*toots horn* Only one month to go now until the US publication of THE GIRL WHO CAME HOME. Yes, my stomach does somersaults as I type that! I still can’t quite believe my book will be on the shelves of bookshops and homes in America, but that’s exactly where it will be in 31 days.
So much is happening in the run up to publication day. I now understand why other authors I have interviewed over the years talk about ‘midwifing’ their book out into the world. It really does feel like that. For the past few weeks, I’ve been busy responding to requests for guest blog posts and magazine articles which will run throughout April to coincide with the book’s release and I have plenty still to get to. Everyone is asking such great questions and I am really enjoying answering them all.
Then, of course, there’s the reviews. Every author hopes for generous, positive, enthusiastic praise for their work, but we also know there could be a stinker just waiting around the corner. So, I’m dusting off that extra thick skin I keep for good measure and hoping for the best. Fortunately, the early reviews from the Amazon Vine Program have been great and one of the first publication reviews to come in, from ROMANTIC TIMES is absolutely lovely. They have given the book a four star rating and say, ‘Readers will enjoy this lovely, heartfelt story.’ Subscribers to RT Book Reviews magazine can read the full review online. The book will also be featured in the April print edition of the magazine.
And finally, I am completely thrilled to be able to announce two very exciting developments: THE GIRL WHO CAME HOME has been selected by Costco as one of their April Staff Picks and the book has also been selected by Target as part of their April Emerging Author selection! At the risk of repeating myself, this is all VERY EXCITING!!
I’m so looking forward to April 1st – which also happens to be exactly three years since I visited New York for the first time. How could I ever have known that my book would be published there three years later?!
I’m in tears for you, Hazel – I am so incredibly proud of you; the work and commitment you have to this book, to this story that you always said you felt needed to be told the way you needed to tell it. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – you are an inspiration.
Love,
The Other xxx