What a fabulous evening we had yesterday (22nd June) at the book launch of Housewife with a Half-Life! With a warm welcome from Don and Chris at Hughes & Hughes, Dundrum, a wonderful turnout, a super speech and reading by lovely author Colette Caddle it was a wonderful occasion. General chit chat and refreshments followed as I took part in my first signing.
I’d like to thank all those who came along and those who weren’t able to make it and sent messages of support. There was a wonderful crowd there and the books were snapped off the shelves. What a wonderful feeling for a writer used to beavering away at home to be recognised as an author. Here are a few more pics of the evening.
Lovely author Louise Phillips
and for those on Facebook, you should be able to access the album here. More pics will be added as I gather them. Thanks once again to everyone who attended, or
Hazel K. Larkin and Maria Duffy joined me.
who has read, reviewed, tweeted, shared, talked about the book and is helping to spread the word of my A.B. Wells endeavour across the universe!
Head above Water indeed! An author, a husband, four children and a self-published debut novel.
Bookshop launch of Housewife with a Half-Life and Mid-Summer Tweetup!
I want to invite you all to the real life bookshop launch, signing & reading of Housewife with a Half-Life taking place in Hughes & Hughes Booksellers, Dundrum, from 7pm onwards on Friday next 22nd June.
Housewife with a Half-Life will be launched by the super bestselling author of twelve books, Colette Caddle! There will also be a wine & nibbles reception and I’ll be reading from the book in a felted dress, created by artistic sister Sharon of Feltcreative.
As it’s my debut launch as A.B. Wells I’d like to (dun)drum up as much of a crowd as possible so it would great if you could come along, bring a friend, a whole book club even! Everyone is welcome and I’d love to meet online friends for real. I also want to support as much as possible Hughes & Hughes and in particular Chris, Don & Vicky who have been terrific. Here’s their official launch writeup. And here’s the display they’ve put up for me in the shop.
If you can come please RSVP to housewifelaunch@gmail.com or comment below.
Look at what I received in the post, yesterday – the paperback proof of Housewife with a Half-Life!
This will soon be available mainly through Amazon and some selected book stores!
I want to thank you all so much for your help and support, blogposts etc on the day of the ebook launch of my book and I hope those of you who kindly downloaded it will enjoy reading. I must say, the joy of finally having something of my work out in the public eye is both joyful and daunting but ultimately a positive thing and I’ve looking forward to making the paperback available shortly.
Launch Day treasure hunt:
The winner of the launch day treasure hunt is Paul Carroll, please forward your address details to alison@brierwell.com Paul to receive your signed paperback. Congrats! Paul successfully and quickly answer the 8 colour and number questions in the quiz.
If you are a book blogger and would like to receive a review copy of Housewife with a Half-Life contact me at the above email. If you’ve read the book and enjoyed it, please consider jotting down a short comment on Amazon, it really makes a difference in spreading the word about the book. I’m also going to do a blog tour in June for the launch of the paperback and have signed up to several super blogs already. If you’d like a guest post or an interview with me about my book, writing with four kids, creativity, pen names or anything else, I’d love to do something with you. Best wishes everyone and thanks again for the wealth of kindnesses!
Join me here and on my and on my facebook launch event page. If on twitter, retweet the links for Housewife with a Half-Life launch using the #HWHL tag to be entered in the draw for a book and a trip around alternate universes (well maybe not the last one! )
Shortlist for 42 Meaning of Life, the Universe and Everything Flash Fiction Contest
Don Kearns: Demeaning of Life
Dandeliongirl: Tattooed Across his Skin
Neil Shirley: Connections
Babette: Wipeout
Steve Green: Untitled
Quiet Riot Girl: Untitled
Juliet Boyd: Life Form
Jazzygal: The Meaning of Life…
Stephen Jeffrey: Ants on the Patio
Brigid: Somethingistic
M@rcell@: Meduca: A Cuntslerroman
Heather: Untitled
StellaKateT: Tea Wars
The winners will be announced later this evening between 8 and 9pm GMT. Well done to the shortlistees. To read, see here.
WINNERS OF THE 42 FLASH FICTION COMPETITION
Well done to everyone, it was a very, very close call. But my judges and I have decided on the following winners. Can the three winners please all email me at alison@brierwell.com Congratulations!
First Place: Neil Shurley (That Neil Guy)
Connections
I ducked into the empty donut shop.
“Two double chocolates,” I said, slipping off my wet coat. “And two coffees. Black.”
From behind the counter, she smiled.
“Two?” she asked. “Who’s the second one for?”
I slid onto my favorite stool.
“You.”
Second Place:
Juliet Boyd: LIFE FORM
He lifted the rock and peered underneath.
“There’s no life here,” he said between gasps of piped oxygen.
He let it fall. The screams caused the ground to quiver, but he didn’t hear. Or feel.
He continued his search with clouded perception.
