Authors, Kai Strand & LA Dragoni

I was sitting on the beach last week watching the waves roll in and enjoying the glorious Southern California weather. An adorable little girl in a cheetah print bikini with a fuchsia flounce walked past – backward. She almost walked into my chair until her mother gently reminded her to watch where she was going. When she saw me, I smiled at her – one of those crinkly-eyed smiles. She was so endearing with her springy hair and chubby toddler legs. She paused ever so slightly when I smiled at her and though she remembered she needed to watch where she was going (by glancing over her shoulder – behind her) she also kept a curious eye on me as she continued backward down the beach. Since I was visiting from the Pacific Northwest, my very white skin was quickly becoming pink. I spread a towel on the sand in front of my beach chair and flopped onto my belly – an equal opportunity pinker. I was completely engrossed in my Kindle book when something fell onto the sand in front of me. ...

Welcome to my blog feature, Building Character in which you get to meet a character from a book. Talking to a character outside of their book is fun! Huge. Amounts. Of fun.  This week Strands of Thought is host to Rhaya and Zelene from the new adult book, Heirs of War. Hello ladies, it’s so good of you to join us on Strands of Thought. Tell us a little about yourselves and what your life is like. Rhaya: Hello! I’m Rhaya. I’m nineteen, I’m a bit of an empath. Okay, that’s modest. I’m seriously an empath. It gets kinda weird, but it can be cool too. I would normally tell you all about how I’m a college student, and I work in a bookstore, and all the other usual stuff. But, um, I guess that really doesn’t apply anymore since I’m not even sure there are universities or bookstores in Estridia. Zelene : And I’m Zelene. I’m seventeen. I don’t have any magical power— Rhaya: Unless you count getting your ass kicked. Hey, don’t glare at me. That’s what you said before. ...

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 children’s author, Beth Overmyer. Welcome to Strands of Thought, Beth! Can you tell us a little about you, please? Beth Overmyer is a stay-at-home writer and a slave to The Cat. She mainly writes middle grade, but also is trying to branch into young adult and some new adult fiction. (Hi, Mom!) I get that. At our house, we are slaves to The Bunny. Beth is a fellow middle grade author over at MuseItUp Publishing. Tell us about your novel, Beth. In a Pickle is about Charlie Pickle, a boy who time-travels every other day...quite accidentally. On a trip back to 1910, he meets a man with a secret. Murder makes the headlines that day, and Charlie’s new friend knows who the guilty party is. Now, not only does Charlie have bullies to contend with, he’s got some ...

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 children’s author, Brian Barnett. Welcome to Strands of Thought! Can you tell us a little about you, please? My name is Brian Barnett.  I live in Frankfort, Kentucky with my wife, Stephanie, and my two (soon to be three) children. Congratulations on your growing family! Brian, I understand you have over 100 published works. Can you tell us about your novel? My book is titled Graveyard Scavenger Hunt .  It is the first in what I hope will be a long running series of books titled “NightScares”.  This particular story centers around a twelve-year-old boy named Pete.  He has to stay with his grandparents for a week.  Come to find out, they live next to an abandoned graveyard.  One night certain circumstances take Pete to the grav...

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...

The Back to School Blog Hop is hosted by We <3 Middle Grade Books . If you love middle grade books, join us over on Facebook to recommend books, talk about books you are reading, be the first to hear about new middle grade releases and cyber stalk favorite middle grade authors. First Day Back: I was always so nervous on the first day of school. I would pick out my first day outfit and have it laid out and ready. I'd check to make sure my alarm clock was on a million times before I went to bed and usually I wouldn't sleep too well. The morning would dawn and I would usually be awake before my alarm went off. I'd lay there staring at the red digital numbers as they worked their way toward the time I'd set the alarm for. When it was finally time to get up I took extra care in my appearance. Check my stack of school supplies again, eat breakfast, make my lunch (if I hadn't made it the night before) and finally I'd leave for the mile long walk to school...

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, Mary Waibel. Welcome to Strands of Thought, Mary. Tell us a little about you, please. I live in upstate New York with my husband and son. I'm the youngest of four children and the only girl. I love reading, and am often found with my nose in a book (or tablet) when I'm not writing. I also enjoy gaming, watching hockey, and camping with my family and friends. I also like to hang-out on line and can be found at: http://marywaibel.blogspot.com https://www.facebook.com/authormarywaibel @mewtweety14 (twitter) Both of your books are on my to-read list. Can you tell us about them, please? Quest of the Hart  by Mary Waibel A reverse Sleeping Beauty tale where the princess goes on the quest to save the prince. Princess...

As Jeff Mean would say, "Holy crap, Batman!" My publisher, Whiskey Creek Press, was kind enough to inform me that King of Bad: Super Villain Academy Book 1 is their #1 Bestseller! A lot goes through one's mind when they learn such a thing about their book. Not one thing was coherent. I'm super... thankful excited blown away encouraged and STOKED To say THANK YOU to everyone who has or will buy a copy or three of my book, I'm going to give away a cool gift. (Sorry, has to be U.S. shipping address only.) A chalkboard mug I've always wanted one of these, but instead of buying one for myself, I'm going to order one from Upstart to be shipped directly to the winner's address of choice. It comes with chalk. And I'd TOTALLY love for the winner to supply a picture of the mug that says KING OF BAD on it! (Picture not required, just really, really desired.) To qualify to enter please help me spread the word about my BESTSELLING book! ...