On Libraries and Bookstores

I love seeing my books on the shelves of a bookstore. It makes me feel good. Especially when the bookstore is an independent one in my neighbourhood. But I appreciate my books being in a library even more. That’s why one of the first things I did when I got my author copies of Better Safe Than Sorry, the new Sgt. Windflower Mystery, was to donate copies to the Ottawa Public Library and the Kemptville Branch of the North Grenville Library. I spend part of my working time in both communities. So why not give a little back to those who support readers and writers. And I sent a couple of copies to the Grand Bank Public Library, because, well… you have to read a Sgt. Windflower book to figure that out.

I also love bookstores, all kinds of bookstores. Big box, small box, no box and out of the box. My favourites are independent bookstores. Like Perfect Books and Books on Beechwood in Ottawa and the slowly closing Sleuth of Baker Street in Toronto. They are not just places I visit. They are my friends. They help me, they support me and hundreds of other small, independent writers who are trying to make a mark in an ocean of books.

The reason I do this is because libraries gave me one of the greatest gifts I have ever received. A love of reading. The ability to travel the world and visit other worlds. A way to not just escape boredom and drudgery but to live other lives and meet a wider range of people and characters that I could never have accomplished on my own. So, it’s an easy decision to give back to libraries. They may have saved my life.

I hope that you will read Better Safe Than Sorry, the new Sgt. Windflower Mystery. And I don’t care if you get it from the library, from a bookstore, or from a friend. More than that, I hope you enjoy it. Let it take you away to little Grand Bank, Newfoundland where the locals are friendly, the cheesecake is wonderful and the weather… well, we won’t talk about the weather.

Thank you for supporting my writing and Sgt. Windflower Mysteries.

Better Safe Than Sorry is available at select Chapters/Coles/Indigo bookstores. And from Amazon all over the world.

Signed copies available at:

Sleuth of Baker Street bookstore, Toronto

Books on Beechwood, Ottawa

Perfect Books, Ottawa

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