Book Launch, 26 March 2010

The book launch for The Glass Table and the sequel, Shards was held Friday night at The Arts House, Singapore. It was a great night that finished early Saturday morning. Most importantly for me, was the gathering of friends and the opportunity to say thanks to those who have helped and supported me in the journey to the publication of my first two books. I'd like to mention them again here.  

First, thanks go to the wonderful people at Times bookstores: Lynnette Lee, Kenneth Wong, Kaizer Low, and Wicky Chan, and not just for their support being the exclusive seller of my books in Singapore but also for being such nice people to work with. It's also great to see local bookstores supporting local authors.  

I would like to thank Shiuan Ling Phua, Dawn Lim, and Ming Yen Phan from the Arts House in Singapore. I had an opportunity to be involved with the Singapore Writers Festival last year. It was a world-class event, well organized, and it was great to be a part of it. I particularly want to thank Shiuan Ling for her assistance with planning for the book launch, for stocking my books, and handling sales on the night.

And to the most important person in my life who made all of this possible, my benefactor and husband, Steve.

My first close encounter with Steve was when I was 18 years old. I was sitting on a log at McLeod Park in our hometown, Rockhampton Australia, when I looked up at the entrance to see him walking down the avenue-like path toward me. People were stopping him along the way to pat him on the back and congratulate him on his brilliant game the night before (he was the goalkeeper for our regional home team). I had been on my feet in a standing ovation along with everyone else after Steve made a spectacular save that gave our team an unexpected victory in what was at that time, the highest level of soccer played in Australia. As he passed me by without a second glance (or first glance), I remember looking up from my log and thinking, "Wow, that's Steve Cunningham", not contemplating for a second that it was also my future husband. And after 29 years together, I can honestly say that I still look up at him, still in awe of the man that he is. There is no doubt that being married to Steve has made me a better person. As a young girl, when I dreamed of my future husband, as vivid as my imagination was then, it could not have ventured into the realms of wishing for someone like Steve, so I can only conclude that I must have been a saint in a previous life and this is my reward. What I love most about being married to Steve is how much fun we have, and that we can always find something to laugh about even in the direst situations. Those times, remote as they are, remind me that so long as I have Steve in my life, nothing else matters. 

Steve did suggest that I be sure to mention in my speech that the inspiration for The Glass Table and Shards came from a dream he had while we were sailing in the Whitsundays a few years ago, but I wasn't about to do that since his dream lasted two seconds and these books took me a lot longer than that to write. 

And a big thank you to our friends who were with us on the night (Toni & Will, George & Jason, Rosie & Geoff) and to those who could not make it eg my good friend and fellow author, Kev C Webb.

See photos of the launch - not many I'm afraid. Note to self to engage professional photographer should there be a next time, although if Shiuan Ling has her way, this is already on the agenda. Noticeably absent are photos of me with Steve.

Regards
Leigh

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