The Guardian of Indi-Authors

Last Tuesday I travelled to Dublin (with support from Jane- thank you!) to attend the first ever

 Carousel Aware Prize for Independent Authors (The CAP Awards) Gala evening.

And what a glorious evening it turned out to be.

Carolann Copland- the Guardian of Indi-Authors

To my great delight and pride, my Into the Light book-in-a-box was shortlisted under the non-fiction category. See my post about being shortlisted here.
In short, the Carousel Create competition was to celebrate those writers who self publish their books. All proceeds went to Aware, an Irish Charity who educates and empowers people to look after their mental health.

What a 'goosebump-creating' combination: Writing and mental health awareness.

Getting to the event is a story in itself, but more about that on another day... (see HERE)

The Gala Evening was held at the Teachers Club in Dublin. Most of the shortlisted authors were present, as where a lot of their supporters and others interested in the written word.
The room was packed and buzzing with the excitement, and nervous anticipation, of the short listed authors, as well as from the thought provoking speeches about mental health.
It was quite amazing to hear how many people are in some way touched by mental health issues. Gerry O'Brien from Aware, as well as some of the authors and judges all had stories to tell about how mental health features in their lives or communities.
Of course there was lots of talk about books too. And about publishing. And announcing the winners of each of the categories:
Zenji and the Muzzy Bugs By Aisli Madden (Children’s Category)
Death’s New Lease on Life By Brendan O Connell (Young Adult Category)
Do You Like Oranges? By Kevin Doyle (Short Story Anthology Category)
How to be a Perfect Farmer’s Wife By Lorna Sixsmith (Non-Fiction Category)
Her Secret Rose By Orna Ross (Novel Category)

I am so glad that Carolann Copland had this brainwave about a year ago to set up this new award. Carolann is an author in her own right, founder of Carousel Creates.

Although I was not the winner in my category, I am immensly proud to have been part of this exciting new journey for independent authors.
We are all winners.
The writers - the committee- the judges and Aware!

My deepest gratitude to Carolann and all those who made this happen.
To me Carolann Copland is the Guardian of Indi-Authors!

Roll on next year's competition and events!!

Carolann Copland - Guardian of Indi-authors
with Tara (?) finetuning the last details before the event

Carousel website
See my post about being shortlisted here
To buy a copy of Into the Light, see here

The before- and after  see here