This September, Tellwell is at the Word on the Street Festival in Toronto whichi brings together thousands of readers and writers — and this year, Tellwell authors will be right in the mix. The Tellwell booth will showcase a selection of books by authors from across Canada and beyond. Have a look to see which authors will be on display at this year’s festival.
Demetrios (Jim) Angelis
Book: The Ottawa Way: Guilty by Gender in Canada’s Capital
Demetrios Angelis’ tale is a provocative mix of true crime, personal narrative, and social critique. Convicted in 2010 of murdering his wife, Angelis argues his case through a wider lens of justice, gender, and media bias.
Denyse Wigglesworth
Book: Thy Will Be Done
In Thy Will Be Done, Denyse Wigglesworth delivers a spiritual message grounded in peace, joy, and divine love. Guided by the Holy Spirit, Denyse shares reflections meant to awaken readers to their deeper purpose. At the heart of her book is the idea that we are co-creators with God — often unaware of the powerful role we play in shaping our own spiritual journey. Through gentle wisdom and divine insight, this book offers guidance to help readers shift their awareness, better understand “the Way,” and walk a path of love and light.
Georgina Novacich
Book: For Teachers: Words to Inspire and Guide You
Teaching is more than a profession — it’s a calling. In For Teachers: Words to Inspire and Guide You, Georgina Novacich offers a heartfelt tribute to educators, recognizing the profound role they play in shaping minds, hearts, and spirits. This beautifully written book is filled with love, gratitude, and encouragement for those who have answered the call to teach. Designed as a source of daily inspiration, it reminds educators that their path is both noble and deeply impactful. Whether read at the start of a school day or in quiet reflection, this book is a meaningful companion for every teacher.
Jack McLellan
Book: How to Take Control of the Smoking Habit : Designed for Anyone Who Wants to Take Back Control of their Life
This book is a guide to taking back your life. A path to better health, a clearer mind, less stress. Your ongoing years can be filled with the blessing of breathing deeper, cleaner oxygen, which is one of the most important keys to growing older in much better health. No matter what your health condition is currently, you will find it improves.
Joanne Kimm
Book: The Enforcer’s Tale
Life for 13-year-old Joseph Young is pre-defined, living in a small-town farming community where generations upon generations have lived, where everyone knows everyone, and where everyone takes care of everyone. When the government’s newly formed Children’s Alliance Coalition announces they will be coming to town to audit families, everyone is walking on eggshells.
Julie Di Sensi
Book: String Bean’s Dream
String Bean is an ordinary caterpillar with big dreams, but she is afraid of trying. She is afraid of making mistakes and failing, and she is afraid of being laughed at. All the wee life in Pellerrandra are looking forward to the annual costume ball. With the help of her friends and a little belief in herself, can she make her dreams come true in time for the Moonlight Ball? This book encourages children of all ages to believe in their dreams, for they can come true.
Kim Henry
Book: Wanderings : A Wayfinder’s Grief Notebook
Wanderings is more than just a notebook – it’s a personal guide for young people who have experienced the death of someone in their life. To all the wanderers, grief puts us on a journey, sometimes with a clear direction and purpose and sometimes with no agenda and the freedom to discover and explore. This notebook offers a space for you to explore your thoughts, feelings, and memories as you navigate your grief journey.
Peter Gribble
Book: Threat
“A Journey Without Departure” is the traditional term for a telepathic sending. It is a talent few can perform yet this is the strategy the City of the Magicians—non-violent pacifists, without army or weapons—hopes will mitigate the barbarian invasion coming in six months. The plan could work, but then maybe not. Sas, the young man chosen to “educate the barbarian,” can only think, Me? Sendings? They’ve made a mistake!
Amanda Dauvin
Book: Grandfather’s Key
When Eva receives a small key on her birthday that opens something special belonging to her grandfather, she searches high and low until she realizes the answer has been right in front of her all along.
Anthony Nosakhare
Book: Cupid
Here is a young boy growing up in a poor third world country, but he is full of hopes and dreams to be very successful in the future. However, his life is full of uncertainty; he can either self-destruct or rule heaven and earth. Well, he chooses to live his life spontaneously, and with his loving heart, he rearranged the universe in love. This true story about labor of love and survival is testament to the fact that we are meant for something greater than ourselves if we don’t give up in life. Love is the key to our deliverance.
