Author Spotlight: Our Whistler Independent Book Awards Finalists
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Every year since 2016, the Whistler Independent Book Awards (WIBA) shines a national spotlight on Canadian literary indie excellence in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books. Beyond honouring exceptional storytelling and outstanding craft, the WIBA champions one of Canada’s most creative and entrepreneurial literary communities: independent authors.
As a publishing services provider, we share the WIBA’s belief that independent publishing is a vital and growing part of Canada’s cultural landscape — one that gives authors the freedom to tell stories that might otherwise go unheard. Seeing so many of our authors become finalists (and even win!) over the years has become one of our favourite fall traditions here at FriesenPress; not only is it rewarding to see their hard work stand out among the nation’s best, but it also reaffirms the power of collaboration, professionalism, and creative independence that defines self-publishing at its finest.
2025 is no exception, with four talented FriesenPress authors being named as finalists in all three major awards categories. To celebrate their awesome achievements, we reached out to ask what it means to be recognized for this award, including some reflections on their writing and publishing journey.
With the 2025 award winners set to be announced this Friday, October 31st at this year’s Whistler Writers Festival (which we sponsor!), let’s get to know our finalists:
Lisa MacDonald: Me, My Selfie, and I (Children’s Finalist)
About the Book: Me, My Selfie and I is an interactive workbook designed to support readers on a personal development journey focused on self-discovery, confidence, and emotional well-being. Through engaging activities, reflective quizzes, achievement badges, and creative projects, the workbook explores key themes such as peace, respect, friendship, wellness, and beauty. The experience culminates in 68 thoughtfully crafted “selfie cards,” each offering affirmations and guidance to help readers strengthen their sense of self-love and inner connection.
Me, My Selfie, and I: Discovering and Embracing a True Love of Self is a passion project inspired by over a decade of facilitating It’s a Girl Thing — a self-esteem program for girls in Grades 5 and 6.
Being named a finalist at the WIBA is a meaningful recognition of the collaboration, joy, and self-love that more than 100 girls discovered together through that program.
When my professional role shifted from educator to administrator, I was no longer able to continue It’s a Girl Thing in the same format. However, I continued to witness the need for this kind of work in elementary schools. That’s when I realized it was time to reinvent the program and share it more broadly. I wanted to create something that educators, parents, and professionals working with youth could use to continue building confidence and self-worth in young people.
I began exploring Canadian independent publishers and scheduled a consultation with FriesenPress. From our first meeting, Scott at FriesenPress embraced my vision with genuine excitement and encouragement. While certain elements of the original program — like stickers, mirrors, and spinners — weren’t practical for a book format, he suggested transforming it into a DIY-style activity book. It was the perfect solution for encouraging readers to explore and embrace their own self-love in an interactive way.
The self-publishing journey has been incredibly rewarding. It allowed me to collaborate closely with publishing professionals while maintaining the integrity and core values of my original program. Every decision was made with intention and care, ensuring the final product remained authentic and impactful.
Receiving recognition from the WIBA is truly humbling. I never created It’s a Girl Thing for accolades or attention. My motivation has always been to support young girls in discovering their worth and building lifelong confidence. At the same time, being acknowledged for my work — as both an educator and now as an author — fills me with pride. I’m grateful that Me, My Selfie, and I resonates with others as deeply as it does with me.
Jerome Bourgault: Day of Epiphany (Fiction Finalist)
I’ve long been interested in Canadian history of the 1940s and ’50s, an era when my own parents were in their teens and twenties. While it was never going to be a biographical work, I thought the new novel could be a place where many of their stories might find a voice and live on, while contributing generously to the detail of the picture I wanted to paint.
As I threw myself into researching the social history of the period, one name dominated from the start: Union nationale leader Maurice Duplessis. I didn’t know much about him initially, except that he was premier of Québec for the better part of 20 years, and that he was immensely influential. What they didn’t teach us in high school was his dubious legacy. First, the Duplessis era itself came to be known as La grande noirceur — the Great Darkness — a period of extreme conservatism, political corruption, sluggish economic growth and stifled cultural development. Second was the scandal of the Duplessis orphans, thousands of children whom he allowed to be deliberately misclassified as mental patients in order to qualify for federal subsidies earmarked for psychiatric hospitals. It was an incredibly compelling and tragic episode, which I quickly discovered was largely unknown in English-speaking Canada. This was the story I wanted to write about.
