Month: July 2010

I know that it has been a few days but I was exhausted after the events last week.  I think that being emotionally spent takes its toll but wow…what a roller coaster of a ride.  I had the best time at both events and the support from friends and fans was totally overwhelming.  The audiences at both events were quite different.  At the launch, the crowd was quite loud and animated and very responsive.  At the other event, the author talk, the crowd was very serious and that was a unique experience for me, responding to two separate groups that were having different reactions to me.  The one thing that they both had in common however, was that they both responded to my presentation in a very positive way.  In both events, I could see people nodding and smiling and agreeing with the things that I had to say, of which some were serious, some sad, some happy and lots…humorous.  I was happy to realise that I wasn’t awful and that maybe I could actually do this.  The second night even proved to me that I could get better at this.  I had previously thought that I mightn’t like being in front of a crowd but in fact I enjoyed it rather immensely, as I always do whenever I am talking about my books.  I initially had been wary of being the face of both Joanne Valiukas and advocate of Danann Frost but if I want to share her story with the world, I need to speak on her behalf and I have now had the very rewarding experience of doing just that…twice now and hopefully lots more to come.  I personalised each and every book and some of my friends, Michelle, Kylie-Faye, Jayde and Bindi have all made extra book sales for me by spreading the word.  I’ve had lots of people tell me since the launch that they have read the book and could not put it down…that is so gratifying because that is my goal.  I don’t write books that you want to put down, I write books that you become protective and possessive of and if this is your reaction, then I am doing something very right.

Anyway, have a look at my facebook author page for photos from both events and the book excerpts that I promised you…one from Danann Frost Embraces the Darkness and the other from Ancient Blood One will be on my website within the hour.

Meanwhile…Enjoy the Magic.

Joanne

Well… what a day.

First up, we went in to see someone at Readings in Carlton. Long story short, a small quantity of books were left with them to see how they go, but the important thing is they’ve *got* them and Danann Frost Falls from Grace is about to grace the shelves of a Melbourne icon. If you’re in Australia and couldn’t make it to the launch and can’t get one at the author talk tomorrow, the next best thing is to get it from Readings. We’ll post a link to where it is on their site as soon as it’s listed there.

Second… Telstra. Grrr! Don’t know what the problem was – maybe they broke the string, or lost one of the tin cans, but we were without internet for most of the day. So, Jo wasn’t able to post anything earlier in the day, anywhere. I know she wanted to thank her well-wishers, but wasn’t able to.

Third… Book Launch! What a night! I have photos, and Joanne wants to post some details about the night and the excerpts she read from the sequel and book from the other series, but frankly we’re all exhausted. And we’ve got to do it all over tomorrow night at the Author Talk in Melton (YAY!). So, we’ll catch up with those details as soon as we possibly can. For now, let’s just say that Jo was very touched by the excesses of some of her existing hard-core fans (you know who you are!), and loved speaking with new people who are about to read her work for the very first time. Jo promises to be back on in the next day or so.

Today’s the big day. Joanne’s first author event, the launch of the Australian printing of Danann Frost Falls from Grace, will be at the Caroline Springs Library at 7 this evening. She’s more than a little excited, and spent much of the evening deciding what pens to take with her for the signing. It’s a very important choice, the wrong implement can do bad things to both the hand that holds it and the page it’s dragged across.

I, her humble webmonkey, spent the evening and a fair way into the wee hours a little differently. I’ve just done a re-organisation of the where-to-buy pages on the site, and created a new version of the preview edition based on the Australian edition.

I’m sure all her readers will join me in wishing her all the best for the launch.