So the wedding has happened and the surprise has been unveiled…grin grin grin. But that probably means nothing to you, so some behind the scenes info.

In the lead up to our wedding, all Andrew knew was that I was planning a  surprise. What he didn’t know, was that in those many many hours on my yoga mat (more about the yoga another time!) I was trying to come up with an appropriate way of saying thank you to our wonderful fabulous amazing friends and family for… well… EVERYTHING!

Because it wasn’t just about the fact that they flew from all around the world, gave up sacred vacation days, drove North for five hours braving wandering cattle and potholes to share a weekend at The Coach House with us! It was about everything that came before as well. The support, care, love, laughter, shoulders, reprimands, wine, tequila, dancing, crying, commiserating, reading, writing, giggling… it was for a lifetime of just being there! And then there was my darling Andrew, who has stepped so wonderfully into my life and offered all the above for the remainder of my lifetime!

Clearly needed loads of yoga to think through a thank you that was massive enough! It also needed to be personal, something that was incredibly important to me, that mattered more than anything else.

And so, I decided to dedicate my first novel to Andrew and to give each guests a copy at the wedding.

Andrew’s face was priceless, stunned, thrilled, delighted… and our guests were stunned! As the choir entered the room, White Knights balanced on their heads and singing joyously, the room exploded with laughter, clapping and whistles! Andrew was on his feet, beside me in two seconds and hugging me! Guests were reaching for novels, chatting, laughing, getting goose bumps! It was so gorgeously wonderful… and worth every surreptitious second of plotting and planning.

And so here we are… White Knights has been launched, autographed, we sold our first copy to Anneke Joubert from Tzaneen who heard about the book while having lunch at the Coach House on the day after the wedding… and we heard 2 days before the wedding that Exclusive Books will be stocking it!And now Andrew and I are on day 2 of our honeymoon… sitting on the verandah of Die Kliphuis, a 100-year old house in Standerton. Our next stop is Bethulie… and your next update is when we reach the sea!

ps: for more wedding photos click here