Books & Beer 3: What you need to know!

Yes, Books & Beer 3 is just a month away. (You knew that already, right?) Just in case you're still wondering what this unique winter-busting party is all about - the official release is included below. Everything you need to know, in detail. Want the highlights? Okay, here you go:

• Elora author Rio Youers! Boom.
• Tuesday, February 7, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Roxanne's Reflections Book & Card Shop in Fergus
• Tickets available from the store ahead of time and at the door - but be warned: space is limited
• Yes, you will be surrounded by books. And yes there will be beer, thanks to the ongoing and very appreciated sponsorship of Wellington Brewery. (And we'll provide some snacks too.)

  

Read on for the complete story. See you there!

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Meet local author Rio Youers at Books and Beer event

The Elora Writers’ Festival presents an intimate evening with a local author in the festival’s third Books and Beer event.

Books and Beer 3 features Elora’s Rio Youers, author of End Times and Hollow Point.

The event runs Tuesday, Feb. 7 starting at 7 p.m. at Roxanne’s Reflections Book and Card Shop in downtown Fergus. Tickets are $15 and include an author reading, question and answer period, snacks and beer, the latter sponsored by Wellington Brewery. Tickets are available in advance or at the door — space is limited.

A British Fantasy Award nominee, Youers has had short fiction published in many notable anthologies, and his novel, Westlake Soul, was nominated for Canada’s prestigious Sunburst Award.

He has been favourably reviewed in such venues as Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, and The National Post. His new novel, The Forgotten Girl, will be released by MacMillan/Thomas Dunne Books in June, 2017. He lives in Elora with his wife Emily and their children, Lily and Charlie.

Books and Beer was created in 2015 by Writers’ Festival committee member Jean Mills as a fundraiser for the festival, and featured rural noir author Brad Smith.

“It was a successful fundraiser for the 2015 Elora Writers’ Festival and brought literature and libations to a cold January evening,” committee member Dave Beynon says.

The second, 2016 event featured Fergus author J.M. Frey, whose fantasy novel The Untold Tale, the first volume in The Accidental Turn series, had just been released.

About 30 people enjoyed readings from The Untold Tale as well as a question and answer session, refreshments, and a chance to bid on a steampunk lamp by D.W. Mills — which Frey created an impromptu story about on the spot.

“The people who’ve come out to these events enjoy the intimacy of the venue and the opportunity to interact with the writers,” Beynon says. “The readings and Q and A session stimulate lively conversation among the attendees — and of course there’s beer as well.”

Books and Beer 3 also includes a book signing, time for conversation, and a raffle for an original ballpoint pen drawing by committee member and artist Francis Baker, and information about the Elora Writers’ Festival later in the year.

Held at Aboyne Hall at the Wellington County Museum and Archives on Sunday, May 28 from 1 to 5 p.m., the 2017 Elora Writers’ Festival features Youers, Andrew Westoll (The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary), poet Mary Ann Mulhern, young adult and children’s author Adrienne Kress, and mystery/thriller author Brad Smith.

For details and information, watch the festival’s blog at elorawritersfestival.blogspot.ca.

Douglas Gibson: You liked him so much, we've invited him back!

Hey, remember this?

Douglas Gibson at Festival 2016 (Photo by Francis Baker)

 

Yes, that's publishing veteran and author Douglas Gibson at Festival 2016, sharing his stories of Canadian authors - from inside the trenches of CanLit. He made us laugh, drew a few exclamations of
 "aahhhh" (translation: "I did not know THAT!") from the audience, and mingled easily with everyone in attendance. Like this:

 "Best wishes, Doug Gibson..."

We only heard a few short anecdotes that day (and they were awesome), but Doug has tons more, and he's going to share them with us on Saturday, October 1, 8 p.m., at the Fergus Grand Theatre (244 St. Andrew St. W. in Fergus, Ontario), in an evening of literary fun presented by partners Elora Writers' Festival and Roxanne's Reflections Book & Card Shop.

Here are the details:

Click HERE for tickets.

Saturday, October 1, 8 p.m. at the Fergus Grand Theatre - see you there!

Stay tuned for details about Festival 2017, Sunday, May 28 at Aboyne Hall, Wellington County Museum and Archives.

Books & Beer II is in the books!

Books & Beer II drew an enthusiastic crowd of book lovers. Okay, book lovers AND beer drinkers - thanks to the hospitality of our venue sponsor, Roxanne's Reflections Book & Card Shop, and our beer sponsor, Wellington Brewery.

So what happened at Books & Beer II?

 Tables and chairs? Check. Snacks? Check. Ready!

We're all set up and ready to roll. Books everywhere and beer...

 Beer. 'Nuff said.

... also everywhere. Please check out the distinctive "wellie" tread on the bottom of the packaging. Is Wellington Brewery classy, or what?

"So I said to my editor, I said...."

Our special guest, author J.M. Frey, arrives and wades into the crowd to make some friends - fellow writers Lisa Dalrymple (award-winning author of kids' books like Skink on the Brink and A Moose Goes A-Mummering) and Francis Baker (he writes, he photographs, he works hard on the Elora Writers' Festival commitee, too). In the background, committee member Suzanne Sutton-Curry rocks some steampunk-inspired millinery while keeping an eye on things. And yes, a film crew from TVCogeco prepares to film the evening for Turning Pages, the book show hosted by EWF committee members Dave Beynon and Roxanne Beale.

I mean, the place is rocking! And then Jess cracks open her latest novel, The Untold Tale and holds us in thrall...

