"Old Man And The Cat"
the new book from Lance Smith
available November 1st, 2008
LSE's EXCLUSIVE Interview with Lance Smith
From the Top-20 to the ABCs
by Loralie Lorenson
Just by hearing him talk, one can sense the smile on Lance Smith’s face as he discusses his upcoming book entitled “The Old Man and the Cat” which is a children’s picture book that is due in stores this fall. For the Country Music Television host, who has been writing since he was a child, fall can’t get here soon enough.
Smith, who is best known for being the host of the CMT Top 20 Countdown, has been in the country music entertainment business for almost a decade. While living in Los Angeles and pursuing an acting career, Smith landed a job entertaining the crowds in between acts on The Dixie Chicks’ Fly tour. Soon after, he secured a job with CMT, which brought him back to his home base of Tennessee. While working at CMT, Smith has had his hands in everything from live TV, red carpet previews, countdown host, radio personality, and voiceover work.
His latest endeavor is nothing new for Smith, who has been writing as a hobby since his youth. He is a fan of famous children’s authors such as Dr. Suess and Shel Silverstein, and it is Silverstein who he credits for getting him interested in reading at the age of nine. “There aren’t a lot of authors out there, children’s poets out there that do Silverstein-style poetry.” He adds, “I liked to read a lot when I was a kid. I could read; I just never found anything interesting. Shel Silverstein was the first name that ever really peaked my imagination, so I would kind of like to venture into the same area. And if kids ages 4 to 10, 11, however, even if adults dig…that’ll give me the most satisfaction.”
By going to his brand-new website, www.lancesmith.net, fans are able to pre-order his book and locate where he will be traveling to on his book tour. “I love kids so if I can get out and read to as many kids as possible that will be great.” He and his promotional team Team Pance, which according to Smith is named after a childhood nickname, have also joined millions of fans from around the world by creating Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1336215482 ) and MySpace accounts (www.myspace.com/lancesmithofficial ) to get the word out to the masses. Smith takes both a personal and professional approach to each page.
Smith hired an illustrator from San Diego to create the highly bright and child-friendly photos. “He totally picks up what vision I’m looking for and he puts it down. “ The illustrations pair nicely with a book about an elderly gentleman who carries a sardine can in his hat and a cat looking for food. As for any inspiration, the tale, based on a friend’s meeting with an elderly gentleman, stayed with Smith, and he also notes, “You can rhyme cat with more than you can dog.”
He believes that while teaching children important lessons through stories, one must not forget to entertain the children as well. “If you entertain them, their minds are open and you sneak that message in, and so that’s really what I try to do. Seventy-five percent of my stuff has a message, and then twenty-five percent is goofy.” While other “celebrities” often venture into writing children’s books, Smith has a long-term goal and would like to make being a children’s author his future career.
Admitting that he’s slightly nervous about the reaction once the book hits stores, “hopefully, I can get it out in October but definitely by November.” He has done his research with the subjects he’s trying to reach. “I’ve read this stuff to some kids, to test it, and everybody seems to like it so far but I think the real test will be when it gets out there and how it’s received.” While Smith and wife Carrie have no children as of yet, he doesn’t think that his not being a parent means he can’t write a children’s book. “I could sit myself down, my ten year-old self down, on the couch and say, ‘Hey, read this. What do you think?’ I mean that’s my audience. And if I think I would dig this when I was younger, that’s who I’m putting it out there [for]. And I’m really thinking there are a lot of kids out there who are just like me when I was ten.”
Smith credits his employers with being very supportive of his writing career. “CMT’s really awesome because they allow me to do stuff like this.” He has no current plans to leave CMT. “I love my job at CMT and I’m not trying to leave it,” he says. Smith does have a plan to repay them for their loyalty; part of each book sold will be donated to one of CMT’s One Country charities, money specifically going to The Boys & Girls Club of America. While he’s not personally involved with the group, he believes that giving back is important and there’s no better place to help than this organization. “I had absolutely no objections because I think it made perfect sense,” using a children’s book to help a charity for kids. “It’s not like I’m writing them a million dollar check or anything, but you know it will be really cool to maybe give something back. And what better partner than the Boys and Girls Club ‘cause it’s a kid’s book.”
When late fall comes, the world will know Lance Smith as not only an entertainment personality, but also as a children’s author and perhaps maybe even the next Shel Silverstein to entertain the world’s children. His desires do not limit himself to books but also to audio CDs and DVDs. He certainly has his hopes. “The next book, I’m really excited for the next book out, or the follow up to this book. I won’t mention anything about it. I won’t say anything; I’m going to wait, but I think it will have a bigger impact as far as a message goes.”
He plans on taking his new venture as an author seriously. Calling himself a “control freak,” he decided to take matters into his own hands. Smith nixed going with a major publishing company and decided to self-publish with a small publishing company out of Georgia and self-promote his creations. His promotions tour will include a three-month book tour from October through December that will stop in many major US cities. “I’ve put my best foot forward and I’m really creating something so this is the most excited I’ve been in my career since I got my job on CMT back in ’01,“ Smith said.
Lance on
Good Morning America
on
December 4th!
