Alison Garwood Jones

Comfort on Mother’s Day

April 16, 2025

Last year, in the lead up to Mother’s Day I created a grief survey and asked orphaned adults to share what they do on Mother’s Day now that she’s gone. Here’s what you said:

• I avoid church, restaurants and garden centres

• I play her favourite songs

• I hang out with my siblings and trade memories

• I avoid my siblings

• I drink

• I cook her best dishes

• I go for a nice long walk in nature

Then I asked for your best coping mechanisms:

• I work out (it metabolizes grief)

• I journal (to surface good memories and reframe bad ones)

• I talk to someone (a spouse, a friend, a therapist, my dog)

• I go back to bed

Several pointed to our culture’s recent spiritual reframing of grief as a form of unexpressed love. Thank you, Andrew Garfield and Marisa Renée Lee, author of Grief Is Love for helping to change the angle of our lens on loss.

Finally I asked, if you could tell your mother one last thing what would it be?

• “I’m doing okay.”

• “I miss you terribly.”

• “Come back.”

• “You made me who I am.”

• “I love you, I love you, I love you.”

I took all of these emotions and put them in my new illustrated novel about grief called, I MISS MY MOMMY.

It shows a series of 150 portraits of orphaned adults, most of them Gen X’ers, trying to figure out how to “do life” without their folks.

I wanted to show what grief looks like day-to-day and how we learn to live with it, even thrive, in moments of hope and renewed energy. The result is grim, funny, relatable, and hopeful.

I Miss My Mommy in Kirkus Reviews magazine

These are “stories we need,” said Kirkus Reviews in a Spotlight of the book published yesterday in their April 15 issue of Kirkus Reviews Magazine. Thank you, Kirkus Media.

Make I MISS MY MOMMY your source of comfort this Mother’s Day.

SHOP: PenJarProductions

Printed and shipped with care by Lulu Press, Inc.

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U of T SCS Career Expo

April 15, 2025

U of T SCS Career Expo and Networking Event

Today I stopped by the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies’ inaugural Career Expo & Networking Event. From 10-3, the room at Hart House was packed with people looking to connect with top employers, explore new career paths and gain valuable industry insights.

Given the laptop life I lead, it was a chance for me to say hi in person to my colleague, Juan Mavo-Navarro and my course teammates, Lee Gowan, Valeria Gomez and the ever delightful Madhuker Akula, M.Ed., M.Sc. who took my pic!

I left the event full of energy and inspiration. ✨💡👩🏻‍💻

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Saskatchewan Librairies

April 8, 2025

I Miss My Mommy by Alison Garwood-Jones is now in Libraries across Canada

Do you have a rapacious view of success? This story will slow you down.

I MISS MY MOMMY is now available in libraries across the province of Saskatchewan through Saskatchewan.Overdrive.com

Since January, I’ve been rising with the sun and pitching one collections librarian at a time to carry my book.

Yes, I have a map with pins marking Victoria, Halifax and the towns and communities in between.

When you’re an indie author, the road to discovery is a steeper climb. And, in Saskatchewan’s case, a horizon seemingly out of reach.

But I believe in the Law of the Harvest. Don’t all Canadians? Especially those who sign books out of small library branches across the heartland.

You reap what you sow. Plant the seeds, give them sunshine and snow, and see what happens. I don’t wait around. I chop the wood, carry the water, and take the gaping silences in my stride. Patience, persistence, and hope are my companions.

That’s why I appreciate the posy of spring flowers Saskatchewan just sent me.

Indie publishing doesn’t let you have a rapacious view of success (“Waddya mean my book isn’t on the moon, yet? Who’s in charge of distribution?”) It slows you down and makes you appreciate every. single. thing.

I MISS MY MOMMY is an illustrated novel about grief aimed mostly at Gen X’ers who are learning to “do life” without their parents. The book has earned high praise from Publishers Weekly as well as a Kirkus Star and a spot on the Best Books of 2024 by Kirkus Reviews.

Consider this: I MISS MY MOMMY makes a unique Mother’s Day gift for the orphaned adult in your life. Maybe it’s you. The book is available in paperback and eBook at Pen Jar Productions. It’s also available for free in libraries across Saskatchewan, Vancouver, Toronto, Burlington and Grimsby, with more to come.

Printed and shipped with care by Lulu Press, Inc.Pamela Capraru

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Bologna Book Fair

April 1, 2025

The road show continues. After hitting the London Book Fair two weeks ago with Lulu Press, this week, my friends at Foreword Reviews are showcasing I MISS MY MOMMY in Italy at the Bologna Books Plus Fair/Bologna Children’s Book Fair.

This is one the premier events in the global publishing industry, bringing together publishers, illustrators, authors, agents, translators, and foreign rights specialists under one roof. The goal is to showcase exceptional indie titles, connect with industry leaders, and highlight the best in indie and children’s publishing.

Foreword Reviews is at the heart of the action, providing a platform for independent authors and publishers to network and engage with potential international partners. A special thank you to Stacy Price, Kathy Young and Josie Robinson.

I MISS MY MOMMY is an illustrated book about grief that makes a poignant companion for orphaned adults on Mother’s Day, and any day you may be missing (or processing) your deceased parents.

My book is printed and shipped by Lulu Press.

