Authors, Kai Strand & LA Dragoni

Today, World of Ink Book Tours brings us Adventures of Nutty and Twittles – Oh Nuts I Lost My Sister by Dennis Marcoux. Book blurb:  Nutty and his sister Twittles set out to play a fun game of hide "n" seek with their friends. When Twittles is the only one missing, the game quickly changes.  Nutty has to find his sister because she may be lost in the dark and dangerous Forrest. Kai: Thanks for visiting, Dennis. What age range is Oh Nuts targeted for?  Dennis:  4-7 Kai: Can you share a memory of yours or a story of you from when you were within the age range of your target readers? Dennis:  I was about 6 yrs old and went to the ocean with my family.  My parents warned       me about going into the water without them.  I did not listen to them and went       into the ocean alone. A wave pulled me under the water and when I surfaced I was       unable...

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 comes to us through World of Ink Tours. I’d like to introduce picture book author, Camille Matthews. Thanks for joining us, Camille. Please tell us a little about you. I live in Reading PA along with the real Quincy. I am a clinical social worker and equine assisted growth and learning specialist. The real Quincy, who inspired the Quincy the Horse books when he was 7 is now 24 years old. He is an American quarter horse who was a trail riding horse for many years and is a mainstay of my equine therapy program. What a fascinating profession. I’ve heard such wonderful things about equine therapy. We’d love to hear about your book. I recently released Quincy and Buck, the third book in the Quincy the Horse series for children in K-4 th grade. This book tackles the topics of overcoming ...

I’m excited to be the host for a stop on the World of Ink tour for Alicia Lloyd’s book When The Monsters Are Quiet . Welcome Alicia. Congratulations on your book. What age range is your book for? Alicia: My book ranges from a first to second grade reading level. However, I work with three and four year olds on a daily basis and they comprehend the book and its meaning as well….it is awesome! Kai: Can you share a memory of yours or a story of you from when you were within the age range of your target readers? Alicia: Yes, I had the majority of Dr. Seuss’ books memorized. I chased my family out of the house because they didn’t want to hear me recite “The Cat in the Hat” word-by-word anymore. Kai: That’s adorable! Tell us, how you think life has changed for children today than when you were that age? Alicia: Life has changed drastically, I believe. First of all, with in regards to reading, children can now flip through the pages of books electronically. I do...

Today we are visiting with Donna McDine on her most recent stop from her World of Ink virtual book tour. Welcome, Donna. It is always lovely to have you visit. I recently played host to Tommy from your book Powder Monkey, but today you are here to talk about your other new release, Hockey Agony. Congrats on two new books! For what age range is Hockey Agony intended? Donna: Hockey Agony is for 8-12 years of age. Kai: Can you share a memory of yours or a story of you from when you were within the age range of your target readers? Donna: Vacationing in Booth Bay Harbor, Maine with my family. It was low tide and we were digging for craps and before I knew it my feet were sinking. When my brothers pulled me up from underneath my armpits my sneakers slipped off my feet and got sucked into the sand. We tried digging for my sneakers, but the tide started to come in and we had to go to shore. Kai: How scary and thrilling! I’m sure you tap into those feelings when you are...

It’s Friday! Time for 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 excited to host a tour stop for World of Ink. Tommy from Powder Monkey is here to tell his about his harrowing adventure. Tommy, tell us a little about yourself. Hi, my name is Tommy. I’m 12 years old and lived on a farm with my older brother and my parents, until the Press Gang showed up. Oh, Tommy, that sounds very serious. Can you tell us a little more about that? Always considered a sissy by my pa because my lack of size and preference to help my ma around the farm instead of him I was first terrified when the Royal Navy Press Gang arrived at our farm. I never had the backbone to stand up for myself or anyone else, until that day. Foregoing my safety I jumped to my ma’s defense when the nasty big man pushed ma to the ground after pa crumbled aft...

