."
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: The Porcelain Tower of Nanjing, The Jiangnan Imperial Examination Hall, Changganli, Chaotian Palace
Dietrich Kalteis
Dietrich Kalteis is the award-winning author of Ride the Lightning (bronze medal winner, 2015 Independent Publisher Book Awards, for best regional fiction), The Deadbeat Club, Triggerfish, House of Blazes (silver medal winner, 2017 Independent Publisher Book Awards, for best historical fiction), Zero Avenue and Poughkeepsie Shuffle. 50 of his short stories have been published internationally.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Poughkeepsie Shuffle, Zero Avenue, House of Blazes, Triggerfish, The Deadbeat Club, Ride the Lightning
Kerry Karram
Kerry Karram is the fourth generation of her family to live at the foot of Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver, BC. Growing up, walking the trails and seeing the wild life instilled in her a love for nature. Writing a book was something that, as a child, Kerry had told her grandmother she would do one day. In 2008, she discovered her grandfather Andy Cruickshank's diary tucked inside a worn, yellowed envelope. Fascinated, she put her graduate studies on hold and, using the diary as one of her sources, began to write Four Degrees Celsius. Her deep interest in Canadian history and her love for the Far North is reflected in her writing.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Four Degrees Celsius: A Story of Arctic Peril, Death Wins in the Arctic: The Lost Winter Patrol of 1910
Marian Keen
Marian Keen is a Canadian children’s author and visual artist from West Vancouver, British Columbia. She holds a B.Sc. in Education from Central Connecticut State University and later taught grades five and six in Calgary. Marian’s writing career began in 1992 with Kitty Letters for Kids, a subscription-based series that introduced young readers to historical adventures. This led to her popular Lexi Catt’s Meowmoirs series, which blends history, science, and humour, featuring Lexi, an adventurous cat who learns from heroic figures like scientists and doctors. Four books from the series have been published, with more in development. In addition to writing, Marian is an accomplished acrylic artist, former president of the West Vancouver Sketch Club, and an active member of the North Shore Writers Association. She enjoys engaging with children through school visits, workshops, and community events, inspiring them with history and storytelling.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Verity, Lexi and Hippocrates Find Trouble at the Olympics, Lexi and Marie Curie Saving Lives in World War I, Lexi and Lister Defeat Death, Lexi and Imhotep to the Rescue
Michael Kerr
From an early age, Michael Bryan Kerr has thought of himself as a writer. He has been a member of various writing groups for many years and a number of his stories have been published in chapbook anthologies. While studying at UBC's School of Library and Information Science, a chance assignment in a children's storytelling class led to an early version of the title story of this collection. "The Nervous Prince" was a finalist in the North Shore Writers' Association 2015 short fiction contest; the remaining stories just happened along wanting to be part of the fun. Michael Bryan Kerr is a Digital Services Librarian at the North Vancouver City Library.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: The Nervous Prince and other stories
David Kirkpatrick
David Kirkpatrick has worked as a psychologist, psychiatrist, psychogeriatrician and psychotherapist for 45 years in Alaska, British Columbia and Oregon, and is now retired from his professional practice. None of these professional roles made living with a partner with Alzheimer's seemed to lighten this load. But they all added to his perspective, insight, and viewpoint(s) on living- with, and loving a partner with Alzheimer's.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Neither Married Nor Single: When Your Partner Has Alzheimer's or Other Dementia
Me-An Laceste
Me-An Laceste has always been a Poet at heart. This natural inclination has often kept her awake in the still of the night; writing her endless thoughts as they compete with sleep for her time. Her passion to helping others, raising her two boys and succeeding against all odds occupied her days and delayed the sharing of her memory until this first edition. As a business owner and insurance advisor, Me-An's social skills and welcoming persona has made her a perennial award winner and gifted her with treasured friends in whose confidences her passion for poems was kept alive. She is also a travel enthusiast who has visited 11 countries and 4 continents. In her humility and gratitude, she has been a generous donor to good causes, a volunteer, fundraiser, teacher, and a leader. A combination of the aforementioned with being a mother and her life experiences in the Philippines, Kenya, and Canada populate this engaging compilation. In her limited free time, Me-An is a dance enthusiast, hiker, walker, and a "DIY" chef.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Feeling Blue? JUMP!, Feeling Pink? LOVE!
