Boularderie Island Press will celebrate the publication of two books this week–The Island Hoppers by Douglas Arthur Brown and The Phone Book by Mary Jane Copps–with launch events in Sydney on Friday at Doktor Luke’s – a respectable coffee house, and at the Baddeck Public Library on Saturday.
The Island Hoppers is Brown’s seventh book. Edited by Patricia O’Neill, with illustrations by Josh Kaiser, The Island Hoppers is an astonishing narrative that reveals a time before the great glaciers began to melt thousands of years ago and the waters swelled, when the North Atlantic Ocean was populated by many small islands. On these islands lived several species of creatures called The Island Hoppers, each with its own unique, and often bizarre, way of life. As their islands began to slip beneath the rising seas they travelled for months, perhaps years, until finally they found a new home. It was a beautiful island, large enough for all of them, with vast resources to meet their needs. That island was what we now know as Cape Breton.
This book is the world’s first glimpse into the lives of the Island Hoppers. It will introduce you to the fierce Hhorts, with their thick garnet-hued leathery skin; the peaceful Brens, who wrapped themselves in eelgrass and slept in stone vaults for fifteen-year hibernation cycles; and the resourceful Gnags, who lived on rafts and fashioned clothing from fish skins. The secret is out, and the Brens, Hhorts, Velyns, Gnags, Tomboms, Yrtles and Selch are now yours to discover.
Douglas Arthur Brown is the author of six previous books. His novel Quintet won the Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Prize. His short fiction has appeared in literary journals, magazines and anthologies in Canada and overseas. He was the publisher and managing editor of the Canadian literary magazine Pottersfield Portfolio for several years. He was awarded an Established Artist Recognition Award by the province of Nova Scotia and has received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his contribution to Canadian culture.
Mary Jane Copps is a Halifax-based writer, editor and business communications consultant. She honed her editing skills as a journalist in the 1980s, working for The Globe & Mail and as both journalist and editor for Maclean Hunter. She worked with Barbara Blouin as a copy editor the 2002 book, Labours of Love, and she continually provides editing assistance to her clients for their magazine articles, newsletters, blogs and manuscripts. Copps also volunteers her expertise in manuscript evaluation and critique for several Atlantic Canada writing competitions and awards.
Since 2006 Copps has embraced her alter ego, The Phone Lady, a North American company that focuses on excellent telephone communication skills. She has worked with more than 300 clients and her expertise has been recognized throughout North America and Europe by a wide-range of business media – radio, television and print – including the Wall Street Journal.
In The Phone Book, recently published by Boularderie Island Press, Copps’ explores essential business development and career building skills through effective telephone communication. The Phone Book eliminates the intimidation and fear that sets in when you start to dial. With clear language, fun stories and quick, simple lessons, you’ll learn how to leave messages, inspire conversation, book meetings and appointments, follow up on emails and texts, close a sale, handle complaints, facilitate conference calls and much, much more.
The Island Hoppers and The Phone Book are both available through Amazon.
