It has been almost three weeks since Tiger Stone was launched at Castlemaine Library and questions have been asked in certain circles about the absence of a post launch post. My excuse(es)? Life got busy, my eyes hurt, the VLine commute is killing me and the dog ate my homework.
Hmmm. Last week I visited a high school – primarily to convince anyone who would listen that 14th century Java is really really fascinating, but also to help the Year 12s prepare for their upcoming Indonesian oral exam. Unlike me, the students I spoke to didn’t make any excuses but a couple of them were clearly at the hyperventilating stage of exam preparation so I did my pep talk about doing a little bit every day and setting achievable goals. All of which made me think that I should probably listen more to my own advice.
So here’s my little bit for today. The launch was ace: the dadar unti (coconut and pandan pancakes) went down a treat (thanks Paul and Leonie); Susan Green gave a beautiful, thoughtful speech; loads of friends, family and book lovers came; the patented Castlemaine Library book launcher went off on cue, delivering a book into the hands of an avid young reader and I managed to get through the whole thing without crying or locking myself in the bathroom.
Thank you to everyone who came and to those who sent messages (and flowers!).
We’ll be doing the whole thing again in Ubud in a few weeks if you want to come along.
