It may be a week later, but since pushing my Self to complete my novel in two years (instead of three) and then organising the Book Launch, I really needed to switch off for a week! So I’m just getting around to writing a review:
Naming Ceremony
I was glad I decided to postpone my (re)Naming Ceremony as most people arrived for the Book Launch! I hadn’t anticipated the amount of work that was involved in organising the Book Launch and the Naming Ceremony, and I wasn’t able to give the Naming Ceremony the attention it deserved, so I’ve postponed it until June 2013. In my mind, I see it on the scale of a wedding, so I’ll be doing plenty of work between now and then to promote the importance of us (descendants of the enslaved) changing our names back to an African name.
Book Launch
Although the venue was full, I noticed that a lot of my personal friends didn’t attend. I now put this down to me not inviting them personally, as I only sent out a generic email. In future, I know to invite personal friends personally!
Fellow poet Errol McGlashan (who also helped me edit the book) done a short drama sketch based on the church scene he co-wrote in Year One of the novel, where the Pastor is admonishing the young women in the church for wearing ‘unholy undergarments’ to God’s holy house! We will definitely be developing this sketch for future events!
After, I introduced the audience to my inner child by performing ‘My Artist Child’ Parts One and Two, then read an extract from Year Two which lead straight into my poem ‘The Preparation’ which features in that extract, alongside acoustic guitarist Theo Calliste and El Crisis.
After a Q & A session, I signed books during the break and all 25 were gone in no time!
I had tried to encourage people to buy their books online and bring it with them to the launch to receive a FREE ‘Seeds of Love’ CD but it didn’t quite work out that way!
I happily took another 14 orders though! (My eldest son Zaviere helped)
I have fellow author Kwame McPherson to thank for taking me to the Millionaire Authors Bootcamp in June, which spurred me on to get my novel finished! I started publishing it on Amazon Kindle first, then when the whole book was completed I Self-published the paperback version with Lulu.com. Kwame also took me to Raymond Allen’s Authors Bootcamp this weekend (7-9th Dec) where I learnt how to BRAND my Self – I am now the AUTHORity on how to be HAPPILY Single, Spiritual…AND Sexual! (If you’re not happily single, you won’t be happily married/in a relationship either!)
It was also good to see fellow author Von Mozar (second from right) after all this time! Debrose (Natural November, far right) also came to get her complimentary book and CD for helping promote the book to her networks. (she also bought one of the ‘Lover’s Attraction’ spiritual oils mentioned in my novel that I sell)
After talking about the faculty of the Creative Imagination, I read some more extracts from the novel and performed another two poems that feature in the story, and are on its complimentary CD ‘Seeds of Love’; ‘Love Attraction’, and ‘R U The One?’
El Crisis (host) performed two of his spiritually moving poem/chanting
I thanked my three sons Zaviere, Sanchez and Azagba for putting up with me for the last three years while I pursue my passions – I think they were proud of me though!