Ralph Lake
Ralph Lake is a retired college teacher (Douglas College, New Westminster) where he taught Chinese for 26 years. Since retiring, Lake has turned to his other loves of writing and Chinese-English translation. His works include: a translation of Big Lin and Little Lin by Zhang Tianyi, and the illustrated stories Arizzo of Arezzo and The Anything Machine, Most Miserable Monster and Eleanor of Roosevelt Lane, These are available as ebooks at Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes and Noble and Scribd.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Most Miserable Monster, Arizzo of Arezzo and The Anything Machine, Eleanor of Roosevelt Lane
Eve Lazarus
Eve Lazarus is a journalist, author and blogger. Her passion for non-traditional history and fascination with murder has led to seven books of non-fiction including the BC bestsellers Blood, Sweat, and Fear, a 2018 finalist for Best National True Crime book, Arthur Ellis Awards; Cold Case Vancouver, 2016 finalist for the Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award, BC Book Prizes; and Sensational Vancouver, recipient of a City of Vancouver Heritage Award. Her latest book is Murder by Milkshake: an astonishing true story of adultery, arsenic, and a charismatic killer, a #1 BC bestseller, and a finalist for Best National True Crime book, Arthur Ellis Awards and the Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award, BC Book Prizes.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Murder by Milkshake: An Astonishing True Story of Adultery, Arsenic, and a Charismatic Killer, Blood, Sweat, and Fear: The Story of Inspector Vance Vancouver's First Forensic Investigator, Cold Case Vancouver: The City's Most Baffling Unsolved Murders, Sensational Vancouver
Fernando Lessa
"Outdoor storyteller", that’s how Fernando could best be described. Drawing from his passion for outdoor sports, Biology degree, and master’s degree in Photography, he specializes in documenting the relation in between man and mother nature.
Fernando has strong experience in the field, having worked on projects in a wide variety of areas, including the untouched Amazon forest, the unique Brazilian savannah, the tropical rainforest of Brazil and the Atlantic Ocean. Urban Salmon is Fernando’s first project in North America.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Urban Salmon
Bruna Martinuzzi
Bruna Martinuzzi is the founder of Clarion Enterprises Ltd., specializing in presentation skills and leadership communication coaching. Fluent in six languages, she has trained thousands of individuals worldwide, delivering presentations at events like the MICROSOFT ExPo Leadership Conferences and TELUS Leadership Forums. Bruna has lectured at top universities, including Simon Fraser and the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business. She is the author of Presenting with Credibility (2012) and The Leader as a Mensch (2009). Bruna holds a B.A. and M.A. from UBC and has received several prestigious awards, including the Izaak W. Killam Memorial Pre-doctoral Fellowship and the B.C. Workplace Excellence Award. She is also a business columnist for American Express Business Trends and a writer for Mintools Corporate (UK).
