Connection and awe: The best of times
3 Small Items of Great Delight + Long-held dreams that become reality
Hello again from The Book Case, the newsletter of Dinah Laprairie, Book Coach & Reader’s Advocate.
If you’re just joining me here, you are welcome. You’ll find entries on the practice of writing and the practice of delight, and book reviews that measure how successfully a book engages its readers, from cover design to the final page. It’s delivered on a whim — or, more likely, when I can squeeze it in.
You’re always welcome to respond and share.
Hello!
Thanks for joining me here at The Book Case. You’re always welcome to share this newsletter — and to comment or respond. I love to hear from you.
With this edition returns my regular feature, 3 Small Items of Great Delight, where I make it a point to, well, point out where delight has struck in my life. It’s about those moments when we connect to emotion in the nicest of ways, and it was inspired by two artist-friends who always stopped and savoured this sometimes-elusive experience.
It’s Halloween night as I write this, a night of great delight for those of us who love costumes and disguises. I love seeing the neighbours out with their costumed kids on this night.
Below, I share the delights I discovered recently, and disguises are featured on this list—but not the ones you find on Halloween. (But just as fun!) I have a few announcements to share first, but you can skip ahead to the delights, if that’s why you’re here.
Updates: Book launch and coaching spots
BOOK LAUNCH • I had the immense pleasure of being in attendance at the book launch of Lori Littleton’s first novel, In Repair, last Thursday in St. Catharines. Joining me in the audience were my husband Ryan and our friend Heather, All of us so proud to see our long-time friend finally bring her book to reality. It’s so amazing to see what worlds and plots are devised by someone you know!
I was fortunate enough to get a sneak peek at the Lori’s novel earlier this summer as her copy editor, and I think this is a fine first novel, prepared with care over many, many drafts. Only a couple weeks after returning the manuscript to Lori, I unearthed one of her first drafts in a box from our move 13 years ago! Apparently, I had packed up my desk contents and stowed away the box in storage. When I discovered it, I was both thrilled and mortified. Obviously I had promised to give feedback. Yikes! (Yes, Lori, I got rid of it!)
All this to say, this book was a long time coming, and In Repair delivers. If you like contemporary women’s fiction à la Emily Giffin, Jennifer Weiner, or early Taylor Jenkins Reid, you’ll like this one. Order the e-book here or get the paperback here.
BOOK COACHING • I have availability for two new coaching clients beginning late November. If you need help with planning your memoir or work of nonfiction, or you need accountability support to get that manuscript to the finish line, let’s talk about coaching. I have a planning package, a monthly ongoing coaching service, and a diagnostic package to help you get unstuck. Go ahead and schedule a time for a free discovery call with me at https://bit.ly/talk-books-with-dinah.
Here’s a testimonial from one of my clients this summer, who engaged me as a coach during the drafting of her manuscript. It was so satisfying to see how motivated she was with a deadline, knowing I was waiting for her pages.
“I wanted critiquing, guidance, and accountability and got all three. We worked as a team and Dinah was always considerate of my needs and polite with her suggestions. The feedback and the deadlines were invaluable. She was encouraging, and that made me less afraid as a first-time author.” —Wendy
And now we return to the regularly scheduled newsletter…
3 Small Items of Great Delight
Noticing delight is an outcome of mindfulness. It comes in moments when we refuse to be led astray by obligation and mundane routine. When we agree to stop and look, taste, listen, and engage. Out of it we can build hope and art.
What have you been delighting in? Tell me in a comment below! (Or hit reply if this landed in your inbox.)
1. Secret Identities & Alter Egos
Delight in Shenanigans
I knew when I suggested it that Heather would say yes.
I texted her: “I want to go to Lori’s book launch, but I think I want to surprise her,”
“Yes!”
And so we rubbed our palms together in glee, virtually. Ryan joined in, too, Our friend may have written a novel, but we were plotting like experts, chortling and giggling over the plans we drafted from our respective sofas.
We registered for the event with secret identities, using anagrams of our names. We went in search of internet images capturing our new alter egos. We tossed around the idea of disguises, then tossed that out. We considered which herrings would be the reddest in our lead up to our arrival.
When we arrived at the book launch, our efforts were rewarded. Lori was surprised to see us enter, and maybe we even saw a few tears glistening.
She didn’t know how much fun we had getting there, and it didn’t matter. We were there to celebrate her book, after all. But what a hoot getting there!
If you’re wondering about the anagrams Ryan and I chose (there wasn’t much choice, in the end!), I am pleased to introduce you to ….Iridian Raphael and Dr. Puny Ray:
2. The Northern Lights
Delight + Awe
The Aurora Borealis has visited a few times this year, and each time it does, our social feeds are a stream of colour the next morning. A few weeks ago, people across this country were witness to the splashes of colour across the night sky. We couldn’t see it well from our vantage point, but earlier this year, we did.
That night, my son came running downstairs near bedtime, his feet pounding on the stairs. “Mom! The Northern Lights!” His friends has been posting their images on TikTok.
He flew out the front door in his bare feet, and I followed. We ran across the cold grass to the pavement of our street and looked up. Was that it? Was that movement?
Yes, it was. We watched. We ran to get a better look. We called out in glee.
Then we turned our cameras to the sky and it lit up our lenses with incredible colours. A feeling of great awe came over us. Here it was, majesty. We were small players in a great big universe. We watched for a while longer.
And then my son, inspired, said, “Hey, Mom, take a photo of me playing basketball under the Northern Lights!”
I laughed, and said yes. Why wouldn’t you want to do what you love in such a moment? I was. So we took photos. I’ll keep those for our family album, but here’s a glimpse of that night for you.
3. Baby Animals
Delight + Awww
When I arrived in Gore Bay for the 2nd Rekindle Creativity Women’s Writing Retreat, I called my sister.
“Are you at work?”
“No, I’m here at home bottle-feeding kittens we found in the barn.”
“I’ll be right there!” Whatever plans I had were left behind as I jumped in the car and headed up the hill.
A few minutes later, I had a kitten, the size of my hands, cradled in my arms, sipping at the tiniest of bottles. (Did you know there’s special formula for kittens? I didn’t!)
The kittens were just the introduction to a week of lovely creatures. All of us at the retreat that week snapped many photos of the deer outside our inn, especially the fawns. We watched them eat the apples we tossed towards them, their jaws working sideways as they stared at us with their huge eyes.
What has delighted your heart lately? Leave a comment below and share a moment where you were connected entirely and suddenly with life.
I’ll be back soon with another newsletter, announcing a new group book coaching program for January. This one is for nonfiction writers! If you know someone who keeps talking about the book they want to write, let them know they can subscribe to this newsletter for details. In particular, I’m looking for writers with expertise who are ready to share their know-how. I’m here to deliver the how-to.
But first, I’m heading to Nashville on a group trip. There will definitely be moments of delight there! Let’s call it a research trip, shall we?
