'Shards of Ice' hit the shops Australia-wide in February 2016 - but the journey had barely begun. I had spent 6 months working with the New Holland publishing team and then had a two month wait for it to be printed and shipped, but once the book hit the shops, that's when the fun really started.

I was introduced to my marketing representative and given a schedule of book signing events & the date of a radio interview with Warren Moore of Sydney 6PR. For someone who has never done one minute of public speaking and who struggled just to read aloud in the classroom, the idea of all this publicity was pretty daunting. But I knew I had to deal with it; it was in my contract that I was expected to do a certain amount of publicity events, so I decided to just take it all one day at a time.

Funnily enough, I did enjoy the media events. Getting to talk to everyday people about why I wrote the book and to hear their own personal reasons for buying my book, was both enlightening and humbling. People spoke to me from their hearts, about loved ones who had been affected by the ice epidemic, hopeful that they might find some answers in the pages I had written. To be told I had inspired them to keep fighting, to hear their own dreadful stories, and to see the quiet desperation in the eyes of strangers - reinforced every reason I had ever had for wanting Normie's story told. To save a life, or to give hope to those who had lost it. That was what pushed me to step-up and do each publicity event.

So I did book signings at bookstores across Perth and in Albany, I did the radio interview with Warren Moore, I did Author talks at Perth libraries, and I did a school talk in front of 220 students at a Perth Hills college. These events have grown me as a person and as a writer. I have learnt much in the 2 years following publication. There have been some amazing highlights and some definite lows. I have made friends and lost friends, gained respect and been misunderstood. But through it all I never doubted the power of this book.

#AlisonSampson #Normie #ShardsofIce #Ice #MethAmphetamine