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Presenting with Credibility: Practical Tools and Techniques for Effective Presentations
Ramona Materi
Ramona Materi is a business consultant and author with a passion for entrepreneurship. She has a degree in environmental science and has worked with Environment Canada and the US Environmental Protection Agency. This is Ramona’s second book; her first was on doing business in British Columbia’s north.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Starting a Green Business in Canada, British Columbia's New North
Lawrence Matrick
Dr. Lawrence E. Matrick received his M.D. degree in Medicine from the Manitoba Medical College. He subsequently worked at the Provincial Mental Hospital as a resident in psychiatry. He continued his studies in London, England and received his British degrees in Psychiatry. As a Fellow of the Canadian Royal College of Physicians and Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia, Dr. Matrick maintained a full-time private practice in Vancouver for almost 50 years. He also frequently served as a court-appointed expert witness in British Columbia. A previously published fiction and non-fiction writer, he lives in West Vancouver.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Road to Recovery, Following Your Motor Vehicle Accident, The Quisling, The Madhouse
Gael McCool
Gael McCool helps people turn their problems into a powerful source of purpose. She is an inspirational teacher, guide, and developer of tools for personal transformation. For over 35 years she has taught individuals, executives, and companies to engage the life-changing powers of self-awareness, accountability, and conscious choice to make a difference in themselves and in the world around them. She is the founder, President, and Chief Creative Coach at FEEL Inc.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Be Wise Now: A Guide to Conscious Living
Sharon McInnes
Sharon McInnes is the author of Up Close & Personal: Confessions of a Backyard Birder (2012), a compilation of her Just for the Birds columns and photos from The Flying Shingle newspaper. After living on Gabriola Island for twelve years, she and her partner moved to North Vancouver in 2018, where she now lives, happily, next door to the City library. She is at work on a memoir. Across a Narrow Strait is her first novel.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Across a Narrow Strait
Mehdi Meshgini
Mehdi Meshgini was born in Ghoochan, a small town in Northeastern Iran, and grew up in Tehran. After getting his high school diploma from Daralfonoon, he went to the USA. There he earned a BSc and MSc in organic chemistry from Oregon State University, and a PhD in pulp and paper chemistry from the University of Washington. He moved to Vancouver, Canada to teach chemistry at a private college, and continues to live in the Lower Mainland today. While his professional career has been in the sciences, his true passion has always been literature, particularly poetry. An avid reader of both Iranian and Western literatures, he has written translations of the poet William Blake into Farsi, a collection of his own poetry, a new novel Nina, and has a forthcoming book comparing the works of Rumi and Blake. He has given numerous talks on Rumi, Hafez, Omar Khayyam, and Parvin Etesami, amongst others.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Nina
Lili Molavi
In an effort to regain her health, beauty and vibrancy, Lili discovered the transformative power of holistic health. As a health store owner and practitioner, she consults with many clients across the North America for her age defying natural health and beauty secrets. As a writer, she enjoys sharing powerful messages of inner health and outer happiness.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Effortless Beauty: Simple Strategies to Regain Your Youth and Beauty Naturally
Aryan Mosavianpour
Aryan Mosavianpour is a 15-year-old boy who lives with his mother, father, and dog in BC, Canada. He enjoys writing stories and using his creativity. He is a sport loving teen as much has he is a math lover, and there is another he enjoys more than spending time with his family.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Atom, Floating in Space
Mary Novik
Mary Novik is a North Vancouver novelist. Her novel Conceit was hailed as “a magnificent novel of seventeenth-century London” by The Globe and Mail, which chose it as a Book of the Year. Conceit was long-listed for the Giller Prize and won the Ethel Wilson Prize. Canada Reads named it as one of The Top 40 Essential Canadian Novels of the Decade. Her second novel, Muse, is set in Avignon during the 14th-century Babylonian Captivity, when the popes resided there. Muse was also published in French (Muse) and Italian (L’amante del Papa).
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Muse
Shelley O’Callaghan
Shelley O’Callaghan is a retired environmental lawyer and social advocate. Her first book, a memoir, How Deep is the Lake: A Century at Chilliwack Lake, reflects her passions about history, social justice and the environment. Shelley is a member of the North Shore Writers Association and the Whistler Writing Society as well as the Canadian Creative Non-Fiction Collective.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: How Deep is the Lake: A Century at Chilliwack Lake
Sanford Osler
Sanford Osler has an MA from the University of British Columbia and has held leadership positions with national NGOs, major utilities and financial institutions. He moved from Toronto to North Vancouver with his wife and two children in 1992. He is active in the community and is the past Chair of the North Vancouver Museum and Archives Commission and a past Board member of the North Vancouver District Public Library. Sanford was introduced to the canoe as a youngster, an event that sparked a lifelong interest in the role of the canoe in our history and modern-day lives. This fascination was further fuelled in British Columbia and led him to write Canoe Crossings: Understanding the Craft that Helped Shape British Columbia (Heritage House, 2014).