Bertha Mkwelele
Book: Media in the Celebrity Culture Sphere and Other Essays
The essays Neema wrote are about society’s issues, including safety and security concerns with online information sharing. We live in a period of time where discussions about social media safety and security are tied to the entertainment industry, the technology industry, and individual needs to socialize and network.
Chantal Fry
Book: Chloé and The Snow Globe
Chloé loves to skate, even when she falls. She often puts so much pressure on herself to succeed. One snowy night after skating practice, Chloé’s dream transports her to a magical place. In this enchanting story, Chloé learns to skate simply because she loves the feeling of the cool wind on her face and the sound of her blades on the ice.
Christine Kotowycz
Book: Poppy and the Woods Awaken
Poppy and the Woods Awaken is a story about a young girl exploring a magical woodland trail. She experiences the changing season transform the woods from a frozen, bare, silent landscape to a hub of activity, chatter, birdsong, colours, rushing water, and mild breezes. One rainy spring day, while walking the woodland trail, Poppy makes a decision that leads her to a surprising discovery.
Frances De
Book: China’s Last Noble Race : And Their Lost Generation
Communist spy craft has become more ingenious, using tactics such as sexpionage, money, coercion, and media propaganda. Their modern cold war aims to gain control of average citizens and influence the future of individuals and their families, This starts with targeting influential people and spreading their influence with pyramid-scheme-like methods. The tale of modern geishas, the seven mountain mandate, and its process are all part of an invisible cold war raging against democracy. The new cultural revolution is gaining momentum across the continent, its influence is becoming more widespread and it is here to stay.
Jeremy Jones
Book: Being Broken : Tales and Essays of Survival and Death from Narcissistic Parental Abuse
A young woman dies alone in a hotel room, her fentanyl-poisoned cocaine still on the desk. She had been missing for nearly 2 weeks. Social Services had been trying to find a place for her to live with her 3-year-old son, whom she had left with her parents. Six months later her father fights for his life in intensive care, but succumbs to his illness because of a lifelong use of alcohol and tobacco. A month after his death her mother is assessed by doctors to be unable to care for herself because of her Alzheimer’s and mental health issues brought on by benzodiazepine and alcohol addiction.
Jerome Bourgault
Book: The Perpetual Now
Ferguston, Ontario, is an angry little town full of dark secrets, a place where keeping your head down is never a bad idea. That’s fine with Justin Lambert, an introverted, biracial 12-year-old who generally prefers books to people anyway. Against all odds, Justin has found a new friend. Her name is Billie. She’s sweet, precocious, and a bit feisty. She also isn’t human.
John Caranci
Book: Dance In Wonder
Dancing is one of the most complex of human activities. Not only the interaction between music and movement but also the emotions that provide a connection with another person or persons. This volume is one person’s observations and interpretations of the immersive world in which he lives. Sometimes the beauty or humour of the world interferes with the observations. Mostly, it only provides the foundation to anchor the observation to the emotion.
John D Kingston
Book: The True North Talks
The True North Talks is an action-packed novel where political intrigue meets history in the making. A bold plan to reshape the Canadian Constitution is set in motion. At the heart of the debate—Quebec.
R.C. Highcroft
Book: Providence Point
Boyish camaraderie jostles with simmering family discord, cherished serenity with the threat of turmoil, and time-honoured Bayside ways with the city’s siren call. At length Rob and his two closest northcountry companions must each confront the same challenge: how to maintain their most precious aspirations? For Rex that imperative may require a hazardous fresh start in Toronto, for Hank a renewed commitment to Georgian Bay. And for Rob perhaps some fusion of the two, if only it can be finessed.
Judith Tait
Book: Minnie of the Maritimes
When a young woman from a conservative community gets ‘in the family way’ in 1880 the options for her future are limited. The fortunate ones are sent away to give them a chance for a new life and so it is for sixteen year old Minnie. Her experiences as she travels to Montreal for the birth, to Prince Edward Island for a life on her aunt’s farm, her wedding there and her married life in Halifax, reveal the history of life in the Maritimes through her eyes. As society changes even today, this story imagines a strong woman as she matures and her life unfolds.
