Bowling Blog Tour

I didn’t know there was such a thing as a bowling blog tour until my publisher sent me on one, and I had so much fun.  I answered lots of questions about Mitchell Goes Bowling, and once I even had to answer in Mitchell’s voice.  This was my biggest challenge, because I didn’t write the book in Mitchell’s voice—ruh ro.  I’m including all the “stops” on my tour here because I loved every single one of them.  Thanks also to the amazing women at Blue Slip Media—my own personal Julie McCoys!!  http://www.blueslipmedia.com/

Here are the ten stops we made:

http://www.bookingmama.net/2013/10/kid-konnection-mitchell-goes-bowling.html

http://kid-lit-reviews.com/2013/09/25/review411-mitchell-goes-bowling-by-hallie-durand/

http://www.thechildrensbookreview.com/weblog/2013/10/hallie-durand-discusses-the-creative-process-for-mitchell-goes-bowling.html

http://susanheim.blogspot.com/

http://www.iabowling.com/

http://sharpread.wordpress.com/2013/10/09/10-minute-review-mitchell-goes-bowling/

http://www.justalittlecreativity.com/2013/10/mitchell-goes-bowling-by-hallie-durand.html

http://www.novalibrarymom.com/

http://www.astheygrowup.com/2013/10/mitchell-goes-bowling-book-review.html

http://www.kidlitfrenzy.com/2013/10/mitchell-goes-bowling-blog-tour-and.html

There were lots of book giveaways too, and this is my favorite fan letter ever!

It’s from “Laura J” via Susan Heim’s Parenting blog:

“OH my gosh . . . we received our book so quickly and it is Carter’s FAVORITE book!  We read it the first night . . . and he LOVED it.  Now I have to read it two times every night!  It is such a cute book and for little Carter who lives at the bowling alley . . . oh he LOVES it so much!   He is so nuts about bowling . . . basically everything turns into a bowling pin around our home.  Right now, he has all the chapsticks lined up and they are bowling pins!  LOL . . so funny!  Oh I cannot thank you enough for reviewing this book so I knew it was out there.  So glad I won!  It will be a favorite of ours for a long time!!!!!” 

It was the chapstick line that got me—I guess that’s my favorite kind of playing too, look around and make stuff happen, the idea that any household object can be “anything!”  It reminds me of blanket houses and pillow forts—and the tv show my sister used to host, in front of a tv that wasn’t even turned on—her reflection was enough for her to run her own talk show, with me as the guest named Tweet-zer.  Carter is so cool and he’s so lucky—he is never going to be bored because he knows how to use his imagination.

And that’s what writing does for me, it makes me pay attention to my imagination, which is also my best friend. When my imagination is carefully tended, I feel like I can do anything!

PS:  These “bowling pets” have nothing to do with this blog—I was digging around in the basement and I came across them—aren’t they the cutest?