fiction

Summer of Stories Reading Challenge

/ Ev Bishop / Leave a comment

Hello and happy Summer Solstice dear readers!

It’s been a long time since I ran a summer reading challenge, so I was super excited when ideas for Summer of Stories jumped into my mind! I hope you’ll join in the fun.

You can take part completely on your own and email me your results at the end, or you can post your process on Facebook and tag me, or (my favourite option! 😁) consider joining The Cabin, my private reader group, and enjoy book lover chat, sharing the books you read for each prompt, and other fun things.

Summer of Stories will run June 21 – August 31, 2025.  I’ve even created a printable checklist for you to keep track of your reads.

Summer_of_Stories_Reading_TrackerDownload

Here are all the fun details!

🌞 Ev Bishop’s Summer of Stories Reading Challenge 🌻

Grab your favorite bevvy, curl up in your comfiest reading chair or outdoor reading space, and enjoy every leisurely, sun-warmed minute of summer reading!  

Add to the fun by chatting about progress at The Cabin or sharing about it on Facebook using #EvBishopSummerofStories

📚 How It Works

  • Choose books that match the prompts below.
  • Read in any order, at your own pace.
  • Optional: Share your progress at The Cabin or on Facebook using #EvBishopSummerofStories 

🍓 Reading Prompts (1–20)

  1. Visit River’s Sigh B & B
    Read or revisit any book in Ev Bishop’s River’s Sigh B & B series.
  1. Second Chances and Fresh Starts
    A story about starting over or returning home.
  1. Small-town Shenanigans
    Set in a cozy or quirky small town.
  1. It’s a mystery!
    But it’s not a mystery what this prompt is. Read a mystery! 
  1. Women Supporting Women
    Female friendships or multi-generational bonds shine.
  1. Heatwave Romance
    A steamy (or sweet!) romance that blooms in the summer.
  1. Family Ties and Tangled Truths
    A story with family drama, long-held secrets, or emotional healing.
  1. Ev’s Pick
    Read a stand-alone or novella by Ev Bishop that’s new to you.
  1. Bookstore, Bakery, or B&B Bonus
    A cozy business is central to the plot.
  1. Under the Stars
    Read a book entirely outdoors (all at one go or in sessions)
  1. Step into the Second Chance Shop
    Read any book Ev Bishop’s Second Chance Shop series—where preloved treasures lead to new beginnings. (If you’ve already read Something Old and Something New, record them. They count!) 
  1. Christmas in July
    Dive into a holiday-themed read—or revisit Silver Bells at River’s Sigh B & B for midyear festive magic.
  1. Loyal & True
    Read Loyal & True by Ev Bishop—a heartfelt story of healing and connection.
  1. Animal Lovers Unite! 
    A book where an animal of any kind plays a prominent role in the plot.
  1. First Love, Lasting Love
    A romance about rekindled or long-enduring love.
  1. Judge a book by its cover! 
    Pick the prettiest book you see at your favorite place to buy or borrow books and enjoy it cover to cover.
  1. Page-to-Plate
    A story that inspires you to cook or bake something delicious. 
  1. Heartbreak and Healing
    A book centered around grief, resilience, and emotional rebirth.
  1. Book You’ve Been Meaning to Read
    Finally crack open that one you’ve been putting off!
  1. Beach Buddy
    Read a book set near the lake or the ocean.

🎉 Bonus Fun

  • Create a summer-inspired bookmark or fridge magnet
  • Share your favorite quote from one of your reads
  • Make a recipe inspired by one of the books you read.
  • Post your reading nook or picnic reading spot

Achievement Tiers

Celebrate your reading with these fun rankings! 

🥉 Bronze Tier – Story Sampler

Complete 5 prompts
You’ve dipped your toes into summer reading and had some bookish adventures!

🥈 Silver Tier – Small-Town Explorer

Complete 10 prompts
You’re soaking in the stories and scenery now! Friendships, romance, and second chances are blooming all around you.

🥇 Gold Tier – Reading Hero

Complete 15 or more prompts (including at least 1 Ev Bishop book)
You’ve fully embraced the spirit of the challenge! Your heart’s been mended, your spirit recharged, and you’re practically a resident of River’s Sigh B & B.

🌟 Super Reader Bonus

Complete all 20 prompts + 2 bonus fun activities
You’re the ultimate summer story adventurer! You’ve laughed, cried, cooked, connected, and lived through every cozy chapter.

🎉 Prizes: E-mail your results, tier, and mailing address to Ev at evbishop@evbishop.com before September 5, 2025, to receive fun book lover participation prizes, plus a chance to win two signed books by Ev Bishop of your choice!

