Books – Page 5 – Cynthia Reyes

A Good Home, An Honest House, Author Cynthia Reyes, Book Interviews, Books, Canadian life, Inspiration, PTSD

Up Close and Personal

April 26, 2016May 9, 2016 Cynthia Reyes

I have good news to share: my second book comes out this spring.

I can hardly believe it.

When a radio interviewer asked me in 2014 about a second book, I told her I’d started a sequel to A Good Home but had run away from it. In the new book I had bravely/foolishly decided to confront what it’s like to live with PTSD – post traumatic stress disorder — and it terrified me.

I embarked on a gardening book instead. After all, I love gardening. But I hate PTSD!

No-one pushed me to return to the book I’d dropped, but something happened that made me see that I had to face my monsters again — in writing.

My thanks to everyone who has encouraged and helped me along the way. In addition to family and close friends, I’ve had one doctor encouraging me to “Write!”; one therapist-researcher-writer who directly contributed to the book; two mentors, two editors, one publisher; one painter and one photographer; great beta readers and one discussion guide producer.

Book Cover AHH - Painting by S. MacKendrick — Cover painting by S. MacKendrick

I hope the book will inspire discussions – among families and friends; in book clubs and workplaces; among therapists, doctors and others. I imagine some will discuss what happens in a family when one member is seriously incapacitated; some may talk about the nature of survival and faith; therapists and doctors may discuss the treatment of PTSD and Chronic Pain and why both are so hard to accept, especially by the people afflicted with them.

And I hope all readers will reflect on love and courage. Both are recurring topics in this book. (And most of the courage isn’t mine, by the way.)

The Canada Council for the Arts recognized my writing with a small grant to pay for some of the expenses involved in writing a book like this. Thank you, Canada Council, for that vote of confidence.

Above all, this book is an up-close and personal look at a much-changed life. Some of it is painful, some parts hilarious, and some are both.

The book – An Honest House – comes out in June.

Book Cover Promo - Coming Soon

A Good Home, Books, Children's Books, Christmas, Young Adult Books

Giftish Books/Bookish Gifts

December 6, 2015December 9, 2015 Cynthia Reyes

I chose these books because there’s an attractive freshness to them. They’re also mainly Canadian.

Jim’s Star, by Paul Nicholas Mason. A collection of stories with a Christmas theme, this small book is an affordable Christmas gift or stocking stuffer. Set in places such as small-town Ontario, Canada and Zimbabwe, these stories are charmingly written. Great for reading alone or to an audience.

Awakening in the Northwest Territories, by Alastair Henry. A man with a restless spirit, a failed marriage, and a yearning for meaning, finds himself working with the Dene people of Canada’s north. A refreshingly frank and personal book about Alastair’s awakening to other ways of living.

Alone: A Winter in the Woods by Felicity Sidnell-Reid and illustrator Jirina Marton. I love this book. Adults and adolescents will find the story harrowing, gripping and a great read. A 13-year old boy finds himself alone in the Canadian wilderness during a brutal winter and makes friends with an Indigenous boy his own age. A story of survival, set in 1797, it’s a compelling and beautifully written book, by Sidnell-Reid with images by Marton who won the Governor General’s Award for Illustration in 2009.

Oldenglen, by Robin Mason and Michael Mason. Yes, Canada’s exceptionally creative Mason family has been prolific this year. Robin, a lawyer and father of three, wrote this book with his father, 91-year old Michael. An adventure-filled story for young people, this absorbing novel is the first of a 3-part fantasy series. Oldenglen is set in the Pacific Northwest, U.S.A.

A Journey Just Begun, by the Sisterhood of St. John The Divine. If you’ve read my book A Good Home, or my feature story in Arabella Magazine, you’ll know that this unusual Anglican Sisterhood is a very special order: women of various backgrounds – interesting, creative, well-educated – who have dedicated their lives to God and the service of others. A Journey Just Begun tells their story in text and photos – from building and running a prominent rehabilitation hospital, to offering many activities, including monastic hospitality to individuals and groups. Author Jane Christmas and Sister Constance Joanna Gefvert, the first nun from this order to become a priest, are the editors and lead writers.

