Complaining About Your Blessings
On Being A Touring Author
When you ask elementary school kids what to pack for a sleepover, you never know what answer you’re going to get. This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite parts of being on tour: the delightful randomness of children’s ideas. Over the three weeks I spent traveling to schools and bookstores across the country to talk about Good Night, Escargot, I heard a wide range of ideas for what we should bring to a pajama party. One child suggested we bring fish. Another thought we should pack wires, just in case the power went out. A third thought wanted to bring glitter, which, I warned, is a good way to never be invited back.
When I wrote Good Night, Escargot, I imagined how children would interact with Escargot’s request that they make sure he doesn’t fall asleep at the soirée pyjama. I hoped they would laugh at all of the jokes. But I didn’t know for sure whether the book worked until the first time I stood in front of an auditorium of kids and read it aloud. Hearing them giggle as they bellowed, “WAKE UP, ESCARGOT!” was what I imagine it must be like to hear a piece of music you’ve written played for the first time by a full orchestra. A book isn’t a book until a child reader arrives to play their part.
Book tours are full of such joys. I love co-creating stories with auditoriums full of kids, chuckling as they invent characters like Dr. Bigroar, a lion physician, or Chicken, a carnivorous lamp who hangs out in the library.
I love the treasures I accumulate on the road as kids shyly present me with drawings, letters, bracelets, and, most astonishingly, a handmade Escargot purse.
I love the grownups I meet, too—the teachers, librarians, parents and booksellers who have made Escargot part of their lives. It’s a miracle to discover that the character who lives inside my head has become real to so many people. (That’s a testament to the amazing illustrations of Sydney Hanson, who has created the world’s most adorable French snail.)
All the same, touring is hard. This time around, there were innumerable flight delays due to—at various times— thunderstorms, hail, high winds, and tornadoes. Twice, I handed over my roller bag at the gate and then it wasn’t returned to me after landing. (The first time it was because lightning strikes prevented baggage handlers from getting onto the tarmac to unload. The second time, the baggage handlers left the gate without fully unloading the plane.) Even without travel snafus, a book tour means arriving in each city late at night, heading to a hotel, waking up early the next morning, doing two to four presentations, and then heading straight to the airport to fly to the next city. Very quickly, the days become a blur. I was also, in this case, traveling while wearing striped pajamas. It is very difficult to make a persuasive case about how important it is for someone to return to the gate to unload your bag from an airplane when you are wearing striped pajamas.
Such is the paradox of a book tour. I generally spend the entire time complaining about how exhausted I am. And I can’t wait to go back out and do it again. I’ll be hitting the road again in September for The Wild Season. Stay tuned for details!
In Other News…
Good Night, Escargot debuted on the Indie Bestseller List and that’s in part because of preorders. If you were one of the people who preordered the book, thank you!
My next release is The Big One, on June 30. I am super proud of this book, which has stunning illustrations by Myo Yim. Booklist just gave it a fabulous review, saying, “With its evocative language and themes of determination and environmentalism, this observant multigenerational nature story makes a pleasing pick for poetic young adventurers.”
I’ll be at the Bay Area Book Festival on May 30 and 31 to read another new and nautical picture book, Deep Blue, and talk about my least favorite (but extremely important) subject: book bans.
May 30: 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Fighting for Our Right to Read, at Berkeley Public Library - Community Room
Joanna Ho, Hannah Moushabeck, and Dashka Slater, moderated by Alejandra Domenzain
May 31: 12:30 PM - 12:50 PM
Deep Blue: Swimming in the Big Blue Sea Read-Aloud with Dashka Slater, at YouthLit Read Aloud Stage in the ParkI bow to you,
Dashka