Lee Bice-Matheson's Blog, page 5

Chapters Barrie Encore Book Signing for Destiny’s Gate, by J.R. Matheson + Lee Bice-Matheson

It’s that spooktacular time of year again…Halloween is fast approaching. Also called All Hallows’ Eve, it is a central theme in Destiny’s Gate, Book Two, Paige Maddison Series. What better time of year to be invited back again to Chapters Barrie on Saturday, October 24th, to help kickoff Halloween week. From the moment I arrived (while setting

J.R. and I are ready for the day at Chapters Barrie. We are so excited to be here. Saturday, October 24, 2015.

up our table) interested book lovers approached me and asked about our series. Thankfully, J.R. Matheson arrived from Toronto, on time, and we dressed in our Halloween costumes. Ready and raring to go at 1 pm, we were delighted with all of the people who stopped by our table.

Chapters Barrie with future readers of the Paige Maddison Series. Ages 10+

Our series is for Ages 10+ so when younger children approached us, we wished them a Happy Halloween, offered them a caramel (approved by their parents’ of course), and explained that it would have to wait for another few years before they could read the Paige Maddison Series. You’d be surprised by how happily many kids responded and said they’d look forward to reading it when they are older. Truly wonderful kids enjoying the Chapters in store festivities hosted by Erica, in the Indigo Kids section of the store. Isn’t it great that Chapters staff do this for our youth? We’re impressed. Next, up tweens approached with their parents. We wrote our series for this age group, in particular. It began with the first book, Wake Me Up Inside. I wrote it because my coauthor, and son, said there weren’t many novels written for this age. As it has progressed, our series now includes YA or young adults. And we are happy to report all ages are reading the Paige Maddison Series.

Halloween!! Costumes worn, J.R. and I will be there from noon to three pm.

WOTS UP DOC? The Word On The Street that’s what, Toronto 2015

From the first moment I heard about The Word On The Street,

First time for coauthors Lee Bice-Matheson + J.R. Matheson to attend WOTS 2015. We had book lovers thank us for coming!! We in turn thanked them for coming as well! :)

I was intrigued. Not only is it the biggest book and magazine fair held in Toronto, but the book lovers that attend are at least 200,000 people plus. Imagine authors that sit in a room, by themselves, or like us, two together, and write a novel. It takes us about two years from the start to the finish. Opportunities like WOTS don’t come often and J.R. and I wanted to see what it was like. We showed up the night before to see where our booth #106 was located.

We just had to see our booth before WOTS on Sunday. And we were lucky to have the chance to thank the volunteers who set up our booth! Thank you to everyone involved in organizing this wonderful event WOTS. :)

Lucky for us, it was along Queen’s Quay sidewalk and it would be one of the first booths attendees saw when they arrived from the east. Happy, we set off for an early supper as 6 am Sunday morning would come soon enough for us.

In its inaugural year, joining with the International Festival of Authors (IFOA), WOTS was held at the Harbourfront Centre along the shores of Lake Ontario and it was a beautiful sunny day.

Our team is ready and waiting for WOTS to open. Did I mention I’m obsessively early for events? :)

People were smiling and laughing…it doesn’t get any better than this.  Of course, my husband and manager, Kevin, and I arrived super early to set up. I like to look around at the other independent authors and to my surprise I met a fellow FriesenPress author, Julie Whitley, with her first book titled Secrets of the Home Wood. It looks intriguing and we’ll be checking it out. Congratulations Julie!! Keep in touch. Next up, Benjamin Gabbay arrived with his lovely family. Imagine our surprise when we realized we were sharing our booth with the author of the Wingheart Trilogy. His second book in the trilogy arrived a week ahead of WOTS. We are so happy for Benjamin. Not only is he talented but a very nice person, too. It must’ve been interesting for attendees to see two sets of families behind the tables.

Mom-Son coauthors reunited at WOTS 2015. Thank you Justin for being the best son and coauthor a mom could ever have dreamed of! xo

Of course we never forget Blue Eyes (wolf), a character from Destiny’s Gate, and we positioned him up front and to the right of our booth, located right along the street. We laughed as dogs passing by swerved away from him, or barked up a storm at Blue Eyes. In fact, one large husky veered away and his owner wondered what happened. When we shared with him about Blue Eyes, he laughed, as did we. We are dog lovers and they certainly have their personalities.

