Only getting round to putting up a few pictures of this now. Was a lovely launch - great crowd and they all seemed merry! Lots of family there, plus members of my writing group Gemma Hussey and Jean Flitcroft, plus members of my young writers group from the Kilkenny Vocational School, a spectacular cake made by Nicky Read of Nicky's Cakes and all taking place at the wonderful Stonehouse Books. A big thank you to Liz, Tara and Claire for all the work, and to Palmyra Restaurant for the delicious food. Best hummus I've tasted. Also great to see Dubray Books well represented at the launch with their children's book club, and The Book Centre as well! As I have said many times we are blessed with our booksellers. Conor Hackett, the Walker Rep in Ireland was down from Dublin - thanks Conor for making the trip and for being part of such a wonderful publisher. I was lucky to have Tom my partner there - author of Old Friends, and all our children - Amy, Christie, Kate, Aisling and Maurice, as well as my parents and a great representation of the O'Neill clan. Christie, as you will see from the pics, did the reading - far better than I could have done. Greatly appreciated. And Gemma spoke as well before I mumbled my thanks! So, a big thank you to everyone who was there - and to the two visitors to Kilkenny who wandered in from the street wondering what the hubbub was about and then bought a copy of the book! An unusual memory of a visit to Ireland, the launch of a book set in Zambia.
The lovely Walker Books
Here's a lucky thing about living in Ireland (one of many). We have a postal service, An Post, that is reliable, friendly, efficient and fast. You post something to anywhere in the country and by the next day it's there. Brilliant. And today was a Good Post Day! I received my author's copies of The Sleeping Baobab Tree - how exciting is that? A lovely pile of books. Thank you Walker Books, over and over again. I feel privileged to have had my first two books published by you.
I suppose the collective noun for books would depend on context - so I have decided to borrow the collective noun for ravens for the purposes of this picture: A storytelling of Books. Seems appropriate.
The Sleeping Baobab Tree
The Sleeping Baobab Tree
The sequel to The Butterfly Heart, The Sleeping Baobab Tree, is slowly becoming a reality - link to it now up on Amazon and release date is May 2nd. Been a long writing journey but I hope the end result is a good one, I'm looking forward to holding it in my hands. While I do read eBooks I am pleased this is not the only format available - I remember the day I received my first copy of The Butterfly Heart from Walker Books and the excitement I felt holding it in my hands and turning the pages. I cannot imagine I would ever get the same thrill from opening a Kindle file.....