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, Karen Wiesner, joins us. Karen, tell us about you. I’ve had 89 books published in the past 14 years, which have been nominated for and/or won 123 awards, and 17 more titles under contract. My books cover genres such as women’s fiction, romance, mystery/police procedural/cozy, suspense, paranormal, futuristic, gothic, inspirational, thriller, horror, chick-lit, and action/adventure. I also writes children’s books, poetry, and writing reference titles like my bestsellers, First Draft in 30 Days and From First Draft to Finished Novel {A Writer’s Guide to Cohesive Story Building} , available from Writer’s Digest Books. Look for Writing the Series , my next offering from Writer’s Digest Books, in May 2013. My previous writing reference titles focused on non-subsidy, royalty-paying electronic publishing, author promo...

Celtic Run by Sean Vogel Jake, a 14-year-old gadget whiz, didn’t plan on a summer full of treasure, thieves, and danger. He just got lucky. While in Ireland on a class trip, Jake stumbles upon the first clue to a treasure missing from the Spanish Armada. Jake sees the riches as his chance to buy back the family sailboat and restore a piece of the life he enjoyed before his father was critically injured in an accident. Desperate to find the treasure, Jake teams up with Zach, his nemesis and class bully, and two girls in a clue-hunting chase across the Dingle Peninsula. Dodging would-be thieves, exchanging wisecracks with Zach, and concocting ingenious devices to get them out of scrapes, Jake leads the team as they connect piece after piece to the 400-year-old mystery. ***Book Excerpt*** Celtic Run © Sean Vogel Chapter 1 Jake clenched his fists. Zach was sauntering down the airplane aisle as if he were the best thing since the iPod. Everyone has an archenem...

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce to you Natalie Isabelle Cailean Edwards. The N.I.C.E. girl who doesn’t always finish last – though sometimes it’s a struggle. Prissy and proud of it, Natalie always has a sappy, inspirational saying to offer. Smarter than your average 8 th grader, Natalie is working on her latest invention, the texty-talky, with a little help from her three best friends. Save the Lemmings, coming this summer! I’m in love with this cover. It really tells you so much about the story; Natalie’s prim wardrobe, the media blitz she is subject to, she even has a Save the Lemmings pin! And I love the fonts used. Isn't my name pretty? (Is that vain? I don't mean for it to be.)  I can’t wait for you all to read Save the Lemmings! What do you think? I'd love if you could help me share my new cover. Use one (or all) of those handy-dandy share buttons to spread the cover all over the internet.

Three Times a Charm is a weekly feature that spotlights authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the publishing industry. This week author, Max Anderson, is visiting with us. Max, can you please tell us a little about you?   I grew up as a struggling reader.  After surveying the market, I sensed the need for action-adventures and mysteries for readers 8 – 13, especially boys. Using my extensive background experience in the production of dramatic motion pictures, videos, and television commercials, I’m able to bring that same visual excitement and heart-pounding action to my stories. Each book by one publisher has different characters, setting, and plot. In addition, with a second publisher, I have a traditional series called the Sam Cooper adventure series. Nine books are published, with an additional twenty-seven manuscripts completed. My tenth book has just been contracted by a third publisher. Young readers have reported that re...

I was breezing down the aisle in the grocery store one day and saw a gentleman staring at the shelves with a confused look on his face. His stooped posture forced him to bend in a strange sideways manner in order to look at the top shelf. He ran a hand through his flyaway white hair and scratched his wrinkled cheek, knocking his coke bottle glasses askew. I stopped and asked, “Can I help you find something?” “Oh that would be great.” He breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m looking for the Special K.” I smiled confidently and spun toward the shelves. They yawned in both directions; so long they actually appeared to grow smaller toward each end of the aisle. My smile faded. There were four rows, stocked to capacity with several hundred choices. Were they in any sort of order? I’d never considered that before. I blinked up at the top row that even I’d have to extend myself to reach and I was at least half a foot taller than the stooped old man. I’d never seen the cereal aisle like ...

Three Times a Charm is a weekly feature that spotlights authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the publishing industry. This week author, Clara Batton Smith is visiting with us. Welcome, Clara. Can you please tell us a little about you?   I started out in the theatre world designing costumes for Chicago Children's Theatre, Northwestern University, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and various film companies. I was using some collage techniques in my costume rendering and realized I enjoyed making the renderings better than any other part of the design process. Eventually my renderings turned into my artwork. I now make mixed media pieces inspired by various showgirls, religious icons, musicians and watercolor pieces for children. My work has been shown in Illinois, New York, California, Florida and Melbourne, Australia notably with Chicago Artists' Collective and featured in the House of Blues Hotel. My illustrations can be seen in Short and S...

