A Song in The Night
By Felicia Landie
Word Alive Press
Betsy never imagined she’d be hiding a stranger in her home. Risking her and her children’s lives, battling cancer, and praying her husband comes home alive, this young mother must learn to trust God with everything.
Based on true events, A Song in the Night tells the incredible story of God’s faithfulness to a family serving in the Dutch resistance during World War II.
About the author: 2024 Braun Book Award Winner, Felicia Landie grew up in Three Hills, Alberta and is the youngest of five children. She was home-schooled for most of her growing up years and always had a big imagination. When she wasn’t playing make-believe or setting up pretend houses and shops, she was writing stories. Encouraged by her childhood best friend, she wrote many “books” and has carried her passion for writing to this day. Felicia also had a deep faith. Knowing and obeying God were of the utmost importance to her. She felt compelled to share her faith with others and is forever grateful to her parents for guiding her through those formative years.
After graduating high school, Felicia intended to become a teacher. She began attending university and got involved with an evangelism group at the school. She was greatly burdened for the lost and homeless people she met, and when she came home for the summer she was unsure about how to continue reaching out. Feeling disillusioned, she didn’t return to university. Facing big emotions and doubting God’s goodness, she tried to run from her fears.
In desperation, Felicia chose to attend Millar College of the Bible in 2017. It was there that she really began to taste God’s grace for herself. While she had longed to share the Good News with others, she now knew it was good news for her. She could rest in God’s finished work without having to strive to earn his acceptance. Instead of trying to save the world, she could simply follow the One who could.
In her last year of college, God gave Felicia another gift: her husband Mark. The two began dating via long distance while she finished her education, and upon graduation she moved to British Columbia, where Mark asked her to marry him.
Felicia published her first book, When Grace Finds You, in 2021 and a second book, A Song in the Night, a novel based on her great-grandmother’s life.
Felicia has found writing to be a tremendous gift as it helps her deal with deep emotions, reflect on what God is teaching her, and point others to Christ. She and her husband live in British Columbia with their son and are expecting their second child in the spring.
Abandoned to Adored (Weary Hearts and Wounded Spirits)
By Reena Groot
Abi and Seth’s lives stand as powerful testaments to the resilience of the human spirit. From the loneliness of abandonment on the Orphan Train, their paths diverged in ways neither could have foreseen. Abi endured the cruelty of an abusive family, while Seth was welcomed into the embrace of a loving home. Yet, their fates were far from sealed. Seth’s heart was shattered when Abi, the woman he adored, chose to marry a brutal man instead of him. Was this truly the end for them? Through trials and heartache, their story unfolds – a testament to the enduring power of love against all odds.
About the author: My addiction to writing began when I binge wrote my first book, A Life Set Free, under a mosquito net in China. It has been fun exploring different genres of writing. I have an Apocalyptic series called The Narrow Path Trilogy, a Mommy & Baby’s Journal (a beautiful gift for expectant moms), a Broken to Beautiful Journal (for women wanting encouragement), Bubs Bunny Goes to Camp (a children’s book), and several historical, romantic fiction books (my favorite genre). God has given me the honour of being an ambassador with The Department of Eternal Affairs” to so many cool places ~ Haiti, a jungle village in Belize, the Ghetto in NYC, behind the Iron Curtain in Poland and Romania, in Israel, China, Thailand, Mexico, Canada, Africa, and Greece. I love adventure and sincerely hope my books take you on journeys where anything is possible.
Around the World in 40 Days
By Paul Estabrooks
It was Saint Augustine who said, “The world is a book. And those who do not travel read only one page!” Around the World in Forty Days takes you on a 360-page global journey with author, Paul Estabrooks. He has visited 96 of the world’s countries. Travel with him from Ambon to Armenia, from Singapore to Siberia, and from North Korea to the New Jerusalem. Each of the forty chapters is part geo-political, part memoir, and part devotional. Every trip had a spiritual lesson. Visit some of the world’s most dangerous places, as well as many more of the world’s most fascinating destinations with chapter titles like, “Chased by the KGB,” and “The Day I Lost Half My Tour Group!” and “The Meaning of Crisis!”
About the author: Paul Estabrooks is a story-teller, broadcaster, writer and teacher. He authored five books during the 38 years he worked with Open Doors International…after eight years with Far East Broadcasting Company in Manila, Philippines. In 1981 he coordinated Project Pearl – the clandestine delivery of one million Chinese Bibles (232 tons) in two hours on one night on a beach in southern China. He is a graduate of Tyndale University and Wayne State University and in 2016 was awarded Tyndale’s Distinguished Alumnus of the Year. He and his bride of 58 years, Dianne, make their home in London, Ontario, Canada. They have 3 married children and 11 grandchildren.
