blog tour

Author Q & A with Leah Ward {Blog Tour}

~ Taylor Justine ~ Leave a comment

Welcome back to Day 2 of the Novels and Nail Polish stop of the Pinny Blog Tour! Today, I have an awesome Q&A with Leah Ward, the author of Pinny the Bowling Pin!

How and why did you start writing?

Leah Ward: I began writing poetry in high school as a freshman. I wrote a few short stories and had ideas for novels but never actually pursued that until college. I started writing poetry because I had a knack for rhyming and felt that it was the best way to get things off of my chest. Poems can be so powerful, and that is what I wanted my words to be – powerful!

Why YA & children’s books?
LW: Young Adult and Children’s books because they are my favorite to buy and read as a reader. I wanted to write something that I would walk into a store and buy myself. Plus they are just so fun to write!

Where do you find inspiration as an author?
LW: Most of my inspiration is random and the ideas tend to apply to my life in some way. Also, seeing other indie author’s go on book tours and get on the best sellers list is a huge inspiration for me. That’s what I want to do, I want to make a career for myself and what better than writing funny stories about the lives of bowling pins?

When writing a story, how do you know when it’s done?
LW: I normally set a page number guide, so I know what to shoot for. Mostly though, I just sit down, write my heart out, and then make sure all the ends meet!

What was your general inspiration for writing _Pinny The Bowling Pin_?
LW: Pinny was actually created because of how bad I bowled one day. I thought to myself that this seriously cannot be an operator error, it just had to be the pins! And then, as the light bulb lit above my head, I thought ‘what if there was a pin that simply couldn’t fall? That it just stunk at being a bowling pin?’ And BAM! Pinny was created, and his overcoming tale!

What is the most important thing you want readers and kids to take away from the book?
LW: Pinny provides such a great message to children! First off, that you are not limited to what the others surrounding you are doing. You can reach for the stars if you so desire! And if they tell you that you can’t, or pick on you for dreaming big, don’t let it douse your fire because not everyone was built the same! It’s definitely a story that promotes anti-bullying, and to never give up.

Describe your writing style in one word!
LW: Random!

If you could have dinner with one person, dead or alive, who would it be?
LW: Hm… Probably Jennifer Lawrence. I feel like our personalities would mesh so well together. She is hilarious!! And of course, she’s KATNISS!

Fast Facts!
Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate definitely.
Summer or Winter? SUMMER
Morning or Night? Night!
Favorite color? Turquoise
Favorite book? The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer. The entire series is amazing and just a brilliant and original concept.

Check Leah out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (both: @LeahWardAuthor)! Happy Reading!

 

Pinny the Bowling Pin {Blog Tour}

~ Taylor Justine ~ Leave a comment

What if you were a bowling pin who just couldn’t fall down? Well that’s just Pinny’s luck! Brand new children’s book, Pinny the Bowling Pin by Leah Ward, follows the story of Pinny, a bowling pin who is teased and rejected by everyone because he can’t seem to do his job and FALL DOWN!

Pinny the Bowling Pin

Goodreads Summary – Bowling Pin’s have feelings, too, in this funny, uplifting and overcoming story of the pin who felt alone because he couldn’t seem to do what all the other pins did – fall.

Poor Pinny just wants to fit in. He is tired of being the last bowling pin standing, making it nearly impossible for kids to bowl a strike. Everyone dislikes the last pin, the lone pin, the one who won’t fall no matter how many others do. As if it isn’t bad enough that the kids don’t like him, even the other pin’s don’t! He is making them look bad after all. But maybe, Pinny wasn’t meant to fit in? Maybe he was meant for something greater! Perhaps a doctor, a rockstar, or even the President!

Kids will be imagining their own humorous occupations for Pinny, and sharing a laugh with the lovable character and the author who finally revealed the truth behind the bowling pins lives. This story is a perfect gift for anti-bullying, for a reminder to kids to never give up, and for those who just want to know why it’s so difficult to bowl a strike!

This is my first children’s book review, and I thought it was very cute and heartwarming. I’d forgotten how much fun it is to read a book with pictures! I will say that the illustrations and images outshine the book itself. While the book has a wonderful message about anti-bullying, I felt it was a bit difficult to connect with the story from time to time. One trap some children’s books fall into is repetitive sentence structure. When this happens, it starts to feel like the sentences are all the same short length, and that was sometimes the case here. That aside, I really was very entertained throughout the whole story, especially because of the humor Ward was able to weave throughout!

Check back tomorrow for a Q&A with author Leah Ward and Wednesday for my Pinny-inspired manicure! The Pinny Blog Tour continues on after that and heads to Milliebot Reads! For the rest of the tour schedule, you can check out Leah Ward’s website. Happy Reading!