Trixi Thursday

Neil Gaiman Books, Graphic Novels, and Movies

My sister turned me on to Neil Gaiman about a year ago and I am now a fanatic fan even though I have only read an nth of what he has written. So far, I have read his books Anansi Boys, Wolves in the Walls, The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, Smoke & Mirrors, M is for Magic, and then my two favorite, Neverwhere and Coraline. For my birthday my sister gave me Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Prachett, which I can't wait to start reading, but currently I have immersed myself in his graphic novels.

Just finished The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch, illustrated by Dave McKean, and working my way through the Sandman graphic novels. The Sandman series center around Dream along with his sisters and brothers, Despair, Delirium, Destiny, Desire, Destruction and Death, of the Endless family. They are not gods and goddesses, because god and goddesses die, and they are endless. If I was a hat wearing person, and sadly with my hair I just can't pull that off, I would take my hat off to Mr. Gaiman on this incredible world he created by giving life to our inner psychic. I have read the volumes, The Doll's House (2), Preludes & Nocturnes (1), Season's of the Mist (4), and I just started Fables & Reflections (6). I thought not only would it be fun to read this series, but also to read them totally out of order. Okay, actually, I have not been able to find a bookstore that carries the complete volume set, thus I have been picking up what I can here and there.

I have only seen his MirrorMask movie, which I highly recommend. The main character and her family own a circus, which is reason enough to watch it, but the girl enters into the fantasy world of her drawings where she encounters flying books and square-headed cats...do I need to go on? I still need to catch Stardust (as well as read the book) and Beowulf. Then I can hardly wait for the 3-D animated movie, Coraline. I read that there will be a limited release this December and then the national release in February'09. Do you think Denver will get it in December? It would be so cool if we did.

If that isn't enough, Neil Gaiman has at least three new books coming out this year. The Dangerous Alphabet illustrated by Gris Grimly is coming out the end of April, Odd and the Frost Giants, which doesn't come out until the end of October in the states but I think may already be released in the UK, and then The Graveyard Book is coming at the end of September. However, I think one of the short stories in the M is for Magic book is a teaser for The Graveyard Book, and if not, it is still a great story of a little boy being raised by ghosts in a cemetery.













The cover for The Graveyard Book is the adult cover of the Subterranean Press edition and according to Neil Gaiman's blog will probably also be the Bloomsbury adult edition, but there will be a different cover for the children's edition.

The Shoppe in Denver

My sister read about a grand opening of a new shop here in Denver that serves cupcakes and cereal. To someone who lives on cereal and loves frosting no matter form, or should I say top, it is served on, I had to check it out. Next time my sister was down we headed off to the Blue Bird District on Colfax to dine at The Shoppe.

Disappointed we were not! Over 20 brands of cereal and we were served at our table with big bowls of Special K with our own carafe of skim milk (they have 6 different varieties of milk). They also offer several toppings that you can have on your cereal such as raisins, chocolate chips, marshmallows, strawberries, walnuts and lots more. We chose to have our cereal naked, but next time, who knows, I might go wild and top it with some bananas and blueberries. Then you can follow up your meal with scrumptious vanilla frosting with a cupcake thrown in (or several other flavors). Wow, does it get any better than that? Well, I am glad you asked, because yes it does. They also carry art, books, journals, and other small goodies. Cupcakes, cereal and art, how sweet is that?

I just visited their blog and see that they also have free WI-FI available and I so wish I lived in the area because they deliver. Cupcakes and cereal delivered right to your door, I tell you, throw in a non-fat latte and I would never have to leave my house again.

They are having an Easter cupcake decorating class tomorrow from 12pm to 3pm, a fun and delicious way to celebrate the holiday. Located at 3103 East Colfax between Steele and St. Paul, if you live in Denver or plan on visiting this city, here is one place to add to your stops, The Shoppe.

New Keyboard

My sister forwarded me an email from DailyCandy with an article about custom made keyboards from Datamancer. I thought I was suffering from writer's block, but now I realize that is not the cast. Instead it is I just don't have the right keyboard for the right story...or laptop.