Even if we Cry
By Terrie Todd
Mountain Brook Ink
Warned they “mustn’t cry,” British teenager Nina Gabriel and her two young siblings board a ship bound for Canada as part of the WWII child evacuee program in 1940. Nina’s mischievous brother and seasick sister test her limits on the long voyage – but her burden of responsibility grows still heavier in Canada.
Determined to fulfill her promise to her parents, Nina battles to keep the siblings together through what they all hoped would be no more than one school term. Months turn into years. Unfamiliar Canadian customs, a foster sister who resents them, the mysterious deaths of their host family’s other children, and the birth of a new brother back in England complicate Nina’s world. It doesn’t help when David, the boy she’s grown to love, enlists in the air force with no end to the war in sight.
When a telegram arrives after a London bombing, will Nina find a way to fulfill her promise for the brother she’s never met? Will the Gabriel siblings learn that each of them is loved, even if they cry?
About the author: Terrie Todd’s debut novel, The Silver Suitcase, won the 2017 Word Guild award for Historical Fiction. Her second, Maggie’s War, won the same award for 2018 while her third, Bleak Landing, was a finalist. In 2018, she was awarded the Janette Oke Award by Inscribe Christian Writers Fellowship. She has published eight stories with Chicken Soup for the Soul, two full-length plays with Eldridge Plays and Musicals, and writes a weekly faith and humor column for her hometown paper. She released her first non-fiction book, Out of My Mind: A Decade of Faith and Humour in 2020. Her fourth novel, Rose Among Thornes, won the 2022 Debra Feiguth Social Justice Award as well as Best Cover through the Word Awards. Her fifth novel, The Last Piece, won the 2022 Word Award for Contemporary Fiction. Her sixth novel, Lilly’s Promise, won the 2022 Braun Book Award through Word Alive Press and, in 2023, Best Contemporary Fiction and Best Fiction Book of the Year in The Word Awards.
Terrie lives with her husband, Jon, on the Canadian prairies where they raised three children and where her novels are set. She’s a proud grandma to five boys. Over the years, Terrie has pursued acting, vegan cooking, and playing the saxophone, all with mixed reviews. You can catch up with her latest escapades at www.terrietodd.blogspot.com
Every Perfect Possibility: A Story of Hope and Surrender
By Lisa Dribnenki, with Brian Dribnenki
Word Alive Press
Every Perfect Possibility is a story of hope, devotion, and gratitude. It is the inspiring account of one family’s courage and faith as they learned to view their uncertain future as something powerful and full of possibility. Despite a terminal cancer diagnosis, Lisa and Brian chose to trust God and his plan for their lives and found a peace beyond understanding.
They believe their story will inspire and bring hope to others who are seeking to deepen their connection with God. It is a love story that centres on self-discovery, personal growth, and spiritual renewal.
About the author: Lisa Dribnenki (nee Michaud) is a career social worker, mother, and passionate community builder who turned to writing following the terminal cancer diagnosis of her husband and best friend, Brian. She has a heart for sharing their love story and helping others grow their faith in God despite the most difficult circumstances. May their story inspire you to embrace the unknown as powerful and full of possibility.
The Warehouse
By Bea Oertel
Freisen Press
The Warehouse is a young adult science fiction novel set about 100 years in the future in a city somewhere in North America. Wars and drought have turned the land into a desert. Food is scarce and a tyrannical world government is in charge. The plot centres around a young girl, Kim, who escapes a concentration camp and seeks refuge in a safe house on the outskirts of the city. An older lady, Sharon, takes Kim under her wing and strengthens her physically and emotionally. Restored to health, Kim helps Sharon distribute the food harvested in an illegal garden in the attic of the warehouse. Kim becomes active in the resistance against the tyrannical government, even though she is traumatized and fearful of being recaptured. She saves another escapee from the dangerous borgs, hybrid humanoid robots who work for the government. Sharon takes her young mentees to Eden Valley, where a group of escapees has built a new, self-sufficient community that actively resists the dictatorship of the One World Government. On the way to Eden Valley, Kim overcomes her fear of the dark and discovers her identity. The novel culminates in Kim rescuing her sister from a forced rehabilitation centre in a daring game of disguise. Kim gets caught and resists the brainwashing strategies of the Government minions by declaring the truth about herself and her loved ones. Will she escape the rehab centre and be able to rejoin her loved ones? Read the book to find out!
