BOOK LAUNCH A REAL BLAST

The launch of Lupa, Freedom Fighter and Forest Circle Quest certainly went off with a bang last evening.  There were flashes of genius, there was a-peal, a crashing bore it was not – although definitely with crashes – and there was a boom in sales.

All of which is to say that rather a distraction was provided by the visit of  a thunderstorm. 

Unfortunately, this adversely affected the Skype hookup.  I could see and hear everything, but my communication back didn’t seem to be working too well.  Marie Marshall in Scotland resorted to the SMS function, and in response to many eager questions texted up a storm to go with the thunder one in Pretoria.  Her novel, which has an apparent simplicity, is extraordinarily thought-provoking, and it was clear that even the brief sample had provoked thought indeed.

I managed to answer a few questions during the short time communications were actually two-way – such as what made me think of the characters, and how I set about plotting my novels.

Most of the time I was able to hear the readings and gauge the good responses of the audience.  I also overheard some (flattering) remarks to one another from people fairly close to the microphone who didn’t realise they were being broadcast to Durban!

Altogether  it was a pretty satisfactory launch.  When it works, Skype is great for linking public with authors who can’t be present in person, but perhaps for future such occasions a Facebook page could be placed on standby as a backup.  Or would something else be better?

 At least our weather is fine at the moment.  The recent torrential rains caused lots of problems, and some of them are still being felt.  This picture down our front garden is a sample of what has washed up on beaches after the floods had de-littered some of the informal settlements on waterways. 

© December 2012 Colonialist (WordPress/Blogs 24)