P.S. Are you wearing your sweater?

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Sweater Tribute

I read a small article in the Rocky Mountain News that tomorrow, 3/20, has been named "Sweater Day" to honor what would have been Fred Rogers 80th birthday. Mr. McFeely, aka David Newell the speedy delivery man, who is now the public relations director for Family Communications, Inc, a non-profit company founded in 1971 by Fred Rogers, is asking everyone to wear their favorite sweater tomorrow. He says it doesn't have to be a zipper down one in the front like the one Mister Rogers wore, just one that is special to you.

Here is Mr. McFeely's YouTube video 'Won't you wear a sweater?'



To learn more about Mister Rogers' Neighborhood you can visit PBS Kids. Now if you will excuse me, I need to go find my favorite sweater.

The Movie: 10000 B.C.

My husband is a big history buff and the moment they started advertising the movie 10,000 B.C., he wanted to see it. I tried to explain to him that I did not believe it was a historical documentary, but it did not matter, this was a movie we must see and we must see it in the theater on the big screen. As a chef, he normally works evenings and weekends, but he had this past weekend off, so we took in a Saturday matinee.

10,000 B.C. is a feast for the eyes to say the least. The aerial views were fantastic and the cinematography was stunning. A couple of weeks ago, I watched for the "severalth" time, Chocolat, with Juliette Binoche. I loved how they played with color in that film, basically an unobtrusive setting of bluish greys but then they throw in a brilliant splash of red with her shoes. They play with color the exact same way in this movie, but it is a sea of sand with a burst of red flowing through it. That was my favorite part of the whole show. The special effects with the prehistoric creatures were also amazing. Although, where I thought they did a great job making the woolly mammoths stampedes look real, for some reason the scenes with the saber tooth tiger did not appear as realistic to me, like a Photoshop scene gone bad. I am sure there is some graphical reasoning on why it was harder to work the saber tooth tiger animation in vs. the woolly mammoths, one of which once my illustrator reads this will try to explain it to me. But overall, like I had heard, it was very much an eye-candy movie.

Now as far as historic relevance, in the whole reason my husband wanted to go see it, uh, yeah. For those of you who feel that even a fictional story of prehistoric times should have some bearing on fact and/or geography, perhaps this would not be a movie for you (my husband would fall into this camp), for others who can bypass facts for fantasy and enjoy a good B flick movie every now and then, than here is one your eyes will also enjoy.

10,000 B.C. centers around a tribe that my husband and I referred to as the Dreadlock clan, who were mighty woolly mammoth hunters, and may I add, at times, spoke remarkable modern day English. This clan’s leader was “mother”, a woman who has visions of the future and when a blue-eyed orphan girl, Evolet, was brought to her, “mother” knew the girl was destined to fulfill a prophecy to save her people. At the same time a small boy of the clan, D’Leh, falls in love with Evolet. Many moons passed quickly and the boy and girl are now grown.

Then, whom my husband and I referred to as the Medieval Knight clan, arrived in the dead of winter on their 4-eyed demons and ransacked the village, capturing several of the Dreadlock clan including Evolet. Despite “mother” not thinking he is brave enough, D’Leh took off with the remaining Dreadlock clansmen to rescue his true love and unknowing to him, become part of the prophecy.

His pursuit led him over snow packed mountains in blizzard conditions, through a tropical rainforest where he was attacked by giant ostriches, and to a desert where he was almost eaten by a saber tooth tiger before being joined by the Balled Headed clan, the Weird Tree Mask clan, the Huge Horn in the Chin clan and the Bamboo Wearing clan. These clans had also been invaded by the Medieval Knight clan, and joined D’Leh on his mission to rescue all their people.

After being lost in the desert for days, they finally arrived at their enemy’s doorstep. Turns out the Medieval Knight clan were working for the Dynasty Emperor clan. They were bringing them slaves to build the evil emperor a great pyramid.

