Happy Friday!
This is Jason Cannon with Ibis Books.
The last several weeks, I've been pondering time, and what it means to spend time, and sharing those musings with you.
Marathons and BBQ are one thing, but what if you spent 40 years with someone?
That's the starting point for the newest release from Ibis Books, LETTERS TO JIM: MEMOIR OF A 40-YEAR LOVE STORY.
I teased the cover last week. No more suspense. Check it out!
I gotta tell ya, I'm in love with this cover.
The artwork is an original painting by Alice Brodhead. She is a long-time friend to both Estrella and Jim. And then the cover was put together by the amazing team over at 100covers.com.
And who are Estrella and Jim? They are the main characters in this book, a couple of soulmates who spent 40 years together, until Jim's passing in June of 2022.
Here's a bit more about the book:
LETTERS TO JIM is an epistolary memoir and real-time meditation on love and grief, romance and mourning.
Created from actual letters Estrella Engelhardt wrote to her departed soulmate, LETTERS TO JIM confronts the most difficult questions that arise when those we love are taken from us.
While answers to such questions are few, the story of Jim and Estrella will leave you uplifted, hopeful, and perhaps a few steps further along your own journey of healing.
Over the next few weeks, you'll be introduced more fully to Estrella herself, and have the chance to read a preview, but here's the key date to put into your calendar...
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25
That is launch day for LETTERS TO JIM!
It will be available as an ebook directly from the Ibis Books website, and as a print-on-demand paperback via Amazon and Bookshop.org.
We will also be having an in-person launch event from 4-6pm at Nellie's Deli here in Sarasota, where you can pick up a copy and get it signed by Estrella herself. More details will be forthcoming on that event as well!
And one final reminder, the Eleventh Annual Student Ten-Minute Playwriting Festival, presented by Theatre Odyssey, is THIS WEEKEND.
Saturday at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2pm at the Cook Theatre.
I'm incredibly proud of these eight young playwrights and had the best time working with them on polishing up their stories.
One of them will be awarded Best Play and the playwright will receive the Verna Safran Prize and $1,000. The runner-up will receive a cash prize of $500. The remaining finalists each receive $100.
Here's the breakdown:
BLOOD AND TEA
by Eve Hare
(Cardinal Mooney High School)
CHANGING FORTUNES
by Patrick van Eyck
(Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School)
THE DEADLINE
by Damion Clifford
(Lake Gibson High School)
THE DEVOUT SPINSTER
by Sawyer Girgis
(Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School)
FATHER’S FINAL GIFT
by Jaylen Benony
(Booker High School)
THE GAME OF GIFTS
by Seamus Kehoe
(Home-Schooled)
A MATTER OF TIME
by Elaina Bayard
(Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School)
SEEDLING SPRITE
by Kayla Moran
(St. Petersburg Catholic High School)
You can visit here for the online playbill.
And you purchase tickets here for both performances.
I'll see you next week and introduce you to Estrella. Till then, tell those you spend the most time with how much they mean to you.
All gratitude--
Jason "Cover Lover" Cannon
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