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A rather Special Occasion

Head Rambles Posted on by

Last March I was very honoured to win an award at the Irish Blog Awards.

Part of the prize was a nice bottle of champagne.

Being a Guinness man, and not particularly partial to Black Velvet, the bottle has remained unopened, waiting for a Very Special Occasion.

I’m fussy about special occasions.  Some would have opened the bottle at Christmas when the family were all here.  No.  We opened a couple of bottles we brought back from France and got pissed on enjoyed them.

I had my special occasion in mind and the bottle remained firmly sealed until then.

That occasion has now arrived.

It came through the letterbox this morning.

headrambles

The very first copy.

The first of a first edition.  Already I can see it appreciating in value.

The distribution process starts on Monday to it should appear on the shelves soon.

But until then……..

Sláinte.

 

Comments

A rather Special Occasion — 60 Comments

  1. Hey congratulations, a special occasion indeed. The cover is really good too – eye-catching!

    Now we know your real name though! 🙂

    (WP Ajax ate my first comment!)

  2. There once was a lad with big hair
    when rambling around with no care
    said ‘enough of this caper’
    then put pen to paper
    and discovered he had quite a flair

  3. Congrats on the book finally coming through the letterbox, and enjoy that champagne! trust me if its anything like the bottle I nicked at the web awards tis a nice champagne!

  5. Wow, I can’t even begin to imagine how good that must feel. A mahoosive congratulations Grandad!
    Enjoy the champers!

  7. @dorothy – No hair, that should’ve been no hair! Sorry but couldn’t get flair to rhyme with beard!

  10. OOOOH, goosebumps! If I have them, how are YOU feeling? That’s awesome. Congratufeckinglations!!! Remember to let me know when it’s available on the US Amazon so that I can..

    A. Get myself a copy
    B. Sell the blasted thing in my Amazon Affiliate links

  11. Wonderful Grandad! Hearty congratulations!

    Is that your head on the cover, or are you ‘mooning’ us? Doesn’t matter either way, as soon as it hits the Dutch Waterhouse branch in Amsterdam or the American Book Shop here in the Hague, I’m buying it!

  12. Well done my friend – a well earned hangover is yours.
    Time to start working on the sequel!!!

  14. Congratulations – that’s a nice feeling. I’ll keep an eye out for it and pick it up as soon as I see it.

  15. Aw, thanks everyone.

    I can’t answer you all individually, but would like to say…

    Geri – As far as I am aware, it won’t be on the shelves outside Ireland [for the moment?!] but can be ordered [or bought on Amazon?].

    You can interpret the cover as you wish, and imagine it being any part of me that you like. I do have a reasonable head of hair though.

    Joely – Welcome to my wee site. 🙂 So RhodesTer has done some good at last?

  17. Twenty – Your second one is due out shortly is it not? I have some catching up to do.

    Cathy – I knew it would come in very handy, and it is somewhat appropriate?

  18. Such a lovely day. Enjoy it 🙂

    Pity I have to pick up the kids, or I’d be around to help out with the bottle!

    Well done. Hope it sells like hotcakes. Come to think of it, you could do well selling hotcakes today. It’s bloody freezin 😉

  19. Congratulations! I’ll try to send some tourists your way. Some target practice with the .50 should add to the festivities.

  23. Well done. Bravo. Congratulations. w00t!

    I hope you will be loading up the rifle and taking a shot at a boxful of books for us “special friends” who prefer our copy to have a bullet hole!

    (the picture reminds me of the scene from Misery where the author celebrates with a drink and a smoke.)

  24. Congrats! Long time reader of your site and I’m glad you’re in print. Enjoy the bubbly.

  25. That brand goes for L37.50 with the personalised label. L12 without it. Didn’t mean to burst your bubbles.
    Looks like Twenty is back blogging. Maybe.
    Is the book a collection or a story or what?
    Anyhoo, very well done.

  26. Thanks again, everyone. Except for TT, of course. 😉

    TT – It ain’t the cost that’s important – it’s the occasion. If you follow the Book tab at the top of this site, it will give all the relevant information.

