Mine update: five months since publication

My fifth novel, Mine, has been on the shelves for five months exactly (it was published to coincide with Valentine’s Day.) It’s a love story set in Cape Town, but I was totally unprepared for how much love it has received from readers.

The first few months were a whirlwind of activity. I’ve been trying to keep track of everything on my blog, including some glossy magazine reviews, my amazing experience at FanCon and some recent festivals.

Since my last post there was a lovely review in The Big Issue, which is such a great initiative (R12.50 of the cost price goes to the vendor) a piece in Rapport and I received another shout-out on the Women 24 books page. I was also invited to chat to radio host Pippa Hudson on Cape Talk for Youth Month.

You can listen to a podcast of that discussion here.

I’ve been trying to visit as many bookstores as possible to drop off bookmarks designed by my brilliant friend Emma, which is how I noticed that Mine was the number five YA bestseller at Exclusive Books V&A Waterfront!

And then, incredibly, this happened …

Mine made the Exclusive Books HomeBru list! Which means it will be promoted in all stores nationwide for the whole month of June. (Cue Macaulay Culkin shocked face.)

To celebrate, Exclusive Books Table Bay Mall hosted its own launch for Mine, which was such a special evening attended by some of my favourite people in the world. I was introduced by my wonderful publisher Simone and interviewed by bestie Karina (four years after I interviewed her at her own book launch – how perfect!) There were Mine cupcakes and Steri Stumpies and interestingly, quite a few people who attended had already read the book so we ended up having the most wonderful chat about how they experienced the novel.