Indigenous History Month: Honouring First Nations, Inuit and Métis authors

Jun 29,2020 / By Monica Martinez / No Comment

June is National Indigenous History Month in Canada. It’s a time to reflect upon and learn the history, contributions, heritage, and diversity of Indigenous peoples in Canada and their role in shaping the country. First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples have their distinct histories, and within each group, their unique stories.

Tellwell is celebrating Indigenous History Month by showcasing our talented and courageous Indigenous authors whose stories strengthen our social fabric, enrich our culture and understanding of history. Thank you for telling your stories and sharing it with the world.

Karen Chaboyer

They Called Me 33: Reclaiming Ingo-Waabigwan

Karen Chaboyer is an Ojibwa mother and grandmother from Rainy River First Nations, a community in northwestern Ontario. She is proudly admired by her children, who have witnessed her transformation as she worked through layers of shame and learned to embrace her identity. A second-generation survivor of residential school, Karen now shares her experiences with audiences throughout the Toronto area, where she now resides. Karen’s goal is to educate people on the extent to which the tragedies of the residential school system have impacted individuals, families, communities, and entire cultures to this day.

Grieving is the way to work through our losses and past traumas; compassion for ourselves and each other is how we move forward. Only then can we be victorious.

Watch Karen’s story on the CBC here. Learn more about They Called Me 33: Reclaiming Ingo-Waabigwan.

Author of the Month Tellwell Books

B.C.-based author Mark Lloyd wins top prize at IndieReader Discovery Awards for sci-fi novel

Jun 27,2019 / By Monica Martinez / No Comment

British Columbia-based author Mark Lloyd is quietly celebrating a huge win after his book nabbed top prize in the science fiction category at the IndieReader Discovery Awards.

The humble author was looking for feedback and submitted the book on a whim. “I was surprised. I didn’t expect the story would win anything,” he said.

The award winners were announced in May at the New York International Book Expo. IndieReader gave the book 4.8/5 stars rating A Place to Stay Forever “an imaginative and quirky story that simultaneously hearkens back to both Philip K Dick and Douglas Adams.”

A straightforward, absorbing tale that unfolds inside a beefy futuristic setting. – Kirkus Reviews

The concept of Lloyd’s sci-fi novel is a mix of the Matrix and Black Mirror’s San Junipero episode. The protagonist, Miranda Sage, is plugged into an artificial reality where she is living out her life peacefully as an old man, when a power surge abruptly awakens the crew in a spaceship hurtling back to Earth. The crew has to hack back into the alternate reality through its only access point – the town of Penticton – and awaken consciously to explore a way to end the simulation without harming their bodies.

“I wanted to write a story that makes the readers think about something they haven’t put much thought in before. This book is about immortality, and the perils of being immortal,” said Lloyd.

Despite the virtual reality/alternate universe premise – the story’s locale is very real. Lloyd who grew up and lives in the Okanagan town of Penticton, loved the idea of turning his hometown into the setting of a sci-fi tale.

Guest Post

Local indie author tops John Grisham at Edmonton bookstore

Oct 22,2018 / By Monica Martinez / No Comment

Q&A with Adèle Fontaine, author of My Sundays with Normand, a book of poems about love and grief.
Interviewed by Elliott Hockley

Adèle Fontaine is the author of My Sundays with Normand, a dedicational poetry book available now with major online retailers. The book recently topped the bestsellers list at a popular bookstore in Edmonton, beating out John Grisham through the first part of August.

Firstly, could you tell us a little bit more about what, and particularly, who, this book is about?

My Sundays with Normand is a book of 77 poems that I wrote to honor the difficult process of grieving for my husband after he died due to complications from heart surgery in November, 2014. He was a father to our seven children, my husband of fifty-three years, a lover of music and above all an artist who wrote and painted for most of his life. I cherished him deeply and was not prepared to let him go so easily into the black night. These poems soon became a way for me to spend time with him, reflecting on our lives together in order to cope with the sadness I was feeling.

Every Sunday morning I sat down at our kitchen table, often after being inspired by a walk outdoors and wrote. Normand’s support and presence were constant, just as it was when he was alive. Writing the poems has been my creative way of maintaining our relationship, continuing the conversation as well as fathoming the depth of the love I received from this wonderful man. We used to wonder about what life would be like when one of us died; little did we know that I would stay on and harvest all the gold of our relationship.

Author of the Month

How divine intervention and serendipity led Tellwell author Jana Rieger to write her first book, and adapt it to the big screen

Sep 26,2018 / By Monica Martinez / No Comment

It was on a long-haul flight to Europe, and right before a sabbatical, that academic scientist Jana Rieger suddenly had a character appear in her mind.

“Between the fatigue and boredom of being on a long flight, this character came into my mind. The one thing the sabbatical did was allow for some freedom in my mind. It allowed for a space to open up,” said the University of Alberta professor and research director.

In the book, Fennel is a young student and research assistant who is engaging in unethical medical behaviour and attempting to destroy her boss’ reputation and career. Set in Edmonton, at the same university in which Rieger works, A Course in Deception explores the ethical complexities that arise when profit and greed influence health research.

