Terry Fallis, Cathy Hird present new novels at Forster’s Book Garden

Written By KIRA WRONSKA DORWARD

Forster's Book Garden had double the luck over the weekend as two authors came for signings at the store. Both comedic writer Terry Fallis and former Palgrave United Church Minister Cathy Hird were present to promote their new books, Albatross and the last book in her second fantasy series, Shattered, respectively.

“It's gonna be a great day,” said Donna of Forster's Book Garden. “Terry's a big name, and Cathy has her own following because she was Minister of the United Church…so we should have a big crowd, and that's always exciting.” Aside from the presence of the writers, Bolton Mills Retirement Community donated a gift basket as a draw prize for the event.

Fallis, coming to fame after self-publishing The Best Laid Plans, which subsequently won the Stephen Leacock medal, was eager to talk about the theme of Albatross, which examines the relationship between professional success and personal happiness. 

“To me,” says Fallis, “it's a story about the tension that exists between happiness and success, and the confusion that happens when you're at that place in your life…you work so much for success, and then are surprised when that doesn't bring happiness. The moral of the story is that we have to find out what makes us happy, and how to incorporate that into your life.”

Speaking from his personal experience as a best-selling author, Fallis continues, “very few people have the luxury of building a career out of something that you love to do…and suddenly you can't turn back from that. I've seen a couple of friends go through that, so it inspired me to examine the issue.”

Obviously a novel written by someone at the height of their career, Fallis assures everyone that Albatross is not a novel about golf, although the author does play his fair share while not writing. “It's about life, love and loss, and that tension between happiness and success. I hope its similar [to my other novels] in that readers will be entertained, they'll enjoy it, have a few laughs, and hopefully get a lump in their throat once in a while.”

Former Palgrave United Church Minister Cathy Hird was delighted to be back among her flock. “It's great to comeback and reconnect with people and see how the Caledon community is faring…Working in Caledon, I learned a lot about actually living out of your environmental community. Palgrave United Church is consciously green…so I think it helped me ground my writing in the moment and the place. My second fantasy series [is] set just outside of Thornbury…I think the 9 ½ years [in Caledon], I thought about walking softly in creation, and it's there in the writing.”

Reflecting on her body of work, her two separate fantasy series, and her upcoming novel, Hird ruminates, “[The fantasy series] are very different, and with each one I've been able to delve into a different place, a different take on people…I think the upcoming [novel] is the best, but I love what I explored in each of them.”