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Writing Editing Publishing

DriverWorks Ink

Sharing stories of fascinating Prairie people and unsung Canadian heroes

Welcome to the site of
DriverWorks Ink!

DriverWorks Ink is a professional writing, editing and publishing company based in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Deana Driver is a freelance journalist, author, editor, book publisher and photographer. She has been a freelance journalist for more than 25 years and has worked on 11 books: three as an author, editor, layout designer and self-publisher partner (Just a Bunch of Farmers, Never Give Up, Never Give Up Teacher Workbook - co-author); five as an editor, layout designer and publisher or co-publisher (My Zayde and Other Memories, Prairie Pilot, Seeds of Hope, The Little Coat, Moving Forward); one as an author and editor (From The West to the World); one as an editor and layout designer (Return to Willows); and one as an editor (Classic Saskatchewan Second Edition).

Al Driver is an editor with more than 30 years of experience in the newspaper industry. He has worked on four DriverWorks Ink books as an editor and/or co-publisher (Prairie Pilot, Seeds of Hope, The Little Coat, Moving Forward). He also edited Saskatchewan Roughriders - First 100 Years by various authors, and Junior Hockey's Royal Franchise: The Regina Pats by Darrell Davis and Ron Johnston.

Titles written by and/or edited and published/co-published by Deana Driver

Titles edited and/or co-published by Al Driver

Contact DriverWorks Ink for their services in freelance writing, editing, layout, book publishing and photography as well as presentations and workshops on books, writing and self-publishing. We can provide you with professional advice and services to improve the quality of your written work.

Deana (dee-na) Driver has worked in the Canadian media industry for more than 25 years. She has written feature and news articles for numerous publications including The Regina Leader-Post, Medical Post, The Lawyers Weekly, The United Church Observer and The Bottom Line. Deana's photography skills, often used to accompany her freelance magazine articles and projects, are showcased on the Deana's Photos and Books Photos pages of this website.

Books Written
by Deana Driver

Never Give Up:
Ted Jaleta's Inspiring Story

by Deana Driver

This is the award-winning true story of African-born elite athlete and role model Ted Jaleta (ja-let-a). It is a story of courage, determination and hope that takes readers on a journey from Ted Jaleta's happy childhood in Ethiopia through his time in an African jail and a disease-ridden refugee camp. Never Give Up tells about Ted's struggles and triumphs in Africa and in his new home in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and shares Ted's thoughts on how others can overcome adversity as he did.

Ted Jaleta’s main message is one of hope: "Don't be deterred by challenges you face. Work hard, learn from your mistakes and move forward to be all that you can be. Never give up!" Read more

$1 from each Never Give Up book sold will be donated to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

Buy Never Give Up

Never Give Up: Ted Jaleta's Inspiring Story has been approved by Alberta Education for use in its Grade 10 to 12 Social Studies curriculum and is being studied in elementary and high schools in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and elsewhere. English, Social Studies and English as a Second Language classes are enjoying this fascinating story. Ted Jaleta's focus on education, setting goals and working hard towards individual dreams has encouraged readers of all ages.

Readers' responses: - "It's the kind of book where you can't stop reading. You always want to know what happens next."
- "Masterfully written and worth savouring!"

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Never Give Up
Teacher Workbook

The Never Give Up Teacher Workbook is now available for English and Social Studies classes to accompany the award-winning motivational biography Never Give Up: Ted Jaleta's Inspiring Story. Created by Tracy Jones (Bourne) with additions and editing by Deana Driver, the 97-page Teacher Workbook is downloadable for use in English and Social Studies classes. Read more

Buy the Never Give Up Teacher Workbook

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Just a Bunch of Farmers:
The Story of Weyburn Inland Terminal

by Deana Driver

A story of entrepreneurship, perseverance and the challenges that a group of men from southeastern Saskatchewan faced in their desire to build the country's first farmer-owned and farmer-operated inland grain terminal. With dedication, hard work and a series of struggles and successes along the way, these entrepreneurs in southeast Saskatchewan forever changed the way Canadian farmers are paid for their grain!
Read more
Buy Just a Bunch of Farmers

Book Awards Received
Seeds of Hope: A Prairie Story by Mary Harelkin Bishop has received three prestigious awards. Seeds of Hope was a Finalist in the Children's Literature category of the 2009 Saskatchewan Book Awards and was awarded an Honourable Mention in the Teenage/Young Adult category of the 2009 Nashville Book Festival and an Honourable Mention in the Teenage category of the 2008 London Book Festival, celebrating books that deserve greater recognition from the international publishing community!!
Never Give Up: Ted Jaleta's Inspiring Story by Deana Driver has also received three prestigious awards. Never Give Up was awarded an Honourable Mention in the Biography/Autobiography category of the 2007 Hollywood Book Festival. The festival’s annual competition honours books “worthy of greater attention from the film, TV and multimedia industries.” The book was also a Finalist in the Reader’s Choice category and in the Publishing in Education category at the 2007 Saskatchewan Book Awards.