While the story is completely fictionalized, Rieger says there have been high profile cases around the world of researchers fabricating data in order to secure funding.

“It doesn’t matter which university or where you are in the world, you realize this is an issue. I don’t think there is any one place or academic institution that is immune to this.”

Younger colleagues applauded Rieger because the book made them think about issues related to pressure versus ethical duty in a way they never had before. Rieger noted that many also related to the work pressures researchers face in securing grants and publishing a certain amount of papers every year.

The similarities between the main character, Dr. MacKenzie Smith, and Rieger herself had colleagues wondering if the other characters were based around their own workplace.

“Some facts did make their way into fiction, but there is not one character based entirely on someone else, except for the dog,” she adds jokingly.

Guest Post

Learn about the self-publishing process from Tellwell author Frank Cardinale

Sep 26,2018 / By Monica Martinez / No Comment

By Frank Cardinale

Why did you chose to self-publish?

As a father of four young children and cyber security consultant with multiple projects on the go, I wanted to finish my book as soon as possible before it remained an idea on my computer for eternity. While one of the editors of my book recommended trying the traditional publishing route, I felt that it could delay it indefinitely if I were to get into a rejection and re-edit situation. Most importantly, as I feel strongly about the theme of the book and often found myself discussing it with other parents and students, I wanted to get it into their hands as soon as possible.

What inspired you to write your book?

When I became a parent, the concept of education became important again, wanting to give my children the best education possible. I wasn’t the best student and after a little reflection, something stood out. While I was receiving bad grades for messy handwriting and the inability to sit still for long periods of time, my teachers were bringing in their computers for me to fix, and asking me how to install programs and write scripts. I was being graded on my ability to write reports on books I had no interest in, but not on the ability to configure MS-DOS, RAM and hard drives. My report cards began making me feel incompetent, and worst of all, I began to believe I was.

As I believe many students go through this experience, I decided to write a story that highlights the issue and wrote Gift From Above. My goal with the book is to reach students or parents with children that are struggling with school, and highlight to them that the education system isn’t a good fit for everyone and that there are many ways we can still obtain a high-quality education.

Guest Post

Three major lessons learned in self-publishing: Tellwell author Rachael Bell-Irving shares her insight

Aug 14,2018 / By Monica Martinez / No Comment

By: Rachael Bell-Irving

I have been writing novels since I was young and it has always been a goal of mine to publish. I wanted to tie the bow on my passion project and be able to hold the result in my hands. This is why I chose self-publishing for Demons at the Doorstep, and did not attempt any traditional publishing route. Looking back now, a whole lot has changed, and there is a lot I’ve learned on this publishing journey.

Here are three key lessons I’ve learned through self-publishing, so far…

Be Professionally Edited

Just do it. It is worth it. When you are publishing on a budget, there are ways you can cut corners to save money. Editing should not be one of them. No matter how many times you have friends, families, even strangers read the book – no one catches errors like a professional editor.

I tried to resist editing at first because of restrictions in my budget. It took my mother’s nagging (thanks mom) to finally get me to cave. When I received the edits back, my eyes went wide and I began to laugh. How could I have possibly missed some of these points? I was surprised by other suggestions, and shocked at how repetitive I had been with my vocabulary. Your book is read from a different perspective than how it is written. An editor is able to objectively critique the manuscript from this external perspective.

If you’re worried about losing your artistic license – don’t be. You don’t have to agree with all the edits your editor makes. I do strongly recommend you listen to their suggestions. They are a professional for a reason – they have (hopefully) training, experience, and a different perspective. It will improve the quality of your content and add a level of professionalism to your book. Seriously – do it.

Author of the Month

Entrepreneur Brandon LaBella encourages people to find purpose through failure

Aug 14,2018 / By Monica Martinez / No Comment

It was only through failure that author Brandon LaBella was able to live with purpose and meaning.

The 23-year-old graduated from his university’s business administration program in New York State and sought work on Wall Street. But after he was rejected by a large investment firm, he realized working in finance would have been living up to an image of success that was not his own. And many of his peers felt the same.

“We are so pressured to succeed, living up to a standard that is not true to ourselves. The only way to find our authentic self is to fail. Why not give people a handbook on how to fail freely,” said LaBella.

The entrepreneur published his book with Tellwell in April. “The Journey to Failing Freely: How to Find Fulfillment By Letting Yourself Fail” is a guide for young people who are trying to find their life’s purpose and passion.

“There was no book that I could relate to about how to navigate college and where I wanted to be at the end of it,” said the New York-based author. “I was tired of being told by everyone around me I was doing great and on the right path when I hadn’t failed once and felt caged on a societal leash.”

He wrote his book to inspire other students to seek out life experiences to find what it is that makes them truly happy without fear of failure or judgment. He says many people are trying hard to preserve a certain self-image, and often disregard their mental and physical health in the process.

