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A Festival of Authors!

Me (L), Katherine Howell & Jessie Cole (R)My favourite collective noun has to be: A Festival of Authors, especially after attending my very first event as a ridgy-didge published author – the 2013 Bellingen Readers and Writers Festival (just last month).With House for all Seasons on the shelves barely three weeks, I delighted in hob-knobbing with the rich and famous… Err, hang on… This was a writer’s festival. Rich and famous is reserved for that other collectivfiction writer t-shirte noun: A Red Carpet of Hollywood A-Listers! We were ‘just’ a festival of hard-working authors, albeit at varying stages of our journey, and even with a line up including short-listed 2013 award nominees: Jessie Cole, Druscilla Modeska, Carrie Tiffany, Romy Ash, and Cate Kennedy I definitely felt part of a tribe. (Oh, and in the pic above – that’s Me (L), Katherine Howell & Jessie Cole (R)

The oddest feeling was perhaps sitting on a panel in front of a paying audience for the first time in my published author life. People were there to hear what I (and others) had to say, which is why I put so much work (read: angst) into preparing a small presentation for both panels. (Definitely NOT a pantster when it comes to presentations.)

I think I did okay. (And yes there were lots of people in the rows BEHIND those empty chairs in the pic!!!)

Best of all, being Bellingen—a thirty minute drive south along the Pacific Highway—I met up with other Coffs Harbour writers (hello Willa and Shannon) and some locals introduced themselves (hello Debbie and Kerry).

I guess that makes a lovely local festival of authors, keen to get together and share stories over a coffee or two…or three.

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Book Launch Love – Coffs Harbour

Web_a proud dadHere’s me with my proud dad. (I’m his baby girl.)

Now my baby has been set free into the unknown. Okay, so that’s slightly melodramatic; it’s not a real baby and I’m not exactly setting it free. And thanks to a few terrific reviews this last week, the unknown is now also a lot less ‘unknown’. (see below)

I admit to being terrified that readers wouldn’t like it, that book reviewers would stab me in the heart (sorry, there I go with the dramatics again), and that Simon & Schuster would be left shaking their heads and saying: “Geez, that was a mistake!” So there was a kind of audible, if somewhat shaky sigh that escaped my mouth with that first review (and I’m pleased to say the good reviews keep coming!).

Of course, the best thing about publication week is the book launch; planning for such an event started years … err … I mean months ago. I decided to hold the event in the best little, big bookshop. The Book Warehouse at Toormina was going to be perfect for the small no-one-will-come-anyway event.

Hmm, fifty-plus RSVPs later, poor Julie spent sleepless nights wondering how she was going to rearrange the shop to accommodate the growing guest list. (Not to mention the added angst with The Mayor of Coffs Harbour – Denise Knight – officiating on the night.)

Totally out of the blue, a visitor (and a much-needed distraction) lobbed on my doorstop the day before the launch. Carolyn and I started hairdressing together at sixteen; she’d driven up from Sydney as a surprise guest. We hadn’t seen each other for 25 years. (Here she is as my bridesmaid thirty-odd years ago and you can tell one of us is still in the beauty industry, while the other is a struggling artist without a hairdressing budget!)

I admit that my publication dream has always included the glamorous book launch – a fabulously flamboyant affair – author swanning around, signing books and hobnobbing with literati, with much muttering about literary awards and movie deals. And that’s EXACTLY what I got (okay, minus the literary awards and movie deal). But the night was everything I could have hoped for – and more – with a humbling number of people coming from far and wide to help me celebrate. Most importantly though, as I read the first chapter – seven whole minutes (I timed it) – not one guest fell asleep, or if they did we were so crammed into that little store that they couldn’t have fallen anywhere anyway!

If I could do it all again, I wouldn’t change a thing (and in fact I probably will do it all over again this same time next year when The Simmering Season comes out. (I hope the sun has come out in Coffs Harbour by then too!)

Thank you to everyone who attended. Those who sent messages. Those who braved the elements. Those too far away to even try. Those watching over me. You were with me.

I think the Chinese proverb from the card I received from The Book Warehouse team says it all:

“I dreamed a thousand paths. I woke and walked my own.”

Enjoy these images of the launch – House for all Seasons March 4, 2013.

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What people are saying:

Daystarz Book Review – (full version)

Told from the alternating perspective of each of the four women, once childhood friends, House for all Seasons is a delightful read. I found myself engrossed in this story from the first few pages. It is a book that holds your attention throughout with enough interesting detail about the characters to have you wanting more. This book is believable and it draws you in as each of the women faces their past and their relationships with each other during their youth.

It takes the reader on a journey back to the days of the girls youth in Calingarry Crossing and to a tragic event that initially tore them apart yet now reunites them. It’s fascinating to read how each of the girls perceived this event, their part in it and what impact it still has on their lives.

We follow along as each of the four main characters confront their past and present in a way that enables them to shape their future, leaving old demons behind.

I thoroughly enjoyed the depth of character development and by the end of each of the women’s stories felt that I knew them personally. Each of the women’s personalities and lives were so different; their back stories so interesting that at times I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I really liked Poppy and Amber probably just because they were the most contrary and seemed to have the most growing to do.

There is a significant twist to the story that I just didn’t see coming and which really makes for a great ending to this book.

Jenn J McLeod has written a brilliant book in House for All Seasons which has me eagerly awaiting her next literary venture. This book is a must read and is the first on my top ten books list of 2013. I cannot say enough good things about this book, I highly recommend it as a must-add to your personal library.

Gotta be happy with that!

More reviews:
Book’d Out
1girl2manybooks
Goodreads – Helene Young

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It’s time … come home to the country

House for all Seasons Jenn J McLeodAutumn is here – Jenn’s favourite season – and so is the official release of  House for all Seasons.

To celebrate everything that’s great about small town stories, welcome Canadian powerhouse duo – Carli and Carli and Juliecarli and julie 2Julie Kennedy.

 

 

 

Bryce Courtney (The Power of One) wrote: “The joy of a small town lies in its unchanging nature.”.

 

You can watch Carli and Julie (below), but first I want to thank everyone who has ever encouraged me to keep writing and keep trying. There are no words to convey how I feel right now, or how I might say thank you to the wonderful Lou Johnson, Larissa Edwards, Carol Warwick (and the entire Simon & Schuster, Australia team) for giving my ‘House’ a home.

And a big Aussie thank you to the amazing Carli and Julie Kennedy with the perfect song for this occasion. So (click) to come home to the country with Jenn and to Small Town Stories with Carli and Julie.

Link to You Tube song

If you loved Small Town Stories you can download the song (and there’s more) from iTunes or go to the girls’ store: www.cjkennedy.com.

While you’re clicking away online you can also: ** buy House for all Seasons as an ebook; ** order a gorgeous print version online ; or better still ** pop down the street and support your local bookshop. We should all do our bit to keep a bookshop in business.

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PHEW! Okay, so now the official ‘Jenn, the author’ thing is done, how am I really feeling?

I actually think I want to throw up! I am giddy and shaking and … Oh, now I think I’m having a hot flush! Someone pass me a fan — quick!

Speaking of fans …

I want to say a BIG thanks to you. Yes YOU! The one still reading this post. The one taking time out of your precious day to help me celebrate and spread the word.

More than anything I hope you enjoy House for all Seasons and you tell your friends, and they tell their friends.

 

Jenn