Life’s Weirder Than Fiction

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact Information:
Rita Toews

(204) 661-2734
r.toews@shaw.ca

website: http://www.domokos.com/readebookweek.html

How “Green” is Your Reading Material?

“Carbon Footprint”, “Environmentally Friendly” and “Green”. Have you considered these words when it comes to your reading material?

We’re encouraged to buy, use and dispose with the environment in mind. While it’s easy to recognize the negative impact of excess packaging and chemical content in many of the products we purchase, it’s not so easy when it comes to books, magazines and newspapers.

We do have alternatives other than paper for our reading material. Many books, newspapers and magazines are created electronically. No trees are cut to produce them. No ink is used to put the words on the page. No fossil fuel is used to run presses or trucks to move them around the country. Heated storage facilities are not required to warehouse e-books until they are shipped to bookstores.

March 2nd-8th, 2008 is Read An E-Book Week.

It takes 24 trees to produce a ton of printing paper, the type normally used for books, 12 trees are harvested for a ton of newsprint. Up to 35% of books printed for consumers (down from nearly 60% several years ago) are never read. They are used for window dressing in book stores, and eventually returned to the publisher for disposal in landfills. Given that a mature tree can produce as much oxygen in a season as 10 people inhale in a year, a serious alternative to paper books, magazines and newspapers needs to be considered. That alternative is e-books.

Before purchasing your next paper book, magazine or newspaper, consider your carbon footprint commitment. Read electronically.

Read An E-Book Week, March 9-15, 2008

Tags: carbon footprint, ebook, environmentally friendly, green, paperless

My friend and colleague, Mayra Calvani, wrote a children’s story, The Doll Violinist, which is a finalist in the ABC’s Children’s Picture Book Competition. If the story wins, Mayra gets a publishing contract with a 10,000 print run plus 1,000 copies of the book to do with as she pleases. That’s huge, so I hope you’ll help her out. Us struggling authors need all the help we can get. Judges selected the 12 finalists, but it’s readers that will decide the overall winner by voting for the best story.
The voting starts on 16 September on the ABC’s nomination site and will run until 30 September. The 12 finalist stories will be available at that time for you to read and decide (but I hope you’ll vote forMayra!)

To encourage you to go read the story and vote for it, Mayra is holding a contest, with her own prizes for her readers. Here it is:

Vote for THE DOLL VIOLINIST and Win Prizes!

Mayra ’s story, THE DOLL VIOLINIST, is a finalist at the ABC’s Children’s Picture Book Competition!

What makes this competition different is that while the finalists are chosen by judges, the winner is chosen by online public vote. In other words, YOU the reader, get to choose the winner—that lucky author who will walk away with a publishing contract!

The Doll Violinist is a heart-warming Christmas tale set in Victorian Europe and features illustrations by talented artist Amy Moreno.

To view the finalists in the competition and vote for Mayra’s story, please visit the competition website at http://www.ABCbookcompetition.org . The two week voting period starts September 16, 2007 and will continue through midnight September 30, 2007. The winning author / illustrator team will be announced October 8, 2007.

People who vote for The Doll Violinist will be automatically entered in a drawing and prizes will be as follows:

• 1st Prize: An enchanting antique doll in Brussels lace
• 2nd Prize: $50 Amazon gift certificate
• 3rd Prize: Beautiful zirconium & sterling silver ring (size 8 )
• 4th Prize: A print copy of Mayra’s latest paranormal thriller, DARK LULLABY
• 5th Prize: A print copy of ANGEL IN A BUBBLE (children’s picture book)

All you need to do is vote for THE DOLL VIOLINIST, then send a message to mayra.calvani@gmail.com and write ‘You got my vote’ on the subject line. You must send a message in order to enter the drawing, so please don’t forget!
The winners will be announced on Mayra’s Secret Bookcase (http://mayrassecretbookcase.blogspot.com) on October 1st, 2007.

In honor of Mother’s Day, some of the Mad Authors of It’s a mad, mad world are giving away autographed copies of these authors’ most recently published novels.

Simply visit the blog at:

http://madten.wordpress.com

The contest will run from May 7th until May 11th with winners announced on Mother’s Day. To enter the contest, simply read the excerpt for that day and answer the two questions in a comment. Winners will be randomly selected from those who answered the questions correctly.

Books range in genre from mystery to fantasy to alternate reality to young adult-fantasy. Titles include: Arturo el Rey, by Joan Upton Hall, Lady of the Lakes, by J.C. Hall, Death Game, by Cheryl Swanson, and Vassal of El, by Gloria Oliver.

The contest is in honour of all the moms, but you don’t have to be a mother (or even a father) to win. Don’t miss the chance to discover a great new author and get a free autographed copy of their latest novel.

JAZZ NEWCOMER KELLYLEE EVANS
WINS CANADIAN SMOOTH JAZZ AWARD

Less than a year after the indie release of her debut CD, “Fight or Flight?” jazz singer and songwriter Kellylee Evans has won the 2007 Canadian Smooth Jazz Award for Female Vocalist of the Year. Her fellow nominees included veteran performers Carol Welsman, Amy Sky, Molly Johnson and Liberty Silver.

The ceremony was held Friday, April 27, 2007 at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga, ON and featured performances by Carol Welsman, Amy Sky and Marc Jordan and Lifetime Achevement Award recipients Spyro Gyro.

This summer, Evans will partake in a Western and Central Canadian tour of the country’s major jazz and folk festivals, including 2 dates opening for trumpeter, Chris Botti. All this after being tapped to open for the legendary Tony Bennett and Maceo Parker last year.

Kellylee Evans has been earning rave reviews for her soulful music and charismatic performances since her second place win of the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition in 2004. The judges for the competition included Quincy Jones, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Al Jarreau. With the release of her debut album, “fight or flight?” in May 2006, her music has been reaching out across the world, garnering her praise, national radio play and strong sales. The CD is comprised of 11 original songs from Evans, whose songwriting chops earned her comparison to Aimee Mann, Elvis Costello and Ron Sexsmith (Brian Lush, Rockwired.com). The CD was also selected as a Barnes and Noble Discover New Artists release along with Corinne Bailey Rae and Gnarls Barkley.

Evans was also nominated for a 2007 Juno Award for Jazz Vocal Album and was a 2006 Toronto Independent Music Award nominee.

To arrange an interview with Kellylee Evans or for a review copy of “Fight or Flight?” please contact ENLIVEN Media at 613-253-2017 or via info@kellyleeevans.com.

For more information about this artist, and to hear some of her music please visit the websites below.

www.KellyleeEvans.com
www.sonicbids.com/kellyleeevans
www.myspace.com/kellyleeevans
Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards website: www.canadiansmoothjazzawards.com

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