Adar o'r Unlliw 📖

Back in February of 2017 I started this thread, sharing with you the first steps of my journey to becoming a published writer and you were all so very generous with your words and support - diolch. :heart:

I began the thread with the news that I’d had a short story published and had just been commissioned to write a novel. Just over three years later and my novel is working its way through the printing press as I type!

From learning how to become a writer, to learning how to start believing in myself, to having to go through the Welsh Books Council’s approval panel, twice, to having the whole Welsh publishing world grind to a halt because of the pandemic and to having my book launch at The Galeri cancelled, it’s been quite an emotional journey. But a journey I’m so grateful for - I feel so privileged.

I still find it hard to believe, even now that the novel is almost in my hands, that I may just have a little author potential.

My eternal thanks to Marred Glynn Jones from Gwasg y Bwthyn publishers in Caernarfon for seeing in me what I couldn’t quite see myself and for believing in me. To Aran for putting up with the emotional rollercoaster that I am and for his unfaltering support. To Manon Steffan Ros and Bethan Gwanas for their guidance, for being so inspirational and for welcoming me with open arms into their world.

So, here I am blatantly drumming up an audience, because small Welsh publishers don’t have advertising budgets or marketing officers. Therefore it’s mostly up to the author to put themselves out there, lights flashing, horns blaring and banners waving. So under instructions from Marred, here I go…

Adar o’r Unlliw will be on the shelves in shops in August! It’s also available for pre order from some online retailers!

Here’s the cover designed by Olwen Fowler and including quotes from Manon Steffan Ros and Ruth Jones from Gavin and Stacey!

Here’s what Geraint @gruntius (who had a sneaky preview) had to say about Adar o’r unlliw -

Diolch o waleod calon / thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who has pre-ordered! As promised there will be a full vocabulary list available soon to all who wish to attempt to read it - watch this space! :wink:

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On Monday I had the great pleasure of chatting to the author and actress Mari Emlyn via zoom. We were both discussing our new novels and a range of other things, from the trials and tribulations of women and the odd taboo. The session was recorded for The Eisteddfod was a part of the Babell Len events. It will be available to watch on Saturday night the 8th of August at 6pm. :smiley:

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I’m picking my book up tomorrow!!! :grin:

Soooooooo, it will be in the shops next week!

Palas Print in Caernarfon already have it up for sale, here’s the link -

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Wow, llongyfarchiadau! I can’t imagine how exciting that must be! I don’t think I’ll be good enough yet to read it, but I’m going to get it and read it as soon as I can! Xx

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Llongyfarchiadau Catrin. Edrych ymlaen i darllen iddi!
Congratulations Catrin, Looking forward to reading it!

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I’ve just been to Siop y Pethe to order a copy and they say it’s not released until the 28th? They’ve already ordered a few copies though :O)

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I can confirm it’s in print!

Dates have been a bit muddled because of the lockdown. There was a backlog of books needing to be printed and the publishers didn’t know how quickly they could process everything once they got going again. I know that it’s being distributed to the Welsh Books Council as I type, so should be in the shops very, very soon! :grin:

Thank you SO much for your continued support. :heart:

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Bore da bawb!

Here’s a link to the video chat I had with the author and actress Mari Emlyn about Adar o’r Unlliw and her new novel Mefus yn y Glaw. It was recorded for the Eisteddfod AmGen…

https://youtu.be/AwuMyufWcds

I listened to this yesterday (and understood almost all of it!!) It was a lot of fun and definitely made me look forward to reading both books.

Bob lwc i chdi, Catrin!

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Diolch o waelod calon Catriona! :smiley:

By the way, I’ve been in touch with Eirian from Palas Print in Caernarfon and she’s asked me if I would sign a bundle of books for her (as I would have done in a book launch). So I will be aiming to do this as soon as she gets them in. Therefore if you would like a signed copy (which is sure to be at least a penny more than unsigned copies) they will be available to buy online from Palas Print with the link above. :wink:

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No need for Amazon: the little local bookshop in my home village (in Germany) offers your book on their homepage, too!
So I’ll go an pre-order it tomorrow :smile:
It’ll most likely be too advanced for me language-wise yet, but I want to give it a try anyway. The story sounds like a lot of fun!
And if I don’t understand enough of it yet, I’ll set it aside for now and give it another try some time later :open_book:

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Just tried to buy a copy from Palas Prints (online) and it’s down as out of stock :sob:

Is that because it still hasn’t been officially released yet, or because it has sold out already? If the latter, then, great that it’s been so popular, but I did want to get it from a local shop, not from Amazon, if I possibly could.

:astonished:

I know as a fact that they have had it in stock, Catriona. A friend of mine went and picked one up over the weekend. So no idea why it’s showing as out of stock online? I messaged Eirian this morning because she wanted me to sign a few copies for her, so I’m trying to sort out how and where that happens. I’ll let you know when she gets in touch what the situation is. :slight_smile:

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Diolch, Catrin. Hopefully you can find out what’s going on. I just refereshed the page and it still shows the *** and a note saying ‘not sufficient quantity of stock’ (which as I am only ordering one, amounts to it being out of stock!)

I ordered a copy the day before yesterday & had the same thing - I assumed they were just awaiting signatures :wink:

Email from Eirian this morning to say it’s in the post :slight_smile:

I’ll give it another go :slight_smile:

I’m going in tomorrow to sign a few copies. :blush:

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So, just thinking on the fly here, if anyone was to order a copy from Palas Print this morning you could sign a copy for them personally? :thinking::wink:

Come on guys, get in there.

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Mine has ordered today- it wouldn’t order a few days ago so it must be working now @Catriona