A Good Home, Book lovers, Books, Canadian life, childhood mischief, Great books, Humour

I STEAL BOOKS

April 1, 2015April 1, 2015 Cynthia Reyes

Like any other criminal, I am entitled to a defence, after all.

So before I confess, let me say this in my defence:

It’s not that I plan to steal books.

It’s not even that I mean to.

But, somehow, I steal books.

I have been an obsessive reader since early childhood and it continued throughout my life.

I read everything.

The newspaper.

The dictionary.

One summer when the school library was closed and I had run out of things to read, I even read the Bible.

Someone must have dared me. And, being very smart, I didn’t realize that some bets shouldn’t be taken.

You have no idea what it cost me. Two years before, I’d decided that I was an atheist.

The kind that half-believes in God at night, in the middle of a furious storm.

But an atheist nonetheless.

I had hardly begun, when I got to the begats. They nearly did me in. Jacob and his wives begat dozens of children who begat dozens more children and when I woke up the next morning, they were still begetting.

Reading the begats was cruel and unusual punishment and I had no-one to blame but myself.

I imagined that God was having a great laugh.

If I believed in her, that is.

But I digress.

I first stole a book when I was about ten years old. It was probably a Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys mystery.

I gave it back when I finished reading and I never stole another book till I found myself at a silent convent some years ago.

“You stole from the nuns?” I hear you asking.

Yes. I stole two books from the nuns, but I did not chop down their cherry tree.

I returned the books a whole year later. And they forgave me, smiling at my extreme penitence.

But I stole a few magazines before then. From airplanes or airport VIP lounges.

Stole them and brought them home because of a great story I wanted to finish reading.

I must have felt really bad about it, because I kept stealing them.

Three in all.

Till one day my eyes caught a small sign on the cover of one magazine, making it clear that the magazines were free to customers. All three magazines had the same sign.

I know God was having a great laugh.

I’m told he’s funny that way.

A Good Home, Books, Lauren Reyes-Grange, Social Media for Authors, Social Media Strategist

How a Social Media Strategist Saved My Book

January 26, 2015January 26, 2015 Cynthia Reyes

In August, a radio interviewer asked me what I had expected to happen after my book, A Good Home, was published in 2013.

“Seriously?” I asked. “My plan was to go back to bed.”

She laughed.

But that was indeed my plan. I was in bad shape, from head to toe, injuries from a car accident. Completing the book was a huge task. Even speaking was a challenge at the time.

What saved my book?

A skilled and caring social media strategist.

Lauren and Gentle Giant — Lauren and a Gentle Giant

Lauren was the person in charge of social media strategy for one of Canada’s biggest English language magazine publishing companies. She had helped magazines such as Style At Home, TheHockey News and Elle Canada increase their social media traffic by up to 1200% year over year.

In other words, Lauren knows her stuff.

She patiently explained to me what was required.

I think I rolled my eyes at times. What was this thing called a “blog”? And who had time for Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Goodreads, etc. etc.

“Not to worry,” she said. “I’ll set it all up for you.”

It was a necessity: my ‘book tour’ stopped soon after it started.

I was in full-blown relapse and my doctor had firmly stopped all my book-related activities outside the home.

Lauren designed my blog, Facebook and Twitter pages, etc., and taught me how to use them.

“Your blog should be informal and personable,” she said.

But I was too scared at first. So, to show me what was possible, Lauren did my first several posts on WordPress and other platforms.

All the time, Lauren kept teaching me, sending me simple instructions till I took over the work. She even created a marketing calendar that combined social media with other forms of promotion.

Today I have an international following.

My blog alone is approaching 40,000 views in just over a year of serious effort on my part. I have more than a thousand followers on Twitter, and many more through the other platforms I use.

I value this outcome for the many books I’ve sold, yes. Even more valued, though, are the supportive social networks that I’m part of today.

My social media expert saved my book. In the process, she gave me so much more.

Thank you, Lauren. I’d have been lost without you.

*Lauren is also my daughter.*