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Canoe Crossings: Understanding the Craft That Helped Shape British Columbia
Laurie Pawlik
Laurie Pawlik, MSW, is the Adventurous Writer who created the “She Blossoms” blog and book series. She writes full-time in her treehouse overlooking the waters of Indian Arm in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Laurie has 25 years of teaching, social work, and Bible study experience, and has been published in magazines such as Woman's Day, Reader's Digest, and Women's Health.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Growing Forward When you Can't Go Back
Sachi Rummel
Sachi Rummel was horror stricken by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear catastrophe. As a result, she has broken her long silence about being a child in Hiroshima when the bomb was dropped in 1945. With the innocence of a child, she describes the devastation - and loss she endured and her gratitude for the love and joy she has shared as an adult.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Hiroshima - Memories of a Survivor
Thomas Salumets
Thomas Salumets, a UBC scholar and cultural historian, authored Unforced Flourishing: Understanding Jaan Kaplinski (2014), the first major English-language study of the influential Estonian writer. The book, shortlisted for the Estonian Cultural Endowment award, has been translated into Estonian. Kaplinski, a Nobel Prize nominee, has lectured at UBC and contributed to the Vancouver Writers Fest. Local author Trevor Carolan helped bring Kaplinski to the 1988 Calgary Olympics literary event. Praised by reviewers in both North America and Europe, Unforced Flourishing offers a fresh, captivating portrait of the complex, nature-focused writer.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Unforced Flourishing: Understanding Jaan Kaplinski
Jennifer Samson
Jennifer Samson is a Canadian writer and is the author of the crime saga Sin City series and the comedy/thriller Billie and Diana series. She has also been published in the literary journals Thursday and The Lyre, as well as the BoldPrint book Friends. Her work has been featured in the Alpha Phi Quarterly, Brookline TAB, Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, and Edmonton Sun. She enjoys pens, Hilroy loose leaf, corner store candy, adorable cats, and beating her Goodreads Reading Challenge every year.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: The Final Cut, Sin City
Brenda Smit-James
Born and raised in South Africa, Brenda was a high-school English teacher before moving with her husband to Vancouver, Canada. There she switched careers and worked as a bookkeeper, accountant, and entrepreneur. At best, writing was merely a hobby. However, after her mother's death, it became a tool to process and express her grief. Writing has since become Brenda's lifeline and her life purpose. Through her writing courses, Brenda helps others to capture and tell their own stories.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: When God Says No, My Journey through Grief to Acceptance
Claire Snyman
Claire Snyman is an author, blogger and advocate for patient and healthcare collaboration. She is passionate about inspiring people to put their health in their own hands. She has co-authored a scientific study between neurosurgeons and patients and developed a TEAM Approach for Empowering patients©. Claire spoke at TEDxStanleyPark 2018 on putting your health in your own hands. Her second book, "ACTIVATE - How to Save your Life in a Complex Health Care System" explores the challenges faced within health care systems and how patients need to be more proactive participants in their health care management. Claire continues to look for ways to increase communication and collaboration between patients and the health care system and improve the patient experience - critical points for a sustainable health care system.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Two Steps Forward - Embracing Life with a Brain Tumour &Activate: How to Save Your Life in a Complex Health Care System
Diana Stevan
Prior to becoming a novelist, Diana Stevan worked as a family therapist, teacher, actor, model, and a freelance writer-broadcaster for CBC television. She's published poetry, a short story, and newspaper articles. Her novels are women's fiction: A Cry From The Deep (romantic mystery/adventure) , The Rubber Fence (women's fiction) and Sunflowers Under Fire (family saga/historical fiction). She lives in Campbell River, and West Vancouver, B.C. with her husband, Robert. She has two daughters and three grandchildren. When she isn't writing, she loves to garden and travel.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: A Cry From The Deep & The Rubber Fence & Sunflowers Under Fire
