Prove it!

First set of proofs (final laid-out text in proper book form) arrived from the publishers yesterday. Today and tomorrow is just the final final final reading (there will be a final final final final reading next week) for spacing and punctuation errors by the typesetters, of which there are a fair amount. These corrections go back to the typesetters, then the final draft goes to the printer, where it'll be pressed and bound.

Pretty soon, I can stop posting about how we're still looking at and rereading the material, and start talking about critical reception and whatnot. Though I haven't seen it yet, apparently the 'Loose Leaves' section of this Saturday's Irish Times had a mention about the upcoming release of Sixteen After Ten. Yay, we made the paper.

Here's a peep at what the cover will look something like. Stay tuned.

It's in the mail

Small-scale mass-mailing of invitations today to friends and family. Just to make it known in more places, the launch date is April 18th, 2008, at 6 pm in the Long Room, Old Library, at Trinity College Dublin. Launch is by invite only, but chances are, if you are reading this, you are receiving an invitation in the mail. Contact sixteenafterten@gmail.com if you have any questions about the big kick-off.

Our most fabulous classmate Mark Stewart is going to be the emcee for the evening. I can't think of a more charismatic speaker, so he'll bring a real sense of electricity to the evening. Gerald Dawe will also be contributing words to the evening, and don't forget about the extra-special mystery guest.

The authors of Sixteen After Ten were taken on a bus journey around Dublin on a windy winter morning. As usual, no one was missing, and the atmosphere was that of a school trip. Here they are, waiting for the bus to arrive, struggling to wake up!

The Long Room

The other day Ruth and I went to the Long Room (where the launch for Sixteen After Ten will be) for a walk through with Trinity's Communications Director. Charlie came as our official blogger, but you're not supposed to take pictures in there. He was able to get one illicit shot before he was captured and dragged off by the Gardai. Thanks Charlie!

The Waiting Game

Earlier this week, the final text went to the typesetter for, well, typesetting. This is a good, big thing, meaning that for once, it's thankfully not in our control and we can just wait until they do their job. We'll get proofs back, and after making sure those are correct, the big run (1,000 copies) will start getting printed and bound. Unveiling of the cover is just around the corner, so stay tuned.

I've been instructed specifically not to mention this, but I of course can't contain myself. There will be a mystery guest of honor at the launch, which for some reason must not be revealed at this point, but people in the know will be quite impressed by the stature of this person, who hopefully will be able to add a few words during the launching gala. Excitement can commence.