Saskatoon - Final Day
North Park Wilson School hosted the Willow Award Gala, and they knocked it out of the park. The entertainment was awesome, and the ceremonies were over in under an hour. I was thrilled to hear the response from the students when my name was announced. I was so nervous I forgot to thank them all for voting for The Mystery of the Graffiti Ghoul. I'd like to give a big shout out to all the students who voted for my book, and to all the students who read all of the books on the nominee list.
The other winners of the day were Art Slade and David Ward. They were so gracious in their acceptance speeches. I will definitely track down their books now. Megiddo's Shadow won the Snow Willow Award, while the Hockey Tree picked up the Shining Willow Award.
The only disappointing moment of the whole event was the fact that my camera died, so I don't have very many pictures of the gala. If anyone has photos, please send them to me.
In the afternoon, I visited two schools: Dr. John G. Egnatoff and Buena Vista. Thanks to an unfortunate mix-up in scheduling, I had to see the students at Buena Vista at the end of the day, but they were cool with it. The students at Egnatoff mobbed me at the end. They were so enthusiastic. My favourite moment of the day was the student at Bueva Vista who bought The Mystery of the Frozen Brains before I did the presentation, then decided to also pick up The Mystery of the Graffiti Ghoul after my presentation.
Anyway, it was a fantastic way to wrap up an excellent week in Saskatoon. Before we hit the road, my wife and I tried out Avocado Grill, a Mexican restaurant... um... big mistake. Expensive burritos with no taste is no way to win over customers. Oh well, at least I was able to get some nachos. For some reason, I'm always craving nachos.
I'm shutting down for a couple of days, so I can recharge my batteries and bang out another Edmonton Journal article. This one's about public speaking and awards ceremony speeches, and I hope to get it ready to run in this week's Journal, which would be right before the Writers Guild of Alberta Awards. I'm up for the R. Ross Annett Award for Children's Literature. I have no idea if I'm going to win, but I figure I'd write an article about the fear of giving speeches and forgetting to thank key people.