Halfway through the day, we heard some beautiful music playing and I turned to J.R. and said I wish the musician would move closer. Next thing we knew, the street musician did!

Beautiful music created by this Street Musician at WOTS: Toronto.

His music was lovely to listen to and a wonderful addition to the day. Thank you so much, kind sir!

We feel very blessed when people stop at our booth. Why?

It was busy all day long and we couldn’t be more grateful.

Happy to see book lovers interested in the Paige Maddison Series. :)

There were over 200 authors, many publishers from HarpersCollins Canada to ChiZine Publications. So many choices for the attendees! We talked so much, I lost my voice. It was book enthusiast after book enthusiast.

Interesting conversations abound. This happy couple took snaps of our books’ ISBNs and business cards to message a teacher/librarian in Massachusetts. She said the librarian will love our series for the students. Thank you so much!!

Book lovers galore at WOTS, Toronto, 2015.

At one point, I had to leave the table and drink some water so I could continue on with our day. J.R. and I loved it! All of the conversations with fellow book lovers were interesting from discussions on how to self-publish, how did a mom-son team begin, to questions about the Paige Maddison Series.

 

 

Interested book lover reading the cover of Wake Me Up Inside. Look who’s to my right? Sister Lynn. Thank you for coming, again!! And Katy, our niece, and nephew Craig too. Thanks a million.

Now this gentleman was eager to attend WOTS and we were the first booth he hit. Very interesting conversation. You made our day! :)

I was shocked to see Douglas Gardham, author of The Drive In and The Actor, my fellow twitter friend and colleague, walk up and say hello. He drove to WOTS to see the Festival but said he also wanted to thank us for our retweets on Twitter. And believe me, we thank you too Douglas! Authors supporting authors is what it’s all about.

We were so surprised to meet our friend Douglas Gardham in person. He promoted Destiny’s Gate to his followers. Now this is no ordinary author. Check out his books. Thank you kindly Douglas! You made our day.

Douglas has been on a Chapters/Indigo book tour for quite awhile and is an inspiration to us. He is doing very well. Check out his books and see for yourself. Thank you so much Douglas for coming by!! You made our day.

The rush was on for the draw to win a Kobo Aura. Many people participated. Thank you Mark Leslie for pointing me in the right direction. :)

Author Lesley Donaldson also stopped by to say hello and she will be coming out with her first novel soon titled The Queen’s Viper. It was so great to see you Lesley. We became friends at INSPIRE! TIBF held in Toronto, November 2014. While on our journey, we love to promote other authors and offer assistance along the way when we can. To us, that’s the only way to go through this awesome journey – PAY IT FORWARD.

J.R. and I held a draw to win a Kobo Aura. Many eager participants filled out ballots and we are happy to announce Jan won.

Jan won draw for a Kobo Aura provided by J.R. Matheson and Lee Bice-Matheson, Paige Maddison Series.

Congratulations, Jan. We hope you enjoy it.

I had told Benjamin before the Festival began we were new to WOTS and he suggested to me, “You won’t want to leave your booth because it gets so busy.” Thank you, Benjamin! You were so right. Sage advice from such a young author! And very popular too. We are very happy for your success and know it shall continue! Write on!

Thank you to all of our supporters of the Paige Maddison Series.

We were so honoured to see and talk to so many WOTS attendees. Thank you for coming by our booth 106. And thanks to everyone who bought the series. It is the first time for us – both books were bought together each and every time! #grateful

We write for tweens/teens/and all ages. Our series is a clean, family-friendly series because we believe that’s what life is all about. Many schools and librarians purchase the Paige Maddison Series for the students. Thank you! Check us out at Chapters/Indigo or FriesenPress and see for yourself. You can also find out where to buy it here.

Wonderful of everyone who stopped by! Thank you!

