Authors, Kai Strand & LA Dragoni

    Lexi's Pathetic Fictional Love Life    Lexi Middleton has been socially invisible to her classmates, but starting her junior year, that’s going to change. First, she’s determined to hook a boyfriend, ensuring dates with flowers and possible kisses on the doorstep. Second, she wants to be a writer for the school paper, even though it freaks her out to think of everyone judging her by her punctuation and metaphors. High school is difficult enough—keeping up her grades, dealing with increasing sibling rivalry, and trying to stay out of the way of her personal nemesis, Amberlee—but when Lexi catches the eye of her long-time crush, she also becomes the focus of mean-girl tactics. Caught between who she was and who she wants to be, Lexi must decide how to confront a bully, and choose who to let into her heart. Purchase from AMAZON * Barnes & Noble   Tour Schedule   Author Jo Noelle Jo Noelle grew up in Colorado and Utah but al...

It’s Friday! Time for my blog feature, Building Character in which you get to meet characters from a book. Talking to a character outside of their book is fun! Huge. Amounts. Of fun.  This week Strands of Thought plays host to Reece from Faery Marked. Reece, I reviewed your story earlier this week, but for the sake of this interview, let’s pretend I’m a clean slate. Why don’t you start by telling our readers a little about your swoony self. Hi, I’m Reece Michaels and I’m a Guardian. I know what you’re thinking. I’m some kind of bodyguard. And you’d be right. But, you’d also be wrong. See, a Guardian is a role, but it’s also a race of Fae. So, what do I do? Right now, I’m charged with watching Callie Rycroft to see if she is the chosen Champion. That means I hang with her as much as possible watching for a sign that she has magical powers. Definitely not the worst assignment I’ve ever had. You’re right, that doesn’t sound too tough. So, what kind of conflict are you up ...

The Story That Almost Wasn’t Guest Post by Mary Waibel marywaibel.blogspot.com All authors work in a different way. Some write and edit their own drafts. Some send weekly chapters to a critique partner (CP) to get feedback while drafting. Others write a draft, edit it, then send it out to either CP’s or beta readers for feedback. I’ve done a mix of all the above, but the thing that I’ve found most helpful is a group of CP’s who have different skill sets. Kai is one of my CP’s. We trade chapters on a weekly basis (or try to!) or sometimes send a complete draft to each other. When I send my work to Kai, I know she’s going to call me on places where I haven’t been true to my characters, places where she doesn’t understand what I’m saying, or can’t picture what I’m describing. These are all great things I need to know, as I can’t always see them myself. Another of my CP’s will point to areas lacking tension. Places to beef up the story so the reader has to keep turning the pages to get to ...

Oh my gosh! I think I might be as excited for this book release as the author Mary Waibel is. Okay, probably not, but I'm a very close second. Full disclosure: Mary is my critique partner and I've read this book many times while she sweated and toiled over the construction of it. Seriously, it has to say something about the quality of the story that I still LOVE it after having read it several times over. I'm so excited about Faery Marked's release I'm devoting my blog to Mary this week. Today - RELEASE DAY - I'm posting my review. As the week progresses, we will also have a guest post from Mary and a character interview. Please be sure to visit for those as well. And since you'll be buying the book and reading it immediately, update us on your reading progress as the week goes along! Congrats Mary Waibel on the release of FAERY MARKED. About the book: When Callie Rycroft wakes to find purple flames flickering on the ceiling, she believes she’s st...

I'm thrilled to participate in another fun group giveaway. When considering what to share as part of the hop, I considered a story about one of my favorite-ever Christmas gifts--a 3 foot tall, stuffed Snoopy I received when I was four years old. I thought about sharing the story of my husband's and my engagement (during the Christmas holiday.) However, I decided the most fun for both me and you--the reader--would be for me to provide a BONUS WORTH THE EFFORT story. How would Ayden surprise Ella at Christmas? Now you'll know. If  you haven't read my WORTH THE EFFORT series, treat yourself this holiday season by starting with ELLA'S STORY . Can't beat it at less than a dollar! Then be sure to enter to win AYDEN'S STORY as part of the hop - entry below the story. Or just pick it up too from Amazon . Enjoy Ayden's Christmas ! AYDEN'S CHRISTMAS      “Did the blindfold slip? Are you peeking?”      A small smile tipped the ends of Ella’s m...

I'm excited to announce that Lumpy and Wheezy will be taking their story on tour! Starting tomorrow, December 10th, THE LUMPY DUCKLING and I will be touring the blog-o-sphere with book spotlights, reviews and interviews. And though there will be fun galore, my tour host, I Am A Reader, and I are offering a giveaway of a $25 Amazon gift card or PayPal cash as extra incentive to join the fun. You'll find the tour schedule here . Please make your way through the stops and thank the hosts for their generous time and attention on THE LUMPY DUCKLING. Help me spread the word. Click the bird to tweet about the tour:   Join us December 10th through the 18th. See you around the blog-o-sphere!