#thunderstorms

The Key to a Great Book Launch

On Sunday 25th February I held the book launch for Dragons Drumming, my newly released picture book.

Below are my tips for making it a successful day.

Arrange with the book shop well in advance.

We are lucky here in Canberra to have not only a supportive writing community, but a supportive local independent bookshop, The Book Cow - Kingston .Never- the-less it is still important to talk to them well in advance of when you would like to hold your launch. Bookshops are busy places and this one in particular has many events booked well in advance. It’s also a good idea to take the time to get to know the people that run the bookshop, then they will be more open to a discussion about hosting the launch for you.

As luck would have it, the perfect date for the launch coincided with the end of Chinese Luna New Year, and the celebration of the year of the dragon. As such, the bookshop had already organised the Chinese Lion Dancers and drummers that day, so it was perfect for a launch of a book about Dragons Drumming to start immediately after they finished.

Dragons Drumming Book Launch at the Book Cow Kingston.

Chinese Lion Dancers and Drummers celebrating Chinese Luna New Year at the Book Cow Kingston.

Start your marketing campaign early.

Not only is the bookshop a busy place, but families are also busy on weekends. You need to take that into account and give people plenty of notice with your advertising. Set-up a Facebook event page and then invite people to attend. Be specific, don’t invite everyone on your friends list, be practical and invite those who you know live in your area. No one is going to attend from out of town.

The Facebook events page for Dragons Drumming book launch.

Use all your social channels.

Think of a variety of ways to use your socials to get the message out to everyone. Photos, reels, longer videos, and ask questions to engage your audience. Provide a hint of what to expect from the book and an idea of what to expect at the launch.

I made this graphic a couple of weeks before the events page and invitations went out.

It’s a good idea to show your readers a sneaky look inside so they know what they are getting.

Be prepared and organised.

If you have promised craft activities, make sure you know well in advance what you plan to do. Make an information sheet to hand-out to parents so that the craft activity may be taken home to do later. I made a step by step guide on how to make a paper plate dragon. Then, I painstakingly drew all the dragon pieces onto twenty paper plates for children to take home, cut out, make and decorate later. Don’t forget to pre-make an example of your craft activity so that kids can see what it is they are going to do.

I also prepared a sheet for a different paper dragon so that children had a choice. Not everyone wanted to make the same dragon, but all the sheets happily disappeared.

Being a book about drumming, we couldn’t have a launch without percussion instruments. I bought these well in advance and kept them neatly all together in one box.

Some of the best book launches don’t simply involve a book reading, make it as engaging, interactive and inclusive as possible.

Make sure you pack all your bits and pieces the day before too, it will save you time, energy and stress. It also allows time to check your list that you have everything you need.

Eager hands went up everywhere when it was time to hand out the percussion instruments.

When you are well prepared it’s easy to relax and enjoy yourself.

Celebrate with a special treat.

I also made cupcakes. It’s important to celebrate the launch with some kind of treat. To help relieve any stress on the day of the launch, I made the cupcakes the day before. However, I did not ice them until the morning. I had pre-ordered edible cake toppers with an image of the book cover. These did have to be added when I iced the cakes, but couldn’t be done too far in advance as they would run and be ruined if they were to sweat.

Cupcakes all boxed up and ready to go.

Yummy cupcake treats on the table beside my books waiting to be devoured…. and they were!

Relax and enjoy the day.

Arrive early to give yourself plenty of time to set-up. It’s amazing how many people will also arrive early and want to talk to you. You don’t want to feel stressed about the organisation, so be prepared and have a helper or two to lay things out for you. Don’t try to do it all yourself. Have your speech well planned too, whether you use notes or keep it all in your head, make sure you have thought about what you want to say and don’t forget to thank everyone involved that has helped you reach this point, including the bookshop for hosting your beautiful event.

When it’s all over, relax, don’t rush, enjoy the chance to chat with people while you are signing their books. Engaging with people is important, especially when you have never met them before. Take your time and make a connection with them.

All set up and ready go.