Couldn’t do it without my loving husband Kevin. He is so very supportive of our career. Thank you a million times over, Dear! xo

Enjoyable Summer Writing Book Three, Paige Maddison Series, with J.R. Matheson

A friend of mine asked me, “What summer vacation did you and your family enjoy?” I looked away for a moment then replied, “Well, we really didn’t have a summer vacation. We’re writers.” (Remember our son, J.R. Matheson, is my coauthor.) I thought this answer conveyed my reasoning – though it may look like we have holidays, we work while we’re on holidays! When my friend stared blankly at me, it was only then that I realized just how much my world has changed since I first published Wake Me Up Inside in 2010. A writer never takes a vacation, seriously. We are always writing: whether it’s imagining a scene while hiking in a forest; taking a boat ride with friends and family and imagining what might be happening in that old haunted school along the waterway that people still whisper about; or while chatting at a summer garden party, studying the behaviour of people surrounding us and collecting some of their traits for a new character.

Our family used to vacation in Port Charlotte, Florida. Three years ago, Christmas, J.R. and I stayed in and wrote Destiny’s Gate while occasionally glancing out our lanai

This alligator is like the one that used to visit our small lake in Port Charlotte. This photo was taken at Gatorama, Palmdale, Florida.

to the small lake below, looking for our friend the local alligator, wondering when we’d get a sneak peek of him. And now that there are two books published and J.R. and I are writing book three, plus marketing the first two books…well let’s just say life becomes a bit more complicated. In the beginning, I knocked on doors to ask if a bookstore would host us, or another kind blogger, but eventually, if you work hard and write a book people are interested in, the change occurs – you are asked by others to do a book signing or blog post/interview. We are eternally grateful for each and every opportunity and never take one of them for granted. You can read about all of our events archived on this blog or on our events page. (I also work in my husband’s Chiropractic Clinic and help patients with their health care plans.)

Getting back to my ‘looked away’ remark in my first sentence, it wasn’t until I was asked this question that I realized my whole life has changed since I began writing the Paige Maddison Series. And lucky for me, I asked our son, J.R. Matheson, to join me along the way.

J.R. Matheson is entertaining and wonderful to work with at the book signings. One very proud Mom!

I am grateful for his partnership, his fellowship, his input, and his brilliant writing.  J.R. has added so much more to the series. And he is the best son we could have ever imagined!! Next, let me mention my husband, Kevin, for his managerial support. He sets us up and breaks it down for us at each event we attend. And he is always with me when I approach a new contact for an instore book signing.

Here is our Manager, Kevin Matheson, husband and father. He supports us at each book signing and is pictured here reading to us from Arianna Huffington’s book. Great read Arianna!!

Little known fact: it was my husband who said I must start to write and share my stories with the world. Thank you, Kevin!! And this is not to mention my extended family

Here is my extended family that show up to our events when time permits. We are the Bice sisters and families. :)

who show up at events and offer their undivided attention and support. I am very grateful for my two sisters – Lynn, who helped to edit the first two books but recently informed me ‘Your series is too big for me now. You have to get a professional editor!”

Sisters Lynn, Lee, and Cindy pictured with J.R. Matheson at Chapters Square One.

And my sister Cindy for drawing the first sketch of the O’Brien Estate and has insisted a professional must draw the next sketch. How lucky am I to have these two sisters as my posse?! And thank you to our nieces and nephews for attending when time permits. But I must call out Katy.

Niece Katy is on the left with her mom Lynn, my sister, and J.R. and I.

She is one of my beta readers and always provides insightful advice. Thank you so much, Katy!!

I have often said writing is a calling. It’s not a choice. One day you may wake up and decide to take a writing course, put a pen to paper, or type on your computer.  And soon, you too will look back and have the same question asked, “What summer holidays did you and your family enjoy?” And you’ll look away and may think to yourself, as I do, I enjoy each and every day of my life. When you enter into the world of writing and publishing, every day is an adventure, a gift. Being a writer makes life much more animated, more enjoyable, through the eye of the observer, and often times the active participant, and ultimately the active writer. Try it. It’s freeing.

While writing book three this summer, J.R. and I attended two book signings. I’ve written about the Chapters Barrie book signing and Chapters Square One. We are pleased to say both bookstores have asked us back for encore book signings. We have also been hosted on Cheryl Carpinello’s blog called Carpinello’s Writing Pages for the Kid Lit Blog Hop. I was approached on Twitter by Cheryl and it is an honour to be on this blog tour. Thank you so much, Cheryl! I will be writing more on this later.

It was a really busy summer and still is.

