BOOK LAUNCH "THE POISON THRONE"

On Saturday October 25th 2008 The Poison Throne by Celine Kiernan was launched in Crannog Bookshop in Cavan Town, co. Cavan, Ireland.

The Poison Throne is the first book by Celine Kiernan to be published and is also the first instalment in the Moorhawke trilogy. Since I reviewed this book in this blog on the 11th of September, I won't get into that again, except to say that it is a wonderful book, aimed at young adults but very much to be enjoyed by adults too.

The launch itself was a huge success. Crannog isn't a very big bookshop but it was filled to capacity and then some. For those who did not arrive early it was a case of standing room only.

After a welcome and introduction by the owner of the bookshop, the floor was given to Michael O'Brien, of O'Brien publishing who praised the author for an exceptional book. He told the audience that after he had bought the rights to the book he took the first three chapters to the Bologna Book Fair only a few weeks later. On the basis of those three chapters he managed to sell the rights to several different countries (if I remember correctly 13) which is a terrific achievement and says a lot about the quality of the writing and the power of the story.

The second speaker was author Catherine Dunne. Years ago, she was Celine's teacher in secondary school, and she told us how even then Celine showed huge talent and imagination.

Finally it was time for Celine herself to address her. She told us how overwhelmed she is by the positive reactions she has been getting to her book. She also said that there had been several times when she was ready to just forget about the whole project, but had been encouraged by her husband and children to keep on going. And how right they were.

She read pages from the story and picked a point in the narrative that was sure to entice those who had not read the book yet to pick it up immediately and get the full story.

When it was time for the book signing I had my opportunity to have a quick word with Celine. Much to my surprise she told me that she had read my review in this blog, and thanked me for it. Apparently, mine was the very first review of this book to be published anywhere. And since I loved the book, that was not a bad thing. She was kind enough to allow me to keep the ARC copy I had read and signed it for me, with a thank you for that review. The copy of the book I bought while in Crannog she signed for Tara, at which point I took the photo you see above.

This was my very first book launch and I enjoyed it thoroughly. From now on I'll be making a point of going to as many launches as is feasible.