For Better or For Worse News Bites

June Store Specials

2013-06-03T14:36:24Z

Hello everyone! Just a note that this month's coupon code for our shop is "DADSDAY" (plug this in at the checkout to get 8% off orders over $10 this month).

This June we have a couple of items on special:

Our 25th Anniversary book, Suddenly Silver, filled with reminiscences from Lynn.
Collection books from 1985, 1988, 1991, 1998, 2000, and 2005, for those of you completing your own collections.
Our All About April special edition.
...and of course Ned Tanner.

From Our Archive: Rejected Strips

2013-05-22T14:21:08Z

In 1979, Lynn began to draw For Better or For Worse. Some of her earliest strips didn't make it to publication for a variety of reasons.

We thought you'd like to see some of these rejected drawings so we made a page for them right here! Hope you enjoy them.

Registration Now Open for the 2013 Ride for Farley!

2013-05-21T18:12:43Z

The Farley Foundation's Ride for Farley is an annual event during which veterinarians and veterinary health professionals cycle to raise funds and awareness for the Foundation. Veterinarians raise funds through their clinics and rely on the generous donations from their clients and the public.

To date, the Ride for Farley has raised more than $250,000 for people and pets in need! We hope that you will consider joining us in 2013 for our fifth year in Southern Ontario.

The 2013 Ride for Farley, generously sponsored by Summit Veterinary Pharmacy, Inc., will be held on Saturday, September 14 in the Milton area. Riders will have the choice of cycling 50 km, 100 km or 160 km in and around the Milton/Flamborough/Guelph area.

This year's title sponsor, Summit, is featured on the attractive jerseys given to the participants:

If you're interested in taking part, you can download the information package and registration forms here.

Your Comics Just Became Mobile. The FREE GoComics App is Now LIVE!

2013-05-21T17:47:49Z

Our friends at GoComics have release a free mobile/tablet app on all major platforms! Look here for the download links for each platform. Within the app, you have the ability to:

Bookmark your favorite comics.
Share comics via social media, e-mail and text/SMS (charges may apply).
Access over 20 years of back issues of comic strips. Read the first-ever Calvin and Hobbes strips! Rediscover Charlie Brown and the Little Red-Headed Girl! Share FoxTrot with a younger generation! See Huey and Riley before The Boondocks became a cult classic!
Leer en español. GoComics tiene más de 30 cómics que están disponibles para nuestros Españoles fans de habla.
Read our liberal, moderate and conservative editorial/political cartoonists represent that all sides. Collectively, they have won more than 20 Pulitzer Prizes for editorial cartooning.
Gain insight into the comics industry with our blog that's updated multiple times a week.
Check out burgeoning cartoonists before they break out in our Comics Sherpa section.

May Day Specials

2013-05-01T14:53:31Z

It's a new month, and in honour of Mother's Day we're offering 8% off orders over $10 in our shop. Just use the coupon code MAYMOMS at the checkout to have your discount applied.

This month's specials include:

We hope you have a great spring!

Lynn Receives a Diamond Jubilee Medal

2013-03-28T14:42:07Z

Lynn was pleased to receive a Diamond Jubilee Medal recently:

Created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the Throne as Queen of Canada, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal was a tangible way for Canada to honour Her Majesty for her service to this country. At the same time, this commemorative medal served to honour significant contributions and achievements by Canadians.

Congratulations Lynn, and to all the other recipients.

Farley Foundation Update: Milestones

2013-03-28T14:36:23Z

We received an impressive update from our friends at the Farley Foundation.
The foundation has reached a number of impressive milestones recently:

$500,000 in annual revenue through donations/fundraising for the first time (2012)
$1.5 million in total funds disbursed to help pet owners and pets in need from 2002 to 2012
4,000 pets and pet owners assisted since the foundation opened its doors in 2002, as of early 2013
Funds have now been disbursed to assist clients in over 2/3 of Ontario's veterinary hospitals

And the foundation continues to grow and prosper.

Due to the generosity of the foundation's donors and fundraisers, the foundation was able to increase the amount of funding available per hospital each year from $1,000 to $1,500, effective January 1, 2013.
So far in 2013, we are processing over 100 funding applications each month, and we should smash the record 692 funding applications approved in 2012.
Despite the tight economic times, donations continue to roll in, and enquiries received from the general public regarding estate gifts for the foundation have increased dramatically this year.

All in all, the foundation continues to exceed anyone's expectations, and has become a model for other veterinary associations wishing to establish a benevolent fund.

Play our St. Patrick's Day games for a limited time!

2013-03-14T15:24:40Z

Our St. Paddy's content is online now!