J.R. Matheson is now enrolled at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacology specializing in Addictions Research. Best to you, J.R.! J.R. is also writing book three of our series. What a son! Love Mom xoxo

Remember, the first day of Fall is not until September 23rd. Enjoy the rest of your summer!!

Paige Maddison Series at Chapters Square One: Book Signing, Saturday, August 15th

We had an enjoyable afternoon at Chapters Square One! What a busy location. It was great to speak to the book lovers of Mississauga. They asked us lots of questions about the Paige Maddison Series, what our self-publishing experience is like, and what it’s like to coauthor as a Mom-Son Team.

J.R. Matheson with mom, Lee Bice-Matheson, at instore book signing, Chapters Square One. Thank you Nadia for hosting us!

We truly appreciate all of the people who stopped by to talk with us and also to those who bought the series.

Our first customer of the day at Chapters Square One. Thanks for stopping by and for your kind words of support.

Always nice when family stops by to support us. And they sent us flowers for the special occasion at Chapters Square One! Thank you kindly for your loyal support.

Our family members dropped by – our niece Kristin from Calgary, sister Cindy & nephew Craig from Sarnia, sister Lynn and niece Katy who live in Mississauga. We were delighted. Thanks for coming!                                                                            

Donna supports new writers and was willing to give our series a chance. We hope you enjoyed both books in the series, Donna. Thank you so much for supporting us.

Thank you kindly, Donna! She is a supporter of new authors and bought both books in the series. We hope you like them.

This nice lady checked out our series for her sister who loves supernatural stories. Thank you for your kind conversation!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had quite the time with this lovely family. They are soon moving out of the country and we wish them all the best. The young boy bought the first book in the series. He is 9 years old and told us nothing scares him. Let’s hope Wake Me Up Inside does not. Great conversation! Thank you kindly Kalista for supporting our series and promoting literacy to your children.

Young boy pictured with his Mom, Kalista Zackhariyas, Film producer, Actor, but more importantly founder of The Youth Code in Toronto.

Thank you Nadia for having us and for inviting us back for an encore book signing. You are terrific and a special shoutout to Tom for marketing our book to Chapters’ customers. Thank you kindly for giving out the flyers about us. Great time at Chapters Square One. We shall return.

Book of the Moment Club: Wake Me Up Inside

J.R. Matheson and I are delighted to be the feature book on Venture Galleries Blog today! What a lovely surprise to wake up to. Thank you so much to Caleb and Linda Pirtle for their continued loyalty and support of the Paige Maddison Series. If you love #supernatural #ghost stories, why don't you give book one in our series, Wake Me Up Inside, a read?
Thank you again to the Pirtles. :)
http://venturegalleries.com/botm/wake...
Best,
Lee & J.R.

For Signed Copies of the Paige Maddison Series: Check Out These Independent Bookstores

Proud Mom at one of our Independent Bookstore signings.

If you are looking for instore signed copies of either Wake Me Up Inside, Book One, or Destiny’s Gate, Book Two, you can find them at the following Independent Bookstores:

The Book Keeper, Northgate Plaza, Sarnia, ON

Manticore Books, Downtown, Orillia, ON

Furby House Books, Port Hope, ON

Blue Heron Books, Downtown, Uxbridge, ON

The Oxford Book Shop, now located at 262 Piccadilly St., east of Richmond St., London, ON

Thank you to the owners and their staff of these wonderful Independent Bookstores for stocking our books and hosting our book signings! If you haven’t visited them yet and live in or near the area, they’re a must-see! Lee + J.R. double stamp of approval.

CHAPTERS, SQUARE ONE, INSTORE AUTHOR BOOK SIGNING

J.R. Matheson and I are grateful for our instore book signing at Chapters, Square One, in Mississauga. It begins Saturday, August 15th, from 1 to 5 pm.

Paige Maddison Series by Lee Bice-Matheson

Wake Me Up Inside, Book One, and Destiny’s Gate, Book Two, Coauthors Lee + J.R. are a Mom-Son supernatural fiction series writing team. One of the first of its kind.

will be available. If you love a ‘well-written’ ghost story and are interested in supernatural elements, please come and join us. We’ve had great feedback like this from many book buyers and they have encouraged us to continue writing book three in the series. In fact, we’re ecstatic at the response. We are enjoying our bookstore author events at Chapters / Indigo. We offer special savings for our books at our instore book signings and a special gift to book lovers who buy both books in the series. This will be our third event with Canada’s big box bookstore, and we are anticipating three more! We return for an encore book signing at Chapters Barrie on October 24th, Chapters Peterborough on Halloween, and Chapters Bayview Village on November 14th. What will Christmas bring for our next stop? We shall have to wait and see. We hope to hear from our local bookstore that held a small book fair last Christmas. Crossing our fingers. A very special thank you to everyone for supporting our series and our journey. We cannot thank you enough!

