She submitted her story at least a year ago and learned last spring her Canadiana tale was in the last five per cent of the stories to be considered.
Then Joei Carlton Hossack got the final word – she’d made the cut and had a story destined for the pages of one of the newest Chicken Soup for the Soul books.
Chicken Soup For the Soul: O Canada is a collection of 101 stories by and for Canadians. As an American citizen living in Canada, the Surrey author fit the bill.
“I really don’t know how I felt,” she says of learning her story would be included. “I knew it was a huge opportunity, but I didn’t know how big. I’ve really not heard of anyone who’s not heard of the Chicken Soup books.”
Her story, called “He Shoots, He Scores,” is a page-and-a-half tale that’s among several in the book about hockey. But Carlton Hossack’s is not your average sports play-by-play.
“Mine’s the only one that’s funny!” she quips.
Her story recalls a time many years ago when she had been in a cross-country skiing accident and had her leg in a cast from toe to hip. Her husband had taken her ice fishing with some buddies, propping her and her broken limb in a lawn chair to observe.
However, when the men grew tired of fishing, they began playing hockey. Fuelled by alcohol, they then turned to the author and decided it would be much more fun to replace the puck with her, pushing her around the makeshift rink.
“Almost all of my stories have humour in them,” Carlton Hossack says. “People tell me they’re ‘laugh-out-loud’ funny.”
She’s thrilled to have her short anecdote in the book and has already submitted four more of her stories for future Chicken Soup publications.
“Nothing succeeds like success,” she laughs.
