Norm Peterson, George Wendt's gregarious, beer-swilling character on the TV sitcom Cheers, once quipped, "Well, it's a dog-eat-dog world, Sammy, and I'm wearing Milk Bone underwear."

One wonders: are there days when award-winning Pitt Meadows author Gordon Kirkland can relate to what Norm was talking about?

"Days? Have you ever had one of those lifetimes?!" asked Kirkland, an incomplete paraplegic after suffering a broken spine in a car accident in 1990. "The key to surviving those experiences is to find the humour within them. I was brought up to find humour in adversity, and that has served me well, especially after the accident."

Recently, Kirkland's proficiency for tickling readers' funny bones has paid dividends.

The prolific, best-selling author released his ninth book, My Slice Of Life Is Full Of Gristle, on Jan. 25, returning to the short essay format that marked his first six books.

Kirkland said the Amazon Kindle introduced an entirely new audience to his older books.

"I was flooded with emails from people who had read everything available and seeking more," he said. "In this business, one only ignores the requests of their fans at their own peril."

Three of Kirkland's earlier books received the Stephen Leacock Award of Merit For Humour. They were based on stories Kirkland had written originally for his syndicated newspaper column that ran in Canadian and American newspapers from 1994 to 2007.

"I was a little hesitant at first," he said. "I hadn't written in that format for four years, and didn't have the pool of stories to draw from the way I did when I was writing the column every week. I started writing a few essays, and found it was like running into an old friend on the street. I just needed to remember those times and situations that. would have made great material for a column."

My Slice Of Life Is Full Of Gristle includes stories on a wide array of topics, from the experience of swimming with a nine-foot shark, to the news about a company that makes prosthetic testicles for neutered dogs.

Throughout the book, Kirkland draws from his own experiences. The current ad line for the book encourages husbands to buy it for their wives for Valentine's Day, Kirkland said.

The book includes 40 stories.

"The book is a fun romp through modern-day life. Once again, I let readers laugh with me and at me," Kirkland said. "In the end I hope they can laugh at themselves as they imagine themselves in some of the experiences and situations I describe. A friend keeps my essay books on the back of the toilet tank in her guest washroom. She says that people can go in, read a couple of essays, and still get up before their legs fall asleep."

My Slice Of Life Is Full Of Gristle comes hard on the heels of Kirkland's novel The Plight Before Christmas, released last September. In the weeks leading up to the holidays, that book topped the Amazon Kindle Parenting & Family Humor Best Sellers List.

"I started work on the new book after completing The Plight Before Christmas," Kirkland said. "It was a nice way to keep writing instead of delving right back into another novel."

Kirkland is currently working on a sequel to his comedic mystery Crossbow. He is also drafting a novella for next year's holiday season, featuring the antics of what he calls the "less than brilliant" police dog from that series.

Kirkland's book is available from Amazon at www.amazon.com.

GUEST APPEARANCE

Kirkland will be appearing in the lobby of The ACT, 11944 Haney Place in Maple Ridge, on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m.

For more on the free, adult-only event, contact Katherine Wagner through the Golden Ears Writers Facebook page at www.facebook.com/goldenearswriters.

tlandreville@mrtimes.com