Again, if you are going to be a stickler for historical time frames and geography in addition to perhaps frowning upon a little sprinkling of supernatural in here and there, this might not be your movie. However, if you enjoy a little fun or in my husband’s words, cheesy fantasy, once in awhile as well as incredible cinematography, then this might be one to check out.

As we were leaving the theater, we over heard one guy say to the other it was not worth the $5, maybe $2.50, but not $5; the other guy disagreed and thought it was well worth the $5. I enjoyed it, but I will admit, part of my enjoyment was just watching my history buff husband’s expressions all during the show.

Willow May Book Review by Midwest Book Review

I found out through All Us All the Time Publishing that Willow May got another 5-star review from Midwest Book Review (yea!!!!) .

You can find the review at Midwest Book Review or on Amazon.com.

Gallery Showing

The illustrious illustrator of Willow May Goes to the Midnight Carnival will be showing her work at the Madison and Main Gallery in Greeley, CO, now through the end of April. Here are the details:

Madison and Main Gallery
"Illustrator Gallery Show"

Come see Pamela McCarville's original paintings for her
children's book, Willow May Goes to the Midnight Carnival
written by Icats Nitram, published by All Us All the Time Publishing,
in addition to the art work of other regional illustrators at the
Madison and Main Illustrator Gallery Show on display
from March 3rd through April 25th
with an artist reception March 7th, 5-7 pm.

Madison and Main Gallery, 927 16th St., Greeley CO 80631

A Belated Happy Birthday to Dr. Seuss

I had every good intention of posted this on the 2nd the anniversary of one of one of my beloved authors 104th birthday, Dr. Seuss, but somehow it got to be the 5th? I have no idea how that happened. However, it is my mother's birthday today...a very happy birthday wish to her.

Most celebrated the good Dr's birthday on the 3rd by participating in Read Across America. You can read more about this event and ways to participate on the NEA website. I must be honest; I was totally bummed the Cat-a-Van tour was not coming through Colorado.

If you haven't visited Seussville you should go check it out, the music alone is worth the trip. You will also find games, Dr. Seuss's bio, a list of events and "books n' stuff".

I also stumbled upon these for those of age who are still children at heart and want to drink a toast to the author favorite of most:

Cat in the Hat Martini
Red Fish Blue Fish (plus green) Martini

Loving the illustrations they have with the recipes!

Year of the Beagle

My niece and nephew have declared this the "Year of the Beagle" and their tails have not stopped wagging since the judge, J. Donald Jones, pointed to the beagle Uno as the winner of Best in Show at the 132nd Westminster Kennel Club event. Uno is the first beagle ever to win the Westminster show. The judge commented that Uno does cuteness well...something our family has known for years.

BEAGLE BAYS ALL AROUND FOR THE
WESTMINSTER BEST BEAGLE IN SHOW UNO!!!

Willow May Book Review by SFC

I wanted to share the awesome book review for Willow May Goes to the Midnight Carnival by Stories for Children Magazine Editor VS Grenier. The Stories for Children Magazine is a fantastic site for to find great children's stories and a writer's inspirational treasure trove. Their free monthly Ezine in the is full of imaginative and fun stories for children ages 3 to 12 years old. You will also find articles, puzzles, games, children's book reviews (Willow May will be in the March edition), crafts and poems. Not only can adults submit stories for the SFC Magazine but they also publish stories written and illustrated by children and teens. For you writers out there, you can also sign up for the free SFC Newsletter for Writers that has a wealth of information, resources and tips on writing. If you want to read imaginative stories, meet and learn more about an author, check out book reviews, or pick up great writing tips, visit the Stories for Children Magazine site.

Here is the review:

Willow May Goes to the Midnight Carnival
By: Icats Nitram
Illustrated by: Pamela McCarville
Published by: All Us All the Time Publishing, 2008
ISBN: 9780979728501
Ages: 4 to 8
Reviewed by: Stories for Children Magazine editor, VS Grenier

What child doesn't like going to the carnival? But what about a Midnight Carnival? And what would be at a Midnight Carnival anyway, if you could stay up late?

