MaryLou’s Books – Page 3 – MaryLou Driedger

The Smell and 10 Other Reasons I Love McNally Robinson Booksellers

Posted on April 27, 2024

Image from the Canadian Independent Booksellers Association website Today is Canadian Independent Bookstore Day! It’s a day for readers, writers and publishers to celebrate bookstores that aren’t part of a larger chain but operate independently to serve their communities in unique ways. The McNally Robinson Booksellers store at Grant Park Shopping Centre. Photo by Mike […]

A Great Morning and A Great Lunch

Posted on April 26, 2024

On Tuesday morning at 9:00 o’clock I paid a visit to a class of Grade 3s at Winnipeg Mennonite Elementary School. They had just finished reading my novel Lost on the Prairie. They were a fabulous group of kids full of great questions about the story. Kids’ artwork -the hero of my novel on his […]

On An Author High

Posted on April 20, 2024

I’m always on a high after I do a school visit. Yesterday I did a virtual one with a class of grade four and five students from Brownell School in Saskatoon. A student teacher had just completed a novel study of my book Lost on the Prairie with her class and invited me to Zoom […]

Grateful to the Canada Council

Posted on April 2, 2024

Recently I received a generous check from the Canada Council for the Arts. One of the purposes of this money is to reimburse authors whose works are in libraries across the country. Over 18,000 Canadian authors receive a cheque of between $50 and $4500 annually as a way to compensate them for free public access […]

Oh Where Oh Where Have You Been?

Posted on March 28, 2024

I am giving a talk to a seniors group this afternoon about my two books. Putting my slides together I realized all the interesting places my novels have been. On a canoe trip In Paris In Brisbane Australia By the ocean in Newfoundland In a garden in Halifax Attracting hummingbirds by a lake In Hong […]

What’s Happening In My Author World?

Posted on January 29, 2024

I was interviewed at my launch by amazing author Colleen Nelson. Her latest book is The Umbrella House. I only discovered recently that in April of 2023 when Sixties Girl was launched, it made The Hamilton Review of Bestselling Books at Independent Bookstores. Thanks to my publisher Heritage House for including Sixties Girl in its […]

Draft Dodgers

Posted on December 31, 2023

I was in my teens and early twenties during the Vietnam War and had three experiences with American draft dodgers that I’ve never forgotten. Our family had our photo taken with a tour group on our 1969 vacation. The first happened in an American Denny’s Restaurant on a family vacation in 1969. While we were eating […]

The Importance of Family History

Posted on December 26, 2023

My paternal grandfather and me. Grandpa shared many stories of his childhood and his experiences during the Russian Revolution with his children and grandchildren In a Toronto Globe and Mail op ed this month Robin Pascoe writes about why it is important for the older generation to tell our children and grandchildren our family’s stories. […]

Ozempic! A Sixties Flashback?

Posted on December 22, 2023

Recently Oprah Winfrey gave a major boost to the sale of the drug Ozempic when she hinted she’s been taking it to lose weight. Ozempic which was approved to treat diabetes in 2017 has been found to also be effective at helping people drop unwanted pounds. Oprah’s news has caused a huge jump in already skyrocketing […]

Such Great Questions

Posted on November 21, 2023

Yesterday thanks to a time difference between Manitoba and our neighbouring province, I was dressed and at my desk by 7 am to chat with Lindsey Ecker’s high school English class at United Mennonite Educational Institute in southern Ontario. They had just finished reading my novel Lost on the Prairie . On Friday their teacher […]

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