Alfredo Juan Capovilla
Book: Dialoguing with the Universe : Almost a Genesis
We all have the mechanisms and information to overcome ourselves and grow. Often these complex mechanisms do not favor linear thinking and are hidden behind our limitations.
This book will help you understand that all the mechanisms you live in your life, even the deepest frustrations and the most unattainable achievements, when understood and worked on can lead you to wisdom to have a more balanced life.
Kathy Forbes
Book: Wedding Planning : Five Easy Steps & The Secret to Pull it Together
This is not your typical wedding planning book. Chapter titles alone will tell you what needs to be done, and the subtitles break it down further. The book includes tips, advice, stories, templates, and notebook to keep track of everything.
Ken Hoyle
Book: Life & Legacy of a Volunteer : True Tales of Teamwork, Trials, and Triumphs leading to Real Change
This book provides ten tips for volunteer organizations and ten for volunteers based upon 20 real-life experiences over 60 years of a dedicated volunteer.
Lili Naghdi
Book: On Loving
In 1972, Dr. Rose Hemmings has just finished her general surgery residency when a haunted stranger is shot in front of her in a New York City bar, and their lives become forever intertwined. And when, having been given the blessing of her adoptive father on his deathbed, Rose travels to prerevolutionary Iran to discover the past her American family kept secret from her, she finds a true Pandora’s box. It is a world both foreign and familiar, in which her primary place is as the heiress to a great tribe. In Iran, Rose will find family she never dreamed of, her own people, and a man who loves her as passionately as he does the rare black roses of his garden. She will return to the United States carrying a new secret and torn between two men: the one she loves helplessly, and the one who loves her unconditionally.
Lisa Freeman
Book: Time Served : My Father’s Murder: The Life Sentence His Killer & I Share and My Fight to Find Justice Within the Parole Board of Canada
An offender on parole looking for his former girlfriend crosses paths with a mild-mannered rooming house caretaker. By the end of the evening, Lisa’s father is dead, bludgeoned with an axe, and an unremorseful killer is behind bars. When the parole process unfolds earlier than expected decades later, Lisa realizes she now faces an even greater challenge: the assertion of her rights versus the rights of the man who axed her father to death. Steadfast through all obstacles, Lisa is determined to ensure that her father’s voice, through hers, will be heard louder than his killer’s.
Lucille Proulx
Book: The Towel
Lucille Proulx has a tremendous life energy, and she has written this memoir very much in her own voice. It is conversational, full of insight and natural observations. She is very unassuming and adventurous. I love her movement of connections to geese and elephants and how she speaks of painting as a lifesaver and a life giver. The paintings and process in which she discusses and reflects on her life are evocative and a fascinating exploration of free association and art therapy. Lucille is a pioneer in art therapy in many ways and has lived a full and creative life!
Marcie Schultz
Book: Living with Gremlins : My Real Life Horror Story of Severe Anxiety
Anxiety. It must seem so simple for those who don’t suffer from it. Words on a page, each conjuring an attribute of their life to go along with it. Worry too much, always nervous, so apprehensive, unrealistic fear.
It is anything but simple to those who do suffer from it. Words on a page, each describing a living hell, a nightmare they can’t wake from. Living with anxiety—if you suffer, you know. If you don’t suffer, may you understand.
Margaret Churchill
Book: My Raccoon Family : Adventures in My Backyard
This book is about the true-life adventure of a raccoon mother who suddenly gave birth in an Ottawa home basement one day. The book takes you through what the author learned about raccoons in general and how her respect and admiration for the mother grew to a trusting and fun-loving adventure with her six babies.
Margaret Fler
Book: Patch Takes Off
Patch the fAustralian sheepdog is in trouble again! This book is a wonderfully illustrated picture book with a humourous story that will engage kids and parents.
Melanie Flynn
Book: The Toy Maker
Rylee Scott is a New York private investigator with a secret: she’s psychic and allergic to her cat. But only one of these secrets has the power to break her. When she’s hired to find a missing woman, she finds herself racing against the clock to save her before she becomes the next victim of a prolific serial killer, the Toy Maker, who turns his victims into beautiful and horrific life-size versions of classic toys. After years of living under the radar, Rylee will have to enlist the help of the NYPD if she has any hope of bringing the woman home safe.
