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 author, Mary Cunningham, joins us. Mary, tell us a little about yourself. I grew up in the sleepy little town of Corydon, Indiana. And I really mean “in the town!” My house was just beyond the main intersection that took Southern Indiana cars and trucks from north to west. That was well before Interstate 64 zoomed traffic just north of town, so you can imagine the teeth-grinding sound 18-wheelers made navigating the tight Walnut Street turn, then downshifting as they passed my house. Winter? Not so bad. Summer with the windows open? Countless sleepless nights were spent sitting on the porch with my dad telling me stories and pointing out the constellations. After 10 years as a bank teller, followed by a horrifying stint as a travel agent and more rewarding experience teaching travel and tourism and the airline comp...

Three Times a Charm is a weekly feature that spotlights authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the publishing industry.  This week author, Susan Kaye Quinn, joins us. Thank you for agreeing to be a part of my weekly feature “Three Times a Charm.”  Thanks so much for having me! I’m especially excited since today is your BIG launch day for Closed Hearts the second book in your Mindjack Trilogy.  Our lucky readers even get to enter your giveaway!  But first, Susan, let’s learn a little about you. I grew up in California, where I wrote snippets of stories and passed them to my friends during class. I pursued a bunch of engineering degrees and worked a lot of geeky jobs, including turns at GE Aircraft Engines, NASA, and NCAR. Now that I writes novels, my business card says "Author and Rocket Scientist" and I don't have to sneak my notes anymore (too bad!). All that engineering comes in handy when dreaming up paranormal...

When the box of books for my first published middle grade novel, The Weaver, arrived at my house, I tore into it and the very first thing I did was open a book and smell the pages. Ink and paper , I’d smelled them many times in my life, but it was the utmost satisfying to know this time the ink formed my words. I handed a book to my (then) 11-year-old daughter and she carefully pulled back the cover so as not to crack the spine, knowing these books were to be sent out to reviewers and contest winners. She flipped pages, admiring the chapter art, the large print and reading a few of the chapter titles. Then she looked at me and said, “This is so cool!” How do you instill that kind of appreciation for books in your children? First it is important to be clear that you don’t have to be a writer yourself. I’ve been raising kids for almost twenty years and writing professionally for seven.  All four of my kids spend many hours immersed in alternate worlds and routing for their f...

Illustrator, KC Snider, and Julie reading the contest entries Continuing my theme of children’s literacy for the Children’s Book Week blog hop, I sat down with Redmond Community Librarian, Julie Bowers. Julie and I first met when we were involved in the Redmond 4 th Grade Writing Contest. Now, who doesn’t LOVE a community minded librarian who wears really cute skirts? Julie works at the Redmond Branch of the Deschutes Public Library. Julie, I’m a huge fan of the Deschutes Public Library System , the children’s library in particular. I have four children and have found the library an invaluable resource. Thank you. Me too. I can’t imagine parenting without the library. When my son was little we used to the library for so many things – story time, books for fun, books for projects, music magazines, and movies. Our budget was tight, and I was so grateful to have this wonderful destination where we could pass a pleasant afternoon of discovery and not have to pay anything!...

Three Times a Charm is a weekly feature that spotlights authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the publishing industry.  This week author, Mike Hays, joins us with some bonus content in celebration of Children’s Book Week. Mike, tell us about you. THE YOUNGER DAYS is my debut middle grade historical fiction novel from MuseItUp Publishing.  I am a husband, a father of three, a lifelong Kansan and work as a molecular microbiologist.  Besides writing, I have been a high school strength and conditioning coach, a football coach and a baseball coach.  I have published three football coaching articles in a national coaching magazine and have co-authored over a dozen scientific papers. Tell us more about The Younger Days . Summary The tension in post Civil War Missouri builds to a boiling point between 11-year old Boy Smyth and his mild mannered, devout father over the father's embarrassing lack of support for Boy’s Border ...

To celebrate Children’s Book Week, I am focusing on the benefits of children’s literacy in order to encourage parents, grandparents, caregivers, siblings to model strong reading habits to the younger children in their lives. In my experience, children who have grown up reading, being read to and listening to audio books not only have a well-developed vocabulary, but they are also better communicators. As a writer I often hear, “Know your audience.” What this means is that if I am going to write a short story for the 5 – 8 year old crowd I have to use age appropriate vocabulary and I have to keep the storyline linear. Younger children can't follow multiple storylines within a single story. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not dumbing down to the 5 – 8 year olds. The story itself can be complex and emotional. I use this as an example because if that 5 – 8 year old continues to develop their reading skills over the years, they will eventually be reading books with a diverse cast ...