Starbucks Reading

I am terribly delinquent in posting this entry on the Willow May Goes to the Midnight Carnival Starbucks reading from the beginning of the month, but hopefully better late than never?

The illustrator, Mr. Icats, and I had a great time and want to thank all those who attended and to Anna West of Starbucks for hosting this event. Besides Starbucks goodies the kids also received Willow May coloring sheets and crayons, bookmarks, buttons, and temporary tattoos. The buttons were a huge hit and the favorites seemed to be the rock star werewolf, the dancing skeleton, and walking birdcage.

To see more pictures of the event you can visit the Photo Gallery on the publisher’s website. We are scheduled to do another reading at Starbucks on 7/10 at 10am for the KinderCare group. Again, thanks to everyone who came and I hope you had as much fun as we did.

Mr. Icats with a Willow May fan

The Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman

Timothy Hunter’s life is about to change forever when four men of the “Trench Coat Brigade” confront him with the question, “Do you believe in magic?” Then each man, John Constantine, the Phantom Stranger, Dr. Occult and Mister E, leads the boy on an unforgettable journey into the realm of magic, past, present, future, and the fairylands. But can these four journeymen be trusted? Is there a trader amongst them? Why is Timothy’s life in danger and will he decide to join their ranks in the world of magic?

Neil Gaiman once again takes hold of the imagination and does not let go until the last page is read. If you have his Sandman series then you will recognize some of the characters, but even if you haven’t, this book is still an enjoyable ride.

Trixi Thursday

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.

Trixi Thursday

Trixi Thursday

The Other Statue by Edward Gorey

This book, The Other Statue by Edward Gorey, is worth reading for the characters' names alone, Miss Underfold, Earl of Thump, Marquess of Wherewithal, his aunt, Lady Isobel Stringless, Dr. Maximilian Belgravius and his nephew, Luke Touchpaper, Fenks the butler, Rev. O. MacAbloo, Miss Quartermourning and other delightful nomenclature. Was the statue that crushed Lord Wherewithal blown from the parapet or pushed? And who took his beloved Lisping Elbow made of wax?

Children's Book Week

Since 1919, Children's Book Week has been celebrated nationally in schools, libraries, bookstores, clubs, private homes, and any place where there are children and books. To find out more about this celebration and scheduled activities visit the Children's Book Week website. You can also find a cute 2008 Children's Book Week bookmark that is not only a bookmark, but also a coloring sheet and paper doll. Visit the Children's Book Week website for this free download.

The Shoppe and Tattered Cover

My sister was down last weekend and we decided to go have brunch at our new favorite cafe, The Shoppe. This time my husband chauffeured us and we all opted for the cornflakes. We also all went a little wild and threw in some bananas. My husband totally enjoyed himself, he later said he loved the atmosphere and they had great coffee. We planned for our next stop to be All In A Dream Comics, but unfortunately they did not open until noon and our chauffeur had places to be that afternoon. From there we headed over to the Tattered Cover Bookstore. After perusing their magazine selection, we headed over to the graphic novels where I grabbed a couple of Neil Gaiman but then ended up relinquishing one to my sister who also picked up a Terry Pratchertt. On our way to the children’s section we passed the humor books and I could not resist adding another book to my Edward Gorey collection, The Secrets: Volume One, The Other Statue. I think we know I will also need Volume Two, The Night Bandage.

Next we headed downstairs to the children’s section when what to our wondering eyes should appear....WILLOW MAY!!!!

I don’t think anybody thought it was strange for us to be taking our pictures next to it, do you?

Trixi Thursday

The Movie Iron Man

My sister and I went to see Iron Man this last weekend and I must award it 4.5 out of 5 cat whiskers. It had the perfect mixture of action interlaced with humor, not to mention an awesome sound track.

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is the CEO of Stark Industries, which produces advance weapon systems for the U.S. military. He is also a billionaire self-obsessed playboy who happens to be a genius when it comes to inventing technical gadgets. And let me just stop here to say that both my sister and I need his work lab and equipment, there is no way we can build us a super-power suit with our current set ups. Any way, Tony flies to Afghanistan to demonstrate a new weapon. On his way back terrorist using the same weapons he created attacks his convoy. He is wounded and held captive but builds a suit of armor to escape. Back in the states, he perfects his suit only to find out he is being betrayed by his own company.

