Three Times A Charm with Katie L Carroll

Welcome to Three Times A Charm. I love meeting new authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the children’s publishing industry and sharing their careers with my readers.

Today’s guest is young adult author, Katie Carroll. Katie is visiting as part of her blog tour to announce the paperback version of her book! Welcome to Strands of Thought, Katie. Tell us a little about you, please.

I’m a mom, author of books for teens and kids, and editor (in that order!). My journey to becoming a published author began after my little sister, Kylene, unexpectedly passed away at the age of 16. I wanted to write a fantasy adventure for her, and this book eventually became Elixir Bound. Being a writer has taken me many wonderful places, real and imagined. I also play soccer, read a lot, and get lost in the infinite loop of the Internet. I live in a small CT city, not too far from the beach, with my husband and 2-year-old son.

I’ve read and truly enjoyed Elixir Bound. Though I’m not much of a reviewer, I posted one here. Katie, can you tell us about your book, please?

Katora Kase is next in line to take over as guardian to a secret and powerful healing Elixir. Now she must journey into the wilds of Faway Forest to find the ingredient that gives the Elixir its potency. Even though she has her sister and brother, an old family friend, and the handsome son of a mapmaker as companions, she feels alone.

It is her decision alone whether or not to bind herself to the Elixir to serve and protect it until it chooses a new guardian. The forest hosts many dangers, including wicked beings that will stop at nothing to gain power, but the biggest danger Katora may face is whether or not to open up her heart to love. ELIXIR BOUND can purchased as an ebook at the MuseItUp bookstore, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other book retailers, and it is coming out in paperback this fall!

I recommend my book to readers who like:

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta

Those of you who missed my interview with Katora herself, can find it here.

Now, for the Threes. Share with us your top 3’s to help us know you a little better.

• Top 3 snacks to munch on while working.

Tea is my must-have beverage for writing (and mornings!). I love loose leaf teas of the black variety, but I also love trying teas of all flavors and mixing different types of tea together. As for actual food, I’d say chocolate of any kind/shape/flavor and egg sandwiches. (Kai whispers: I love egg sandwiches after exercising!)

• Top 3 pieces of advice for kids these days.

Figure out what it is you love to do and find a way to do for a living. Seriously, I’m a big believer in following your dreams and wish I had figured out what my dream was earlier on in life.

Expect wonderful things out of life, but realize succeeding in your dreams take a lot of hard work, like 10,000 hours of hard work (if you’re into statistical type stuff). And don’t give up even when someone says no. Writers hear no a lot, like a lot, lot, lot. I’ve gotten more rejections than I care to remember.

Read, read, read. Even if you don’t like reading books, read magazines, comic books, the cereal box. I have learned most of what I know by reading (and a lot of that reading has been done for pleasure).

• Top 3 professions you wanted to be when you grew up.

I didn’t want to be a writer when I grew up! When I was three, I wanted to be a baseball player…but not just any baseball player, I wanted to play for the New York Yankees. Then when I was six and first started school (I was homeschooled for kindergarten), I wanted to be a teacher (my two older sisters both ended up being teachers). By the time I got to high school and was really seriously thinking about what I wanted to do, I decided I wanted to become a physical therapist. I even started graduate school to be a physical therapist. None of those jobs held up to writer, though, and now that’s what I am!

Katie, where can our readers find you online?

Website link www.katielcarroll.com

Facebook link

Twitter link (@KatieLCarroll)

As part of Katie's tour, you can enter to win a signed copy of Elixir Bound

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for charming us on this week’s Three Times A Charm, Katie. Best of luck to you and Elixir Bound.

THANKS!

GUESTS WELCOME!  I am always looking for guests for Three Times A Charm. If you are an author, illustrator or book reviewer, an agent or an editor. If you have something related to children’s publishing that you’d like people to know about, feel free to contact me about a future appearance.