Those Pleasant Girls Book Launch
It was an absolute thrill to launch Those Pleasant Girls on Star Wars Day (otherwise known as May 4th). Over 100 people came out on a chilly Thursday evening to help celebrate, which was incredible!
The book was officially launched by Patrick Allington, who is a writer, editor, book critic, lecturer and friend. (His novel Figurehead is excellent; check it out if you're needing a new read.) Patrick is a wonderful speaker, and his speech made me cry a bit (though fortunately I was hiding in the shelves at the back so no-one saw... I think).
I decided not to do a reading -- they make me too nervous! -- but managed to wing a short speech. Quite a few of the attendees were customers from our bike shop, which was really touching, so I briefly talked about the importance of supporting local small businesses. When you buy from a local bookshop, for example, they in turn are able to support more local authors, which is vital to the creative commnity. I was also very grateful to have some of those local authors at the launch, such as Vikki Wakefield, Allayne Webster, Fiona McCallum, Carla Caruso, and Samantha Bond. Thanks, lovely people! (I'll stop saying 'local' so much now.)
There was such a line-up for book signings that I completely lost the ability to write my own name or anything even remotely legible. As a result, there are at least four copies of Those Pleasant Girls out there where I spelled 'you' with an 'e'. (Um.... regional variant?)
As a stationary nerd, I was also thrilled to be given a choice of about eight pens with which to sign. One customer requested a gold signature, which is what they duly received. Swish!
My sincere thanks also go to the awesome team at Dymocks Rundle Mall for hosting the event so beautifully, as well as Chapel Hill Winery, who supported the event.
Phew! I'm off to find a cupcake.
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