TouchWood Editions

05/12/2023

✨🎁 GIVEAWAY ALERT 📚✨

Looking to hunker down with a good cozy mystery? We are giving away signed copies of the first five books in the bestselling Lane Winslow Mystery Series by Iona Whishaw and you might just be the lucky person! Already a fan? Get your best reading buddy on board so you can compare notes on Lane, Darling, Ames, and the rest of the King's Cove characters.

To enter:
1️⃣ SUBSCRIBE >> https://bit.ly/Lane-Winslow-Holiday-Giveaway
2️⃣ COMMENT what you're reading & loving right now
3️⃣ SHARE this with your friends & make sure to TAG TouchWood Editions
*already a subscriber? Skip to Step 2.

Contest is open to 🇨🇦🇺🇸 residents only.
Contest is open until Friday, December 8 @11:59 PM PT

01/12/2023

Budding Gardeners we've got a GIVEAWAY just for you 🫶

This is a starter pack that will guarantee a fruitful garden. 🪴 Got questions? Just leaf it to Janet and Sheryl, their witty and knowledgeable answers will help cultivate your green thumb. Now get to sprouting! 👩‍🌾

To enter:
1️⃣ FOLLOW TouchWood Editions
2️⃣ SHARE this post
3️⃣ COMMENT what you plan to grow next year!

Contest is open to 🇨🇦🇺🇸 residents only.
Contest is open until Tuesday, December 5 @11:59 PM PT

And make sure to follow the authors to get their tips & tricks year-round, Sheryl Normandeau - Author and Janet Melrose

30/11/2023

🤍💓📚Calling all book lovers 📚💓🤍

We're an independent 🇨🇦 business and we need your support! Today is a Day of Action in support of I Value Canadian Stories and we're urging Minister Pascale St-Onge Brome-Missisquoi and Minister François-Philippe Champagne to enact long overdue promises to repair Canada's Copyright Act. An Act that protects the work of the Canadian creators you love to read!

If you have time today and are passionate about reading, we could use your help:

1️⃣ CLICK the 🔗 to send a letter
2️⃣ SHARE this post with your network

Stop great Canadian content from disappearing.

30/11/2023

Your holiday baking schedule starts now!

Here's some of our favourite recipes, perfect for your upcoming baking spree 🥧 You can find all of the recipes here: https://beacons.ai/touchwooded

The recipes you'll find at the link include . . .

French Chocolate Biscuits by Laura Bradbury & Rebecca Wellman Photography
Lemon Madeleines by Laura Bradbury & Rebecca Wellman Photography
"Special" Gingerbread Snowflakes by Ann Allchin
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies by Sweetsugarbean
Ferrero Rocher Cheesecake by Eatery on Main & Naomi Hansen
Ginger Beer Cookies by Emillie Parrish
Kid Friendly Gingerbread Cookies by Danielle Acken Photography & Aurelia Louvet
Flax and Oatmeal Cookies by Danish Home Bakery & Naomi Hansen
Farmhouse Carrot Cake by Alberta Food Tours Inc. aka Karen Anderson

29/11/2023

The ✨perfect✨ cookbook for families and their masterchef-in-the-making kids.

28/11/2023

'Authentic,' plus 'rizz,' 'deepfake,' 'coronation,' and other words that defined the year

25/11/2023

💥 Cover Reveal 💥

For all the Lane Winslow fans out there. Book # 11 has a cover 😱 and will be available in April 2024!

Lightning Strikes the Silence opens on a warm June afternoon in King’s Cove is interrupted by an explosion. Following the sound, Lane goes to investigate. Up a steep path she discovers a secluded cabin and, hiding nearby . . .

Find out more: https://www.touchwoodeditions.com/book/lightning-strikes-the-silence/

There's a cover! Book 11. Wow.

So thrilled to share this cover with you and I can't wait to see you on the road in spring 2024. Tell me your local bookstores in the comments and I'll see if I can make it to your town.

Thank you for the support over the years. 11 books!!

Pre-order Lightning Strikes the Silence: linkpop.com/ionawhishawauthor

22/11/2023

Want to read the #1 bestselling book in BC right now? We're running a 🎁 giveaway for it right now!