Mary-Ann Stouck
Mary-Ann Stouck is the author of a previous children's title, A Fine Winter Cap (Walhachin Press), and has edited two books of medieval saints' lives for adults. She is retired from SFU's Humanities Department where she was an associate professor of medieval studies. As a child her first animal pet was a hamster, and since then she has given a home to dogs, cats, rabbits, turtles, a horse and three more hamsters. She has volunteered at the West Vancouver SPCA and served on its Community Council. She is deeply committed to fostering empathy between children and pets.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Jeannie Houdini
Manon Sweetland
L’auteure Manon Sweetland, canadienne française, lâche prise sur sa vie matérielle et part seule en mission à l’aventure en Inde. Après la rencontre de son futur mari britannique, elle vit deux ans au pays de Gandhi. Elle devient alors professeure de yoga. Ce moment de pause porte fruit. De retour en Occident, elle donne naissance à son fils en Angleterre. Sa petite famille habite également en Écosse et en Europe de l’est et enfin de nouveau au pays des Anglais. En tant que professeure de français langue seconde, elle trouve sa force intérieure par la méditation. Avant de rentrer au bercail, après quinze ans, Manon se replonge dans l'écriture déjà amorcée lors de son périple en Inde, et crée les personnages, les inséparables Mianna et Aïda en mémoire de toutes ses amitiés. Elle lance au printemps 2019, son premier livre, Les messagers diaphanes. Grâce à la technologie, elle communique encore avec la majorité de ses amies à travers le monde. Miss Sweetland prend aussi plaisir d'enseigner le français langue seconde aux enfants internationaux. Enfin, Manon s’émerveille toujours au présent en admirant au quotidien une nature magique et des âmes enrichissantes. Elle exerce toujours le yoga et organise des marches en pleine conscience avec les cinq sens à Vancouver, Colombie-Britannique.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Les messagers diaphanes
Mary Tasi & Wade Baker
Mary Tasi is an award winning urban planner, community historian, and author. She is also a two term North Vancouver School Board Trustee. She has an honours degree in Urban Planning from the University of Waterloo, and her work has been presented to the Victoria Legislature for excellence in historical research. She writes historical non fiction, and is honoured that she has been given permission to share her indigenous family's stories in her books. She has traveled extensively, learning the history of place of the regions she writes about, and walking the paths of the ancestors. She has a unique voice that comes through in all her work regarding the importance of legacy and reconciliation, and sharing the authentic stories. Wade Baker is a cultural knowledge keeper, story teller and member of the Squamish Nation. He is also an award winning artist, winning a design excellence award from the City of North Vancouver for the "Gateway to Ancient Wisdom" Public art piece for the first portion of the Spirit Trail. Wade learned his amazing stories from listening to Chief Capilano and Chief Simon Baker as a child, and from visiting his many relatives in Alert Bay for potlatches. In his culture, story and art are intertwined, and he is a sought after speaker to share his knowledge of the legends of the west coast.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: The Hidden Journals - Captain Vancouver and His Mapmaker Through an Indigenous Lens
Melanie Ting
Melanie Ting is a USA Today bestselling author who lives in beautiful North Vancouver, B.C. Her hobbies include herding cats, hiking low mountains, and cheering on losing hockey teams. She began writing romances during the 2010 Olympic, inspired by both the extraordinary athleticism and the crazy party atmosphere.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: An Irresistible Force
Ingrid Torrance
Ingrid Torrance; actor, coach, producer, director and author has appeared in numerous movies and television series since 1994. She has also been an acting teacher since 1995 and an on set and off set coach since 1998. Ingrid has worked on such shows as Once Upon A Time, The Killing, Fringe, The Good Wife and Blade: The Series. She has appeared in such films as Double Jeopardy, Act of War, Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, The Auburn Hills Breakdown, and Driven to Kill, Ingrid has been nominated for a Leo Award as Best Actress and was featured in Entertainment Weekly as a “Breakout” Actress. Won Women In Film's CAPILANO LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATION AWARD in 2015.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Act! A Step by Step Guide to Starting Your Acting Career
