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Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Release Day: A Day Late

The Confessions of Catherine de Medici went on sale yesterday - a rainy day here in SF. On sale days are odd amalgams of excitement, apprehension, and relief. The book is now officially out of my hands, no more fussing over a missed verb or awkward phrase; now, it belongs to readers and I must start the process of supporting it promotionally even as I must let go of my creative protectiveness. Having been through this before, I thought I'd be okay but I woke up early yesterday, overcome by the urge to check my amazon rank obsessively while simultaneously rushing out to every bookstore within a 100-mile radius to see the book.

Fortunately, I had other duties as assigned, including a radio interview with the divine Liz St John at Radio Alice 93.7 AM. Liz's passionate support of authors is greatly appreciated; she is a devoted reader and her insightful questions helped me re-focus on my energies on more productive concerns. (See pic of me with Liz at the studio; the camera flash went on, unfortunately!).

I also have had online activities, including a review and interview at Margaret Donsbach's HistoricalNovelsInfo, a guest post at Historical Tapestry, a guest post at fellow author Christy English's blog, an interview at my good friend Sarah Johnson's Reading The Past, and a review at Devourer of Books. As always, bloggers have been so enthusiastic; in this era of ever-dwindling marketing dollars, I owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

On June 1, I'll start my official virtual tour, during which I'll visit 35 blogs; I'll post the schedule here for those who'd like to join me. I'm looking forward to it; tour organizer Cheryl Malandrinos of PumpUpYourBook Promotion has done a terrific job of bringing together a diverse selection.

Off to a good start, I think. More later, and thanks as always to you, my readers, for all your support. I truly hope you will enjoy Catherine de Medici's story.

5 comments:

Cherie Burbach said...

Much success with the book! I can't wait to read it.

Laura at Library of Clean Reads said...

Congratulations on your release! Like the new look of your blog too.

kriswaldherr said...

Many, many congrats, Christopher! I'm so excited and pleased for you. BTW, I recently came across the perfume that Catherine used to wear (Santa Maria Novella) in a shop in Soho here. It was extremely floral and beautiful and is still produced in Florence! Thought of you and your book.

C.W. Gortner said...

Thank you to all! I'm having fun. Kris, that is so coincidental that you mentioned the cologne; my writer friend Margaret George sent me a bottle as a gift, and I wore it on debut day to a radio interview. Everyone at the studio kept sniffing the air and saying, "Oh, that smells so good."

I think it's how Mme. de Medici lured her enemies close :)

kriswaldherr said...

Too funny! and yes, it does smell lovely -- floral and light. It's also making an appearance in my Victorian era novel. Apparently Italian fragrances were popular among the artistic crowd.