Just follow the 🔗 https://bit.ly/Enter-Day-2-Giveaway

E.J. Hughes: Life at the Lake by Robert Amos from TouchWood Editions is number one on the BC Bestseller list! Also find poetry from Nightwood Editions and a memoir from Arsenal Pulp Press. See the full list on our website: https://buff.ly/3uuRQaG

20/11/2023

Fans of Art History, Emily Carr and Beautiful BC Paintings 🧑‍🎨

We're giving away a $150 bundle of books for Day 2 of Giveaways📚 and it includes the entire award-winning series on E. J. Hughes.

To enter for your chance to win:

1. SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter: https://bit.ly/Enter-Day-2-Giveaway
2. SHARE this post
3. COMMENT your favourite Canadian artist

Contest is open to US/CAN residents ONLY.
Contest runs until Thursday, November 23 at 11:59 PM PT.

18/11/2023

🍂 It's Soup Season 🤗

And we've got no shortage of recipes for you soup sweeties 🍲 Creamy, chunky, vegetarian and meaty, and all shades of bright red, burnt orange, and deep purples. Yum!

Try any of the recipes here:
https://bit.ly/Soup-Season-Recipes

15/11/2023

✨We're launching our 10 days of 🎁 giveaways starting today ✨

Day 1: Fiction Favourites

We're kicking off our holiday giveaways with five of our award-winning fiction authors, a prize worth over $100 💰

TO ENTER:

1️⃣ FOLLOW this link: https://bit.ly/Enter-Day-1-Giveaway
2️⃣ SHARE this post
3️⃣ TAG 2 friends in the comments

Contest is open to US/CAN residents ONLY.
Contest runs until Saturday, November 18 at 11:59 PM PT.

The lucky winner will receive the following books:

📙 The Cobra and the Key (Sam Shelstad)
📘 In the Belly of the Sphinx (Grant Buday)
📗 All the Quiet Places (Brian Thomas Isaac)
📕 Always Brave, Sometimes Kind (Author Katie Bickell)
📓 Face (Jaspreet Singh)

11/11/2023

In February of 1943, the Canadian War Art Program became official. E.J. Hughes was posted back to Ottawa in the summer and, later that year, was sent to Kiska, the westernmost of the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska. The freezing conditions and hours of darkness during the months he spent there were not conducive to making detailed drawings, so he transformed his style and began creating small, expressive oil paintings on wooden panels.

On his return to Ottawa in 1944, Hughes felt the influence of other war artists whose work was bigger and bolder than his. Two visits to the Metropolitan Museum in New York as well as reading books about Mexican muralists inspired him to create larger oil paintings with strong tonal contrasts and a focus on men rather than machines.

From 1944 to 1946, Hughes served as the administrative officer of the War Artists’ Studio in Ottawa, and as a result, he was the last of all the artists to be demobilized. Thus, he was the first, the last, and the longest serving of all Canadian War Artists in the Second World War and the most prolific.

Everything Hughes created during his years of war service—a total of 541 paintings and drawings—was retained by the Canadian Army. They were all transferred to the National Gallery of Canada in September 1946. Later, in October 1971, both the Canadian War Records of the Second World War and those of the First World War were deposited in the Canadian War Museum. Except for a few of his major oil paintings, very little of the body of work Hughes created has been exhibited.

For Hughes, the war years had been formative and unforgettable. Throughout his life the military remained central to his sense of self. Yet in the years that followed the war he did not participate in commemorative events, did not continue his friendships with fellow soldiers, and he never again used a military subject for a work of art.

From E.J. Hughes: Canadian War Artist, copyright by Robert Amos, 2022.

08/11/2023

Congratulations to our brilliant author Jules Sherred and his cookbook Crip Up the Kitchen: Tools, Tips and Recipes for the Disabled Cook on being nominated for the 2024 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Book Award.

Crip Up the Kitchen is a recipe collection that brings the economy and satisfaction of home cooking to disabled and neurodivergent cooks. With 50 recipes that make use of three key tools—the electric pressure cooker, air fryer, and bread machine—Jules has set out to make the kitchen accessible and enjoyable. The debut book has been featured by The Spruce Eats, Publishers Weekly, Philadelphia Inquirer, Lifehacker, Civil Eats, mindbodygreen, and others.

Polaris Creative

01/11/2023

Today, we're celebrating the launch of the first volume of The Sipster's Guide to Wine 50 Must-Try Ontario Wines. 🍷

In these guides Luke Whittall abandons the usual language of tasting notes in favour of a more personalized, approachable style, focusing on experiences, good company, and where a wine might take your thoughts.