    As for Twenty? Who knows? Two posts in one day? He’s probably knackered after that.

  27. Twenty – Your second one is due out shortly is it not? I have some catching up to do.

    Next month – not sure of the exact date just yet though.

  31. Wow! For lack of a better word (and being Irish after all) I’ll say AWESOME! You know where that word originates! What an accomplishment. I have always wanted to be a writer – now I’ll have a wise muse to get advice from.

    Enjoy the champagne with your family. I wish you many more years of writing. You’ve lit up my life a little every day for about six months now! 🙂

  33. Stipes – I have never been called that before!

    Tricia – “You’ve lit up my life a little every day” – That means a lot to me. Thanks. 🙂

    DogsCock – Woof.

  36. Well done! Here every book published has to also be submitted to the National Library for posterity. And . . .congratulations on not opening a bottle of champers . . unheard of at my place!

  38. Yay! Congrats, Hairy one. I hope it makes all those hours of frustrating writers block worthwhile. Have a bubbly for me! xx

  39. Damn good to hear! And I’m so pleased that the first edition is now sitting on your table where it rightly belongs. Wish I were there to drink a toast in your honor, sir.

    Lot’s more congratulations from myself to add to the rest. (So is it available on the US Amazon yet or what?)

  41. @kirk – ‘sitting on your table where it rightly belongs’ – I would’ve thought it would be better off sitting in the hands being read!

    Hey Grandad, what are you going to do to promote the book? Maybe you should include an appearance on the Late Late with the Plank! Now wouldn’t that be ironic?

  42. Congrats…

    and just by the way, I love the wooden floor in the photo – is that your front room? Gorgeous! Nice table, too. I’m a bit of a sucker for wood, I guess.

    I hope I manage to find a publisher for the book that’s insisting that I write it. I gather it’s not easy. I also gather that in your case the publisher approached you. That is high recognition indeed!

  44. @Dorothy – You’re right of course and I was going to originally state something like that but then it occurred to me that since he wrote it in first place and that it’s based on this very blog that he also writes, I thought perhaps he’d rather not bend the spine of the First Edition!. Keep it in pristine condition and all that.

    I intend to read it of course. 😀

  45. I’m sure Twenty and I are prepared to sign joints if you wish, but only after we have smoked them.

    As for an appearence on the Late Late? They did ask me, but we hit deadlock when I insisted that The Plank be replaced by Sharon Ní Beoláin.

    Karyn – It’s a sort of backroom/kitchen/conservatory. Ours is not a conventional place. The floor is quite new and the table is one of a nest of three.

  49. Thanks, JD 🙂

    B’dum –
    How much will it be? Less than 5c a page. A bargain.
    How long is it? About 9″ [8″ in this weather though].
    What length are the chapters? They vary.

  51. Welcome TrainWreckIdeas! Go for it.

    Hangar – Whose blood, and any particular brand of pipe tobacco?

  55. And not just anyone gets called sugar you know.

    @Savannah, That’s a great monkey you got. The cat, the mouse and I loved playing with him (especially the cat).

  56. Lord of the Rings was less than that… and a complete rip off.
    I was remarkably slow figuring the length bit. Was actually measuring a book to see how many inches thick it was.
    If the chapters are too short; I’ll read it in the book store. If the chapters are too long; I’ll never read it. If the chapters are just right; I’ll buy it.

  57. Sounds like a perfectly appropriate moment to crack that award bottle open.

    Must be great to see the end results in your hands, well done.

  58. I know I typically let my funnier half do the commenting here but wanted to mention that, whenever signing a copy, you should sign right on the cover.. square on that bald head. ^_^ I’m SO serious, btw, & will be watching for just such a copy in our mailbox someday. ~_^

    (|_|*cheers*|_|)
    “From the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down, I convulsed with laughter. Someday I intend on reading it.” ~ Groucho Marx

    PS: Congratulations! ~_~

  60. You’ve already had a zillion congrats.. but here is mine

    KIPPIS !! as they say in Finnish. Cheers grandad

    Amazon.ca ?

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