I decided to self-publish for two reasons. First off, the creative freedom provided by self-publishing was essential. In order to properly honour the victims and survivors of this tragedy, the novel had to be honest and unflinching; I didn’t want to risk it becoming compromised in an effort to make it more palatable. Second, there was a time issue for me. This novel is dedicated to my parents, who were both 96 years old when it was published, and it was critical to get the book out and in their hands as quickly as possible. I couldn’t afford to spend months and years shopping my manuscript around to various traditional publishers, only to have them sit on it for just as long.
The story of the Duplessis orphans is quickly disappearing from living memory. A big part of why I wrote this novel was to bring their story to the public consciousness and maybe initiate some discussion around the theme of institutional abuse. The recognition coming from this nomination will certainly help to achieve that.
I would like to send a huge shout-out to FriesenPress who not only understood my urgency but for the creative freedom that was so essential to me, not only in terms of the manuscript but also the cover design.They were professional, generous, and understanding of my needs, and I owe them a debt of gratitude.
Robin Anne Ettles: this is all we know (Fiction Finalist)
About the Book: this is all we know offers a version of the Canadian landscape against which eccentric tales and colourful characters evoke ever-shifting perspectives on what we see and who we are. It is a series of literary snapshots, often showing us single frames from our life-film. The composition, lighting, and texture of these frames captures the intertwined state of our inner and outer worlds at that moment in time.
My second book of short stories, this is all we know, was underway while I was in the self-publishing phase of the first one, What May Come of Our Darkness. I kept writing short stories until I had enough to put together a second work.
Being selected as a Whistler Independent Book Award finalist validates the growth of my craft and continued efforts in putting the work out there. The growth and the recognition are both exciting. I feel happy about them. To make the top three of anything, especially on a national level, is a mix of joy and humility.
Publication is part and parcel of the artistic process. My early creative background is in indie music. In that arena, if you want your art to be out there, it’s DIY for a long time. For my two first literary (ad)ventures, getting the work out there was more important to me than submitting and waiting on publishers’ responses. I am OK with submission rejections; I was less OK with the idea of waiting for them to come in — which can be part and parcel of publisher submissions — only to circle back to a self-publishing path.
For my next literary project, I may well embark on the submissions journey. I do this with the knowledge and experience of self-publishing as an option that can support development during and beyond publication.
If I’m honest, self-publishing is a somewhat lonely world that really pushed me to the limits of my self-direction and discipline. The summary provided by FriesenPress upon their first read completely captured the essence of my book. The book and I felt seen! This, along with some positive feedback and possible avenues for the book’s future, also provided in their initial response, became highly encouraging elements in seeing the process through to completion.
Diane Kirby: Grief and the Spirit World (Nonfiction Finalist)
About the Book: Diane Kirby is a retired lawyer from Ontario. Her memoir, Grief and the Spirit World, examines her Scottish family’s belief in spiritualism and its impact on grief journeys. It is only after her husband’s death that she finally embraces learning how to use her own abilities to help herself and others from crushing loss.
I was a lawyer by trade, and I wrote for a living. I never really put pen to paper for any other reason. Then my husband died, and a grief counsellor suggested writing to process my feelings about his death. It is a totally different style of writing. I write for me, now. I write short essays on things that catch my eye, and then I try to put a number of them together in a structure that makes sense to a reader. For example, my memoir, Grief and the Spirit World, was crafted around existing essays. Only when I laid them out could I see the true story unfolding. And that story made me examine my life in a way I had never done before, revealing truths hidden, missed, or avoided.
Although my main goal in writing is not to make money, I take the craft very seriously. Hence, I am also very particular about the book’s physical production. Naturally, I want it to be the best it can be. Before I published my first book, I knew nothing about self-publishing. I approached FriesenPress, and my experience with them was excellent. Not only could I follow the process, but I was also involved in the process, and there were resources for me at every stage to answer my many questions. I was so impressed with the service I received that when it came time to publish my second book, Grief and the Spirit World, I didn’t hesitate to return to FriesenPress. In fact, I even requested and was privileged to work with the same team again. Big shout-out to Carly for making it all happen! YOU ROCK!
It is an honour to be in the running for one of the Whistler Independent Book Awards this year. Getting the nod from others in the business is quite special. Being included allows me to introduce my voice to people with whom it may resonate and, if appropriate, lead them to read one of my books. So, I’m very excited to travel across the country to attend the Whistler Writers Festival. Writing is a solitary pursuit, so getting together with like-minded, kindred spirits is always an opportunity not to be missed.
Best of luck (and one last congratulations) to our finalists!
To learn more about the incredible award wins, media features, and glowing reviews FriesenPress authors have received for their work, visit our often-updated Author Success Highlights page.
