Book launch

I have set a date for this, Sunday, September 4th, 2pm at my son’s house. It will be an open invitation to whoever might want to come. Although the number of people interested in what I write about is increasing, we are still a small proportion of society. I remember attending a Mind, Body, Soul event in Gold Coast a few years back and being surprised at just how few people were there. I had expected the event would be jam-packed. Our events here in New Zealand are more supported, I discovered.

I have been spending a bit of time preparing what I want to say at this launch. The book is 68,000 words and condensing those into a 15-minute talk will be hard. With the Who Is Me? launch, I didn’t want to spoil it for the readers, but if you omit too much, they won’t be enticed to read your book. I thought if I started now, the ideas could percolate and by September 4, I would be clear about the right things to include. I am always given plenty of guidance from Spirit so I am sure this time won’t be any different.

And then there is the question, how long do I talk and read for? Shuffling is usually a good indicator that people have had enough. It reminds me of my journalism days. ‘’Put the important stuff first,’’ we were told. ‘’Some subeditors will just cut off the bottom of the story if it is too long for the gap that is available.” This was instead of reading and editing out the irrelevant information.

At the Who Is Me? launch, everyone was incredibly respectful, listening intently to what I had to say, so I am hoping this one will go just as smoothly. I know more family will be there this time.

I am so fortunate that Michael is lending his house for this - a large open plan one that he has renovated. It will be perfect. The last one was held in a brand new one he had built himself and that was perfect too. One lovely young woman has offered to do a Cacao ceremony at the start of the launch. I am not sure what this entails, but I feel very honoured that she wants to do this.

I always like to be well organised. One never knows what distractions will occur between now and then. There is nothing worse than a last-minute rush. I am still liaising with the print team, for The Collective Us to be available on Amazon and Kindle. Those kinds of things can take time as well. And I still need to let my friends, not on Facebook, know about it.

And I also need to find the wine glasses that we bought from the op shop last time, then stacked away afterwards in a box somewhere. There will be wine to purchase and I’ll need to think about what to have in the way of refreshments.

But with the book launch still a month away, there is plenty of time to organise such things.