Stories of war, resilience and imagination at upcoming local author meet and greet

As a child when Brooke asked her father if he was scared during the war, he would say the fighting was too far away for him to be afraid.

“Then I read his diary where he said, ‘my buddy next to me got shot,’ he was right in it,” says Brooke.

That novel, Coincidental Casualities, was finished in 2019. After writing and releasing it, Brooks says she feels closer than ever to her father.

“When he came home (from the war), he was instructed by the army not to talk about his experience. So I never knew what it was like for him,” Brooks explains. “Then he died and he left his diary. My sister and I started reading it, I’d read one page, she’d read the next, we saw a whole new view of my father.”

Judith is just one of the authors that will be sharing a story on Saturday.

Brandon Hodel has written three books, two of them about his experience with bullying and mental illness.

“The hardest part was telling my story because I didn’t really ever talk about my story too much, now people are gonna actually read it,” says Hodel. “I was even nervous sending it to my editor ‘cause I didn’t know how it was gonna pan out.”

He adds, “it makes me happy knowing that hey, this might help break the stigma or barrier when it comes to talking about mental health even if its something as simple as just reading a book.”

Both Hodel and Brooke will aim their stories at an older audience, but the library meet and greet, also has options for the kids.

Angélique Doyle has written three children’s books with fun facts about mammals, insects and birds.

“Well, I hope that kids can learn how to love to read and that they can always remember to be creative. I think imagination is something that is somewhat lost today.”

Tomorrow, Hatters are invited to connect through the power of words and imagination.

Doyle says, “the public library has been a huge support to me and all of my journey’s that I’ve been on, and this is just another chapter in that and I’m really really excited for tomorrow’s adventure.”

If you love what you read tomorrow, all three of these authors have more books in the works.

The children’s book portion of the event takes place from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm and the adult book portion runs from 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm.

More details of the event can be found on the Medicine Hat Public Library website.

by Lisa Parent

Stories of war, resilience and imagination at upcoming local author meet and greet

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