I thought Robert Downey Jr’s comic timing was impeccable and I enjoyed the humorous chemistry between him and his personal assistant (Gwyneth Paltrow). There were several LOL’s.

I highly recommend this movie and will eagerly await Iron Man II due out in 2010.

Trixi Thursday

Amphigory by Edward Gorey

Saturday to take my mind off the dismal performance of the Denver Nuggets, I curled up on the couch with my calico and read Amphigory by Edward Gorey, as one does after watching the NBA playoffs. In reading the 15 tales in Amphigory, I thought they were quite poetic, in a Monty Python sort of way.

I struggle to describe Edwards Gorey’s stories and basically can only sum it up with two phrases, ”hmmm, wonder where this is going,” and ”I did not see that coming.”

Some call his ironic and offbeat humorous stories literary nonsense, but I just call it pure genius. A is for apple and B is for Bear, oh, I don’t think so as you will find in The Gashlycrumb Tinies, "A is for Amy who fell down the stairs, B is for Bail assaulted by bears.” His illustrations add so much depth to the stories, or should I say darkness in that charming and witty macabre way.

As I writer, I particularly loved this passage in The Unstrung Harp:

“Mr. Earbrass has been rashly skimming through the early chapters, which he has not looked at for months, and now sees TUH (The Unstrung Harp) for what it is. Dreadful, dreadful, DREADFUL. He must be mad to go on enduring the unexquisite agony of writing when it all turns out drivel. Mad. Why didn’t he become a spy? How does one become one? He will burn the MS. Why is there no fire? Why aren’t there the makings for one? How did he get in the unused room on the third floor?"

If you are a fan of British humor than I believe you will quite enjoy the works of Edward Gorey, despite the fact he was born in Chicago and never visited Britain. Other stories in Amphigory include: The Listing Attic, The Doubtful Guest, The Object-Lesson, The Bug Book, The Fatal Lozenge, The Hapless Child, The Curious Sofa, The Willowdale Handcar, The Insect God, The West Wind, The Wuggly Ump, The Sinking Spell, The Remembered Visit.

In honor of the last week of National Poetry Month, I will leave you with this verse from The Listing Attic:

A dreary young bank clerk name Fennis
Wished to foster an aura of menace;
To make people afraid
He wore gloves of grey suede
And white footgear intended for tennis.

An Engineer's Guide to Cats

My sister sent me this video with a comment about it being a bit long at 7 minutes and inquiring why someone would even do it, but as a cat lover I found it to be a fascinating documentary on the feline species:

Mad Creator Productions New Book

Besides the The Dangerous Alphabet book with Neil Gaiman, Gris Grimly has another book with Kelly Dipucchio coming out in May, Sipping Spiders Through A Straw Campfire Songs for Monsters:

"In this howlishly fun collection of campfire songs, little monsters everywhere will love singing along to their favorite campfire tunes which have been altered for optimal gross-out effect by the ghoulish Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated by the Master of Creep, Gris Grimly. Disgusting highlights include "If You're Scary and You Know It," "99 Bottles of Blood on the Wall," and the classic in the making, "Do Your Guts Hang Low?" Gather your creepy, crawly friends and get ready to slither and slink and howl and stink!"

For those of you in LA and going to the LA Times Festival of Books, Gris Grisly will be there signing books on Saturday, April 26th at the A Whale of a Tale booth from 11-12pm. He warns that this is in the children's area so beware of ragamuffins. On Sunday he will be signing his Wicked Nursery Rhymes 1 at the Baby Tattoo Books booth from 2-3pm. However, you can also catch him from 2-4pm on Saturday and 5-7pm Sunday at the Mad Creator Productions booth at the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors.

