Book signings, film pitches and launches – oh my!

It was the busiest of times. It was the best of times.

The first week of July kicked off a bumper month of activities which rolls on to the end of the month. Here’s a quick round up of what I’ve been up to.

Book signing at Titanic Belfast – this was such a great day and something that has been on my wish list since first visiting the venue in 2012. Little did I know then that two years later I’d be sitting front of house signing copies of my book! For my first book signing this was a great experience and although I directed several people to the toilets and pointed others in the direction of the taxi rank (and one gentleman in the direction of a beer) I loved every minute of it. I met people from all over the world, including two people who had read my book already.

From there, I headed over to England for the 2014 HarperCollins author party at the V&A Museum. To say I was excited and star-struck about all of this would be a huge understatement. The V&A looked stunning after hours, the champagne flowed, celebs were spotted and Germany beat Brazil 7-1. An unforgettable night which is summed up in the following photographs.

From London, I travelled north to Telford in Shropshire where I was involved in the Romantic Novelists’ Association annual conference. This was my first time at an RNA conference (or at any conference as a published author) so I was thrilled to have been invited to participate in events at a local library, at a Victorian Town, and to speak in two conference sessions – one on Titanic and writing The Girl Who Came Home and the other on self publishing. The whole weekend was very inspiring, hugely beneficial and just a pleasure to be among so many talented writers and lovely people.

On Sunday, I travelled to Galway to deliver a 90 second pitch of a new screenplay I’m writing. This was part of the Galway Film Fleadh and I was so excited to have been short-listed for the pitching finals. My screenplay is set in Ireland in 1903 and I had high hopes that it would appeal to the panel of judges. The event was free to the public and drew a packed room of a hotel ballroom. I was delighted with how the pitch went and although I didn’t win, I’ve had some lovely feedback since and will take a lot away from the experience. If nothing else, it was a great lesson in brevity and controlling nerves!

And finally, I launched The Girl Who Came Home in the local library on Wednesday evening. This was such a lovely evening, with family, friends and local writers to celebrate the book’s success and to thank people who have supported me.

Next up is a book signing at Waterstones Drogheda on Friday, 25th July at 6pm. This is a free event for anyone who would like to come along on the night, meet me and the fabulous Carmel Harrington, chat about our books and hopefully sign lots of copies! Following the signing, I will be meeting a local book group at the invitation of brilliant book review blogger Margaret Madden of Bleach House Library.

In and among ALL of that, I’ve returned my final proof edits for  A MEMORY OF VIOLETS and have seen the cover which is just gorgeous and I can’t wait to share it with you all.

Next up is ‘book three’ to worry about, but for now, it is Friday night and I have nowhere to go other than the fridge to pour myself a very long and very cold G&T.

Have a great weekend.

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