Okay, so we’ve made it… almost! My first ever eBook launch is happening this Saturday for, you guessed it, Bonnie’s Story: A Blonde’s Guide to Mathematics.

As you know, if you’ve been diligent in reading my blogs, the launch is happening at the SA Writer’s Centre, which is: Level 2, 187 Rundle Street. In this blog I’ll be trying to give you the best directions on how to get there. Please note that, except during my first trimeseter of pregnancy where I am a navigating Master, I am severely directionally challenged. No, I refuse to get pregnant again just to find my way around. Google maps was created so I don’t have to. 🙂

Now, using some artistically borrowed Google maps, I hope to get you all there. Finding 187 Rundle Street is really not that hard. What is even easier is there is a huge parking complex right next door, if you need a place to park. To get to that complex through the road closures for Clipsal and everything…. Well, as I don’t know where you’re all coming from, all I can suggest is get onto Frome, heading towards North Terrace, and then turn left onto Rundle Street and you should find it easily enough.

There are two ways into the Writing Centre. There is a door to the stairs from Rundle Street as well as the lifts at the back. You can either get to the lifts from York Street entrance (which is easy to get to through the car parking complex). Or, as a tease to your taste buds, you go come through Cafe Brunelli’s on Rundle Street to a passage way at the back. You’ll then need to go through a door on the left marked ‘Disabled toilets and lift to upper levels’ or something like that and then you’ll find the old lift. Yeah, now isn’t that as clear as mud?

Well, to try and stop your eyes glazing over at it all, here are those pictures! The first one is an overview shot of the whole situation. The lovely labels, also provided by Google Maps, pretty much explain it all.

As you can tell from the lovely little A, that’s where the Writer’s Centre is. Rundle Street is the street the A is pretty much sitting on, York Street below it.

The next image is a zoomed in version where I’ve added some of my own Paint Shop wizardry showing the two ways to the lift at the back. Why am I showing you how to get to the lifts? Two reasons really: firstly because the front doors to the stairwell will be closed and locked after the launch has started, while the lift will be open until the end of it all. Secondly, I find the stairs at the front rather narrow for my great clodhoppers, so use the lifts. 🙂

Okay, so does the zoomed in picture help much? The red writing (which originally didn’t look so blurry) says “Writer’s Centre lift via Cafe Brunelli (off Rundle Street)” while the green writing says “Writer’s Centre life from York Street)”.  I hope I’m not sounding much like a bossy, fretting mother, I just want to ensure you all get there okay. With all the other fantastic things happening in Adelaide on Saturday night, you may get easily distracted and wander off on me.

So, shall we discuss the actual launch too? As it’s my first launch I really don’t know if I’ll be doing it right. And please don’t take the times as precise and exact, as I am not that pedantic, honest. Basically, the doors open at 6:30pm and that’ll be mingling time for you all to check out the gorgeous atrium, grab a drink and some nibbles and say hi.

Then, from 7pm the front doors to the stair will be shut and locked as requested by the Centre. All late comers, please feel free to use the lift at the back. I’ll then be giving my greeting speech and have a little chat about the book, how I came to write it and so on. We can then have a bit of a Q&A and I’ll read the first chapter of Bonnie’s Story: A Blonde’s Guide to Mathematics. I will do my best to not send you off to sleep, though freely admit my reading to a crowd tends to be bedtime stories to my children. This may become obvious if I ask if you’re all sitting comfortably before we begin. 🙂

After that, as this launch is for an eBook not officially released until June, I sadly won’t have anything to sell you on the spot. However, if you feel like it, I am more than happy to sign either flyers for the launch, or the Bonnie Business cards.

Phew! And after all that we can really get into the nibbles. Being a bit of a foodie and a supporter of local producers, we’re in for a treat. Platters from Georgina’s Fine Foods, fruit juices from Besa, ‘pink bubbles’ sparkling wine from Bird in the Hand wineries, chocolate squares from Haighs… what can I say, I plan on enjoying myself with food and company. 😉

Okay, so I think I’ve nagged your ears off enough about this launch. The only thing left for me to do is to remember to turn up, not stress out and have a good time.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Janis.