Mac Slater Vs. The City US Tour

I've just returned from a two-week book tour, taking in LA, New Jersey and New York. It was an extraordinary journey for me, visiting the locations from my book, Mac Slater Vs. The City, which I was in the US to launch. Here is the trip in images, and a few words. 

My visit to Oakmont Elementary School in Claremont outside LA was my first-ever US school visit. The kids were super-enthusiastic and made me feel very welcome.

Signing books at Holy Name of Mary School, San Dimas California.

At Dodger Stadium for Dodgers Vs. Giants. Dodgers won. The game was an amazing spectacle. The Dodger Dog with mustard and sauce was a little scary.

I visited head office of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators in Los Angeles.

Visiting SCBWI HQ in LA with kidlit guru and social media expert Greg Pincus.

The obligatory two-headed turtle shot, Venice Beach, California.

With Tempany Deckert, my co-author on it's yr life, a YA book that we wrote via email between Australia and LA.

Caught mid-flight with a friend, amazing actor and voice artist, Brian Donovan.

At LAX, trying to capture the journey on paper as it unfolded.

New York has been invaded by bed bugs. This giant inflatable bug on Lexington Avenue warned me of the dangers.

At a book-signing at Books & Greetings, Northvale, New Jersey. I visited quite a few schools and stores on my journey.

A very cool electronic robot invented by a student at Holy Family Catholic Academy in Norwood, New Jersey.

The Chrysler Building, NY, NY. One of my favourite buildings in the city.

Economy Candy, another of my favourite buildings in the city.

The Flatiron Building, corner of Fifth Avenue and Broadway.

New York Public Library. I could spend days, weeks, years inside this  building.

Working through 1st pages of my new Australian book, 'My Life and Other Stuff I Made Up' in a
Greenwich Village Cafe

Skyping the folks back home from the ubiquitous Starbucks.

Meeting the team from Simon & Schuster: Bernadette Cruz, Courtney Bongiolatti and Julia Maguire.  I have been working with them for two years but, to this point, only via email. They were lots of fun and gave me a bunch of great new books to read.

The tour was a fun ride full of good humans, great meetings and possibility. And, as always, travel stimulated lots of new story ideas.

One day in NY I visited as many locations from Mac Slater Vs. The City as I could. Will upload the adventure to Youtube in coming weeks.

www.tristanbancks.com