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Updated July 27, 2010

Saskatchewan & Prairie
books from
DriverWorks Ink:

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The Little Coat
The Bob and Sue Elliott Story

by Alan J. Buick

Awarded Honourable Mention, Biography
2010 Hollywood Book Festival

The Little Coat tells the true story of Bob Elliott, a Canadian tank commander in the Second World War, and Sussie Cretier, a Dutch girl who became a good-luck charm and beacon of hope for the Canadian troops stationed in the town where her family sought refuge from the Nazis. On Christmas Day 1944, the Canadians honoured their little adopted soldier with a special Army-style coat they ordered from a local seamstress. Decades later, the relationship between Sussie (Sue) and Bob not only endured but flourished. Sussie’s ‘little coat’ has been donated to the War Museum of Canada as a permanent reminder of this powerful story of courage, hope and love. Read more

Readers' responses: - "When you start reading it, you don't want to put it down. You'd better have a Kleenex in your pocket."
- "This is a fascinating presentation of a story that deserves to be told, written in a very human and entertaining way."

$1 from every The Little Coat book sold will be donated to the Royal Canadian Legion Dominion Command Poppy Trust.

Buy The Little Coat Within Canada and U.S.

PRAIRIE PILOT:
LADY LUCK WAS ON MY SIDE
The Stories of Walter D. Williams

Compiled and Edited
by Deana J. Driver

The late Walter Williams was a ‘character’ and former resident of Kerrobert, SK, who owned an International Harvester dealership, loved to fly his small Aeronca Chief airplane and loved to help people. Prairie Pilot: Lady Luck was on My Side chronicles some of Walter Williams’ more hair-raising, humourous and helpful experiences from 1946 to 1963 when he acted as a flying taxi service and unofficial air ambulance pilot for numerous patients, teachers, physicians, police officers, criminals, friends and thrill-seekers in west central Saskatchewan and Alberta. Read more

Reader's response: "That book was awesome. It keeps you entertained. The best money I've spent!"

Buy Prairie Pilot

In honour of Walter Williams, a donation will be made, from Prairie Pilot books sold, to a health care charity in west central Saskatchewan.

Moving Forward

THE JOURNEY OF PARALYMPIAN
COLETTE BOURGONJE

by Mary Harelkin Bishop

In June 1980, with her high school graduation just around the corner, Colette Bourgonje was a small-town girl with big dreams. She had already recorded great successes in track and field, basketball, volleyball and badminton and was on the road to becoming a world-class athlete. Then a car accident changed her life – forever. Colette did not let her new circumstances as a paraplegic stand in her way. She became the first disabled student to graduate from the College of Physical Education at the University of Saskatchewan and she competed in her first Paralympic Games at age 30. Now, 18 years later, she has became one of Canada's most successful disabled athletes. As a teacher and world-class athlete, Colette Bourgonje is a role model and an inspiration. Read more

Reader's responses: - "A well-written story about an incredible person!"
- "Your book is fabulous! It was so captivating, I read it in one sitting without moving from my couch!"

$1 from every Moving Forward book sold will be donated to support Canadian Paralympic athletes.

Buy Moving Forward

Seeds of Hope
A Prairie Story

by Mary Harelkin Bishop

Best-selling Saskatchewan author Mary Harelkin Bishop has come above ground from her Tunnels of Moose Jaw Adventures series to pen a heartwarming award-winning tale about a young boy and his love for his family's Saskatchewan farm. A truly Saskatchewan story about growing up on a farm and wanting to stay there. Read more

Reader's response: "Seeds of Hope is so realistic! That chicken story is exactly the way I felt when I was little on the farm!"

Buy Seeds of Hope

My Zayde and Other Memories of Growing Up Jewish

by Ricki Segal

From her own amusing incidents with mistletoe and tampons to her great aunts' matchmaking efforts gone awry and her Zayde (Grandfather) Louis Lazar’s annoying habit of relieving himself on the front lawn in the big city, My Zayde and Other Memories of Growing Up Jewish will make you laugh, cry and celebrate your own quirky loved ones. My Zayde is a poignant collection about finding oneself and finding hope for the future in the face of Alzheimer's disease. Read more

Readers' responses: - "I've only read the first story so far and it's hysterical!"
- "I love your poem The Flight of the Blue Bird. It's beautiful."

$2 from every My Zayde book sold will be donated to the Alzheimer Society of Canada.

Buy My Zayde

Colette Bourgonje (centre, the subject of Moving Forward: The Journey of Paralympian Colette Bourgonje) watches as editor Deana Driver (left) and author Mary Harelkin Bishop (right) try on Colette's bronze and silver medals in the Sask Pavilion at the 2010 Paralympic Games in Whistler, B.C.

Alan J. Buick, author of The Little Coat: The Bob and Sue Elliott Story, is overwhelmed at the site of Sue's precious Army-style coat on display in the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, April 22, 2010.
Photo courtesy of Hans Moor, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean,
Governor General of Canada, receives the Never Give Up book as a gift from the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, Honourable Dr. Gordon L. Barnhart and Her Honour Mrs. Naomi Barnhart (far left).