Third Place:
M@rcell@
Medusa: A Cuntslerroman
I am a jellyfish. I am. I am not. Like a universe. Becoming. Unbecoming. Am. Not.
Rise. Plankton shimmer. Reflections ripple. Reach for surface—shock.
Sink. Dark deepens. Bodies glow. Constellations form, drift, dissolve.
Tide pulls. Tentacles billow. Dive up begins again.
Fun Virtual Treasure Hunt Extended until tomorrow!
We’ve had the flash fiction competition (shortlist and winners to be announced later). Now for those who need an even greater challenge! Since it’s May 8 we have 8 clues. The answers can be found across the Housewife with a Half-Life related listings on Amazon, Smashwords, abwells.com and on my blog. You’ll need to travel round these universes to find all the clues. In the novel the spaceman Fairly Dave is one of the ‘Higher Powers’ and we often talk about the beauty of Maths (or Math). Two of the answers are a colour but six are numbers. When you find all the numbers I want you to list them in your email but also add them up. So your short answer will be colour, colour, number total. Entries should be sent to the special competition email treasurehunt@brierwell.comUpdate: I’m going to let this run until May 9th ends in all parallel universes, time zones and will announce the winner (if there is one!) May 10th here on the blog! Here are the questions! Good luck. Prize is a signed copy of the paperback or an e-book copy if you prefer.
Clues
1: What is the book cover colour?
2:What number of words was the flash fiction completion?
3:How many pages long is the book?
4: How old were the Canadian students who launched a Lego man into near space?
5: How many seconds did it take for Susan to haul Fairly Dave out of the bathroom?
6: How many grams (gm) is the LG bendy e-paper going to be?
7:What is the last number in the ASIN code for Housewife with a Half-Life?
8: Which colour is my Star Wars t-shirt?
Thanks so much for the support and help I’ve had with my launch. I’ll also announce a twitter winner tomorrow for the retweets on my book links. It’s a testament to the great connection and mutual endeavour online that so many have rallied round to support Housewife with a Half-Life. If you’ve bought it today and like it, it would be fantastic if you added a short review to the site you bought it from. Once again, I’m very grateful and hope you’ve enjoyed the activities today.
It’s all very quiet here today isn’t it? Nothing much happening….
Don’t leave me this way tomorrow folks…
Join me for giveaways, flash fiction shortlist and competition results, and fun virtual treasure hunt comp here and on facebook. If on twitter, retweet the links for Housewife with a Half-Life launch using the #HWHL tag to be entered in the draw for a book.
Now I’m going to have a nose into the outside world to check it still exists. See you here tomorrow!
Last Friday night I went along to read at the celebratory launch of issue 25 of the well-regarded Irish literary magazine Crannog in the Crane Bar, Galway. And what a great night. It was my first time in the Crane Bar, an intimate, authentic, homely venue on Sea Road in Galway. There was a real buzz and about 40 people had gathered to hear the readings of poetry and fiction from the new edition.
I spent the evening with my Galway cousins who showed up to cheer me on but also with my pals Hennessy shortlisted Kate Dempsey and Alice Redmond who read their contributions to the anthology. I also met the poet Kevin Higgins and writer Hugo Kelly and chatted to editors Tony O’ Dwyer and Geraldine Burke.
Des Kenny opened the evening and made the official launch. He commented on the consistency of feeling that ran through the anthology, a testiment to the skill and ethos of the editorial team. Edith Pieperhoff explained the process of securing artwork for the ecletic but resonant front covers.
The highlight of the evening was Patricia Burke Brogan’s fantastic memoir piece ‘Thorntree‘. The author of the worldwide acclaimed play ‘Eclipsed’ about the Magadelen laundries wrote about her teaching days after leaving the novitiate and her run-ins with the Cigaire (school inspector). Her performance was terrific and she even incorporated the sounds of the street and the room into her tale. Her quality of writing is superb.
I also tremendously enjoyed the performances of Kate Dempsey with poem ‘Slow Poison’, Alice Redmond with story By a Thread and also Tom Matthew’s reading his poem More Light, Patricia McAdoo’s ‘A tribute to Leonard Cohen’ was very entertaining and poets Pete Mullineaux and Ciaran Parkes really struck a chord with their poems ‘Singing Gate’ and ‘Plastic Bags’. Fiona O’ Connor made the trip back to her roots in Galway from London and it was great to see her there to perform her story Co-ordinates.
The evening was well complimented by refreshments and excellent bluegrass music to finish. It was my first public reading (if you don’t count my first Kerryman short story success in 1982!) of my fiction and it was a great experience. The evening was recorded so when the relevant clips become available, I’ll add a link to the site.
Crannog is a wonderful blend of literary fiction that is heartfelt, acutely observed and very often funny. It is possible to sign up for a yearly subscription to this worthwhile publication or buy individual copies. This 25th celebratory issue consists of 12 stories and 22 poems, including the exquisite and resonant story The Future Husband by AJ Ashworth. It’s well worth a read.
Head Above Water 