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In Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Mike Damone counsels Rat on how to pick up girls with his fool-proof 5-point plan. Part of the plan is to be relaxed and cool at all times. “Wherever you are, that’s the place to be.” Damone leans back casually and shrugs. “Isn’t this GREAT?”
That’s exactly how I feel about NORMAL NORMAN‘s blog tour. Every stop has been the place to be!
This is my first real blog tour. I say “real” because I never organized an official one before–I just asked blogs I knew if I could do a guest post. I didn’t schedule them, I just did it when I could. Yeah, I’m not much of a planner.
My publisher organized this tour, and I’ve discovered many great new blogs that you might want to check out, too.
My heart was warmed by Inspired by Savannah when Savannah’s mom realized that Normal Norman would help her daughter feel okay about her shyness.- Librarian Margie Myers-Culver astounded me with astute observations of the book and its illustrations. Things I didn’t even realize! And ya gotta love that “Quintessential Quirkiness” title!
- The Normal Norman tissue paper craft from This Picture Book Life & Homemade City is so colorful and fun!
- I can’t wait to visit A Foodie Bibliophile because I AM A FOODIE BIBLIOPHILE!
- Then this cool Activity Kit was made especially for the tour. Click below to download it in PDF! There’s a crossword, word search, maze, spot the differences challenge and a coloring page.
There’s so much more that just tickles me purple. I’m extremely thankful to those who are participating in the #NormalNormanBlogTour and to Sterling for putting it all together. Many giveaways are still going on now, so check the blog schedule above and go win a copy of Norman!
If you’re doing a blog tour, I recommend keeping all due dates and posting dates in a spreadsheet, even though I feel dizzy at the sight of all those columns and rows! Think Spicoli in Mr. Hand’s class. Time to order a pizza! (I’m sure Norman will want pepperoni.)
Stuffed Norman by dollsforfriends.com!
A four-foot-tall stuffed NORMAL NORMAN sits in my house and my 12-year-old forgets he’s here, so she jumps upon spotting him, not unlike Gloria’s reaction to dog-butler Barkley on Modern Family. OH DIOS MIO!
It’s exciting and shocking to see your character come to life. Although, truth be told, Norman is not really MY character. If you were participating in PiBoIdMo this past November, you discovered that I didn’t know what kind of animal Norman was. I left the art note blank in my manuscript. Editor Meredith Mundy asked me what Norman was but I refused to name his species—I thought an illustrator would do a much better job. So Norman, he really belongs to S.britt. Only Stephan could have created a purple orangutan with handsome-nerd glasses and such emotional expressions. But it did take a while to find the real Norman. The first few attempts didn’t feel quite right. But we all knew it when the true Normal Norman revealed himself. On a unicycle.
So if I didn’t imagine Norman, how did he come to life?
I began with his name, the title: Normal Norman. That’s all I had. But I knew there was no way Norman could actually BE normal. No siree. He had to revolt at all I threw at him. By making my character act in unexpected ways, I conveyed a message to readers that I didn’t necessarily intend, but which worked out perfectly: there’s really no such thing as “normal.” We are all different in our own special—sometimes zany—ways. And that’s something that should be celebrated.
I’ll be celebrating the release of Normal Norman in just a few days, on March 1st! Sterling Children’s Books is giving away five copies via GoodReads—please click below to enter and add Norman to your want-to-read list!
If you’d like to pre-order a signed copy, please call my good friends at The Bookworm in Bernardsville, NJ at 908-766-4599. I’ll dash over there to personalize and sign it.
A couple of places I’m not dashing are London and Bologna for the international book fairs. But guess who is? Yep, you’ve guessed it: Norman. He’s on a world tour! I hope they don’t serve bananas in first class.
Meanwhile, the author will be on a virtual tour. Be sure to stop by these entertaining blogs for all kinds of uncommon fun and giveaways. But sorry, we’re not giving away stuffed Norman. After all, he’s got a jet-set schedule. Lucky dude!
Writing for Kids (While Raising Them) 