The book launch

My book launch for Ghost Child last month was an amazing event. I was thrilled with the support I received from the local community, friends, my family and of course my cousins, aunts and my friends from the Kempsey Museum and the family history community.



This photograph of my daughter Sue Kyle, myself, and granddaughters Anouk and Alana was taken by Penny Tamblyn,  Macleay Argus journalist and photographer. I was very appreciative of the support I had from the Macleay Argus editor Dave Coren and also Port Macquarie newspapers, especially the Port Macquarie News

I had good support too from local bookshops and local radio. More Than a Bookshop at Kempsey has been selling my book without any charge to me, a great boon to this struggling writer.  Bookface at Port Macquarie agreed to stock my book and made every effort to help me as well. Local ABC radio announcer Michael Spooner was kind enough to do an interview as was 2WAY FM.  I am humbled by the willingness of local people and local media to support local writing and especially a local childhood  history memoir.

 

Everyone who turned up to my book launch, I think more than 60 at last count, brought the book and were keen to talk about the writing of it.  I need to thank every one of you.

 

I need to thank the volunteers at the Slim Dusty Centre, especially Joan, and also Kate Mainey who did so much to make the book launch so easy to organise.  I need also to thank the Mayor of Kempsey Liz Campbell who as usual did a fabulous job of launching the book. 

 

I have spent some time since the launch talking about the book to local organisations and that experience has been useful and inspiring for me.  Most people relate to the childhood experiences I have described in the book, but it is especially resonant to those people who, like me, grew up in the 1940s and the 1950s.  Some of the things that have jumped out at me as significant to others are:

The books we studied at school:  for women the Commonsense Cookery Book always has a resonance, and many also remember The Breath of Life (a book of prose stories for high school) around the mid 1950s.

Most people remember their schooling and are interested in how to go about researching it, finding records and also the experience of it.

There are many other aspects that seem to be of interest and I will write about these next time.

The following is a photograph my 11 year old granddaughter Anouk took of me when I was signing a book, I liked it!