About the author: Bea has been writing all her life. She started penning poems at around eight years old and distributed hand-written copies to anyone who showed interest. From there, she branched out into writing short stories, travel accounts and autobiographical sketches. The Warehouse is her first novel. Currently, Bea teaches essay writing and Canadian literature at a private college. When she is not at her computer imagining alternate worlds, she can be found hiking and camping in the beautiful coastal mountains of British Columbia with her faithful collie Almendra.
Here is the link to the publisher:
The Warehouse by Bea Oertel | The FriesenPress Bookstore
Why I Help People Take Drugs: Reflections of a Christian Addiction Medicine Physician
Cascade Books
Working in Vancouver’s notorious downtown eastside to pay for her theological education at Regent College, Meera Bai Grover was faced with questions about whether or not providing people who use drugs with sterile supplies and a place to inject contravened her faith. She knew she wanted to care for people with addiction but did not know how to do so in a way that fit with her own moral code.
She wrestled with these questions over the years and through her transition from nursing to becoming a fully licensed physician who specializes in addiction medicine. This book details her insights along the way, describing the patient stories that influenced her practice.
This book is for anyone who has struggled with how to care for people experiencing addiction. Dr. Grover describes her own evangelical Christian lens and how it applies when considering the societal role in the current opioid crisis. She touches on topics such as harm reduction, recovery, decriminalization, and involuntary treatment, with patient examples interwoven with medical education about addiction. In the midst of a devastating opioid crisis, this book provides invaluable lessons to help the church develop a meaningful response toward addiction.
About the author: Dr. Meera Bai Grover is a Canadian addiction medicine physician. She works with a diversity of patients in a variety of sites including hospitals, shelters, street outreach, and clinics. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking and gardening.
Will You Follow Him?: 100 Daily Devotionals
By John Troyer
Word Alive Press
Most of us came to Jesus because of a desperate need, just like those in Bible times, and He gave us what we asked for. Our lives were changed! Unfortunately, our focus on the self easily drives us to selfishly use what He gives us.
Jesus changed the lives of everyone who came to Him, but not everyone responded the same way. Some fell on their knees and worshipped Him while others didn’t even stop to thank Him. But there were a few who were so awed by this Man that they gave up everything to follow, denying themselves to serve Him.
What’s your response to what Jesus did for you?
About the author: This is John Troyer’s second devotional. His first, Real Joy for Everyday Life, was written so others could experience the life-changing, true joy that John found more than fifty years ago.
As a public speaker, John has travelled to many churches in North and South America. He has served in church leadership and has flown as a bush pilot in northern Canada. But the greatest satisfaction he has ever known has come from following Jesus and helping the hurting. Discover more about his adventures in his memoir; Above and Beyond.
Xwist Memin Kin – I Want to go Home
By Mary Jane Joe
Personal memories of people, routines, rules and education at an Indian residential school are outlined. It is a very different picture when compared with home life and family visits. The Government of Canada intended to separate children from parents, traditions, language and spiritual beliefs, but these were the very things that saved and nurtured Nk’xetko, Mary Jane Joe.
“By describing my twelve years of suffering at the school, year by year and grade by grade I realized that the strengths that held me together and gave me the courage to survive and finish school were the teachings of my parents and grandmother. I never said thank you to them. They have passed away, but their love and resilience live on. This book is a belated kwuks chemxw, thank you my dear family.”
About the author: Born Nk’xetko at the Joeyaska Ranch near Merritt B.C. Mary Jane Joe witnessed firsthand what it meant to be “status Indian.” Parents and siblings were sent to Indian residential schools and subjected to harsh rules of assimilation. The Sterling Family of Joeyaska nurtured Nk’xetko through her schooling and after Grade 12 graduation sent her off to university to start a degree but the overwhelming strains of city life cancelled those plans. Getting married, starting a family, and moving to the Yukon far from Joeyaska resulted in a new type of stress that residential school hadn’t prepared her for. It was in raising two children who asked about her childhood that forced Nk’xetko to seek professional counselling. The tide of self-hatred began to diminish in studying scriptures found in the Bible giving her the courage to complete two university degrees by age 47, teaching for 18 years in post-secondary colleges and institutions, despite being called a failure. “My family taught me to “yemit” to pray to the Creator about everything that matters. I retired from teaching and now serve Langara College as Elder-in-Residence. I am happily married to Wayne, we live in the community of Musqueam, Vancouver, B.C. and best of all I teach my three grandchildren that prayers in the language, traditional crafts, songs, dance and drumming make the circle complete and bring much joy. My parents were correct; yemit to the Creator and maintain strong family ties: these are what’s important in this world. We also have a hope in the afterlife.
Press Release
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