Eight book events in Southern BC
Writing life: 84
Earlier this year, I wrote a post about an increasingly popular, library-driven program known as, One Book One Community (OBOC). Think of it as a gigantic book club. In short, a region, city, or town encourages local citizens to read the same book—the OBOC selection for the year. Then, the author arrives to commune with readers in a series of events across the region, city, or town. As noted in my earlier post, I’ve been fortunate enough to have had novels of mine chosen for OBOC programs, mainly in Ontario. And it just happened again, but this time, on the west coast. My current novel, A New Season, was chosen as the OBOC selection for the Thompson-Nicola region in BC’s southern interior.
So I recently flew out to British Columbia, and spent a week touring the region with the city of Kamloops as my base. I participated in eight events over six days, including giving book talks in six different branches of the Thompson-Nicola regional library system, a writing workshop in the main Kamloops branch, and and an onstage interview on the final night at the Paramount Theatre in downtown Kamloops.
The schedule for my OBOC week
They kept me busy, but there was still time left over for me to explore a beautiful region in a province I don’t get to often enough.
CBC Radio Interview
I kicked off my week with an early morning interview on CBC Radio in Kamloops with host Doug Herbert. A great guy. We covered lots of ground and tried to get the word out about the series of upcoming OBOC events.
Driving—and speaking—around Southern BC
I drove at least a couple of hours every day to reach and speak at one, and sometimes two, of the branches in the Thompson-Nicola Regional Library system. The scenery was spectacular, but my iPhone shots below just don’t fully capture the landscape’s beauty.
And I’ve never seen my face on a roadside sign. A first time for everything, I guess. It did not seem to cause any traffic jams or other incidents.
This sign was promoting one of the six talks I gave in small regional library branches. I’m not sure the poster drew many (any?) walk-ins. The audiences for the talks were sometimes small but always mighty. We had great discussions after my presentations and everyone seemed to leave happy—I know I did.
Writers’ Workshop
On the Saturday, I ran a 2 hour writing workshop. We had over thirty aspiring writers register for the session held in the main library branch in Kamloops. And what a great group they were. My presentation was split into two parts. The first half was a newish talk I’ve been working on entitled The Writer’s First Responsibility. If that sounds familiar, it’s based on a Substack post of the same title I wrote last year, that you can find here.
The second half was a workshop talk I’ve given often about the fundamentals of humour writing and the many techniques one can employ to make readers laugh through words on a page alone. We also had a few laughs along the way.
Paramount Theatre Event
The final event in my week out west was an on-stage reading, interview, and audience Q&A held in the Paramount Theatre in downtown Kamloops. More than one book club came en masse. The local Indigo store kindly came to sell books that I happily signed after the event.
Wrapping up…
I thoroughly enjoyed myself during my eight days in Southern British Columbia. I found there what I’ve found in every other part of the country—committed, passionate readers who warmly welcomed me to their communities. I also found dedicated, enthusiastic writers working hard to develop their craft.
I offer my deep gratitude to the Thompson-Nicola Regional Library for organizing the OBOC program in general, and for selecting A New Season for their 2025 selection in particular. I certainly feel very fortunate.
I flew home afterwards to resume preparations for the release of my tenth novel, The Marionette, in the fall. There’s still lots to do, but we’re getting there.
Many thanks for stopping by. I hope you’ll consider subscribing—it’s free and easy to and you’ll never miss a post. See you in a couple weeks for a post on writerly regrets and whether I have any.
That’s amazing! What a wonderful way to see the country! Love that the local library system hosted this event. They are an incredible resource. I have a big bias, given my mother was a librarian!
You are not only promoting your book but enriching the reading experience of the people who showed up, and promoting more reading. Good on you! My question (not too impertinent I hope) is about the economics of this type of event. Out of your own pocket, or is there supportive funding? (You have already written frankly about the economics of writing, so I hope this q is in order.)