Authors, Kai Strand & LA Dragoni

Three Times a Charm is a weekly feature that spotlights authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the publishing industry. This week we are joined by author and comedian (though I’m not sure that last bit is an official title), Bill Kirk. Bill is a fellow “angel” at Guardian Angel Publishing. Bill tell us about yourself. Since retiring from professional life in 2008, the bureaucratic writing I did for nearly 40 years has changed to plain old fun, pure and simple.   Now I get to write fiction, satire, contemporary humor and rhymes, poetry and anything else that comes to mind.   I’ve been fortunate to see some of my rhymes in popular children’s publications, like Boys' Quest , Fun For Kidz, Grandparents and Wee Ones magazines.   Other publications include the North Dakota Horizons quarterly journal, the University of South Carolina Health Center Newsletter , the SacBreathe website and The Baseball Almanac website, among others. ...

Recent Reads The Storyteller by M Arthur – humble rating: Golf Clap+ – Well written story by fellow Bend-ite and middle-grade author. Good, strong p.o.v. which added to the intensity of the storytelling. I liked the end of the story line, I wasn’t super crazy about the Lemony Snicket type of dialogue at the very end. But I got over it quickly. Abandon by Meg Cabot – humble rating: Golf Clap+ – So, when I first started reading I thought, “Wow, this is so cliché. How disappointing.” Me of little faith. Seriously, this is Meg Dang Cabot. Of course it was engaging and left me wanting the next book immediately. Duh. Passion by Lauren Kate - humble rating: Golf Clap++ – I like this series. I’m a sucker for a good love story and this one is pretty compelling. I got a bit tired of jumping from life to life with Luce, but Lauren handled the time travel aspect and meeting the different time versions of the characters well. ...

Three Times a Charm is a weekly feature that spotlights authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the publishing industry. This week we are joined by author, Mike Mullin and his newly released book Ashfall. Let’s learn more about Mike. Mike Mullin’s first job was scraping the gum off the undersides of desks at his high school. From there, things went steadily downhill. He almost got fired by the owner of a bookstore due to his poor taste in earrings. He worked at a place that showed slides of poopy diapers during lunch (it did cut down on the cafeteria budget). The hazing process at the next company included eating live termites raised by the resident entomologist (they taste like a cross between walnuts and carrots), so that didn’t last long either. For a while Mike juggled bottles at a wine shop, sometimes to disastrous effect. Oh, and then there was the job where swarms of wasps occasionally tried to chase him off ladders. So he’s really hoping thi...

Three Times a Charm is a weekly feature that spotlights authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the publishing industry. This week author and assistant editor, Karen Gowen, joins us to talk about her passions: authors & literacy.   Karen, tell us a little about yourself. I love to read and I believe in the power of books to change lives. My passion is to empower authors and promote literacy. I am an assistant editor at WiDo Publishing, and the co-founder of Celerytree.com. I blog (excessively) about writing, editing, and publishing issues. I tweet a lot. My published works are Farm Girl , a memoir, and Uncut Diamonds , a novel. House of Diamonds is scheduled for 2011 release by WiDo Publishing. Congratulations on your books, Karen. Tell us more about WiDo and Celery Tree? Much of what I do I talk about freely on my blog. Information about my books is on my blog, and I post often about WiDo Publishing, which is an independent pu...

World of Ink virtual book tour stops in today. We are talking with Fiona Ingram, author of, The Secret of the Sacred Scarab , about her book, her writing inspiration and learn what she was like back when she was the right age for her book. First, let’s learn a little about our guest. Fiona Ingram’s earliest story-telling talents came to the fore when, from the age of ten, she entertained her three younger brothers and their friends with serialized tales of children undertaking dangerous and exciting exploits, which they survived through courage and ingenuity. Haunted houses, vampires, and skeletons leaping out of coffins were hot favorites in the cast of characters. Although Fiona Ingram has been a journalist for the last fifteen years, writing a children’s book — The Secret of the Sacred Scarab —was an unexpected step, inspired by a recent trip to Egypt. The tale of the sacred scarab began life as a little anecdotal tale for her 2 nephews (then 10 and 12), who had accompan...

It has been two months since I last posted my recent reads. A couple good reasons for this. One is that life got really sad and complicated. Two, I read four books I can't post about because they are for a competition. So in order to make up for it, I plowed through two books this weekend. I feel back on track with my reading. Recent Reads: Beauty Queens by Libba Bray – humble rating: Motivational Speaker – Fun! Sophie & Carter by Chelsea Fine – humble rating: Motivational Speaker – Powerful, sad, hopeful. Eighth Grade Super Zero by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich - humble rating: Golf Clap++ – Good vulnerability and growth in the m.c. I loved how he questioned religion. So realistic, never preachy. Tomorrow Girls – Behind The Gates by Eva Gray - humble rating: Golf Clap – Fast, fun reading. Tomorrow Girls – Run For Cover by Eva Gray - humble rating: Golf Clap – Just as quick ...

Three Times a Charm is a weekly feature that spotlights authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the publishing industry. This week author, Rick Daley, joins us to give us his top advice and to talk about his book, The Man In The Cinder Clouds. First, let’s learn a little about Rick. Rick Daley has been writing professionally for over 15 years.  His experience includes marketing copy for print and web, press releases, business proposals, training and technical manuals, and whitepapers.  His essays, ranging from family life during the holidays to his first skydiving experience, have been featured in The Columbus Dispatch .  An experienced public speaker with a background in music and theater, Rick has also authored and delivered numerous training seminars and workshops.     Rick lives in Lewis Center, Ohio with his wife and two sons (and a neurotic schnauzer).       Rick, tell us about your book...