Whew!! This past weekend, and the weeks leading up to it, have been quite the whirlwind. On February 15, my second book was officially launched in Kelowna, BC. After months of planning, and the past couple of weeks getting everything down to the last drop ready, I couldn’t wait to celebrate the release! Today on the blog, we’re going to do a recap of the entireee launch weekend, and what’s still to come this month. Read on for the full recap of my book 2 launch weekend.

Indigo Book Signing

Though I recently moved to Toronto, I still had planned to return to BC for the book launch. I wanted to give myself a full week ahead of time to make sure I had space to get everything ready. It was definitely needed: solidifying details, creating print materials, prepping décor and food, and marketing promotions really did take up the whole week. But it was so worthwhile for everything to come together on Saturday! We kicked off the weekend with my first book signing EVER for No More Second Chances at Indigo Kelowna. It was such a pleasure for me to be back again, after doing so many signings at this location for my first book, Blooming. I’m so glad No More Second Chances got to start off in the same way!

I really wanted to go all out, so we got flowers and rose petals, balloons, and a huge sign to grab everyone’s attention. I definitely think it worked – the red vibes were on point! It was so lovely to chat with everyone during the day – whether friends or family who dropped by, or strangers who I had the chance to meet and build connections with. These connections are truly the most important part to me, and I really enjoyed the day. A huge shoutout to the team at Indigo Kelowna for their consistent support of my work, and many other local authors! It was a very successful kick-off for No More Second Chances. (PS. They now have copies of my book in stock to purchase.)

Poetry Soirée

Our evening event was where the real magic happened! I wanted to host a poetry reading for more of an intimate gathering of family and friends – so, I came up with the idea for a poetry soirée. I hosted it at The Flamingo Room, an event rental space located just above Motherlove Kombucha. The vibes were SO much fun – we brought all of the décor from earlier in the day, plus added in some candles, goodies, and red everywhere! Apart from the incredible vibey décor, we also had delicious kombucha on tap from Motherlove, some Valentines goodies including candies and chocolates, and tasty red velvet cupcakes from Flour and Cake, a local Kelowna bakery. Getting to host such a fun event AND support local businesses was a huge win in my books!

After some time mixing and mingling, we dove right in to the juicy contents of book 2. I got to read poetry to the lovely audience in attendance, to the tune of some laughs, gasps, and a few tears (mostly on my end). We opened up the floor for questions afterwards and had a great dialogue with audience members and myself, chatting all about the book and writing process. It was truly a blast. The evening finished off with a book signing, and that was a wrap! I am so appreciative for everyone who joined in celebration with me – family, friends, and strangers alike (who aren’t strangers anymore). THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!! 💕💕

Press

In the lead up to these launch events, I also had a surprisingly large amount of press coverage here locally in the Okanagan. The first feature to discuss my upcoming launch events was featured in Penticton Western News, and shared across fellow publications Kelowna Capital News, West K News, Lake Country Calendar, Summerland Review, and Keremeos Review. It was incredible to have the news spread so widely across the Okanagan! The second feature was shared in The Penticton Herald and their sister publication, The Kelowna Daily Courier. Additionally, Kelowna Now shared details about my upcoming launch. I am infinitely grateful for the coverage and support of this local Okanagan gal! Check out this section of my website to browse all of the press.

Amazon Launch

It has been quite the whirlwind, but the ride isn’t over just yet. The official Amazon launch for No More Second Chances is happening later this month! If you have a Kindle and you’re a fan of e-books, there’s still time for you to pre-order your copy. It will be automatically delivered to your Kindle on February 28. The option to order paperbacks will be live on February 28 as well. I’m looking forward to celebrating this launch at the end of the month – stay tuned!

For those of you that have gotten the chance to get a copy of my book so far, I’d love to hear your thoughts about the book. Please consider leaving a review on Amazon. Reviews are a huge help for boosting Amazon status, and I’d really love to hear what you think about my second book. Thank you endlessly for your support throughout this journey ❤