I’ve always loved The Royal Mile in Edinburgh, this long elegant street, full of wonderful history has Edinburgh Castle at the top end and Holyrood Palace at the bottom end. The street is full of historic closes too, the tourists are fascinated by them as am I.
It seemed only natural when my novel, Forgiving Nancy was published, to ask if I could do a book signing event inside the Radisson Blu Hotel. This fabulous hotel is situated right in the middle of the Royal Mile. 
I remember the day I went to put my proposal to the marketing lady and remember vividly how she responded when I did. She was thrilled by my idea but at the same time she told me they had not done a book signing event in the hotel previously. But far from this being a deterrent to her she was most interested. She positively and enthusiastically welcomed my idea of a book signing.
Radisson Blu Hotel, Edinburgh, where I had my book signing for Forgiving Nancy.
The next step was to have a meeting with her, a proper scheduled meeting that is. The meeting was arranged, then the date for the event set. She told me how the hotel would advertise the signing and, as if by magic, the book signing event for Forgiving Nancy was all set for Saturday, the 25th of October at 1.00 p.m. and it would last until 8.00 p.m. When the 25th October arrived I was all ready wearing a new dress for the occasion. The dress I wore was a deep red dress, the colour of wine, and I wore my new fur collar with it. I’m the sort of person who loves to shop for new clothes at anytime but most especially for a special occasion and this event was certainly to be a special one.
Everything about the hotel was delightful: the beautiful interior is, I’d say, a combination of traditional features and modern. The actual building the hotel is in is, of course, a piece of history, being, as it is, on The Royal Mile. Unique features inside the hotel like the stunning archways and the old fashioned window panes make it so individual and so unlike any other hotel. 
On arrival at the Radisson Blu on the 25th of October I was bubbling over with excitement. As I entered the main door I could see how elegantly the details of my book signing were displayed. Seeing this actually made me feel rather special and a bit important as I walked into the wonderful and sparkling foyer where the lovely staff of the hotel have their desks. Inside the inner foyer there was more mention of my event on another sophisticated looking billboard. I felt overjoyed.
I reached the lounge where everything had been set up for my signing. I gasped on seeing my signing table set in such a sumptuous oasis, how elegant, how sophisticated it was. Never could I have imagined a more gorgeous area for any book signing. I was given a purple velvet chair to sit upon, the table was long, just the correct height, it had loads of space for signing and a chic black tablecloth covered it. All at once, because the setting was so exquisite I felt more glamorous in myself. I sat down on the velvet chair, it was so comfortable and I began to carefully position my copies of Forgiving Nancy on the table. 
Holding a copy of Forgiving Nancy.
My hubby was stationed in a sumptuous sofa chair with red velvet cushions nearby. He couldn’t have been happier, more relaxed or more comfortable sitting there. He began to sip some wine then ordered some food. He began to enjoy watching the people gravitate over to my signing table as the event got underway. The table was now covered in books.
Soon I was absorbed and signing lots of copies of Forgiving Nancy to the lovely tourists I was meeting, also some local people too. A lady who lives in one of the nearby Edinburgh closes had nipped into the hotel just for the book signing, then disappeared back to that close to become immersed in her reading of Forgiving Nancy.
I noticed the book cover fascinated most who came to my table. As they looked at the cover with the castle, the window and the doll I could see the cover was something that really captured their imagination. These very visitors may have been up visiting the actual castle only a few hours before. The visitors were perhaps already under the spell of the real castle and a book with the castle on the front of it would only interest and entrance them more.
Some young ladies walked to my table. I struck up a lively conversation with them about some of the great themes in Forgiving Nancy. These themes interested them and soon I was signing copies of the book for them. I noticed most of the lovely people I signed copies for wished to know only a bit of an outline to the story, just like I do myself when I buy a book.
Some lovely gentlemen came over to my table too and bought the book for their wives and girlfriends. This particular group had travelled up from Newcastle for a few days. Some ladies bought books as Christmas presents for their friends, some bought for their aunts and grandmothers, others bought for their daughters.
The wonderful thing about Forgiving Nancy is that it is a timeless novel and one that is suited to most age groups. Anyone from 16 years up to 90 years would enjoy the book.
Yes, it is a dramatic love story with many deep themes inside it, but it is also a book well worth reading for the outstanding scenery and settings alone.
I wanted it to be a novel that embraced fully the beauty of Edinburgh, and I do feel these features of it are represented and are of particular interest to the visitors who come to Edinburgh. As these visitors travel home with their signed copies of Forgiving Nancy, they feel they taken home a piece of Edinburgh with them, a piece that will stay with them forever, well after their visit.
And, that is so what I wanted for my book!
janicecairn
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