Three Times A Charm with LRW Lee

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 I'm happy to be hosting a stop on LRW Lee's book release tour. LRW, please tell us a little about you.

As early as 8 years old, after reading The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by CS Lewis, I wanted to write a book. My family didn’t have a lot of money and my older brother and I were encouraged to use our imaginations to entertain ourselves.  And use them we did – climbing trees and tree forts, using a quilt for a matchbox car city, making puppets and putting on shows, and much more and my creativity and imagination grew.

I went to college and got a degree in Accounting.  However, most folks frown on “creative accounting”, so I put my imagination on hold.  My business and creative interests eventually led me to found and grow a successful company which, with my partner, I sold in January 2012, leaving me time to imagine and write for the first time.

I live in scenic Austin, TX with my husband, my daughter who is a Longhorn at UT Austin and my son who is in high school.

Yeah, people go to jail for “creative accounting.” Lol. You’ve got a series out, the second book just released, right? I LOVE the covers of your books! Tell us more about your newly released title.

In Book two of the Andy Smithson series, Venom of the Serpent’s Cunning, eleven-year-old Andy Smithson returns to Oomaldee to retrieve the second ingredient needed to break a 500-year-old curse enacted to punish the current ruler for murdering his older sister when she was 15. Not one to forgive easily, Imogenia’s spirit is bent on thwarting Andy to preserve the curse and naively aligns herself with the evil, scheming Abbadon. Things go from bad to worse when a creature Abaddon conjures from the darkest magic steals the Stone of Athanasia, the source of the ruler’s immortality, causing the king and his wizard Mermin to fall gravely ill. Andy is forced to choose between retrieving the stone or obediently going after the second ingredient. What will he chose? Will he be able to save the King and Mermin?

I recommend my Andy Smithson series to readers who like:
The Chronicles of Narnia series by CS Lewis
The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

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

  • Top 3 leisure activities.
Listening/watching: The Sound of Music is my favorite musical and I love most clean romantic comedies and I hate scary movies, much to my husband’s chagrin. Vacationing: I love sunsets in Hawaii and snorkeling with 12 foot manta rays. Experiencing: A good cup of decaf, French press coffee (yes, decaf!). I also love Ansel Adams prints, as well as all manner of kinetic art.

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

1) I wanted to be a vet. I read the series All Things Great and Small by James Harriott as well as the book Zoo Vet and thought it would be awesome to help animals.  (Oh my gosh! I read All Things and wanted to be a vet too!!!)
2) I also thought it would be cool to design homes. I remember drawing dozens of floor plans including inventing awesome rec rooms for kids unlike anything I’d ever seen or experienced. Of course, money was no object J (I wanted to be an interior designer. Are we the same person?)
3) I also thought about being an astronaut. I thought it would be exciting to go up in space and look back at the earth from millions of miles away. (Oh, nope. We aren’t.)

  • Top 3 personal mantras or inspirational phrases.

1) Frustration is nothing more than your belief that things should be different than they are. Accept that things are exactly as they should be and you can overcome your frustration. Impatience is time-based frustration.
2) When trying something for the first time, accept that you are a beginner and don’t expect to do it perfectly. Don’t be afraid to fail.
3) Accept the limits of what you control
Sorry… I have more
4) When afraid, recognize that you have a choice. You can be gripped by your fear or you can choose to face what you fear and overcome.
5) What you value most, controls you.
6) There are no guarantees, ever.
7) Be humble in good times and confident in bad.
8) Success comes from responsibility, diligence and dignity
9) Be authentic
10) Seize moments of wealth
11) Everything comes down to trust in relationships. If people can’t trust you, they won’t want you around.
12) EVERYTHING is a narrative. NOTHING exists outside narratives.

And when I say 3, I mean 12. Ha ha. Seriously, those are great. I see why you couldn’t stop. Okay, lovely readers, now it’s your turn. LRW wants to hear from you. Share your top 3 responses to any or all of these questions:

If you could, what magical power would you most like to have?
What magical object would you most like? What would it be able to do?
If you could invent a magical friend, what would he/she look and be like? Why?

As a final word, I am excited to announce that the serialized podcast of the first book in the series, Andy Smithson: Blast of the Dragon’s Fury is now available at the iTunes store at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/andy-smithson/id790958884

Podcasts? Cool! Where else can our tech savvy readers find you online?

Website: LRWLee.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lrwlee
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lrwlee
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7047233.L_R_W_Lee
Podcasts: http://lrwlee.podbean.com/


LRW, is hosting a giveaway. Hop on over to http://www.lrwlee.com/#!giveaway/chq4 to enter to win. 

It was lovely having you charm us on this week’s Three Times A Charm, LRW. Best of luck to you and your books.

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.

Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 29, 2014 at 10:14 AM

    Kai, I was laughing all they way through. We are ALMOST the same person or so it seems :) Thanks so much for hosting me. I had a lot of fun!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kai Strand, AuthorJanuary 29, 2014 at 2:46 PM

      This was such a fun interview! Thank you so much for visiting. You and Andy are always welcome! Oh, and any other character you may want to bring. Happy book release.

      Delete
  2. Alan TuckerJanuary 29, 2014 at 11:13 AM

    Hm. Magical friend? Probably the Genie from Disney's Aladdin. I've always been a huge Robin Williams fan. Except I'd make him a woman and she'd look like Jennifer Anniston. … Why the awkward silence? Is it getting warm in here?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownJanuary 29, 2014 at 2:05 PM

      LOL! That would be QUITE a magical friend Alan :)

      Delete
    2. Kai Strand, AuthorJanuary 29, 2014 at 2:47 PM

      Ha ha! Love it, Alan. Very funny. Thanks for stopping in.

      Delete
  3. UnknownJanuary 29, 2014 at 11:55 AM

    Hi L.R.W., Sounds like you have quite a conflict going on there (in the book - not your real life!)
    I love your mantras, just wish I could live up to one of them. ONE!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownJanuary 29, 2014 at 2:07 PM

      LR S, they are my guiding principles that I pursue, there was a lot of learning that happened to embody these... trust me on that! But they do make my life more peaceful, which is hopefully, what my readers can get a sense of.

      Thanks so much for your support :)

      Delete
    2. Kai Strand, AuthorJanuary 29, 2014 at 2:50 PM

      Since I have you both here, can I take this moment to apologize for always mixing you up! If I call either of you by the other's name, just know I'm aware of my weakness in initial identification ;)

      Delete
  4. Sharon LedwithJanuary 29, 2014 at 12:28 PM

    Magical power? Hmm... to fly. Can you imagine all the time you could cut out doing book signings this way? Just saying..

    Congrats on your newest release, Linda! Best wishes for Bestsellers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownJanuary 29, 2014 at 2:09 PM

      Thanks SO much Sharon. Yeah, flight would be awesome. That and maybe printing money :) Just think what the two of us could accomplish!

      Delete
    2. Kai Strand, AuthorJanuary 29, 2014 at 2:53 PM

      I've always wanted to be able to teleport for the same reason Sharon! And Linda, there you go with the illegal activities again. More creative financing. You're cracking me up!

      Delete
  5. Meradeth HoustonJanuary 30, 2014 at 2:34 PM

    Great interview! And those are some excellent mantras :) Hmm, if I had a magical object, I'd go for a quill out of Harry Potter--one that would spell check for me always, grade my papers for my students (because, yes, they can do that! haha!), and always write what I have in my head, rather than the sometimes poor imitation that I scrawl out :)

    ReplyDelete

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