“The Heir of Night”: Now Published in the UK—Plus Earthquake ‘Launch-a-thon’
It definitely feels a little strange to have a book launch in the immediate aftermath of the February 22nd earthquake that has caused so much devastation here in Christchurch—but I do want to at least mark the occasion of The Heir of Night’s release into the UK, and do so in a way that contributes to the earthquake recovery effort.
Scroll down to find out more–and enjoy the “unabridged version” of the wonderful release day graphic from Peter Fitzpatrick, who is also responsible for the very special map for The Wall of Night series.
So what’s happening today, March 3:
1. Firstly, I have a release day post on the Orbit blog: you can check it out here (if you haven’t already.:) )
2. To mark the UK release, I’ll be giving away 3 x signed book sets of:
- the UK first edition of The Heir of Night (in large format trade paperback, no less!); and
- Thornspell (Knopf, USA), which won the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Novel: Young Adult in 2009
To enter the draw, make a comment on this post before 8 pm, Friday 4 March, New Zealand time; or 7 am Friday 4 March, UK (London) time. The 3 winners will be drawn by random selection on Random.Org and the result notified here, on “… Anything, Really”, on Saturday 5 March (NZ time.)
3. Last, But Very Far From Least—the ‘Launch-a-thon’: I would have preferred otherwise, but this UK launch has fallen in the aftermath of what may prove to be NZ’s worst natural disaster to date. To show support for my city and community, I’ll donate a dollar, up to a maximum of NZ$500, for every person who comments on the official launch post (or in fact any of my posts today, March 3) before 8 pm on Friday 4 March, NZ time (7 am, Friday 4 March, London UK time.) The money will go to the NZ Red Cross 2011 Earthquake Appeal.
Needless to say, I hope that a lot of you will comment! 🙂 I’m looking forward to reading what you have to say.
$1 my dear Helen… CONGRATULATIONS!!! 🙂 May it be a soaring success.
Congratulations Helen! Go Heir! Hope the UKers love it.
Tomorrow is the day to wear red and black to show support for the Cantabs. Plotting my outfit.
Jan
Life goes on, even after a big disaster. Take your book launch as a sign that the world keeps on spinning. I haven’t lived through something like that, but I can only imagine I would appreciate all the little signs that normalcy is slowing returning.
Thanks for commenting, Tyson.
Yay! You are so awesome for doing this – hope there are lots of comments 🙂
What a wonderful way to be supportive.
I live in Western Australia but have just started studying though Christchurch Polytechnic. My connection is such a small one that I almost feel like a fraud even mentioning it. But I do because in the short week or so since the semester began we’d all introduced ourselves over the Internet and begun to learn about each other’s lives. Then suddenly those new connections disappeared and it’ll be at least a couple of weeks before the system is restored and the Aussies amongst us can be reassured that our ‘classmates’ are as ok as it’s possible for those intimately involved to be.
Thanks so much for your updates, Helen. I have no doubt at all that the UK will love The Heir of Night.
Mary, Jan, Cassie, Deb—you all rock! And Deb, am with you in hoping your classmates all come back on line, safe and sound.
What a great thing you are doing!
Hope the book launch goes really well.
Thank you, Ticklebear. It just feels like something that “needs” to be done.
Ticklebear! I saw you on my readers map and was worried! Very good to see your name come up and know you are all right. Hope that is true of all your loved ones.
xKim
Helen, I am so supportive of what you are doing! Congratulations on your international launch, and cheers to your generous heart.
Sending all those in NZ the very best wishes and hope for a speedy recovery to lands and soul. I lived on the San Andreas fault line for much of my childhood and I remember . . .
Wishing you every success.
xxxKim
San Andreas—that’s definitely the ‘real deal’; & thanks for the support.
It’s an awesome book – I hope it all goes well 🙂
but admit it – you were planning to give $500 dollars to the appeal anyway 🙂
Thank you, Alicia–although in fact $500 will be a bit of a stretch, given all the post-earthquake expenses we’re likely to have to carry until insurance and EQC pay out (and in fact am sure there’ll be extra on top of that again) but I feel it’s a time when we all need to dig deep (no pun intended given that liquefaction sludge.) 😉
Congratulations on the UK launch, Helen – you deserve a celebration. May the Heir take flight in the Northern Hemisphere.
Thanks, Claire.
Congratulations on the launch in the UK
Thank you, Tracey
I hope you take the UK by storm, and your donation effort is humbling. I hope everything works out well for you and Christchurch (I have family in the city who thankfully are all OK).
Here’s to a rebuilt Christchurch and the next book in the series.
So glad your family are all ok, Brendon.
Will share this on my twitter !
hope there will be hundreds of comments 🙂
Me too, Mariska! 🙂
Congratulations on your book launch in the UK and good luck with the deep dig. I’m sure the Heir will be a success wherever it’s launched. Great idea to link the launch to the appeal. Hope it all goes well.
Thank you!
Congratulations Helen! I hope you had a bit of a celebratory launch day, in spite of the wind and dust and clean-up.
Congratulations on the UK launch of your book The Heir of Night. Heir is a very good read, if anyone needs an opinion on it. I have read it myself and totally enjoyed it.
All the best for the editing of the second book in the series, under what must be difficult conditions. (I read your Supernatural Underground post)
I am firmly of the conviction that you’ve had your decade’s worth of bad luck (in fact, two decades’ worth) and your book will be unhampered and wonderful.
