It isn’t often an author gives a mission statement to a publisher, but June Cotner did. Her mission is to create books that “offer comfort, encouragement, hope and inspiration for everyday life.”
I reviewed her book “We are Women: Celebrating Our Wit and Grit” and found it to be fun and stimulating. Now, June has gathered poems and sayings from several writers into anthologies addressing other topics.
One of her three newest books is “Dog Blessings” which contains poems, stories and prayers “celebrating our relationship with dogs.” Cotner owns a lovely, large dog that is part Pyrenees and part Labrador who may have helped inspire this book.
A quote from her book: “A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.” By Josh Billings, and it is so true.
The second new book, “Baby Blessings,” is divided into sections: pregnancy, birth, new baby, babyhood, lullabies, and more. From the book I share this wisdom: “As we bring up our children, we have to remember that we are caretakers of the future of mankind, the future of the world.” This a a quote from Leo Tolstoy. I found this a very sage reminder.
The third new book, “Christmas Blessings” is full of poems and prayers celebrating the season.
“To celebrate the heart of Christmas is to forget ourselves in the service of others,” a quote from Henry C. Link which seems to spell out what Christmas is really about.
A little background about June Cotner. She has sold more then a million books under her name. You may remember “Amazing Graces” or “Forever In Love” or the “Home Design Handbook,” and of course, “We are Women.” They all include humor, reminders, and even some lessons for us to use however we need them
On Cotner’s website she calls for submission from writers, gives them the topic she is interested in collecting pieces about, and when she gets enough submissions she organizes the book and gets it published. Each writer gets recognized for their piece and the reader gets a variety of stories, sayings, poems and more.
These books are what I call “little books.” They measure just a little wider and thicker than a cell phone and fit easily into a purse or side pocket. Nice to have handy for ferry rides or waiting room visits of any kind.
If you are interested in submitting, or just want to learn more about this project, go to her website http://www.junecotner.com and look under submissions. If you want to purchase any of these books go to Liberty Bay Books, Eagle Harbor Bookstore, Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com.
Now, did you know that the BARN (Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network) offers classes and events of many crafts and activities for culinary arts to writers?
Here’s a list of the groups that are currently part of the BARN: book arts, contact MJ Linford; electronic and technical arts, contact Nathan Abell; fiber arts, contact Sybil Carrere, glass arts, contact Diane Bonciolini; jewelry and fine metals, contact Jane Martin; kitchen arts, contact Kell Killian; media arts and BCB, contact Chris Walker; metal arts, contact Peter Moseley; printmaking, contact Renee Jameson; woodworking and small boat building, contact Michael Gunderson; and writers, contact Teri Smith.
If you want more information or to contact emails and phone numbers, go to bainbridgebarn.org.
Quote for today: “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
Donna Lee Anderson is a local Poulsbo writer and writes a literary column for Kitsap Weekly. You can email her at welltoldtales@aol.com.