Trixi Thursday

Book and Lover's Day

Do you know what today is? It is Book and Lover's Day. Every year on April 23rd, Barcelona erupts in a celebration of chivalry and romance. It all began in the Middle Ages with an annual Festival of Roses to honor St. George, Patron Saint of Catalonia, who as a brave Roman soldier allegedly slew a dragon about to devour a beautiful young princess. Accordingly, a rosebush sprouted from the blood of the dragon and the soldier plucked its most perfect blossoms to give to the princess as a remembrance. In 1923, the Rose Festival merged with International Book Day, established to celebrate the lives of Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare, both of whom died on April 23rd in 1616. Now, bookstalls and flower stands sprout up along the Rambla, a two-mile stretch connecting the city with the Mediterranean Sea. Thousands of Barcelonans crowd the streets to enjoy a festive atmosphere of readings, music, literature, and dance.

Here in Denver, the Tattered Cover Book Store is celebrating complimentary roses and commemorative bookmarks with the purchase of a book. They will also be holding Shakespeare performances in the afternoon at their Historic LoDo and Colfax locations. Also in Greeley, An Open Book will also be celebrating the day with a 20% discount off one book and complimentary flowers.

Happy Book and Lover's Day!

Trixi Thursday

Englewood Public Library Author Open House

To kick off National Library week, the Englewood Public Library hosted an Author Open House this past Sunday with over 50 Colorado writers and illustrators. The illustrious illustrator, Pamela McCarville and I had a fabulous day. It started off with us being escorted to our table where two book bags, pens and thank you notes were awaiting us. Then we had our photo ops with the children's librarian, Karin Martin. Talk about the star treatment. Next we were called into the reception room for quite the spread. I wish I had taken a picture but trust me; it would have made your mouth water. But that is not all; we also had a harpist serenade us all through the day.

We dressed up our table with a mini version of our ringmaster Victor Grimsby in his purple feather coat and three of his little rats in hats friends (the rats ended up stealing the show from the raven ringmaster). We handed out Willow May bookmarks and coloring sheets with some of the characters from the book as well as a small box of crayons with a sticker of one of the characters on the box. Those were a big hit with the kids. For those who bought our book we gave them a Willow May bookplate and button. We also had postcards of our next Willow May midnight adventure, Willow May Goes to the Midnight Zoo and postcards for a Graphic Novel Pamela is illustrating, Dark Wisdom. Then we also had a sign-up sheet, but only three people signed up. Kept forgetting to point it out to people and we mainly had kids coming to our table. We also got too busy and only took a couple of pictures between us; we almost needed a 3rd person for photo taking detail. We thought we had about every aspect of the promo thing covered but in looking around at the other writer's tables, we saw that one writer had made print outs of their book reviews for people to see. What a great idea!

It was fun to visit with everybody and it was really fun to shop around for some great reads. Needless to say, we put those book bags to use.

I received an email from the library yesterday that 450 people came to the event. Wow, what a turn out, no wonder why I am still exhausted. I can't say enough about this fantastic event the Englewood Library hosted and if you missed this years please plan to attend their 10th annual open house next year to kick off National Library Week.

Visit the library's website to see what other fun events are taking place this month.

Trixi Thursday

Englewood Library Author Open House

The illustrious illustrator, Pamela McCarville and I will have a table at the 9th annual Englewood Library Author Open House, "Meet the Faces Behind the Books" this Sunday, April 13th, from 1pm-3pm. We are honored to receive an invitation and to be a part of such an amazing list of Colorado talent. What a great opportunity the library is providing to come and find great books and meet the local creativity behind them.

At our table we will have Willow May Goes to the Midnight Carnival coloring sheets, puzzles, bookmarks, postcards and buttons. If we have room, you may even spot Mr. Grimsby and his rats in hats.

You can visit the Englewood Library's website for more information on this event, including directions and a list of participating authors.

Hope to see you there this Sunday!

Trixi Thursday

National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry month and you can celebrate with Shel Silverstein. On his site there is a special section with activities and games for National Poetry month. You can watch Shel Silverstein animation, play games, practice being a poet, sent poetry month e-cards, find classroom activities and suggestions, print out a poster, and more.


One of my favorite books was Where the Sidewalk Ends. I won't remember the words exactly, but one of the poems I enjoyed was My brother said it was a hat so I put it on / Now my Dad is yelling "Where in the heck has the toilet plunger gone."

For some reason that just reminded me of something my sister would tell me to do.

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.