As a wine industry professional, Whittall has often found himself inspired more by the way non-professionals talk about wine than the “hints of fresh cherries, dried herbs, and soupçons of eucalyptus” style typical of traditional wine writing. Sipster’s Pocket Guide describes the experiences bound up in the tasting of 50 of the most amazing wines this province has produced, including reds, whites, rosés, sparkling, and dessert wines.

With offbeat pairings that leapfrog from Frank Sinatra to truffle brie, digital detox to charcuterie, and an index of attitudes that lets you choose a wine based on your mood (be it cottage country or campus house party, accessible or argumentative) it’s anything but stuffy. Before you head to the liquor store to deliberate over your next sip, take a glance through Sipster’s.

30/10/2023

✨A glowing review from The Vancouver Sun ✨

Grant Buday's new novel In the Belly of the Sphinx is " an inventive, enjoyably off-kilter collage of Victoriana whirring together a few pieces of the 1890s' zeitgeist."

From the review 📝

"The sphinx’s belly is literal — a murky chamber within an enormous plaster statue, in fact — in Grant Buday’s delectable novel, In the Belly of the Sphinx.

"Set “on the far edge of empire” in “tiny, obscure Victoria,” Buday’s inventive, enjoyably off-kilter collage of Victoriana whirrs together a few pieces of the 1890s’ zeitgeist — decorum, Poe, the fallen woman, Jekyll/Hyde, occult spiritualism, crime and policing — to winning effect.

"There are enough thrills in Buday’s ironic revival of the sensation novel — extortion, murders, a hanging, one suspicious “sudden death,” conniving servants, innumerable secrets, a juvenile cat burglar and cross-dressing with criminal intent — to support one character’s contention that Victoria is a “nest of villainy.”

"Even so, Belly elicits far more smiles of amusement than shivers of dread. It’s outlandish: historical fiction with a wink.

"Before introducing Florence and Pearl, mother and daughter of “tenuous standing and modest home” in 1885, Mayne Island’s Buday (Orphans of Empire) opens in 1874 with a pair of bludgeoned corpses and a young murderess on a cross-continental escape with a charming military man she just met. The pair wind up in Victoria.

"A long decade later, solitary Florence is nearing 30 and watchful of “society’s merciless eye” as she raises Pearl.

"Tall like her mother, as well as inquisitive and prone to disputing the conventional wisdom of the day, Pearl’s a new pupil at Lady Tweedsmuir Academy. There, she’s having her rough edges refined and her natural intelligence shackled — all in the name of “prospects” that will assure Pearl of security in the form of a proper marriage and higher social standing . . ."

Read the full review by visiting The Vancouver Sun's website.

25/10/2023

Huge Congratulations 💐 to Leslie A Davidson on being nominated for a Forest of Reading Evergreen Award.

Her essay “Adaptation” won the CBC Canada Writes Creative Non-fiction Prize was adapted (pun intended) into her frank and unstintingly honest memoir Dancing in Small Spaces, an unflinching story about a couple's parallel diagnoses of Parkinson’s and Lewy body dementia.

At once poignant and unflinchingly frank Dancing in Small Spaces is the story of a long and adventurous marriage, of deep gratitude, and, ultimately, of writing one’s way toward understanding and acceptance.

We’re thrilled to announce the nominees for the 2024 Evergreen Award Program!

Congratulations to:
Adrift by Lisa Brideau, Sourcebooks
The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters, HarperCollins Canada
The Burden of Exile: A Banned Journalist's Flight From Dictatorship by Aaron Berhane, Dundurn Press
Dancing in Small Spaces: One Couple's Journey with Parkinson's Disease and Lewy Body Dementia by Leslie A. Davidson, TouchWood Editions
Far Cry by Alissa York Penguin Random House Canada
Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast by John Vaillant, Knopf Canada
Girlfriend on Mars by Deborah Willis, Hamish Hamilton Canada
Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Del Rey Books
The Story of Us by Catherine Hernandez, HarperCollins Canada
Superfan: How Pop Culture Broke My Heart by Jen Sookfong Lee, McClelland & Stewart

To learn more, visit: https://bit.ly/ForestNominees2024

23/10/2023

This week is Canadian Down Syndrome Week and we're giving away FIVE copies of Theresa Shea, Author's novel The Unfinished Child. Shea's novel offers an unflinching and compassionate history of the treatment of people with Down syndrome.

