{"id":7058,"date":"2013-09-07T06:00:20","date_gmt":"2013-09-07T11:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=7058"},"modified":"2013-09-05T16:31:50","modified_gmt":"2013-09-05T21:31:50","slug":"day-7-launch-day-rannes-hall-kennethmont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/melanierobertson-king.com\/wp02\/?p=7058","title":{"rendered":"Day 7 – Launch Day at the Rannes Hall in Kennethmont!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Day 7 – Launch Day at the Rannes Hall in Kennethmont! – August 17, 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

The big day was finally here! Was I nervous? A wee bit. Mostly because I still had no idea how many people were coming.<\/p>\n

Besides my book launch today at the Rannes Hall, I appeared virtually on two blogs – one is my author friend, Nicky Wells’ Romance That Rocks Your World<\/a> blog and I did an interview with Peggy Stanton over at Famous Five Plus<\/a> so I hope you’ll pop over to these wonderful sites.<\/p>\n

Compared to other days (especially our ‘free’ day), we did nothing. We both think we went in to Huntly that morning but for what, we can’t remember. We’d been there the night before. Still, we did something\/went somewhere nearby in the morning and for the life of us, we have no recall whatsoever.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to the afternoon… we loaded the car with books, book swag, door prizes and my silver sharpie pen for signing and made the short journey down the road. We could have easily walked, but trundling a suitcase behind us and me in my ‘ruby’ slippers, it wouldn’t have been a very comfortable walk.<\/p>\n

I’m not sure when this sign popped up. I don’t remember seeing it the day before when we walked to the Old Kirkyard and we walked right past here – trash day, wheelie bin in front of the hall. I guess it ‘grew’ overnight.<\/p>\n

\"Sign<\/a>
Sign on the grass verge across from the Rannes Hall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here it is – the venue for my book launch. Isn’t it a grand looking building? It’s home to many a Robbie Burns night and other functions.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Rannes Hall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Rannes<\/a>
Rannes Hall corner stone<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When we pulled in to the car park, I was gobsmacked to see my friend, Bill Dunbar, still sitting in the vehicle beside us while his wife chatted by the side entrance with David, my Rannes Hall connection (and owner of Earlsfield Farm). He and Helen made the drive up from Quarriers Village for my launch. I got a huge hug from him as did Don (who insisted on it, since they’d come so far).<\/p>\n

So, let’s go inside and see what it looks like in there. I have an advantage having been to a dance here in 2000 and seeing photos from Burns Night celebrations online.<\/p>\n

\"Inside<\/a>
Inside the Rannes Hall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Inside<\/a>
Inside the Rannes Hall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My table was set up in front of the stage with alternating Canadian and Scottish flags affixed to it and three rows of seats were arranged in a semi-circle.<\/p>\n

With the hall empty, it seemed even bigger than it really was. It was between 1:30 and 2:00 pm and so far it was only Bill and Helen, David, and Don and me. Nail biting time.<\/p>\n

Soon, it went from hardly anyone to almost every seat filled. The original plan of doing my reading, followed by a Q&A session, then signing and selling kind of went out the window as people wanted to purchase their copy right away, or if they already had one, get it signed. Who was I to argue? It worked.<\/p>\n

\"talking<\/a>
talking about A Shadow in the Past<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"some<\/a>
some of the guests<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I had three draws for the following door prizes.<\/p>\n

\"mouse<\/a>
A Shadow in the Past mouse pad<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

David wanted one of these so it was sheer serendipity when it was his wife’s ticket number that was drawn.<\/p>\n

\"tote<\/a>
A Shadow in the Past tote bag<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If our murky memories are correct, Helen Dunbar won the tote bag.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>
A Shadow in the Past 2014 calendar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And the calendar was headed off to Dubai with a teenaged cousin of mine. And speaking of cousins…<\/p>\n

\"3<\/a>
Ian (back), me and Norman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ian’s and Norman’s fathers were two of my Dad’s brothers who remained in Scotland. And it was Norman’s great-granddaughter who won the calendar.<\/p>\n

\"Me<\/a>
Me with my cousin Jill<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By the time the afternoon’s event was over I sold… drum roll, please…<\/p>\n

17<\/p>\n

copies of A Shadow in the Past! <\/strong>Yippee!!!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

People mingled afterwards over tea\/coffee and shortbread before gradually saying their goodbyes and heading homeward. Once everyone was out of the hall, we did the same and went back to Earlsfield Farm to change and relax before going out to supper at The Hunters Moon<\/a> in Auchleven.<\/p>\n

In the end there were ten of us who went to supper. The food was amazing!<\/p>\n

After our meal, we went over to Rhynie for the dance at the gala. There was a dance the night before for the younger crowd but they were all back in full force. I got bowled over trying to get in when security couldn’t wrestle a drunk out. Not the most auspicious start to the rest of the evening.<\/p>\n

It was well after 1:00 the next morning when we finally got back to Earlsfield farm and we would be back on the road that morning heading south to Kelso.<\/p>\n

No SEEKING SARAH SHAND<\/strong> today… we all know where she was. It will resume on Day 8.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Day 7 – Launch Day at the Rannes Hall in Kennethmont! – August 17, 2013 The big day was finally here! Was I nervous? A wee bit. Mostly because I still had no idea how many people were coming. Besides my book launch today at the Rannes Hall, I appeared virtually on two blogs – … Continue reading Day 7 – Launch Day at the Rannes Hall in Kennethmont!<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,53,47,41,307,60,172,148,33,65,44,18],"tags":[1013,1006,85,294,256,255,1003,306],"class_list":["post-7058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-4rv-publishing","category-aberdeenshire","category-appearances","category-book-launch","category-book-tour","category-england","category-game","category-giveaway","category-publicity","category-readers","category-scotland","category-travel","tag-4rv-publishing","tag-aberdeenshire","tag-author-signings","tag-book-launch-2","tag-kennethmont","tag-rannes-hall","tag-scotland","tag-travel-2"],"yoast_head":"\nDay 7 - Launch Day at the Rannes Hall in Kennethmont! - Celtic Connexions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Woo hoo! 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