Why Do People Shy Away From Their Hopes and Dreams?

While working in our Clinic today, I happened to access the internet and screaming out on the Homepage was a post on why people shy away from success and from making money. In fact, it hinted that many people sabotage themselves for varying degrees of reasons. It made me angry to think that other people are mainly to blame. I will quote two of the top reasons why: 1/ You’d rather not be a target – Money can inspire envy and jealousy from competitors,  family members, and friends. An old Japanese proverb says – The nail that sticks up gets pounded down.

Sad there is a proverb for this.

This made me sick to my stomach, first of all, that there is a proverb for this situation. Second of all, we expect competitors to not like our success as we are taught this in school or in the media, but for friends and/or family too? Shame on friends or family members if they are behaving in this narcissitic, selfish manner. In fact, move away from them if they are. We support and uplift each other, not tear each other down!

2/ Your friends will hate you – You could say there are two ways friends are known to react to a peer who makes a fortune: either they stick their hands out (for $$$), or their tongues out. No one wants to be left out of the clique. The post adds – If your friends don’t like you for who you are – rich, poor, or otherwise – they weren’t your friends in the first place.

Self explanatory

I agree with this point wholeheartedly. For me as a writer, I wondered why I felt such outrage when I read this article. Probably because I think there are many talented people out there not pursuing their dreams because they don’t want to rock the boat within their world, with their family or friends. But this is a cop out. Truly! Please heed my warning, if you are living your life to please others, you’re not living your life at all. We are here to be the best we can be, at whatever it is we discover to be our strength and inner passion. From the time I was young, I had many people say I wouldn’t amount to anything. In fact, our elementary school Vice Principal said I wouldn’t make it past grade 12. Well I did. At the University of Western Ontario I achieved an Honours degree in History and a Master degree in Library and Information Science: top of the class, too! In fact, when I finished my undergraduate degree, I was taken out for lunch by a History Professor and he invited me, on behalf of the History Department, to enroll in a PhD program with the goal of becoming a History Professor at Western. I was overwhelmed and delighted with the news but I had chosen to enter my Master’s degree to become a librarian. After all, I had worked as a student page for many years. Don’t let other people’s negativity, petty jealousy, envy, or rivalry get you down. Rise above it and pursue your dreams. I should also note I overcame financial despair. My parents went bankrupt before I finished first year university. I paid my way working at the university library and in third/fourth year I held two jobs plus full-time courses. If you want it, you have to persevere and work very hard.

This quote resonates within my soul.

Great quote spoken by Wayne Dyer and many others.

Think on this quote above and you’ll see what he’s really saying.

I never thought in a million years that the little ebook I wrote titled Wake Me Up Inside would sell as many copies as it has…enough to self-publish in print editions too. And Destiny’s Gate is selling very well – print copies! Thanks to our son, J.R. Matheson, for joining this journey of mine. Where will it go from here? Who knows? But we are enjoying the honour and the privilege of meeting so many book lovers across Ontario, bookstore owners, and their staff, at instore book signings and book fairs.

Words my family and I live by.

 

Thank you so much to all who support the Paige Maddison Series. Know you too can change your life (if you’re unhappy) to pursue your dreams. I did not become an author until 2010 when I turned 50 years old. It just keeps getting better and better.

Positivity + hard work = success as determined by you!

Encore Book Signing at Chapters Barrie

We are over the moon to be invited back to Chapters in Barrie for another book signing for Destiny’s Gate and the Paige Maddison Series. We had so much fun the first time! We are anticipating this event as it kicks off the celebration of Halloween, October 24th, 1 – 4 pm. Hmmm…what to wear? What to wear? A costume, perhaps. Oh, and we will be bringing Halloween treats! Come and join us, won’t you? Thank you so much, Erica, and to all of the Staff at Chapters Barrie. Merci Beaucoup.