Willow May does get to go to a Midnight Carnival and it's nothing like the carnivals you might see during the day.

The Midnight Carnival stirs your imagination with colorful illustrations depicting a colorful Mardi Gras wonder of events. Willow May and her dolly Jane enter into a world of wonder as they stumble across some of the performers at this Midnight Carnival. She sees clowns with one eye juggling black rats, a raven as ringmaster, blindfolded swordsmen, and a vampire who walks the tightrope. But the excitement doesn't stop there. Soon skeletons take the stage performing magic tricks and dancing, until one loses his footing and falls. Only to be swept away in a basket.

The fun and thrill of the Midnight Carnival leaves children and adults waiting for the night in this unexpectedly delightful picture book with a surprise twist at the end.

Happy Holidays

Wishing everyone a safe and joyous holiday!

Fun at the Denver Zoo

On a frosty night before the start of winter when snow has already covered the frozen ground and temperatures hover right below freezing we decided to partake in a traditional old past time of the holidays and visit the zoo. What?!? Yes, on a cold evening in December in Denver Colorado we warmed our spirits at the Denver Zoo. From now until January 6th the Denver Zoo is lit up with colorful luminaries and singing out safari holiday tunes. Below are some snap shots of evening’s lighted fun. If you would like to read more about the Denver Zoo Lights visit http://www.denverzoo.org/zoolights/index.asp.

Denver Zoo Lights

Lighted Lion

Lighted Zebras

Lighted Elephant

Unlighted Elephant

Lighted Monkey

Lighted Kitty (BIG Kitty)

Unlighted Weird Animal (Malayan Tapir)

Lighted Fishies

Unlighted Camel

Lighted Giraffe

Unlighted Giraffe

Lighted Seahorse

Unlighted Hippo (honest, he's there)

Lighted Whale

Blurry Zoo Lights!

Grab Your Crayons

The werewolf band howls out rockin’ tunes, the witches get their groove on, and the vampire shows off her beauty. When, where, what, and why, you ask? When is right now, where is on my web page, icatsnitram.com, what is free downloadable Willow May coloring sheets, and why, well, why not? After all, who does not like to color?

Downloading instructions for the Willow May coloring sheets are on the web page. Enjoy and have fun!

Misc. Stuff

Is it me, or do the days in November and December travel at warp speed? I can’t believe it is already mid-November. Am I at all ready for the holidays? Nooooo waaaaay, noooooo hooooow. I am in my complete denial stage at the moment even though the approaching season is hard to deny when my Starbucks has exploded in holiday décor. Sigh.

My partner in macabre and I have been toying around with and working on a little side-project. At the Willow May Goes to the Midnight Carnival book launching party, Pam printed out a bunch of coloring sheets of characters from the book, and they were a huge hit. Everyone said we should do a coloring book, but then we decided to take that one step further and create an activity book with mazes, word searches, jumbles, and matching, fill-in the blanks, connect the dots, how to draw, paper rat dolls, carnival crafts and recipes, and of course, coloring pages. Like I said, just a small little side-project, but I am sure our publisher AUATT Publishing will be all over it once they see our spectacular proposal.

I am also trying to squeeze in some writing. I have a glimmer of an idea for Willow May’s next adventure. She seems to be excited about the concept, but we are still in negotiations on her side-kick(s) and supporting cast. Then I have a couple of other vague story ideas floating around in my head that I am trying to get a better grasp of to at least jot down a few notes. For me, the longest distance in the world is from my mind to the keyboard; I swear I must have a lot of road construction and detours going on inside there.

On top of all of this, my little writing buddy is under the weather. She has an aural hematoma in her ear flap which was caused by an ear infection. We have been having to give her eardrops twice a day which does not go over well at all, not even remotely. Then we were also having to give her antibiotics but they started to make her sick and she wasn’t able to keep her food down. She lost over ½ pound which was 10% of her body weight so now we are having to try to fatten her back up for some other procedures we found out she is needing. She is on my lap sleeping as I write this and not that my universe wasn’t completely centered around her before, but basically for the next few weeks my life will be totally dictated by the whims of a little 4.5 pound calico.

