Today is the proudest moment of my life – the first ever proof copy of my novel Beneath the Sleepless Stars arrived in the mail !!!
An indescribably surreal moment for me – seeing the character dialogue and story events I’d poured my heart and soul into, typing away on my laptop over the years, finally come to life “as a real book with real pages and real typed words!” (quote of the day :P). And don’t get me started on how excited I am about the cover art – Declan’s eyes look AMAZING!
With smartphones being ubiquitous these days, unbeknownst to me at the time, a friend captured the moment when I unbelievingly tore open the parcel. Watching the video back is hilariously embarrassing, the short film begins with shock (the parcel arrived early, I wasn’t expecting it to arrive today!), continues the drama with blunt scissors vs bubble wrap struggles, and ends on a high note with lots of collective group screaming as I lay my eyes on my book for the first time haha! It definitely meant a lot to be able to share that moment and a champagne toast with a group of people who were as excited as I was. Thanks girls š
As a person who has always cherished books, ever since I first started jotting down stories on reams of A4 lined paper at the age of 10 I have been dreaming of the moment where I could one day see my own imagined tales in print. Growing up, I was always known for carrying my trusty notebook and pen with me wherever I went, scribbling paragraphs here and there. Yes, it was the 80s, and computers were just something you used to make novelty greeting cards (leading me to once ponder a career in that industry – trust me I could work magic with a border of ants and some pre-Comic Sans fonts!). In those days I used to get excited about buying a fresh new lecture pad – oh the writing possibilities!
For my first ‘novel’, I even hand-drew the cover – a source of much hilarity looking back at it now!
Fast forward to today, I couldn’t be happier with how my (non hand-drawn!) cover design translated from my imagination, the pages are typeset rather than pen written, and I’m still pinching myself that this whole dream has actually come true.
Charisse Nicolle 