Indie Excellence 2008 Finalist Book Award

Willow May goes to the Midnight Carnival was named a Finalist in the Indie Excellence 2008 Book Awards. When I told the cast the news, to say they were excited would be an understatement. They threw a huge party to celebrate with cupcakes, music, and dancing. The Raven, who played the ringmaster, gave a humorous yet riveting speech giving a special thanks to the illustrator, Pamela McCarville, who did a fabulous job on his costume and the over all setting of the book. The Werewolf Band, who are true musicians outside the book, played all night long including a crowd favorite, Werewolves of London. Evelynn, the vampire who played the high wire performer, also thanked the illustrator for making her beautiful. She then thanked the production staff for accommodating her working hours and special dietary needs. The Zombies were ecstatic with the recognition of their acrobatic maneuvers and did want it known that they did their own stunts in the book, no stunt zombies were used.

Gabrielle, Luna, and Vivian, the dancing witches who played themselves in the book, were quite humbled by the award and apologized to management for the week delay in production when they turned the odd little fellow into a toad (a contractual misunderstanding). The tiny fellow thought the witches should personally apologize to him for the incident, but the dancing skeleton and his brother told him to leave well enough alone and gave him a cupcake, which was then stolen by his armadillo.

Unfortunately, Willow May, the star of the book was unable to attend the party. She is busy being written for the sequel, Willow May Goes to the Midnight Zoo. However, via satellite feed from the pages of her new book, she apologized for not being able to be there in person, but said she was there in spirit and thanked them all.

I too want to thank the characters of the book in addition to all those involved in this project, especially the illustrator, Pamela McCarville, and the Publisher, All Us All the Time Publishing, for making this dream come alive. Thank you everyone for your support and encouragement, and thank you National Indie Excellence Book Awards for this honor and supporting small independent publishers and authors.