TO ENTER
🔹 TAG 2 friends in the comments
🔹 SHARE the post with your friends
This is open to 🇨🇦 CAN residents ONLY.

“The Unfinished Child is a heart wrenching and honest story. Shea’s exploration of the lives of those affected by Down syndrome is unexpected, well-researched, and hopeful.”
—Canadian Down Syndrome Society

Canadian Down Syndrome Week begins this Sunday! Show your support for Canadians with Down syndrome and their families by raising your voice, hosting a fundraiser, wearing your mismatched socks, or teaching others there is nothing down about it.

Visit CDSS.ca to learn how you can get involved: https://cdss.ca/canadian-down-syndrome-week/

13/10/2023

It's Friday the 13th 👻

11/10/2023

Lovely new piece by Leslie A Davidson for Women's History Month 🫶 about where she and her husband found home, and the backdrop for her memoir about illness, loss, and love, Dancing in Small Spaces.

"We always imagined we would find ourselves old, Lincoln and I, in that little town where the rivers meet, where north-facing hills rise covered in fir and larch, and south-facing hills bake summer-grass golden."

Writer Leslie A. Davidson takes us to Grand Forks, BC, where she and her husband found home, and the backdrop for her memoir about illness, loss, and love, DANCING IN SMALL SPACES (TouchWood Editions).

https://alllitup.ca/where-in-canada-dancing-in-small-spaces/

04/10/2023

Your Guide to Thanksgiving,

Welcome the chilly embrace of autumn 🍂 with TouchWood Editions' Thanksgiving Guide—an abundant source of inviting, foolproof recipes to make your life that much easier. Savour delectable flavours. Ponder moving to a warmer climate. Discover the sheer delight of crafting simple yet extraordinary dishes. 🥘

https://bit.ly/Your-Guide-to-Thanksgiving

Welcome the chilly embrace of autumn with TouchWood Editions' Thanksgiving Guide—an abundant source of inviting, foolproof recipes to make your life that much easier. Savour delectable flavours. Ponder moving to a warmer climate. Discover the sheer delight of crafting simple yet extraordinary d...

02/10/2023

Check back later this for a personal piece by Leslie A Davidson on the beauty of home.

To mark , we rounded up 16 books by women about women. From poetry to fiction to drama and non-fiction, we celebrate all kinds of women and stories.

Find our book picks at the click.

alllitup.ca/book-list/16-reads-for-womens-history-month/

30/09/2023

Today we take time to remember and honour the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. This public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process.It recognizes the tragic legacy of residential schools, the missing children, the families left behind and the survivors of these institutions. ✊🧡

22/09/2023

Are you a pantser or a plotter? (IYKYK) Author Iona Whishaw is a pantser and in her workshop, Pantsers vs. Plotters: How to Write by the Seat of Your Pants, she gets into how her writing is influenced by this — and how yours can be too.

Join us Oct. 14 at 11 a.m. to see how this technique can help your creative process!

Tickets are on sale now. https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/2023-whistler-writers-festival-tickets-678513089917?aff=oddtdtcreator

15/09/2023

✨The cover of this month's Edible Vancouver & Wine Country ✨

Chef Robin Kort, author of The Coastal Forager's Cookbook and the owner of the popular Swallow Tail supper club, shares her story of growing up foraging, her return to the kitchen and how to use her latest cookbook.

She'll also be presenting alongside Lori Snyder on Thursday, September 28 at the Massy Arts Society.

Details >> Foraging and Feasting in the Pacific Northwest: Lori Snyder and Robin Kort

August was a harrowing month for the Okanagan with wildfires impacting multiple communities, businesses and families. Many of us feel helpless during these times. But there are ways that you can support the ongoing recovery of the Okanagan — buy BC wine, plan a fall getaway to the Okanagan, go apple picking, visit farm stands, tour cideries, breweries and distilleries in the Okanagan and dine at local restaurants. Together we can help our communities during these challenging times.

