FriesenPress Author Spotlight Collection: Volume 1
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From an impactful environmental book that caught the eye of Jane Goodall to a former professional wrestler on a Canada-wide book tour, FriesenPress authors’ books can take them to some amazing, unexpected, and inspiring places.
With the FriesenPress Author Spotlight, we pass the mic to our authors to share their stories and experiences in their own words. Here’s a collection of three authors we recently featured on our social media channels:
Jack Russell | Author of Fox World
The Fox World book journey began with a forest walk and a sudden arrhythmia attack, which stopped my heart. I’d been watching a wild red fox — one that I had befriended as a pup. He stayed near me while I was semi-conscious and walked with me as I sought help.
Recovery would take weeks as several surgical procedures were initiated to fix my heart. While I was in the hospital, I couldn’t help but wonder about that fox. Why did he stay with me in the forest? Would I see him again? My thoughts of returning to that forest to repay him is what motivated me to heal.
For decades, I had played the ladder climbing game that was expected of me in the corporate world. Thankfully, that little fox was about to walk me to a needed lesson: you are not ascending in career (and life) if your ladder is leaning against the wrong tree. Mine was. A new journey began — one moving through the mindful quiet of the forest. Mr. Fox and I walked fifty steps the day I was released from the hospital. Next day, we walked one hundred meters. The third day, he was there again. And I asked myself silently, “What if I went every day?” I did, and the Fox World story was born.
During our year-long walkabout, I witnessed Mr. Fox’s hardscrabble life in the shrinking forest. It was heartbreaking; the tree canopy and grassy hunting grounds were disappearing. I knew little about wildlife habitat preservation, but readers of Fox World shared ideas and a friend from Pittsburgh went many steps further — she sent a copy of Fox World to Dr. Jane Goodall in the U.K. Miraculously, Dr. Goodall contacted me, and we began an exchange of emails for months about chimpanzees and foxes and, when she was in America on her lecture tour, we spent time together. She is kind, tireless, brilliant, and very giving. She had ideas and encouragement for the efforts to preserve Mr. Fox’s forest. She also gave me and others a wonderful gift — a mantra: “we can choose action over despair.” It is a clarifying choice, one which warms and illuminates the forest path on the gray days.
— Jack Russell, author of Fox World
Buy on the FriesenPress Bookstore | Visit Jack’s Website | Follow on social media
Mindy Atwood | Author of The Zipper Club
My love of writing began when I was five years old. I won the What I Want For Christmas contest, which awarded me a roll of pennies and a ride in the Christmas parade next to Santa. I continued to write throughout my life and hoped that someday I might be a published author. Then life happened . . . real life.
I was blessed with four beautiful children, two of which ended up having catastrophic health issues (cancer and a congenital heart defect). My focus became caring for them. Along the way, I noticed how many families were in the same situation as ours — families without the support needed to care for a sick child and meet the day-to-day obligations of maintaining a home. To support our community, we wanted to provide this financial support and allow families to focus solely on their child’s care. That’s when we founded the nonprofit organization Patches of Light.
When my children were going through treatment, I tried to find children’s books about their experiences, but found very few. Writing became a part of my Patches of Light mission. Each book has a piece of my journey in its center. The Zipper Club is about helping children overcome the embarrassment of a scar or disfigurement. The upcoming The Boy in the Golden Cape is about a little boy whose best friend is diagnosed with childhood cancer. I am thankful I am able to donate the proceeds of these books back to those in need.
In August of 2022, I was chosen by L’Oréal Paris as a Women of Worth Honoree for my work with Patches of Light. The experience, support, and honor are all things I will treasure forever. Their recognition has truly helped me see that my work for others is a worthy undertaking and that my story can bring light to another in their darkest time.
Each of us has a light. The light for me is sharing my story.
— Mindy Atwood, author of The Zipper Club
Buy on the FriesenPress Bookstore | Visit Mindy’s Website | Follow on social media
A-M Mawhiney | Author of Spindrifts
Like so many others, I became completely absorbed in the events during the beginning months of the worldwide pandemic. After several weeks, I realized I was losing hope for the future and needed a distraction; not an easy task in lockdown. I pulled out my laptop and started to write what I thought would be a journal. Instead, the first sentence of my debut novel Spindrifts came from my fingertips. I sat at my desk with my mind swirling with wonder at the possibility of writing a book, a dream from childhood. A feeling of hopelessness had now turned to hope.
On November 15, 2021, Spindrifts was published by FriesenPress. A short time later, a member of my writing group sent me a link to the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize in Literary Fiction. I checked the link and sat at my computer contemplating the idea. Then my lifelong mantra (a John Heywood quote) came to mind: “Nothing ventured, nothing gained”. Without another thought, I applied and continued to look for other writing awards. I applied to four more awards, all the while thinking of this as a very long shot. I cautioned myself not to get my hopes up for any positive outcome, so when the announcements were made, I was gobsmacked, to put it mildly.
I was shortlisted for the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize in Literary Fiction (one of the only self-published books among traditionally published titles), shortlisted for the Whistler Independent Book Awards, and one of three finalists in the Canadian Book Club Awards for Fantasy Fiction!
While I was not the one chosen for any of the awards, I am left with a stronger identity and confidence as a new author. I encourage all authors to take the chance of submitting their own books. After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained. You may very well be as surprised as I was at what can happen.
— A-M Mawhiney, author of Spindrifts