Failing freely first starts with taking care of your health, LaBella says. Then he recommends people “take calculated risks, embrace the pain of suffering, put themselves in a safe environment to grow while reaching their full potential.”

Author of the Month

Author Tyler Cameron not only survives his wedding but launches a new career

Jul 25,2018 / By Monica Martinez / No Comment

Tellwell author Tyler Cameron’s new book is not only the completion of a life-long dream, it’s the launching pad of a book writing career.

For the last several years, he’s been blogging on various sports sites on top of his full-time advertising job. But Cameron says from a young age, he’s always known that one day he would write a book.

“I didn’t want to wait any longer to achieve this dream. The timing was right for me and I wanted to move this passion forward,” said the Greater Toronto Area based author.

“A Dude’s Guide to Surviving His Wedding” is a humorous, educational handbook for soon-to-be-grooms.

“The reason I chose to focus on weddings was due to the lack of resources from a male’s perspective, coupled with my extensive involvement in weddings, it was a perfect topic for me to cover.”

Cameron says he’s everyone favourite wedding guest and groomsman. He’s been part of eight wedding parties, three of those as ‘best man,’ has been a guest at about 50 weddings and DJ’d many more.

On May 31, 2014, he played the most important wedding role, marrying his beautiful, better half, Christina. He says the biggest advice he has for engaged dudes is “listen to your future wife and enjoy the ride.”

“There are so many aspects to successfully plan and execute a wedding, I’ve seen it and heard it all. It was great to be able to lean on my experience from different perspectives to build the foundation for this book. I know what I like to see as a guest, I know what it’s like to work at a wedding and I personally know how to execute one after my own wedding,” he said.

Writing the book took about five years from concept to completion, although he finished the majority of writing in the last year and a half after signing on with Tellwell.

“The support and motivation from the team helped drive me to complete my project,” he said. “The publishing process was really seamless for the most part. I had no idea what I was doing, so luckily, I had the great people at Tellwell to help guide me along the way.”

His wife was also instrumental in helping him articulate parts of the wedding planning process and structure the book. She also gave him the time and space to work on it.

Tellwell published the book in April 2018. Cameron says holding that first copy in his hands felt surreal.

“To get that first copy was amazing for me and everyone else who heard me talk about it,” he said.

In just three short months, A Dude’s Guide to Surviving His Wedding” has 38 reviews on Amazon averaging 4.9/5 stars.

Indie Reader gave it a 4.5/5 star rating calling the book “a funny, fast, and informative read that will make engaged bros everywhere rejoice.”

Cameron says it was very exciting to see the book so well received. “It was really cool to see that the reviewer just got it and understood where I was coming from. It was great they found it educational but also funny.”

The Indie Reader approved author is now working hard with the Tellwell book marketing team to promote his book and making sure as many people as possible hear about it. In June, he hosted a successful book launch, he’s appeared on podcasts, vodcasts and has several interviews and book signings coming up.

He’s also keeping active on social media, focusing on building a following on his website and gaining subscribers to his newsletter.

Now with the first book under his belt, Cameron is excited to launch a series of “dude’s guides” with the next title being “A Dude’s Guide to Surviving His Kids.”

He and his wife have two daughters (three and six months old) so it’s been a very busy time at the Cameron household. Now that he’s gone through the writing and publishing process, he expects the next book to take about a year. The Canadian author has no shortage of ideas, and multiple projects are in the works.

With a dedicated and growing audience, it won’t be long before Tyler Cameron’s side hustle turns into a full-time writing career.
Buy A Dude’s Guide to Surviving His Weddding on Amazon

Visit Tyler’s Website

Say Hi to Tyler on Social

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Author of the Month

From the set to the page: Author Michael Parnall shares advice for those working in the film industry

Jun 27,2018 / By Monica Martinez / No Comment

By Tyler Hooper

While working as a production assistant on a film set, Michael Parnall learned the hard way not to make a mistake. But this mistake also sparked some creativity, which led him to publish his first book, “Am I the on Idiot Set?,” an often funny, yet practical guide for those new to working on film productions.

“As the film industry grows, there are increasingly new people starting in several different departments and I know this guide will save productions time and money. I also wish there was a book with this info when I started because learning by mistake is not fun,” said Michael.

However, there was also a more personal motivation for Michael wanting to publish his book. In January of 2017, Michael was also diagnosed with multiple scleroses, a diagnosis that drastically changed his life. MS is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system, and because of the disease, Michael isn’t able to do all of the things on set that he used to. But he didn’t let this deter him. Through sheer optimism and love of film, Michael made his dream come true of publishing his book and now he’s also giving back.

“During my lifetime, I have witnessed the magnitude and devastation that this disease can inflict. It is my intention to not only bring awareness to multiple scleroses but provide a useful and practical way for people to donate as well. “

Tellwell Books

New Releases

Dec 8,2016 / By Monica Martinez / No Comment

Take a look at three of our new releases – a travel memoir, a sexy thriller, and a self-help book about the power of procrastination.

Tag Archives: tellwell books

Karen Chaboyer

By: Rachael Bell-Irving