Authors, Kai Strand & LA Dragoni

Congratulations to Meradeth Houston on the release of TRAVELERS !   Sienna Crenshaw knows the rules: 1) no time traveling beyond your natural lifetime, 2) no screwing with death, and 3) no changing the past. Ever. Sienna doesn’t love being stuck in the present, but she’s not the type to break the rules. That is, she wasn’t the type until her best friend broke every one of those rules to keep Henry, her twin brother and Sienna’s ex-boyfriend, alive. Suddenly, Sienna is caught in an unfamiliar reality. The upside? Henry is still alive. The downside? Sienna’s old life, including the people in it, has been erased. Now, Sienna and Henry must untangle the giant knot in time, or her parents and all the rest of the Travelers, will be lost forever. One problem: the only way to be successful is for Henry to die. Add on Goodreads Excerpt: I wasn’t sure if I felt more like Alice in Wonderland or Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. I sure wasn’t in Kansas anymore, but it felt like I...

I'm so excited to be helping Meradeth Houston show off the gorgeous cover for her upcoming release, Travelers . Meradeth is a great author. If YA and/or sci-fi is your thing, be sure to add this to your to-read list. Travelers Blurb: Sienna Crenshaw knows the rules: 1) no time traveling beyond your natural lifetime, 2) no screwing with death, and 3) no changing the past. Ever. Sienna doesn’t love being stuck in the present, but she’s not the type to break the rules. That is, she wasn’t the type until her best friend broke every one of those rules to keep Henry, her twin brother and Sienna’s ex-boyfriend, alive. Suddenly, Sienna is caught in an unfamiliar reality. The upside? Henry is still alive. The downside? Sienna’s old life, including the people in it, has been erased. Now, Sienna and Henry must untangle the giant knot in time, or her parents and all the rest of the Travelers, will be lost forever. One problem: the only way to be successful is for Henry to die. ...

As a teenager in Southern California, one of my favorite summer past times was getting a tan. My friend and I would catch a ride with her sister to her sister's work early in the morning. She worked close to the beach. Then we'd hop on a bus for the rest of the trip. We'd get there so early in the morning, the fog hadn't burned off yet, but that was okay because we'd be able to pick out the ultimate spot on the still empty expanse of sand. While the seagulls cried and the waves shushed in and out, we'd get to work forming our beach beds for the day. The first bed, we scooped out a deep ditch into the sand where our bottoms would rest, building the sand we removed into a pile of high behind our heads, and a smaller swell under our knees. The second bed would be flat except for a "pillow" made from sand for when it was time to turn over and tan our backs. We slathered on tanning oil, the distinctive coconut scent lifting into the constant wind. We...

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 Leah from An Absence of Light. Leah, I just started reading your story yesterday and I’m already pulled in. So, if you don’t mind, I’d love to speed through this interview so I can get back to it. Why don’t you start by telling our readers a little about yourself. Hi, my name is Leah. Thanks for having me. It freaks me out a little to talk about myself in public—I’m pretty sure most anyone would think I’ve lost it if they knew what I do. I guess I wonder that, too, sometimes. But, someone’s got to fight the Shadows, right? And that sounds a little better than alien invasion preventer, I think. Oh – aliens? Is that the conflict you’re up against? Most everyone I’ve ever told about the Shadows hasn’t believed me, but I’d love to see them gone. ...

Welcome to FAVE-A-FAVE, all about author favorites. I love that the internet gives us access to authors. I’m a fangirl and I’m not afraid to admit it, and I LOVE to be able to help readers get to know their favorite authors better as well as discover new ones. Grab a pen and paper, or log onto your Goodreads account, because more than likely you’ll find a title or two to add to your very own list. Please visit the authors’ websites and browse their work. Be sure to come back weekly to learn more about many awesome authors! First, I asked authors to share with us the scariest book they’ve read. Period. 8 , a Young Adult book by Chris Crutcher is the scariest non-scary book I’ve read.  Sheer treachery is afoot when someone from Period 8 goes missing.  Crutcher is inspired by keeping everything teen comfort and reality while shocking his readers, most of whom do not see it coming. Nancy Stewart – (Nancy writes fiction for kids and young adults) Scary Stories ...

Welcome to Three Times A Charm. I love introducing my readers to new authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the children’s publishing industry. Today’s guest is author, Meradeth Houston. Thanks for joining us, Meradeth. Please tell us a little about you. I've never been a big fan of talking about myself, but if you really want to know, here are some random tidbits about me: I'm a California girl. This generally means I talk too fast and use "like" a lot. I have my doctorate in molecular anthropology. Translation: I sequence dead people's DNA and spend a whole lot of time in a lab, which I love. My other passion is teaching. There's nothing more fun than getting a classroom of college kids fired up about anthropology! If I could have a super-power, it would totally be flying. Which is a little strange, because I'm terrified of heights. Anthropology does seem really intriguing. I’d love to sit in on your clas...

Welcome to my new feature all about author favorites. One thing I really love about the internet is the access it gives us to authors. Heck, I’m a fangirl and I’m not afraid to admit it, and I LOVE to be able to help readers get to know their favorite authors as well as discover new ones. When I put the call out to authors to answer my ‘Favorites’ questions, I didn’t expect for my to-read list to grow so fast. Grab a pen and paper, or log onto Goodreads, because more than likely you’ll find a title or two to add to your very own list. Please visit the authors’ websites and browse their work. Be sure to come back weekly to learn more about many awesome authors! I asked authors to share with us which book inspired them to write . Many Waters by Madeline L’Engle, because I loved the story and it made me realize that instead of trying to find more books like it, I could create something myself. - Meradeth Houston ( Meradet writes Young Adult and New Adult fantasy and scie...