Email: evbishop@evbishop.com

Subject line: Summer of Stories Reading Challenge

I hope you’ll play and that you have a blast. Happy summer and HAPPY READING!

😊💕 Ev

Little by Little

/ Ev Bishop / 12 Comments

Petit á petit, l’oiseau fait son nid. 

When I came across this lovely saying in French recently, it wrapped around me like the comforting, encouraging, celebratory hug of a dear friend. Little by little, the bird makes his nest.

Ever full of dreams, plans, and schemes (and prone to being very hard on myself, something I’m working diligently to change!), rather than reflect on things I’ve accomplished, I’m someone who finds it easier to focus on everything I haven’t done yet but want to, the project that I haven’t tackled, the idea birthed but not yet brought to fruition. (And I’m one hundred percent sure I’m not alone in this. In fact, I’d go so far, dear reader, as to suggest it’s something you do too!) 

Almost simultaneously with discovering that quote, I embarked on a new exciting quest: applying for a couple of Writers in Residence programs. A large part of the application process was creating a CV and a list of publishing credits. As I went through the task of recording each of my published novels, short stories, and poems, documenting awards and honours I’ve received, and summarizing workshops, presentations, panels, and readings I’ve created, led, or taken part in, I was a little . . . well, awed, actually. I have written a lot of things across genres and in many forms, and it was really exciting to see them all laid out in black and white. (It doesn’t diminish my goals and plans for future writing projects in any way, but it was very encouraging: I probably will get around to those dreams and schemes because look at all the things I’ve completed and explored before!)

Petit á petit, l’oiseau fait son nid. 

It doesn’t just apply to creative goals or writing aspirations. I’m sometimes impatient about my yard and garden, but those types of activities can’t be rushed. Trees take time to mature and bear fruit, flowers only blossom in their season, and even when plants appear to be dormant, that is only appearance. Beneath the surface, life is just waiting for the right time to burst forth. And when I look back at rose bushes that were once newly planted sticks with just a leaf or two, proving they were alive, or at various masses of perennials that were each, once, just one solitary planting, I’m struck again: little by little. My latest lesson here is two new grape varieties, about which the man who sold them to me advised, “Don’t do anything to them for at least two years, and even better, three. Let them get really rooted and established before pruning.” 

Relationships too. We can’t Abracadabra lifelong friendships into being. You build friendships, shared experience by shared experience, laugh by laugh, shared tear by tear. 

I’ve tried—and failed—to see if there’s a part of life that the lovely saying doesn’t apply to. And if one of our nests literally or figuratively gets destroyed? Again, the bird (if it’s a robin, anyway!) is a good inspiration. Little by little, the resilient creatures build a new one—often with the same materials and methods if they weren’t the problem. 

So that’s me these days, busily, happily enjoying my various nests, some of which I’ve mentioned, some of which I haven’t, all the while knowing that I’m still building and rebuilding. And may I ever be. And may you ever be, too.  

Petit á petit, l’oiseau fait son nid. 

Cold Calling For Fiction Facts

/ Ev Bishop / 6 Comments

I am a fairly outgoing person—at least in situations where I’ve had time to prepare for being social and can make sure I’m “on.” I am, however, a bit of a phone phobe, even when someone else is calling me, let alone when I—gasp—have to be the one making the call. And I hate feeling like I’m intruding on someone by just showing up to talk business or whatever (it’s a good thing most of my work comes to me, isn’t it? Gah.).

Yet what did I find myself doing yesterday? Dropping in unannounced on various people I’ve never met before to confirm some facts/flesh out details that I need for my novel. The biggest surprise? Well, it’s three-fold actually. 1) I wasn’t even scared! Perhaps I’m too excited about how the writing’s going to feel intimidated. Or perhaps all the work I do with my business now, for people who are initially strangers, is helping me come out of my shell with my fiction too. 2) The people I talked to were not only helpful and informative, they seemed excited about talking to me. 3) My gut-writing was on the right track—there’s very little I have to change in the chapters I was investigating for, so that’s awesome. Maybe my subconscious knows things I don’t. (Ha! No maybes about it.)

Fact checking may be considered the least inspiration-based aspect of fiction writing, but it got my muse all fired up. “You’re getting so close,” he hollered. “People are interested in your storyline—what they’ve heard of it anyway.” I know my innards will be jelly when I try to track down a friendly RCMP member to give me some inside information on procedures and policies, but yesterday’s experience will help with that too. I managed to be coherent, even interesting—and no one seemed to think my questions were stupid (my biggest fear!).

So yes, kudos to cold calling for facts to feed fiction. Whoever gave the stellar advice to “do something that scares you everyday” was really onto something. It’s very invigorating and affirming.