Publishers Weekly reviews I Miss My Mommy: 150 Portraits of Orphaned Adults

 

Kirkus Review of I MISS MY MOMMY by Alison Garwood-Jones

Tracey Hoyt Review of I Miss My Mommy by Alison Garwood-Jones 1

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London Book Fair

March 15, 2025

I’m not travelling right now, but my book is!

London Book Fair

Thanks to Matt Briel and the team at Lulu Press, she’s at the London Book Fair happening this week at the London Olympia in West Kensington (not far from where my dad went to school). I hope they take her out for kebabs or curry and a spin around Trafalgar Square. Thanks guys! #LBF25

I Miss My Mommy: 150 Portraits of Orphaned Adults is the world’s first picture book for big people without parents. It takes readers right to the heart of the five stages of grief through 150 hand-drawn portraits, some grim, some funny, but all relatable. The stage you’re in may change by the hour, or even the minute. I Miss My Mommy helps readers struggling with grief sit with emotions they’d rather avoid but can’t stop feeling.

Because sometimes we need images to explain the language of loss (Kirkus starred review; a Kirkus Best Book of 2024).

I Miss My Mommy: 150 Portraits of Orphaned Adults by Alison Garwood-Jones

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AGO Day

February 16, 2025

Visit to AGO watercolour by Alison Garwood-Jones

It’s been snowing for 48 hours in Toronto, so yesterday I took myself to the tropical island of AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario). All museums should consider hanging their collection on outrageously bright walls.

I painted this scene while DJ Oke Eve spun dance tunes in Walker Court.

Hat tip to Bernini and Pope Gregory XV, Jesus, St. Paul the Hermit, and all the visitors who instinctively knew what a haven and healer art is.

 

Visit to the AGO watercolour by Alison Garwood-Jones

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I Am Canadian

February 16, 2025

One late Friday night in the summer of 2000 I was working as a host at the Bier Markt in Toronto. The place was rammed and the energy was sky-high due in no small part to the band, the Carpet Frogs (aka. The Guess Who).

In an unexpected twist, the music stopped (it could have been American Woman) and this cute guy stepped up on stage and took over the microphone. That’s when we heard it: The “I AM CANADIAN” rant which showed us how to turn meek into the most delicious display of bad assery since … uh … maybe never?

Suffice it to say, Jeff Douglas (Joe) brought the house down and united Canadians in every bar he visited during his cross-country tour for that award-winning Molson ad campaign.

It wasn’t the beer, it was Joe and our love for Canada.

Happy Birthday to our flag #flagday#60 and this ad #25 -👏🏼@thornleyfallis@nsjeffdouglas ♥️

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Book Reco: The Boys

February 13, 2025

“But first, the Tranya …”

Now that I’ve got your attention, I want to recommend a book that will lighten the load and boost your spirits.

“The Boys” is a memoir by brothers Ron and Clint Howard, two showbiz kids with a remarkably grounded appreciation for life. This is a love story that looks back on the formative influence of their parents, Rance and Jean, two Midwesterners who moved to California as newlyweds to pursue their own acting dreams.

The Boys, by Ron and Clint Howard

But mum and dad had to put their egos aside when their little boys stole the spotlight. First Ronny as Opie in The Andy Griffith Show, then Clint as Mark in Gentle Ben. Clint’s single appearance in Star Trek as seven-year-old Commander Balok, relisher of the Tranya (pink grapefruit juice), is unforgettably weird and wonderful. YouTube it.

Instead of being stage parents, Jean held down the fort while Rance continued to be a dedicated actor (of bit parts), screenwriter, and life coach to his boys. Somehow, he found a way to be risk-taking in his art and principled in life. It inspired Ron to direct movies about astronauts, race car drivers, flawed geniuses, and mermaids, while it gave Clint permission to lean into his crooked teeth and squinty eyes. With an evil “Ha-ha-ha-ha!” Clint became one of Hollywood’s most sought-after character actors.

The Boys shows us that life is an unpredictable zigzag with no guarantees. But let that shape you, rather than getting the better of you. Thanks, boys.

Five out of five. 

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Lively Minds

February 11, 2025

Illustration of anand giridharadas and tina brown by alison garwood-jones

Lively minds taking on these times: Anand Giridharadas and Tina Brown.

 

Their sense of history helps.

 

Follow Anand’s newsletter at The.Ink

 

Follow Tina’s newsletter at TinaBrown.Substack.com

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How students use AI

January 14, 2025

Recently, my friend Stephen Ghigliotty made a quip about AI: “We are living through the revenge of the liberal arts grad.”

I’m seeing this play out in class at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studieswhere I teach courses in Digital Comms Strategy (2875) and Writing Digital Content (3681).

Every student who signs up for these courses in digital strategy and content marketing is a knowledge worker. And, from my informal polling, most have liberal arts degrees in English, art history, journalism, psychology, film, music, and more.

Why would something so technical (AI) be such an opportunity for humanities majors?

Ethan Mollick says it best: “Writers are often the best at prompting AI  … because they are skilled at describing the effects they want prose to create. They are good editors, so they can provide instructions back to the AI. And they can manipulate narrative to get the AI to think in the way they want.”

This video shows 5 AI tools SCS students (now grads) are using to manage their time and super charge their creative expression. All are learning to be the conductors of an orchestra of AI apps (h/t Christopher Penn).

SCS students are testing AI to be ready for the new workplace

To learn more about the University of Toronto SCS classes I teach, here are the links:

• 2875 – Foundations in Digital Comms Strategy & Social Media in the Age of AI

• 3681 – Writing Digital Content

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