Nancy Yee
Book: It’s Steve the Snail.
It’s Steve the Snail. This small snail has an idea to plant his first garden. This brilliant idea inspires him to move off his favourite rock. Steve will travel across the green meadow and back to trade for seeds. He is a tough little snail. He does not give up. He learns that, with hard work and patience, he can grow and take care of a garden.
Niraj Sharma
Book: The Penthouse
Vito Ricci faces the world with the idea that an honest man’s labor cannot give him the good life. Determined to fulfill his quest he becomes a made man after doing a piece of work and begins to excel in the drug underworld in his hometown back in Italy. Eventually he decides to expand his operation in America and settles in the big city of New York where he eventually becomes a mob boss by the commission and is given the right to run his own family as he sees fit and of course maintain control of the drug trade. Vito decides to make living simple and purchases a modern skyscraper in Manhattan in which he crowns himself in the penthouse suite. Vito is now living the good life and just when things can’t get any better his world receives a rude awakening by both law enforcement and his enemies.
Olivia Kosmopoulos
Book: How to Paint Landscapes
How to Paint Landscapes is a collection of poetry dealing with the issues of trauma, pain, hope, feminism, first love, and self-discovery. It also deals with the themes of poor mental health, specifically the struggle with OCD, the realities of belonging to the Greek culture, and the fear of being forever trapped within the confines of abuse. This poetry compilation is about escaping the seemingly inescapable, and never putting your brush down until you see freedom emerge upon your canvas.
Rosemary Kolasa
Book: The Community Tree
This book is about a good start in life with all the neighbourhood children playing in a nice setting, getting to know one another early in their life.
Russell Rosen
Book: I Paid to Play the Game
I was bitten by the baseball bug at age nine while listening to Mel Allen broadcast the 1950 World Series. I had limited practical baseball experience when I attended a baseball camp in Missouri on a whim at age 18. This experience was a life changer for me. I discovered there was a lot more to baseball than throwing, catching and hitting. I spent a considerable amount of time at baseball camps in Missouri and Florida in the following four years.
Simone Simpson
Book: Unturning Stones : Anxiety the Healing
A calling from something far greater than myself, something that I call God, stopped me in my tracks and changed my life forever. A calling that completely made me question everything. This calling was for a special purpose in my life, to help heal and unite the world through a book, to reach out and give hope, a gift to us all.
Stephanie C Watterson
Book: Septopus
Help Septopus as she squiggles around her turquoise sea while trying to open a treasure chest she has found. Maybe her seven sea creature friends can help her. Maybe not. Dive into the ocean and find out.
Tom Hillman
Book: Digging for God
Tom Hillman enjoys writing short creative nonfiction stories so that the reader can experience something that they may not do themselves. In Digging for God, Tom takes the reader on an adventure for a peaceful experience at a same-sex spiritual resort. The reader joins in on all the work and activities of the working ashram retreat center. The reader will be amongst the monks and the spiritually motivated people that live at the ashram. The daily schedule includes meditation and all the chores that need to be done. The reader will get a taste of the camaraderie of the guys hanging out in the refectory and the delicious vegetarian food. The experience includes what its like to live around meditators as well as learning how to meditate themselves. The reader sees that there are other ways to live in this world, and meet people who are more interested in joy, peace, and love; and less interested in the almighty dollar. The reader will find the value in taking a break from their life, to retreat, to refresh, and get ready to take on the world when they return home. Tom Hillman’s Digging for God is truly out of this world.
Troy Anderlik
Book: Assistant Santas
This book reveals the mystery of why each Santa you see looks a bit different than the last. It offers a playful and imaginative explanation for young minds as they begin to observe this phenomenon, and will help keep the magic of Christmas warm in their hearts for years to come.
Vida Shore
Book: The Mystery of the Blue Tin House : A Mirabella Morehugs Adventure
At the stroke of midnight, Mirabella glided her broom gently down. She had heard the call beyond earth. The Blue Tin House was where she silently alighted. She unpacked her Wand of Great Power, the Crystal Singing Bowl and Spices. This was all she needed. Preparations would be completed by Halloween night.
Word on the Street Toronto is Canada’s largest literary festival, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, and it’s a powerful platform for readers to discover new voices. We are thrilled to have these works by our authors on display!
