Shore Lanes owner writes book about bowling

ST. CLAIR SHORES — Inspired by the customers he sees at Shore Lanes, Justin Roth, owner of Shore Lanes, wrote a book about bowling called “The Good Bowler.”

Ultimately, a customer inspired the idea of the main character and Roth had no problem coming up with other characters. He said he sees so many different personalities at his job at the bowling alley.

“A lot of it can be really tough to deal with,” Roth said. “You get a lot of people who complain, a lot of whiners, a lot of people who make excuses. Then you get a lot of good bowlers, too, and I just thought the difference between all of them was pretty funny.”

He added another part of the inspiration came from his master’s degree in clinical counseling.

“I’m able to utilize some of my counseling skills in working with my customers also,” Roth said.

Roth described the book as a children’s book written for adults. The morals of the story tell people not to whine or complain but to just bowl and enjoy your time.

“My hope is that my bowlers will read the book and get a laugh out of it,” Roth said. “See how silly they’re being.”

The main character of the book is George, a boy who loves to bowl.

The illustrations were completed by Ann Marie Sayers, who Roth said is an aspiring artist and the daughter of the snack bar manager at Shore Lanes.

“It kind of just worked out and was a real bowling production,” Roth said.

The book took around four months to finish once Roth put his mind to it, and he said being a self-publisher, it was quite difficult to get everything together.

“Just figuring out how to format everything and making sure you spell everything properly,” Roth said.

He said aspiring authors should definitely give publishing a try and advised them to ask for help when in a bind.

“It’s not easy, but if you really want to try it, go for it,” Roth said.

The book can be purchased through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and BookBaby, where Roth said it was produced.