It’s hard to believe that on this day ONE YEAR AGO the novel of my heart made its way into the pandemic world!
As Robbie Burns noted in his poem To a Mouse, “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men gang aft agley.” or, translated, The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
We did not foresee a pandemic crashing in ahead of the release of The Camino Club. It certainly is interesting to launch a book in Covid Times…as I’m certain any author on the face of the earth could agree.
Still, we make do. We persevere. We soldier on. We do all the other sayings that get us through unsuspected and difficult times.
The Camino Club was published by DUET BOOKS, the YA imprint of INTERLUDE PRESS.
The Camino Club has had some great success in the year since it left my publisher’s loving embrace and was set free in the world. For one, it can now be found in roughly 500 of the world’s public libraries (and maybe even some school libraries?), including 10 of the branches in my own hometown of Toronto. I’m thrilled to see the reach it has had in the world beyond the nugget of an idea that it was as I walked the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route across Spain in May of 2014.
It was featured in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, KIRKUS REVIEWS, and BOOKLIST. All three gave it lovely reviews, of which I am extremely proud.
I’m thrilled to see that something that meant so much to me as I envisioned it, and worked so hard to bring its vision to life, was met with such positive energy in the world beyond its birth. Even if it was birthed into a world rife with major catastrophic uncertainty.
Today, on the 1 year anniversary of THE CAMINO CLUB‘s release, I’m hosting a GIVEAWAY for a paperback copy! Not just any paperback copy, but one with the little SILVER MEDAL award sticker on the front cover! The Camino Club won silver in the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award for Teen Fiction!
Click the pic below to visit the IBPA announcement page:
The giveaway will take place on TWITTER. All you need to do is RETWEET my announcement or my PINNED TWEET to enter. A winner will be chosen randomly from those who retweet. Open to international entries. Retweet by OCT 12th, 2021 to enter.
Here’s a link to my pinned tweet that you have to RETWEET in order to enter: MY PINNED TWEET
Good luck! And if you don’t win, you can always pick up a copy WHEREVER books are sold.
KEVIN CRAIG 
Congratulations on your book birthday. The Camino Club was a perfect book for me to read during a long lock-down. It took me to a place I’d never been, described that place so well I could almost touch it, and filled it with characters I cared about, who got to discover truths and strengths that let them thrive. It’s a most satisfying read.
Thanks so much, Ellen!! 😊😊❤️❤️❤️