It's a long, long way from Screen to here..... Part 1- Indiana, USA Book Tour Highlights ~ Carmel Harrington

Good morning everyone,

Well, as most of you know, last week I was on my first ever book tour in USA. This whirlwind took me into 3 states – Indiana, Chicago and New York. Lot’s of you have been asking me for details, I love that you are all so interested, it means so much to me! I thought the best way to share all the highlights would be to blog about them. Also, if I’m honest, I want to write them all down, so in those moments when it feels like I dreamt it all, I can come back to my blog and relive the memories again. I hope you enjoy and if you happened to meet me during the tour and I conned you into doing a #selfie with me, well stay tuned, because you are more than likely going to pop up in one of the posts!

Thursday 13th March

I left Wexford at 530 am, wide awake despite the ungodly hour, excitement and nerves mingling together in my tummy as I pondered what the following week would hold for me. Saying goodbye to Rog and the children was difficult, I won’t lie. I knew I would cope perfectly on my own, I also knew that I had to grab this amazing opportunity with both hands, soaking up every wonderful moment. But the undeniable fact to me was that it would also be a difficult week for me, as quite simply, I do better when my husband and children are with me. But until I sell a few more books, bringing the whole family isn’t an option! One day……

I kissed my sleeping babies goodbye and tearfully said goodbye to Rog and I was off! My journey to Dublin with Bus Eireann was seamless as was my check-in and departure from Dublin Airport. Thank you Gerry Byrne in Aer Lingus Check-in, a lovely man who made me laugh. Here I am about to board the flight.

I arrived in Chicago quite rested actually! It had been quite a while since I got to have 8 hours all to myself, being waited on by a lovely Aer Lingus steward! I got to watch two movies – Gravity (Sandra Bullock is incredible in this) and Lost Vegas (hmmm….. amazing cast yes – De Niro the legend is in it! and he along with Morgan Freeman and Michael Douglas all did their best with an adequate script. I’m glad I didn’t pay to go see it in the cinema)

My agent had kindly offered me bed and board at her beautiful home in Mishawaka, Indiana. The warmth of the welcome that Tracy, Matt and their daughter Grace extended to me quickly dispelled any nerves I felt and I felt very much at home with them all. Although I had met Tracy before and we have both enjoyed lots of long chats on facetime together, one of the gifts of this trip was the beautiful friendship that I have made with Tracy. As we navigated our way through the events of Indiana and Chicago, we nicknamed ourselves Thelma and Louise and giggled and chatted together, like we had known each other our whole lives. A lovely lady and I am so lucky she represents me so professionally and I can now call her my friend.

Grace, who is 11 years old and an aspiring writer herself, became my new best friend. She made the most beautiful green bracelet for me, which I wore with pride on the St Patrick’s Day parades.

Matt, Tracy’s husband, is very proud of his Irish roots, which was apparant in the tasteful nods to Irish culture in the decor throughout the house. That first evening we enjoyed a beautiful italian meal and then just chatted for a few hours with a glass of pinot noir before I fell into bed, tiredness catching up with me.

Friday 14th March

I had an early start as I had to be in the WNDU-TV studios at 6am! So at 4.45am I was up and getting ready for my debut TV interview in America. Now even just saying that outloud is still mind boggling for me. I have been lucky enough to visit the US many times over the past few decades. Working for Aer Lingus for nearly 10 years had it’s perks you know 😉 cheap flights for staff being one of them! So I’ve seen the breakfast TV shows, US style, lots of times, but never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be one day a guest myself.

I needn’t have been nervous, as Tricia Sloma the gracious and warm anchorwoman put me at ease very quickly and the interview was a lot of fun! It was very cool to see how they pull it all together in studio too. I saw David the weatherman doing his stuff in front of a green backdrop and must admit I would have loved a go myself! Great restraint shown by me that I didn’t photobomb the weatherman lol….

If you haven’t seen the interview and you’d like to have a wee look, you can check it out here.

Here are some photographs of the interview!

Once the interview was over it was back home to Tracy’s home, where I was met with the most amazing sight. There were 6 deer grazing in the grounds of the Brennan home!

We then went to the Barnes and Noble store in Misawaka for my first ever book signing. So ok, just imagine this. This store which is on 3 floors and bigger than most shopping centres in Ireland. The tannoy system announced me every 10 minutes or so, which resulted in me giggling like a ten year old girl! Posters announcing the event were at every entrance to the store and they had gone to the trouble of having green and pink balloons blown up, to co-ordinate with the cover of Beyond Grace’s Rainbow. Cool eh?

Jim, the store manager was a gentleman and I cannot wait to see him again in October for a book signing for The Life You Left. Here is a little movie clip I took before the signing started.

After the book signing it was time to celebrate Brennan style with Matt on the grill cooking the best steak I’ve ever eaten, Tracy making the best sides to accompany them, Mary Ellen (Matts mother) making me smile with her charming wit and it was altogether a great evening. I even managed to get Tracy to play something on her 1923 Steinway piano.

Here are some snapshots of the evening!