On Tuesday 3 November 2020 I was privileged to spend the evening with many of my supporters and readers at Unity Books Wellington to launch my first book, The Residents: Made in Wellington. It was an incredible evening with far more people than I expected attending. (At one point I think we had 200 people!)
The evening was very kindly hosted by Unity Books Wellington, who arranged the whole affair and allowed me to be the star of the night. I got to sign lots and lots of books to the wonderful individuals who supported me via Crowdfunding on PledgeMe and helped fund my book to get it published.
Holding this event was everything I’d wanted and many, many times more. I was blown away by how many people showed up to support and the amazing mentors who came out and spoke about me. Amanda Millar and Tennessee Mansford MC’d the speeches, and we had lovely words from Unity Books owner Tilly Lloyd and the editor of my book, India Lopez. I was also especially grateful for the attendance of the books designer, Amanda Wilkinson, and Pivotal Print’s Jonathan Burchell who helped to bring this project to life before it was much more than some files and an idea in my brain.
But by far and away the best aspect of the evening was the chance to meet so many readers of my blog, some of whom have been following me a very long time. It was just inspiring to meet you, and get to share a few moments together. My only wish was that I had been able to circulate around the room, instead of being chained to the desk to sign the whole event, because I’d have liked to have had more conversations with all the incredible people who showed up.
I’m really thrilled by how the book launch went and I’m SO EXCITED to have finally published my first book.
If you’d like to get your hands on a copy of your own, you can either pop here to make a direct order, or go to Unity Books, Cranfields, Iko Iko, Seashore Cabaret, Marsden Books, Good Books, Matt Forsman and any of the other stockists listed here.
I can’t wait to see how this journey continues to unfold. I truly believe that even though this is the end of writing and self-publishing for the first time, this is just the beginning of a whole new chapter…
Thank you to everyone who came out to support - especially Mum and Dad and Tom, Liz and Roger, Matt and the amazing people who appeared in The Residents: Made in Wellington such as Craigy Lee, Margaret Hema, Hana Small, Christopher Tubbs, Annabelle Wilson and Jesse Thwaites, Nick and Nevada Leckie and many others.
The most talented crew supported me on the night, including Beckie Wilson of Face It and my best friend Maria Moran. The exceptionally talented Chris McKeown took the most gorgeous photos, a few of which I’ve published here. If you had a photo on the night with me, Chris has kindly made all the files available to download via his website.
Once again. THANK YOU. I wouldn’t be here without you believing in me, and my abilities to produce this book. In many ways, it isn’t really my book. It truly is a book for every resident of Wellington…
