Authors, Kai Strand & LA Dragoni

I'm so excited for the official release of WORTH THE EFFORT: AYDEN'S STORY, the novella duet to ELLA'S STORY . Seventeen-year-old Ayden Worth shouldn’t have to seek peace of mind in the streets. But as family pressures mount, his anxieties increase, and he turns his back on comfort for a life in homeless camps and back alleys. Then one fateful day he runs into the only person he ever wanted to know better. Ella Jones. His memories paint her as kind and undemanding, and it seems the years haven’t changed her. Her simple expectations draw him to her. Against all odds, a relationship buds and grows. Yet, as Ayden repairs his life, Ella suggests he help others who also struggle. Will Ella turn out to be just like his dad, expecting more from him than he can give? Or will he prove that he is worth the effort? *** What do I mean by novella duet? Each story is told in the main character's point of view. Ella kicked it off by explaining to us what it was like to ...

Maybe you can help me. I received a rejection on a query today that read: “We reviewed your project and find it to be drivel. There is no chance on this great earth that we would publish it. We won’t even waste our time to request a partial. Perhaps someone once told you that your writing showed promise. We want to assure you that they were simply being polite. You should abandon all efforts toward publication. Cease and desist immediately. We are using your SASE to return this reply because we wouldn’t even invest the cost of postage in this crap.” I don’t know. What do you think they mean by drivel, exactly? Do you think they might be interested in another manuscript I’ve been shopping around? Seriously, I’ve never really received a letter like this, I’m just playing up the desperation most of us run into at some point or another when we are clawing our way out of the submissions trench, looking for the first ray of light we’ve seen since being buried alive. How do we...

My author self is feeling maudlin today. maud·lin adjective 1. tearfully or weakly emotional; foolishly sentimental: a maudlin story of a little orphan and her lost dog. 2. foolishly or mawkishly sentimental because of drunkenness. Okay, admittedly, it is not the second definition. It is only nine o’clock in the morning after all. Not noon. I love writing. I hope I’m not forced to retire from it until I’m 90. There are a million different stories I want to tell. I’m not sure I’m talented enough to tell them as well as they should be told, but I’m a firm believer in ‘practice makes perfect’ and I plan to keep practicing.

This week I wrap up my career with Habitat for Humanity. It’s sad, I don’t want to leave, but those are the cards I’ve been dealt.   In 5 ½ years I’ve witnessed 35 families purchase their homes and take on the responsibility of homeownership. I’ve worked with countless selfless volunteers who, like me, believe everyone deserves the opportunity for safe, decent housing. I’ve processed hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from people who put others above themselves. I’ve made some really great friends that I will value for a lifetime. Back in January of 2006, when I started my job there, I was surprised to learn that there are office politics at a non-profit. That not everybody is involved out of the goodness of their own hearts. Not everybody is doing it with community in mind. In turn, I learned that working at a non-profit is much like working for a corporation, but whenever the stress level elevated, I’d focus on the families. The children who would no longer have to mo...

I visited with Susan Kaye Quinn over on her blog Ink Spells . Please visit. Feel free to heckle, in a good-natured way.   Topics that leave themselves wide open for it are; the Midwest accent I worked so hard to get rid of that comes back when I’m speaking in front of a room of people or when I’m talking to my big sister, my snobby attitude and how well THAT worked for me or maybe my lack of focus in my writing based on my subs and WIPs. Now onto more serious matters. Exploding heads.   That would be mine. Let me preface this by saying, I’m thrilled to have this problem, but that’s not going to stop me from complaining about it. In the short time since The Weaver hit the presses, my life has changed so much!   1.       I feel like I have pregnancy brain. (I know, it’s birthed already, weird—huh?) I am experiencing a distinct lack of focus and can’t seem to follow a thought thread to its end. 2.       I feel like I have...