The
launch of Manawl’s Treasure, the third and final book
in the Dreamstealers trilogy in October offered a great opportunity
to share with other people and hear their opinions. It was a thrilling
end to a project which has taken four years to complete. Jake Whittaker (cover illustrations) created a short dreamy
film of the standing stones with some of his own music, and
alongside it we had a group of young students who had written a play
around the first book and read it as a ‘radio play’ whilst
the film was showing. We also pulled in a magician (sadly not Manawl
himself). He gave great entertainment to the children who came along
to Cardigan Guildhall and helped make the day a real success.
The launch has also given me a great opportunity to go out into the
bookshops and talk to people – some of whom have read the first
two books and others who have found it for the first time.
I had
a publicity trip to Devon where I was welcomed at the Bookshelf
Bookshop in Ashburton, to sign books, meet some old friends and make
some new ones; all delighted to get their hands on the final story in
the series! The Litfest at Rhos y Gilwen Mansion and the Wordzwork Wales
Festivals have whizzed past in a haze of appreciative listeners,
discussions and workshops. There has been lots of positive feedback,
even from people who loved the Fizzing Stone and Shapeshifters, saying
that the latest book is ‘the best of the lot’, so I’m
obviously very happy with that response. Storytelling in Cardigan on Victorian Night –
one of the high points of our year here in the outreaches of West Wales
– was a challenge since I’m not used to an audience of under
fives and many of those who arrived were very young. Somehow I managed
to keep everyone interested telling the story of Jocinda and the Hat
Rabbit – one of my own Christmas stories which always goes down
well.
Please
– anyone who has read Manawl’s Treasure and enjoyed it send
a review – however brief – either to us here at dream-stealers.com
or to amazon.co.uk where they will add it to the ones they have had
for the first two books.
For more information about
forthcoming events email :
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