Today the World of Ink tour brings us our guest, Viji K. Chary, here to talk about her new picture book, Porcupine's Seeds . Viji K. Chary was born in India and immigrated to the United States at the age of two. Her passion for writing stories began in elementary school and has evolved from coaching children in various activities; including gymnastics, classroom activities and creative competitions. Her stories have been published in Highlights for Children, Ladybug Magazine, Hopscotch for Girls and many more. About the Book: Porcupine longs to grow beautiful sunflowers in his garden just like Raccoon. When Raccoon give Porcupine seeds, she says that all they need is soil, sun, and water. But growing sunflowers is not easy for Porcupine. I’m especially thrilled to host Viji because we used to be critique partners. It feels like forever ago, but really it has only been a few years. However it is so lovely to be able to celebrate publications with th...

Once upon a time there was an emerging author who simply wished to sign a book contract with a publisher. EA thought her talents were natural and developed and couldn’t understand the rejections she received from editors and agents galore. EA finally joined an online critique group. She smugly submitted a story for critique and sat back waiting for the praise. Her ego was purplish and tender after reading through the honest (and frankly well thought out – yeah, whatever!) evaluations of her work. Stupid critique group. What do they know? However, there was enough praise peppered through out that after a bag of Reeses and a bottle of Shiraz she cautiously submitted another story to the critique group. And then another. Then she critiqued the work submitted by her fellow critters and learned even more about her own work and saw shining examples of strong writing. EA was inspired to write. To write a lot. And to write better. EA developed a huge crush on her critique group (as a who...

Three Times a Charm is a weekly feature that spotlights authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the publishing industry.  This week author, Shevi Arnold, joins us. Shevi, tell us about you. When I was little, I wanted to be God. But I discovered that job was already taken. So I decided I wanted to be a movie director. It seemed like the second-best way to create worlds. As I grew up, I started telling stories to the little kids on the bus and my cousins’ little kids. It was fun, and I loved the enrapt looks on their faces when they listened to my tales. When I read the essays I had written for school to the rest of my class, they howled with laughter. Even the teachers enjoyed my writing. In college I majored in English Literature and Theater Studies, because the university I attended only offered communications as a master’s degree. I still wanted to create worlds, but somewhere along the way I discovered that directing movies might n...

So much has been happening and I want to compile all my exciting, sparkly book news into one place. Releasing in 2012: Save the Lemmings 8 th grade inventor, Natalie Isabelle Cailean Edwards is the N.I.C.E. girl who finishes last with the kids in school. Sappy inspirational phrases and monochromatic outfits have all but her best friends wrinkling their nose at her. When Natalie’s invention, the Texty-Talky, goes nationwide, she becomes an overnight sensation. Suddenly her days consist of photo shoots and interviews with little time left for her friends. A local reporter shatters her good-girl image by reporting a graffiti incident and the media launches into a smear campaign. It is so bad, even her friends start to believe the stories. How will Natalie stop the lies and win her friends back? And who will SAVE THE LEMMINGS? The Wishing Well, Another Weaver Tale Molly Minstrel is treated worse than Cinderella by her mom and sisters. When Molly meets the magical...

Author, Kimberley Griffiths Little has recently revealed the cover to her upcoming novel, When The Butterflies Came , scheduled for release Spring of 2013! And it is a beauty! Here is the synopsis: Everybody thinks Tara Doucet has the perfect life. But in reality, Tara’s life is anything but perfect: Her dear Grammy Claire has just passed away, her mother is depressed and distant, and she and her sister Riley can’t seem to agree on anything. But when mysterious and dazzling butterflies begin to follow her around after Grammy Claire’s funeral, Tara just knows in her heart that her grandmother has left her one final mystery to solve. A strange butler shows up to take Tara and Riley to Grammy Claire’s house, where Tara finds a stack of keys and detailed letters from Grammy Claire herself. Note by note, Tara learns unexpected truths about her grandmother’s life. As the letters grow more ominous and the keys more difficult to decipher, Tara realizes that the secrets she must ...