Have You Seen Your Guardian Angel?

I have lived a lifetime believing in the power of God, our Heavenly Father, and our collective Universal Intelligence, and our Angels…Guardian Angels to be specific, who guide us along our ‘rightful’ path. That is, if we slow down and listen to them. Have you ever had an urge to change a decision in a split second? For instance, driving along a road that has two possible choices for you to take to arrive at your final destination and you suddenly veer off to the right, or left, without thinking? This is a good sign that your Guardian Angel is looking out for you. (We write about this type of event in Destiny’s Gate.) Later, while listening to the news, they announce a major 12-car pile-up on the road you DID NOT take. And probably wipe a bit of sweat from your brow while simultaneously feeling very sorry for those who ended up in this tragedy. Being Divinely Inspired is available to every one of us. No one is better than another in the spiritual world, but some are just more enlightened than the rest of us. We all have our personal journey we are on and we’re at different stages in our evolvement. And that’s okay!

One day, while driving home from Florida with my husband Kevin, I was urged to suddenly ask him to stop the car. In fact, I yelled, “Stop the car now!” Kevin being the good man he is, did not question this at all. He slammed on the brakes. It was late at night, pitch-black, no other cars on the road, in the Virginian Appalachian Mountains. I was asked (yes, I heard the voice ask me) to step out of the car and look at all of the angels. We were situated on the shoulder of a mountain and there was a deep valley below filled with trees. There were no houses in sight, no street lights at all. Just us and the darkness of the night. It was also a full moon that was hidden behind clouds and sometimes revealed itself. I squinted my eyes and saw nothing. I responded with my internal voice, “Really, there are angels here?” And I heard, “Wait, you’ll see them.” So I relaxed and waited a few seconds. Suddenly, I began to see white, sparkly lights…quite small at first. Then I saw hundreds of them, sparkling so brightly over the valley below. I felt their happiness and the pureness of their energies. I was a bit overwhelmed, stunned and elated. However, I had always wanted to see my Guardian Angel. I quickly pulled my cellphone out of my pocket for the purpose of snapping pics of the sparkling angels but instead, turned sharply to my right and there…hovering over my shoulder was my Guardian Angel, about 5 feet in length, maybe longer, dense white light, but with the camera lense on her, she bunched up to the size pictured in this photo. (Angels really aren’t a he or a she but I’ll use she for the purposes of this narrative.) I began to snap several photos.

My Guardian Angel. Photo copyrighted.  Lee Bice-Matheson

 

My Guardian Angel did not want me to take her picture, and I was indeed scolded for it. I did it without forethought! In fact, I did it intuitively knowing it was my chance to see who was guiding me on this particular night, the one who has guided me since I was a young child. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be here at this age in my life as I’ve been plagued with many severe illnesses, one of which I’ve had a NDE. She guides me on rightful eating, on my health, when I’m sick…what to take, what not to take. In fact, one day, I was urged to visit my dentist at the end of our workday. When I arrived, I was told he had gone home but the dental hygienist would see me. I told her I had an infection in my tooth and she obligingly took an xray. I was then booked to see the dentist in the morning. When I returned, the dentist looked at me and said, “How in the world did you know you have a tooth infection? It hadn’t even begun to blow up, yet?” I smiled and responded, “Oh, I just knew.” I can thank my Guardian Angel for the warning and I was told it would have been a nasty infection. She also helps me to be the best I can be living from a place of love with compassion and generosity of spirit, and is probably the one who won’t let me stop writing the Paige Maddison Series. I am grateful for God for sanctioning my Guardian Angel. It was my time to see her, and one day, if you are ready, you may see yours. I was not allowed to publish this narrative until recently when she said, “It’s time.” From what I’ve been told, this is one of the most asked questions to God or the Universal Intelligence. “Do I have a Guardian Angel?” and “Is he/she looking out for me?” The photo of my Guardian Angel was taken April 10, 2012. And I’m wondering why I am now allowed to reveal her? Wait and we shall see. Written July 9th, 9:30 am. In the wee hours of the morning, July 10th, I heard the answer to my question, “Hope.” Please feel free to leave your comments and/or your narratives about meeting your Guardian Angel.