  

.
..including our brilliant MC, Dave Beynon (yes, also an author!), who is clearly deep in "the zone", which is okay because we were all in there with him. Weird, wonderful, witty storytelling gets us every time.

Thinking, thinking...

And then we put Jess on the spot: Hey Jess, how about coming up with a story for this amazing steampunk lamp created by artist Doug Mills of Elmira, our raffle prize for the evening? No problem. Her story had something to do with the universe, and spheres and stars and weird cosmic energy. She came up with it - like magic. Awesome.

It was a fantastic evening, with insights into the writing and publishing process as well as a bit of literary education (Do you know what "steampunk" means? Do you know what "meta-fiction" is? No? Well, sorry, you had to be there for the lively Q&A...) provided by the supremely articulate, funny and multi-talented J.M. Frey.

J.M. Frey, MC Dave Beynon, EWF committee member Suzanne Sutton-Currry:
 a trio of troublemakers. Just saying...

And we attracted a diverse and eclectic crowd, too.

Talking, visiting, watching - the room is buzzing!

 "That's ginger ale in my cup, honest, Mom!"

Books & Beer II is in the books, and we're so grateful to those who came out to share it with us and support the Elora Writers' Festival, coming May 29 to Aboyne Hall (Wellington County Museum and Archives).

And speaking of Festival 2016....

Yup. This.

Our authors: Dietrich Kalteis, Pamela Mordecai, Douglas Gibson, Terry Fallis and the star of Books & Beer II, J.M. Frey. Books - and tickets! - available at Roxanne's Reflections.

Need more information about Books & Beer, our Festival (including our Short Story Contest) and our authors? Feel free to email us at elorawritersfestival [at] gmail [dot] com.

Books & Beer II is in the books! See you on May 29 at Festival 2016!

Festival Memories (Chapter One)

Roxanne Beale (she always has a book in her hand, it seems...) plying her
wares at the 2011 Festival (Photo: courtesy of Andy Williams)

Roxanne Beale, proprietor of the eponymous bookstore Roxanne's Reflections Book & Card Shop in Fergus, Ontario has come to be known as "The Voice of Books" in our community, and deservedly so.

     Her bookstore is an island of peace and thoughtfulness in what seems at times to be a churning sea of 21st Century commotion.
     In a world of digital transformation, where reading has become a chore for most of the younger generation (and at best, looked upon as a hobby) she is a champion of books and a staunch advocate of reading. Her frequent events for younger readers have imprinted many members of our community with a lifelong love of books.
     Needless to say, she is deeply involved in our Festival, and has been for many years.

Roxanne's Favourite Festival Moments

"The 2013 Elora Writers’ Festival is fast approaching and once again I am so excited about the featured authors. This is one of my favourite events and I have been giving some thought as to why that is. I really love the intimate feel of the EWF and the fact that I don’t have to make any decisions about which authors to hear and where to find them. It all takes place in one venue and I have the opportunity to hear all six authors, no decisions required.
     I have been attending the festival for about 14 years and that’s at least 75 authors I have had the privilege of listening to. Mimi [one of my co-workers] and I were chatting about our favourite EWF moments. For Mimi, the chance to meet and hear Guy Gavriel Kay is at the top of her list. And she really enjoyed meeting Louise Penny, who is just so lovely and down to earth, and of course, a huge bestselling author now.
     For me, I have 3 favourite moments. I remember many, many years ago, Kim Moritsugu read from one of her books and her reading was just so perfect and she left the audience at a real cliff-hanger moment. You just had to buy the book to find out what happened next. Paul Quarrington’s appearance is also in my top 3. He read from his novel, Galveston, and then he brought out his guitar and sang 'Fictional World' with the wonderful line 'Michael Ondaatje has stolen my girl.' So unforgettable!
      And my very favourite memory is Antanas Sileika’s reading. I was not familiar with Sileika’s work before seeing him at the festival. Among other choices, he read a passage from a book that had not yet been published. I will let you in on a secret; I usually hate when authors read from something that is not yet available. How am I supposed to read something that does not exist yet! This time, though, I loved it. The passage was so clever and hilarious. It was about a young woman teaching English to a young man and she is teaching him about the English article, specifically the use of ‘the.’ The passage when read by him was so wonderful, I couldn’t wait for the book to be published. I remember reading The Woman in Bronze so carefully and expectantly, just waiting for this passage to come and hoping that it had been included. And there it was, in chapter six of Part Two and just as perfect in written form. The entire book is well-written and I highly recommend it.
     Do you have a favourite memory or author reading from past festivals? I'd love to hear it."
— Roxanne Beale

Find out more about Roxanne's Reflections Book & Card Shop here... and while you're at it, buy books by some of the authors mentioned in this post.

Local Coverage of the 2011 Elora Writers' Festival

Read an account of the 2011 Elora Writers' Festival in the Guelph Mecury: Writers’ festival a book lover’s delight

Listen. Digest. Dine.

Photo: Michael Hale

Tickets to the Festival are almost gone — the combination "Readings and Dinner" ($60) tickets, that is.

But if you pick up the phone right now, and call 519-846-4391 and speak to Roxanne, or any one of the fabulous crew at Roxanne's Reflections Book and Card Shop, you have a chance to vindicate your procrastination.

Think of it... an afternoon of readings by six of Canada's finest authors; (a chance to really talk to them); the gentle music of guitarist Bob Norris; appetizers; a glass or two of wine, a stroll in the Victorian Gardens steps away from Aboyne Hall — and then a sumptuous dinner prepared by Chef Derek Roberts of Fraberts Fresh Food in Fergus.

All for $60.00 per person, tax and gratuity included.