Diane Tupper
Returning to school as a single mother of five in her early 40s, Diane Tupper completed her undergraduate degree as the oldest student in her year, a feat that fueled her aspirations to become a lawyer. She finished law school at the University of British Columbia the same year her youngest child graduated from high school and practiced family law for the next 20 years. Tupper began writing Balancing Act when she was forced into retirement after a serious accident and hopes it not only entertains but inspires others who are contemplating a big change mid-life. The twelve chapters in Balancing Act are named after fictitious court cases and are loosely based on her life, while the character's names are those of some of her children and many grandchildren. Her grandson, Sean, 11-years old at the time of publishing, also drew the pictures at the beginning of every chapter. A life-long North Shore resident, Diane graduated from West Van High and raised her children in North Van, where she currently resides.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Balancing Act
Neil Van Seters
Neil works as a director in the Canadian telecommunications industry and is actively involved in the charitable sector, having sat on boards and establishing a non-profit organization in Uganda with his wife. Fear No One was inspired by a desire to understand his grandfather's concentration camp experiences and how he managed to survive, when so many others around him did not.
Neil has read extensively about cultural conflict and genocide and as part of his research for this book, visited many of the Holocaust memorial sites. He currently resides in North Vancouver with his wife Wendy and their three sons Eli, Seth and Jesse.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Fear No One
Tom Van Walleghem
Tom Van Walleghem has lived in North Vancouver since 2002. He took early retirement to pursue his personal interests in military history, education, and writing. Knowing how history shapes the present, he is passionate about helping people of all ages understand the sacrifices and choices made by previous generations that affect the world today. Tom has interviewed over fifty Canadian Veterans and their families to capture their stories in writing. He also does community presentations for children to seniors on a variety of topics related to both World Wars and conducts writing workshops for young authors (Kamloops/Thompson School District 73 ‘Young Authors Conference’, 2016 -2019). Discovered Courage is Tom’s first book for young readers, and was inspired by actual events in Tom’s early school years in Winnipeg.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Discovered Courage
Lawrence Verigin
Lawrence Verigin is the author of the multiple award winning Dark Seed trilogy - DARK SEED, SEED of CONTROL and BEYOND CONTROL. Lawrence's goal is to entertain readers while delving into socially relevant subjects that need more attention brought to them. In his spare time Lawrence enjoys cooking good food, rich red wine, travel, running, reading and numerous rounds of golf. Lawrence and his wife, Diana, live in beautiful North Vancouver, Canada.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Dark Seed & Seed of Control & Beyond Control
Jaroslav Jerry Vlcek
Jaroslav (Jerry) Vlcek was born in Czechoslovakia, son of a small farmer and flour miller. He spent his early years mostly learning about nature that surrounded him. His way of learning was challenged when he began the village school. “School took away my way of knowing nature” he felt with sadness, but his interest remained and led him to a lifelong academic career. It started as student at the Technical University of Prague but was interrupted when he was expelled from the university as “not suitable for high education” by the newly installed Communist government. “That was my lucky moment”, he says, forcing him to leave his country as a political refugee in Germany from where he emigrated to Canada. His first job as a 24-year old was cutting trees in a northern Ontario forest in meter deep snow and -20C temperature. “The healthiest job you can have” he says, “working, eating and sleeping.” After a few years of doing odd jobs, he returned to his university studies and academic pursuits, eventually leading to a career as a professor at the University of Toronto where he taught and did research in applied science, primarily