Feel Good Post

Had a few “feel good” moments over the last two weeks that I thought I would share. I went up to the mountains the other weekend to play golf with my Dad. When I walked into the Pro Shop, I am greeted with a very enthusiastic “Icats” by the golf pro followed by how much his kids enjoyed Willow May Goes to the Midnight Carnival. His son read it to his little sister twice. Then his son took out a piece of paper and started to draw the kraken and told his Dad he thought the mummy was cool too. Then a gal at my husband’s work told him that Willow May is now her son’s favorite book and he can almost read it through all by himself. This is followed by a wonderful and complimentary email from a grandmother who bought a copy for her granddaughter, and is now buying 5 more!!

I guess kid tested and grandmother approved!! Feels great!

Writer's Web Page Finally Up

After a long period of "coming soon", the writer's web page is finally up:

www.icatsnitram.com

More from the Mysterious Willow May Book Party

I want to send a huge thank you to all of those who took time from their busy schedules, some even traveling from far distances, to come celebrate with us the release of our first children's picture book, Willow May Goes to the Midnight Carnival. Your friendship, support and encouragement is more than any writer and illustrator could wish for, and if you will allow me to use an adverb here, you are a fantastically incredible group of people.

Here are a few more photos from the Saturday Book Party, Victor Grimsby's Carnival of Curious Delights, and speaking of delights, there are photos of the cakes in yesterday's post...the cakes were stunning. The first time I literally did not want to cut into a cake because they looked too amazing, and I LOVE cake, so that is saying quite a bit.

Again, thanks to all who came, and where I know we have really just begun the journey with Willow May, I can't help but be anxious for the next story to come.

Beautiful flowers bestowed upon the writer and illustrator.

"My, what a wonderful book."

"Oh no, the skeleton lost his footing!"

"I can't wait to see how this is going to end."

"What a marvelous book, darlings."

"I loved the illustrations, could I commission the artist for work of my own?"

"Mom, you have got to get one of these!"

"I must have one of your cat designs, they are my favorite."

"Really should have stopped him after just one glass of apple cider."

Willow May Book Party

At the end of the block where balloons swayed from a tree,
there was a house full of music, food, books and glee.

At the Willow May book party there was cake,

and more cake,

there were pumpkin, black cat, and polka-dotted bat cookies,

circus peanuts too,

there were ravens lurking everywhere,

there were tarot cards for fortunes to tell,

or look into Madame Pamela's crystal ball,

there were books to be signed,

and there were werewolves.

Werewolves?!?

Oh yes, there were werewolves!

There were many more surprises at the mysterious Willow May book party, come back tomorrow and see more of the fun.

Willow May Party Poster

Is my sister awesome or what? Okay she is awesomely genius. Here is a poster she did for the big Willow May Goes to the Midnight Carnival Book Launching Party this Saturday. We are going to put them up on lamp posts outside and then on the main entrance to guide the way to the fantastic festivities. Too cool!

Willow May is Here!

Actually, she arrived last weekend, and I honestly don’t know what happen to this last week. One moment it was October 6th, I blinked my eyes and now it is October 15th. Any hoo, my sister and I had a small little ceremony with Willow May on the 6th. I thought the books turned out beautiful, even though, it hasn’t completely set in yet that we have a book published. It has been crazy these last days as the sis and I are getting ready for the big book launching party this Saturday. To say we are excited is an understatement, but there is so much to do. I feel like for every “to-do” I cross off the list, there are three more added on.

Right now I am working on fortunes for Tarot Cards, or should I say the Tarot of Willow May. We thought it would be a cute party game to have a set of Willow May Tarot cards with fun and silly fortunes. My sister is working on designing the card set with characters from the book and then I am working on the fortunes that go with each card. It is an idea that has taken on a life of its own.

I better get back to those fortunes, but meanwhile, here are a few snaps shot of Willow May Goes to the Midnight Carnival, and I hope to have some fantastic party photos to post next week from the party.