The Best 29th Birthday Gift Ever?

Today is my 29th birthday.

As a teenager and young adult, I paid little if any attention to birthdays. They were just another day in the year, and I was lucky to remember what day it fell on without birthday wishes from family and friends.

In the year or two before moving to America, that changed, and in the years that followed, I maintained it. However, this year, I have opted not to celebrate my 29th birthday.

The first reason for this will not surprise you—at least, I don’t think so. Ever since announcing that I would be publishing my book earlier this year, I have had only ONE date in mind: October 31st. Because of this, I didn’t realise my birthday was creeping up until last week, and after some thought, decided that the only date that still mattered to me is Halloween.

To add to this, my family has done a lot of celebrating this year for the accomplishments of different members, including myself. I’m all celebrated out, I think. There is nothing more I want to do this Tuesday than what I already planned to do before I realised it was my birthday i.e. take my bike out onto the trails again, like I did last week.

However, there is one gift I continue to look forward to all month and this is the pre-ordering of The Moreau Witches.

Maybe you’re one of the many people who’ve been looking forward to it being published, or who pushed me to finish it. Maybe you’ve heard of it, but decided it’s not your type of book. Maybe you’re one of those waiting for the physical copy. Or, maybe you have no idea what it is.

Whichever of these is true about you, supporting my debut novel is about the best birthday gift I could receive in a month where the only date that matters to me is the day it will be published.

If you’ve already pre-ordered my novel, then thank you for the early present! I have made a note of everyone who ordered and have already entered you on my list for the upcoming raffle. To those of you right here on this blog who helped me work on the novel, I thank you as well.

Happy birthday to me! And when my 30th birthday rolls around, may another novel be the source of my unshakable happiness.

ALEXIS CHATEAU
Activist. Writer. Explorer.