How to spend your release day:
Wake up a little before noon and stare out the window at the very green Irish countryside wondering why you decided that a drinking game to the world’s worst book was a fantastic idea at 3am the night before. Hear a knock at the door and have Ally Carter pop her head in to chant that it’s your release day (yay!) and tell you that everyone is heading to the pub.
Decide that waking up and heading directly to the pub isn’t a problem. Take a bath, and start lovely rain-free walk to the local village. Get lost. Get unlost. Find said pubs and realize they are all closed. Convince the nice man at the local shop to make sandwiches to everyone. Eat half on the way back and remember that a simple turkey sandwich can be the best thing ever and can settle all stomachs.
Get back to castle and peruse the internet. Admire pictures of book on shelves sent from family and have other authors with many books under their belt laugh at your dewy eyed optimism (in a good way!). Chat a bit, take a sauna and then nap with an ARC of one of your fellow castle-mate’s newest book.
Wake up and stare out at countryside. Realize that there is bird sex going on outside window but not be fast enough to run down stairs and catch the male peacock with his tail fully displayed. Dress for dinner in Baroness’s bathroom and wander downstairs.
Sit in writing parlor with writing friends and smell delights of catered meal wafting in. Pop bottle of champagne as canapés are served. Toast said champagne until gong for dinner sounds. Head to scrumptious dinner and enjoy excellent conversationing.
Retire to parlor with Irish coffees and listen to more dramatic readings. Read a bit. Write a bit. Alternately curse the internet for being down so you cannot obsess but be glad there is something keeping you from obsessing.
Enjoy terrific company of fellow authors. Miss fiancé. Head to bed amongst congratulations of new friends. Snuggle deep beneath heaps of soft fresh linens and dream of the cliffs of insanity.
Wow…waking up to a release day in an Irish castle…wow….
Okay, this is really really really weird!!!
But first of all, CONGRATULATIONS are in order!!!
I’m in the middle of the internet, lost in all my searches of Jim McCarthy, because he’s reading my manuscript, and another agent is also reading, and I’m trying to figure out response times…
Then I read a post by him about your book and how he was hooked from the beginning, and how he gave it to a colleague for verification of his good luck! (And kudos btw on that!!!)
And still scrolling through posts, and click over here, not realizing you’re *that* author!!
Congratulations again!!
As an aside, I run a free book promotions blog for authors. Would LOVE to host you! We’ve had several best-selling authors on board (you can browse our sidebar). It’s interactive and humorous—you spend the day with us interacting, at your convenience, the participants. If you pop over you can see it in action…
http://www.bookroast.blogspot.com
This is surreal.
Congratulations, and ALL BEST for really terrific sales!
🙂
That sounds fantastic. Do you mind if I plan to copy you one day? ^_^
Also, I secured my copy FHT and plan to devour it the moment it arrives! Please forgive me in advance if you get an e-mail from me at 4:30 a.m. begging for you to hurry up and publish your next book. 😉
It’s killing me–what’s the world’s worst book?
I’m so excited to finally read your book! It isn’t in my Barnes and Noble yet but the cute sales guy with the facial scruff promises me it will be in pronto 🙂
I don’t know what the worst book in the world is for you guys. But my friends and I played a drinking game to a book we thought was pretty lame. It involved doing a shot everytime the word “chargrin” was used. A few chapters in, the room had a lovely blurred quality about it … 🙂
I’m so glad all you creative types are together writing books and chasing peacocks. I love your work!
Sounds awesome!
I’m extremely jealous. Not only about the Irish fantasy vacation, but also on the book release.
Congratulations! Have a great trip.
A perfect day! Happy Release!!
First: Congratulations!!! My copy of Forest of Hands and Teeth is on the way.
It’s really rad to read your view from where you’re standing since I just sold my first book and am just taking the first step. A little over a year from now I’ll hopefully be where you are. Metaphorically. Or literally. A castle is wicked cool.
How am I supposed to be happy for you when I am enviously hating you for a gorgeous day (can it be a whole day when it starts at noon?) in the Irish countryside!
I suppose I shall just have to muster all my efforts – congrats!!!
Hi! Must say, I’m envious about waking up in an Irish castle… I’ve wanted to go there forever, it’s the Irish in my blood. Congratulations on this book, it’s FANTASTIC! I first got the chapter sampler from my bookstore on the tenth, and then bought the whole thing on the eleventh. I read the entire book today (very fast reader) and it is AMAZING. You have a great style, and I wasn’t ever bored in the slightest. I’ve never read a book about zombies before, and I never thought I’d be interested in that sort of thing, but your book changed my mind completely! Once again, congratulations, and I look forward to your next publication!
P.S. I appreciated the FAQ on getting an agent and publishing a book. I’ve also completed a novel(which I don’t intend on publishing) and I’m working on a couple of others, so the advice was great.
Your book is magnificent. I am salivating for the next one!
Peacocks in Ireland. You realize that in the year 3009 everybody is going to be driven insane by the question; how did such a clumsy, stupid bird spread all around the world?
Oh, and “May you dine on left over peacock.” will be a curse.
I just have to tell you that I pre-ordered your book off the strength of all the ARC reviews on goodreads.com. It arrived yesterday and in the evening I decided that rather than watch some lame tv show I would read a couple chapters. At 5 am I put your book down with tears in my eyes. Both happy and sad for Mary (and Travis!) and devastated for myself because I had finished the book. What a great debut! Just a really beautiful, really moving book. I can’t wait to read more from you.
congratulations!!!!!! and WHAT a way to spend it! i’m envious! i’ll be at home in my pajamas online going nuts. haha!
Heh heh. I have a pretty good idea of what the world’s worst book is…
Again, wheeee! Congrats!
It looks like you’re going to be an “overnight” sensation. Congrats!
After running quite by accident into three reviews in a row of your book where the readers (all fellow novelists) said they could not put your book down, I decided to order it online. I’m getting vibes on the level of Hunger Games from all the chatter going on about your book. Again, congrats! ^_^
What an awesome way to spend a release day! Congratulations!
I finished your book two days ago. I bought it at two, finished it at 7 that night. I couldn’t put it down! 🙂
I’m planning on doing a review of it as soon as I have time. (AKA, as soon as I get something written on my own WIP.)
Your release day kicks butt!!!
Just saw this week’s sales numbers on Bookscan. Like I said in my last comment, you’ve become an overnight sensation. By way of comparison, Cassandra Clare’s City of Bones sold about the same # of copies in its first two weeks as you have in yours. So did The Hunger Games.
Woot! ~~