Pick a Lucky Clover with Butterscotch!
Test your memory with our Lucky Leprechaun matching game.
Have some Good Green Fun
Send a Good-Luck Egreet!

Our Easter content is up!

2013-03-08T15:26:59Z

Happy Friday, everyone. Here's the list of all of our Easter games and features:

Read 30 years of Easter strips in our Strip Catalog.
Send an Easter e-greet to someone special.
Try our classic April's Easter Hunt game.
Catch eggs in our challenging Easter Egg-Scape
Match eggs to clear the board in Egg Hunt
Test your memory with Scrambled Eggs

Lynn in ParentsCanada Magazine

2013-03-04T15:02:58Z

Lynn was featured in a short piece in this month's ParentsCanada magazine: Parenting Wisdom from 7 Celebs.

Making Ends Meet: New Treasury

2013-02-22T21:42:30Z

We have 40 signed advance copies of our new hardcover treasury book available! Making Ends Meet will be officially released next month, but our first 40 copies are up for grabs now.

This new treasury book contains the strips from Lynn's fifth and sixth cartoon collections--Just One More Hug and The Last Straw--inside this specially annotated edition. Also included are additional strips that didn't make it into the original collection books. Making Ends Meet also contains new art, family photos and Lynn's personal remembrances about this period in FBorFW history.

Love Struck contest winners

2013-02-19T21:45:17Z

Our annual Love Struck contest is now closed! Thanks to everyone who played. If your name is on this list, please email design@fborfw.com to claim your prize pacl!

Denise Alberti
Dina Chatelain
Alicia Cross
Camille Ticknor

Celebrating Gulliver

2013-02-14T15:41:42Z

Suzanne and Bernard Brooks have owned and managed Gulliver's Books and Toys here in North Bay for over 20 years. Their shop was the model for "Lilliput's" in FBorFW: the shop Elly Patterson worked in and eventually owned (you can read the Lilliput's strips here - more than 100 in all!). It was thanks to Suzanne that I was able to depict bookstore ownership with a modicum of truth and believability. I recently had lunch with her. She was really depressed. Suzanne and Bernard want to retire but it's difficult to find someone who will take on an independent book store these days. You have to love literature; love to read- and be willing to work long, hard hours to support your addiction! If they can't find a new owner soon, they will have to close the store.

Over the years, Suzanne and Bernard have supported and encouraged local authors by helping them with their work, selling their books, hosting signings (with refreshments) and making sure that everyone knew that a new novel, art book or photo journal was available. They have organized events to bring folks back into the downtown. "Books By the Bay" has been an exciting, well-attended annual summer weekend gathering of authors, readers and others who enjoy learning from speakers and performers- all instigated by these two incredible people. Suzanne has brought recognition to book stores everywhere with "Independents Day"- a celebration of all the independent book stores in Canada and beyond. The list goes on and on.

I felt something had to be done to give my dear friends a shot in the arm- so I suggested we throw a party! Since Suzanne had the mailing list for all the local authors, I couldn't make it a surprise party- (but surprises always happen anyway.) She brightened and agreed. Katie and I got together with Martha Attema and Donna Sinclair- two other local authors who were willing to dig in and make it happen. After a couple of meetings we had it arranged. Kate took a sketch of mine and turned it into invitations, tickets and a banner 6 feet long.

Replies to invitations are coming in and our soiree will happen on the 22nd of this month at Cecil's- a great pub and party place. Already, we know the evening will be a success. We know because this community cares. We know how fortunate we are to have had Gulliver's as a resource a destination and a landmark. If Gulliver's closes, we will all lose something rare and wonderful. A party is definitely in order.

So, to all the authors out there, lucky enough to have an independent book store close by, appreciate what you have. Tell the owners how much they mean to you....and raise a glass in their honour. Oh, and one other thing....don't forget to invite them along!

Lynn J.

Our Valentine's Day Contest is Back!

2013-02-01T16:50:57Z

Take part in our annual Love Struck Contest: help Cupid shoot the falling hearts with his arrows. Hit enough hearts, and you can enter a draw to win an FBorFW prize pack!

While you're in a romantic mood, you can also send one of our free Valentine's Day e-greets, play our Perfect Match game, or browse 30 years of Valentine's strips in our comics archive. Enjoy!

More Shipping Options for American Customers & $5 Calendars

2013-01-31T19:35:09Z

Hi everyone; this morning we fixed a glitch that was preventing our American shoppers from being offered the full range of shipping options in our online store. Cheap-o shipping is back, and so is the priority mail option.

This is just in time for our 2013 wall calendars to be marked down to $5 - get yours while they last. This year's calendar includes Johnston / Patterson family-favourite recipes, which are getting rave reviews.