A Tale of Two Little bookends

A few months ago, friends of ours, Fran and Martin, gave me a gift to celebrate my book deal. (with Harper Collins romance digital imprint Harper Impulse).

The gift was a set of bookends and when Fran explained to me that she envisioned them growing wider over time as new Carmel Harrington books were added between them, I was really touched.

Aren’t they lovely? So they have sat on my sideboard in our living room waiting to be filled.

I knew that my book Beyond Grace’s Rainbow which is currently on sale as an eBook was due to be released as a paperback later this year, but the date of the print release hadn’t been set.

Last week I attended an Autumn Fete party at the HarperCollins HQ in London, an opportunity to meet the HarperImpulse team and also some authors that’s I have gotten to know ‘virtually’ since I signed with them this summer. Also invited to the party were book reviewers, so it was a great opportunity to meet people that I regularly chat with on twitter or Facebook.
Much excitement surrounded the event but I was unprepared for how emotional I felt as I walked through the entrance to the Harper Collins building.

I remember only too well seeing Claudia Carroll tweet a picture of herself beside the famous ‘novel’ tree made with book pages, last Christmas. So to be walking into a lobby that I knew Claudia, Cathy Kelly and Cecelia Ahern (some of my heroes) had walked into many times before was quite overwhelming for me. So much so that I failed to notice that in the bookshelves in the lobby, in the glass display cabinets, in fact pretty much everywhere possible, Beyond Grace’s Rainbow was sitting pretty!

When my editor Charlotte Ledger walked into the lobby, I must confess I started to cry. I really cannot explain the feeling, finally seeing Grace’s story in glorious print, a moment I felt like I had waited for my entire life.

I didn’t get to touch the book in the lobby as that would have ruined the perfect displays! But once we got to the party, I came face to face with an actual copy and got to hold it for the first time!

I think my smile says it all!

I would like to formally thank these two gorgeous ladies for believing in BGR and me, Kim Young and Charlotte Ledger.

I had a lot of fun at the party, it was so good to put faces to names and realise that new friendships had begun. There was Pimms, Prosecco, Sausage & Mash and lots of gorgeous cupcakes and cake pops and other autumn treats! The time flew by and all too soon it was time to say goodbye but not goodnight, as an ‘after party’ had to be attended. Would have been an awful waste of a Ryanair flight, had I gone home early 😉

Here is one of my favourite pics of the night, taken as I was leaving the party. (So maybe there might have been one or two glasses of bubbly had!)

As I left the party, which was quite frankly brilliant!, with my bulging goody bag, which also included BGR, I couldn’t wait to get home to show my little beauty off to my family.

And now, those two bookends don’t look quite so empty.

I know many of you are awaiting details on when BGR will be available to buy in paperback and while I don’t have an exact date, I do know it will be within the next week or two, so I promise to keep you all posted.

Thank you once again for reading and supporting me, I always appreciate it,
Chat soon
Carmel x