in image analysis of the earth surface. After retirement in 1990, Dr. Vlcek started his second career that began by being forced to take a deep personal journey into his early life which led to reawakening of its memory. “It was much harder work than the one at the university”. His deep inward search resulted in three publications, the third and most comprehensive being the above. . . Jaroslav strongly believes that all knowledge begins and ends with consciousness (Einstein said “experience” which is the same) and must include its origin. His book presents a new theory of consciousness, evolution and view of life, incorporating quantum physics. He views his prenatal consciousness as the most significant contributions to our knowledge of life: Conscius sum, ergo sum—Conscious, I am.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Tracking Consciousness Before Birth and Beyond
Lisa Voisin
A Canadian-born author, Lisa Voisin spent her childhood daydreaming and making up stories, but it was her love of reading and writing in her teens that drew her to Young Adult fiction. Lisa is a technical writer, a meditation teacher, a student with Simon Fraser University’s Writer’s Studio, and for several years, a writing group for teens in Lynn Valley. Her debut novel, The Watcher, won the Chanticleer grand prize for paranormal fiction. The Warrior Prophet is her third book. More about Lisa can be found on her web site: http://www.lisavoisin.com.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: The Warrior Prophet
Gerhard Winkler
Gerhard Winkler enjoyed writing throughout his entire life. It took him a while to feel comfortable talking in a new language. Some fellow writers were most helpful to guide him through the differences of grammar from one language to another. He had problems with his syntax and comma-ta. Some 25 years ago he started to enjoy writing travel stories and had them published in various magazines. With help of a writer's group several of his stories were published in l anthologies of the North Shore Writers Association and he won several awards. He published two books before this current one, a novel with the title DIVIDED and a bio of his life before Canada in his native Germany, MY FIRST LIFE. His books are available in various libraries.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Landed
Frank Wolf
Frank Wolf is a Canadian adventurer, writer, photographer, and environmentalist. He is known for feature magazine articles and films that document wilderness expeditions around the world, with a focus on the Canadian North. His journeys include being the first to canoe across Canada in one season, and cycling 2,000 km in winter on the Yukon River from Dawson to Nome. In 2015 he was named One of Canada's Top 100 Explorers by Canadian Geographic Magazine and in 2012 he was named one of Canada's Top Ten Adventurers by Explore Magazine. His first book of adventures- Lines on a Map - was published in October 2018 by RMB.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: Lines on a Map
Peter Woodbridge
Born in England, Peter Woodbridge left school at age 15 and began work as a booking clerk for British Rail, where he developed a love for steam engines. Continuing his studies through night school, Peter won two scholarships that led him to a B. Sc. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Reading, followed by an M. Sc. in Business Administration from the University of Bradford. He began his professional career as an agricultural industries analyst, ultimately providing policy and planning advice to senior levels of industry and government in North America, Asia and Europe. This took him to far-flung locations including tea estates in Uganda, cotton plantations in Ethiopia and tropical hardwood forests in the South Pacific—eventually settling in Canada, where his consulting practice produced numerous leading-edge strategic analyses for the global forest products industry. Now retired from his consulting practice, Peter has returned to his first love—writing. The Girl From Barcelona is his first published novel. Outside of writing, Peter loves hiking in the mountains of British Columbia and Arizona, the relaxed lifestyle in Barcelona and travelling. He played rugby throughout his school days, later representing his university, eventually lapsing into social rugby in adult recreation leagues until his body begged him to stop. An avid fan of English and European football, he sinks into abject misery every time his beloved Reading FC is beaten by lesser teams … which is often. It drives him back to writing.
Titles in the 2019-2021 Collection: The Girl from Barcelona