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 a World of Ink tour host to Andy Smithson: Blast of the Dragon’s Fury. Welcome to Strands of Thought, Andy. Tell us a little about yourself and what your life is like. Hi, I’m Andy Smithson.  I’m ten years old.  I live in Lake Hills, TX. I love playing video games, especially Dragonslayer. My parents both own companies and are always really busy.  I have an older sister, Megan (aka Miss Perfect).  My parents like her better than me. She’s always getting straight A’s.  Me, not so much. I feel like I’m always in trouble at home for not being responsible or respecting someone. I don’t try to get in trouble, it just seems to follow me. My brain does funny things.  At times, I feel like I’ve been transported to a different place.  I know,...

Today the World of Ink tour brings us our guest. Author, Sarah Sauer, is here to talk about her book, What Do You See When You Look at Me? About the book: In What Do You See When You Look at Me? the author engages her young readers with bright and colorful photos and invites them to see more than just an animal but to look at the beauty of each creature in detail. Kai: Welcome to Strands of Thought, Sarah. What age range is your book for? Sarah: 2/3 years to beginning readers 7/8 yrs. Kai: Can you share a memory of yours or a story of you from when you were within the age range of your target readers? Sarah: I remember frequent trips to the zoo with my parents. I loved animals. I loved any living creature. In fact, when I was about 3, I used to love to go outside and dig in the dirt to find ants and roly polys. I used to name the insects and called them my friends. I got my first ant farm when I was three because my mom found my ant friends living in my...

Today the World of Ink tour brings us our guest, illustrator, Jessica Love, here to talk about her collaboration with author Sands Hetherington in Night Buddies, Impostors, and One Far-Out Flying Machine. Kai: What age range is your book for? Jessica: I think it will appeal to 8-10 year olds. Kai: Can you share a memory of yours or a story of you from when you were within the age range of your target readers? Jessica: I grew up in the woods, in the middle of the Los Padres National Forest, in Southern California. I was happiest playing imagination games by myself, or drawing. I would sit in my room for hours and hours, illustrating these stories that I would narrate to myself as I drew them. I had a penchant for melodramatic, sweeping tales, and I would often work myself into hysterical tears as my epic tales would reach their apotheosis. I think at the time my dad was reading me The Lord of the Rings, and so it was important for all the stories to be in...

Welcome to the 2013 version of 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 you. Today’s guest is via World of Ink tours. Author, Sands Hetherington, is visiting with us. Sands, tell us about yourself, please. Hi, and thanks for having me.  I'm an old man who lives by a lake on the edge of town with two Saint Bernards: Dudley and Maggie.  My publicist intensely dislikes my calling myself old, but it’s the truth. I’ve been telling stories to small children for many years. I was born in New York City but have lived in Greensboro, North Carolina, most of my life.  I go to a gym on weekday afternoons and the grocery store on Saturdays. That’s kind of old-fashioned, but I did say I’m old.- J I’d be happy to provide a list of provisions for your visitors, upon request! I travel a lot, up till now almost everywhere in North America and ...

I’m beyond thrilled to announce the sale of my middle grade fantasy, A New Being , to MuseItUp Publishing! Facts about A New Being : 1.      First novel I ever wrote. 2.      Current version is nothing close to the original version (Duh and thank goodness!) 3.      Longest novel I’ve written. 4.      I have a crush on the main guy character, even though that isn’t really his purpose in the story. 5.      The main girl character in the book has long brown hair and lives in Wisconsin. 6.      I have long brown hair and grew up in Wisconsin (that’s where similarities end.) Blanco 7.      My lizard is named after the main villain. 8.      Tentatively scheduled for release mid 2013-ish. 9.      Title may or may not change. 10.  Book i...

I'm excited to announce that my World of Ink virtual book tour starts today! I hope you'll tour along with me over the next two months as either me or my books visit several different blogs around the internet. My tour stops are listed below. If you find a review or a particular guest post or interview that you really enjoy, feel free to share the link with your friends and family members. I also invite you to join in on any conversations by commenting. And please try your luck in the giveaways. You can click on the tour banner to visit my tour page on the World of Ink site. Below is where you will find me over the next couple of months. See you around the internet! World of Ink Tour Schedule for Kai Strand (October/November 2012) October 1 st World of Ink Network – Spotlight http://worldofinknetwork.blogspot.com October 5 th Bless Their Hearts Mom – Interview http://blesstheirheartsmom.blogspot.com October 8 th Writing to the Hearts of Children—Spot...