How could we Cantabrians not support a book in our colors (red and black)?! Congratulations, Helen. May nothing but wonderful things happen for this beautiful book, and its proud author!
All the best, Helen! I love the title of your novel 🙂 From an aspiring author with love 🙂 *HUGS* And bless you for your generosity!
First off congratulations and I wish your novel much success. With all the multiple tragedies in the world I often feel shamed for my often petty problems; I am touched by the generosity of your donation plan and that it does not stress your budget in the midst of the earthquake and it’s effects on your life. Is the red cross there the most helpful of the charities?
Luck success and safety…
Congratulations on the UK launch of The Heir of Night! 🙂
Hi Helen,
Just finished reading your post on the Orbit website and wanted to say congratulations on the UK publication of your book.
I also wanted to thank you for making us all stop and think about what is happening around us as well as what happens in our own lives. I hope you get many comments and are able to make a healthy donation to the appeal.
Wishing all who live in NZ are able to put there homes and lives together again swiftly and as painlessly as possible.
Fantastic thing you’re doing.
Good luck with the book launch.
What a great idea for donations!
I hope you get the chance to enjoy the book launch / celebrate somehow.
What a wonderful inspiration you are your generosity is awesome Good luck with the book launch
Congratulations Helen
Such a shame the book launch fell so soon after the quake. While it must be a slog just getting through day to day life in ChCh I must say it’s very heart warming to see how the rest of the country has got behind ChCh. I’m sitting here at work in my red and black watching everyone else trickle in in their red and black. Not only that but the response from work has made me proud to work here. So far staff/shareholder contributions have topped $1.2mill with the company matching that. The initial offer was to match up to $1mill but they’ve extended it out to $2mill.
While this is an enourmous tragedy the response makes one proud to be a kiwi.
Hey Helen
Congratulations on the U.K. launch. I am sure it will be a great success. Your generosity is inspiring. I’m glad to hear that you and Andrew are intact.
All the best
Vernon
Thank you for all your comments—it is heartening to read them and if you can encourage others to comment, too, please do, as there’s still a long way to go on the launch-a-thon. I may not reply individually to every comment, but I do appreciate them all and your kind thoughts flowing our way on ‘red and black’ day (that’s Canterbury NZ colours, not the “Heir” book cover–although in fact the two synchronizing is “perfect.”)
I do feel deeply appreciative though, of the support Christchurch has had, both internationally and from the rest of NZ—as well as the tremendous community support from friends and neighbours here.
With respect to Greg’s question re the Red Cross, I chose them because i) they and the work they do are well known to all; ii) the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and the NZ Civil Defence together with the other governmental/local government agencies have pretty much been here on the ground from the beginning with both the September 4 and February 22 earthquakes; and iii) it’s easy to find their website and access it to donate (a simple, practical consideration for me at present.) But it is in no way a reflection of my thoughts on the relative merit of either the work being done by different agencies or of different funds.
For those who are interested, there is a list of the various appeals available here: http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/donate-christchurch-quake-appeals-4038581
Congrats on the release.
And its a great thing you are doing by donating for the comments. Just reading about the earthquake shows how much of a disaster it was and doesnt seem to be getting the coverage other quakes have had in the mainstream news. Hoping you get a lot of comments.
What a generous thing to do Helen – a momentous day for you and as usual you are incredibily inventive in how you have chosen to mark this launch. I’m looking forward to the day when we can all stand together in some stable place and lift a glass to your prodigious talent. Well done!
Bugger! I just spent a dollar!
Congratulations on the UK launch. I’ve enjoyed both your books and am eagerly awaiting the next one. Love what you are doing here today.
Congratulations, Helen! I’m sure it will do brilliantly in the UK. And yes, Morrin, let’s look forward to celebrating this fantastic achievement together some day soon when the world has stopped shaking quite so much. Take care!
You are a new author to me – my NZ friends on LibraryThing shared this link. Good for you for supporting relief efforts. I will be taking a look at your book.
Found here from the Orbit blog.
Congrats on the release, and the best wishes to you and everyone else in NZ afflicted by the earthquake.
This is a wonderful thing you are doing, Helen.
And congratulations for the UK release!
I followed a thread from Mary Victoria and landed here at your launch party. I will have both of your books downloaded to my Kindle by the time you read this and am looking forward to reading your work. Your Amazon reviews are really good and I will add to them as soon as possible.
Congratulations on your release in the UK!
Blessings on you and yours as you repair and dig out. ChCh and the people of NZ are in our prayers.
Laurel N
Portland, Oregon, USA
Congratulations on your UK release!! And great idea for fund-raising. I hope you get lots of comments.
I’m currently staying with relatives in the relatively unaffected western suburbs, but I think I’m going to have to look for temporary accommodation – my place in the CBD is not going to be accessible for some time (and is currently red-stickered, although hopefully this is due to instability in neighbouring buildings). Hope to catch up with you soon at a rescheduled SpecFic meeting!
Congratulations Helen! just sorry I missed the 8pm deadline… Malian is definitely a heroine for our times, don’t you think? Resourceful and calm under pressure with lots of friends looking out for her. Maybe it’s time to re-read Heir…
Anyway, hope you get to enjoy your story reaching heaps of new readers. Cheers!
Congratulations on the UK launch! Though am sure it’s hard to feel celebratory at the moment, I guess it is a good reminder that even in the worst of times, we can still find things to celebrate. We will raise a glass tonight here in Wellington to your continuing success!
Hi Helen,
This is a fantastic idea, you are ace for offering this support to everyone facing a terrible time.
Ashley