Spaghetti Blog Book Tour

By Khadijah Lacina

Little Pickle Press is founded and built upon the idea of making a difference. Of looking at the world in a way that does not emphasize the “me” so much as the “we.” Of acknowledging problems such as intolerance and environmental degradation and setting out to deal with them in a positive, proactive manner. Of the power of one person, or one company, to help to affect a change for the better by setting an example for others to follow. This month’s blog book tour for Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food and Other Life Lessons is a perfect example of this.

Traditionally authors had to spend a lot of time on the road promoting their books, driving or flying from city to city, event to event. While this certainly is one way to go about it, we decided to try something a little bit different. Something that allows the author to stay in the comfort of her own home, avoiding the time, money and fossil fuels that go into that way of doing things. For the past three years we have celebrated the advent of a new title from our company with a virtual tour that involves stopping at various blogs during a certain time period and letting the blog hosts share their comments about and experiences with the book with their readers.  Blog book tours have been becoming increasingly popular, and we are at the forefront of this movement.

This week’s tour began with Flannery at Living on the Spectrum: The Connor Chronicles. This was a case of universal synchronicity, as the main character of Jodi Carmichael’s Spaghetti is NOT a Finger Food is named, amazingly enough, Connor; and both Connors have been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. Flannery wrote a great review of the book, and Jodi stopped in regularly throughout the day to answer questions and discuss issues with the blog’s readers.

On day two we had two stops. One was with Maryann Miller, who stressed that the book was both entertaining and a great educational tool. Bodie Parkhurst over at Magic Dog Press shared her experiences with a friend’s child who had Asperger’s and praised the celebration of difference that is one of the main messages of Spaghetti.  The lively discussion in the comment section was as enjoyable as the post itself.

Wednesday brought us to Mom-ology, where Jen lauded both the book and LPP’s environmental policies with her wonderful review of the book. “We all need to learn and understand that it is OK to be different and that we need to be accepting of all individuals regardless of whether or not they are differently-abled.”

On Thursday Karen at Confessions of an Asperger’s Mom shared her insights and experiences with us. Interestingly, just two days before she wrote about dealing with “an Asperger’s Meltdown,” and it reflected exactly what Jodi portrays in Spaghetti.

Dani at the Blood Red Pencil made Friday a highlight of the tour with her interview with the funny and indomitable author of the book, Jodi Carmichael. It was an awesome opportunity to peek into the writing process itself, while getting to know Jodi a little bit better.

Today and tomorrow will undoubtedly bring more interesting posts and lively conversation as the tour heads for its last two stops, at Leslea Tash’s blog, The Fabulousness, and Inner Aspie. Why not take a minute in the next two days to stop by and have a virtual cup of tea with Jodi and her tour hosts. And if you missed any of this week’s stops, you might want to check them out as well!