Storyteller Fay Jacobs releases ‘The Winter Laugh Book’

Local author Fay Jacobs decided readers needed a cheap way to lift their spirits this winter, so she just published her first chapbook.

According to historical record, a chapbook used to be a small pamphlet containing tales, ballads, or tracts, sold by peddlers to literate poor people in the 15th-18th centuries in Europe. It's imagined that people read them by candlelight after a hard day's work or while recovering from whatever plague was happening back then. And when they were read, the flimsy pages could be used as wrapping paper.

Naturally, an enterprising (or broke) author adapted the concept for the 21st century, and there is now a flood of inexpensive chapbooks available as ebooks from Amazon.com. Unfortunately, they cannot be repurposed as gift wrap.

"The chapbook costs 99 cents and is a collection of a few of my favorite stories,” Jacobs says. "I figured we all needed a laugh in this winter of our discontent."

The author, who believes "nothing is so bad if it's worth the story you can tell" has included tales of ziplining, Ninja Warriors, home improvement and a lot more in this literary experiment.

Jacobs, author of four multi-award-winning humorous memoirs of Rehoboth Beach and beyond, has a new collection to be published this spring. Her upcoming book is called “Fried & Convicted: Rehoboth Beach Uncorked” and will be published by Bywater Books.

In the meantime, readers eager for a chuckle or guffaw can order “The Winter Laugh Book” for 99 cents at www.Amazon.com.