At the end of the day it’s always great to sign books and chat with great supportive friends.

When all is said and done, take a deep breath and congratulate yourself on a job well done.

Have you been to book launches? What did you like best about them?

5 Parenting Tips to Help Alleviate Fear of Thunderstorms.

Thunderstorms usually occur in the hotter parts of the year, and this Summer we have had some stunning ones. I have lived in tropical Darwin, Australia and Pattaya, Thailand where I witnessed what I would have said were the most amazing thunderstorms I had ever experienced, but this Summer brought some equally amazing storms right to my own back door in country NSW.

The season isn’t over yet. There could be still more to come. What about you? Have you observed any amazing thunder and lightning shows in your neck of the woods? How do your children feel when they hear and see them? Are they frightened, do they hide under the bed covers or snuggle into you for comfort?

Being frightened of a thunderstorm is a natural part of early childhood. How can you help? Here are 5 parenting tips to help you help your child overcome their fear.

Stay Calm

It’s true, children can sense how you feel and will reflect that emotion in their mood. That means that no matter how strong the storm is, it is important that you try to remain calm. If you can feel your emotions bubbling to the surface, stop, take a moment to do some deep breathing exercises. This could be in the form of a quick meditation, 5 minutes of tai chi or whatever it takes to help you breathe slowly. You could even encourage the kids to join you, it’s fun, easy and very relaxing.

Play some soothing meditation music to help keep them calm.

Tai chi is really relaxing especially when you concentrate on your deep breathing.

Marvel at the Nature of the Storm.

Young minds are often also inquisitive minds. A thunderstorm is an ideal opportunity for a science lesson in the wonder of the nature. You can discuss the water cycle, cloud formation and the different types of clouds. Explain what causes the electricity in the clouds and how it becomes lightning. Then there’s that big boom thundering and rumbling around after the lightning. Count how many seconds after you see the lightning to when you hear the thunder. Your answer is the distance in miles that the storm is away from you. Watch the lightning dance across the sky and marvel at the beauty the light produces in the clouds.

You can keep your explanation of the water cycle simple or if your kids are more inquisitive, make your answer more in-depth.

Extend this by not only learning the names of the types of clouds, but take photos and draw on them to make pictures. What can you see in the clouds?

Keep Your Kids Busy.

Sometimes all it takes is to keep little minds active and distracted. Then they are having so much fun that they forget all about the storm outside. Obviously in the middle of a massive storm is no time for TV or plugged-in devices. Make it family time with a board game, perhaps monopoly or snakes and ladders for the littler members of the family. Packs of cards can be handy too. A game of snap can keep kids occupied for ages.

There are so many entertaining board games out there to consider. One I remember fondly from my childhood was ‘Sorry!.’

Uno is a great card game. We played this for hours when my boys were younger.

Hug and Comfort Them.

Sometimes all kids need is a big hug from someone they love. Knowing they are safe is all the reassurance they may need. Build a blanket fort or snuggle in a tepee or tent if you have one. Take in a torch or flashlight and read a story. A good book for this special time is Dragons Drumming written by me, and beautifully illustrated by Maya Bora. help your child explore their imagination in a world where magical dragons whimsically play percussion in the sky. After reading the story you could encourage your child to think about something else that could make the noise of thunder. I remember when I was little, my parents told me it was God moving his furniture around. Maybe it’s the angels becoming a little too heavy footed and stomping in the clouds. Can you think of anything else it could be? Have fun with it.

Dragons Drumming is the perfect reading companion to overcome the fear of thunderstorms.


Try Headphones.

If after all this the thunderstorm is still all too much for your little person to cope with, try some calming music, or their favourite sing-a-long and dance music in headphones. They’ll be so busy concentrating on the musical sounds they’ll no longer be able to hear the thunderous commotion outside.


Above all, remember, all storm do eventually pass, and so will this one. Next time you’ll have the strategies in place and ready to go.

Do you have any other ways to help children overcome their fear of thunderstorms? Let me know in the comments below.