Here's what you'll find in our September issue:

- "Spice is Life": There’s an intriguing variety of Asian style chili oils and sauces to be found on Vancouver shelves, with Ogojo Canada, Holy Duck Chili 好得鴨油辣椒 & MAMAintheKitchen

- Méli-Mélo features La Taqueria, FarmFolk CityFolk, UBC Farm - Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, Raincity Distillery, Taste of Abby & pumpkin patches Aldor Acres Family Farm, Taves Family Farms Applebarn, Laity Pumpkin Patch & Pumpkins After Dark Burnaby

- "A Harvest Meant for Sharing": To date, the Okanagan Fruit Tree Project has harvested and used half a million pounds of produce that otherwise would have been left to rot.

- Kitchen Tips: "Corn Connoisseur" and a recipe for Corn and jalapeño fritters with corncob jelly.

- "It's About Time": With the opening of OROLO Restaurant, the McWatters family brings high-end dining to downtown Penticton and starts a whole new legacy. TIME Family of Wines

- "Foraging for Supper": The chef behind the Swallow Tail pop-up dinners shares inside tips and her favourite recipes in The Coastal Forager’s Cookbook.

- "We're Farmers Who Opened a Brewery": A group of four families, each with its own expertise, banded together to open Barnside Brewing Co. on a farm that grows hops for the beer.

- "The Flavour Maker": Three B.C. farms are growing garlic andpeople will drive for more than an hour to get it. Chilliwack Garlic Farm, North Arm Farm & Thistle Farm

Grab yourself a copy this weekend (distribution is a little behind due to the long weekend) or order a copy and have it mailed to your door:
https://ediblevancouver.ediblecommunities.com/about-us/subscriptions-and-single-copy-purchases

Cover photo by Angela Fama.

07/09/2023

Congratulations to Robert Amos on his nomination for the 2023 Victoria Book Prizes 🥳

We are so excited to share the 2023 shortlist for the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize and the City of Victoria Children's Book Prize 🎉

City of Victoria Butler Book Prize shortlist:
📚 Hesitating Once to Feel Glory by Maleea Acker (Nightwood Editions)
📚 E.J. Hughes: Canadian War Artist by Robert Amos (TouchWood Editions)
📚 Red Dust and Cicada Songs by Mary Bomford (Caitlin Press)
📚 This House Is Not a Home by Katłįà (Roseway Publishing)
📚 Confessions with Keith by Pauline Holdstock (Biblioasis)

City of Victoria Children’s Book Prize shortlist:
📚 Union by Sara Cassidy (Orca Book Publishers)
📚 I Hope / nipakosêyimon by Monique Gray Smith, illustrations by Gabrielle Grimard (Orca Book Publishers)
📚 Little Pine Cone: Wildfires and the Natural World by Johanna Wagstaffe, illustrations by Julie McLaughlin (Orca Book Publishers)

Be sure to join us to celebrate these amazing local talents at our Awards Gala on October 11th. We will also be celebrating our 20th anniversary of the Victoria Book Prizes so you won't want to miss out!

👉 More details on the gala and how to secure your ticket: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/2023-victoria-book-prizes-gala-tickets-713755731607

👉 News release on the shortlist:http://victoriabookprizes.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Press-Release_Sept-7-2023.pdf

Visit VictoriaBookPrizes.ca for more details

City of Victoria - Local Government

07/09/2023

09/08/2023

I love this account! Almost as much as I 💛 books!!!

27/07/2023

We are saddened to learn of the passing of Pat Carney, and are proud to have published her award-winning short story collection, On Island. Pat will forever be remembered and appreciated for her monumental achievements in and contributions to both BC and federal government. We send our condolences to all who knew and loved her.

27/07/2023

14/07/2023

Is there a pun for Friday?

Happy Fursday!

13/07/2023

Hey Calgary 👋

Stopping by Heritage Park this summer? We've got you covered with loads of local cookbooks and gardening guides to keep you busy during these lively summer months.

10/07/2023

Some suggestions for the BC folks out there ☀️🏖

Have you got the mystery bug? Look no further than these thrillers, mysteries, and crime novels from BC publishers.

29/06/2023

We're so thrilled to share that we'll be publishing the North American edition of Sweet Greek 🇬🇷 this Fall. Author Kathy Tsaples guides you through 90+ traditional Greek recipes that will help you master classic favourites like spanakopita and baclava, and add dozens of new treats to your repertoire.

29/06/2023

Heading up to Campbell River this summer? 🏖

Check out Coho Books while you're there 🥳