Richard Due's Blog: Delusions of Grandeur? - Posts Tagged "award"

I just got back from a trip to Traverse City, Michigan, where the Traverse City Children's Book Festival was held in a beautiful old Opera House. It's lovely town right on the shore of Lake Michigan, and the people there support not one, but two amazing independent bookshops: Horizon Books, and Brilliant Books. (You can get THE MOON COIN in Horizon Books now, btw, just sayin'.)



The Traverse City Children's Book Festival. I'm in the lower right corner.


I got to meet a lot of amazing authors at the festival, but for me the most exciting part was meeting the kids: you would have thought they were in a candy store!



Some of the winners on display in the Opera House. (I did NOT arrange these books!)

After the festival, we packed up, got dressed up, and headed out to the top floor of the tallest building in town: the Park Place Hotel, where the Moonbeam Awards Ceremony was held.



I'm the dude on the far right. Jim Barnes, master of ceremonies, is in the center.

Lastly, I want to mention that the GoodReads Group, Anything Goes, has picked The Moon Coin as their December Book of the Month. Anything Goes is mostly comprised of UK members, but anyone is welcome to join. I've been in contact with Chris, a group moderator, and she's given me permission to put together a little international contest. So get ready for a literary scavenger hunt (drawing off The Moon Coin). The winner will receive a signed, numbered, paperback copy (I will ship this anywhere I can (except to the moon Darwyth; if you're on the moon Darwyth then you're on your own; sorry). I'll post the contest here at Anything Goes on the December the 1st. So if you like scavenger hunts, be on the lookout!

Idiot Genius: Willa Snap and the Clockwerk Boy just won an Independent Publisher Book Award medal for Juvenile Fiction!!!

"With its strong female protagonist, steampunk influence, myriad gadgets, descriptions of real life inventors and inventions, and quality writing, I can't recommend this book enough. Did I mention clockpunk cats?" ~B. Evans

Here's Willa (she's eleven):

Ever wonder why some crazy scientist hasn't blown up the world? I used to wonder about it all the time. Actually, I was pretty sure my mom would be the one to do it.
But now I know better. It turns out there's a force working hard to keep the world from going KABLOOEY.
Who are these people? Wait for it:
Idiots. Yep, you heard me right.
How do I know? Well, apparently, I'm an Idiot. At least, according to the Geniuses I am. Confused? I'm not surprised. You're probably an Idiot too.

It all began on a Thursday at precisely 8 a.m. I was standing in the family room of our lovely two-story house, directly across the street from Squirrel Brand Park in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The same family room that, in a few minutes, I would never ever, ever see again--ever.

Willa Snap and the Clockwerk Boy was just shortlisted for the International Rubery Book Award for Young Adult!!!!!









"There is plenty to like about this novel. It is full of fun, and clearly the product of a quirky, inventive mind, ideal for children's writing. Willa is a smart, likeable child with no prejudices. She, her genius mother and practical father (no problem with gender stereotypes here) are kidnapped and taken to a world where they experience bizarre encounters with a variety of unlikely entities. The narrative is often very witty and the absurdity of the story is what carries it along. The pace is fast and the plot farcical in places which is what children will like about it. This would appeal to the 10-12 age range, although a certain amount of intelligence is assumed, otherwise too many of the jokes would be missed."

-International Rubery Book Award

Idiot Genius: Willa Snap and the Clockwerk Boy

WillaSnap.com

Willa Snap and the Clockwerk Boy is a charming epic of how a normal girl is whisked into an adventure beyond her wildest dreams. . . . [more]