Kai Strand's Blog, page 27

Three Times A Charm with John S. McFarland

Welcome to the 2015 version of Three Times A Charm. Each year I add some new questions to freshen up the interview and keep some of the old favorites. Our first guest of the year is John McFarland.
Thanks for joining us, John. Would you please tell us a little about yourself?
My first novel, an historical horror story, The Black Garden was published in 2010 to universal praise. My work has appeared in The Twilight Zone Magazine, Eldritch Tales, National Lampoon, River Styx, Tornado Alley, and...

New Year Project

Happy New Year!

Hope this post finds you happy and healthy with warm fuzzies about 2014 and big plans for 2015.

This year I'm joining forces with several other authors to bring you a new short story blog. LIGHTNING QUICK READS is a themed blog. Every month each author interprets the theme their own way and presents it to you in a shiny, pretty, and original short story. I can't wait to discover the differences. My first story MAY THE SMARTER VILLAIN WIN is up for your reading pleasure. I hope y...

Lexi's Pathetic Fictional Love Life Book Blast & Giveaway

   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, deal...

Building Character with Reece from Faery Marked

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 kno...

Faery Marked - The Story That Almost Wasn't

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...

Release Day Review of Faery Marked by Mary Waibel

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...

Ayden's Christmas - The 12 Indies of Christmas Blog Hop & #Giveaway

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 Ell...

The Lumpy Duckling Blog Tour and #Giveaway

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...

#CyberMonday Book Deals from Kai Strand

If you'll be participating in Cyber Monday, I wanted to let you know about a couple deals I'm offering on my print books. First, have you visited my MARKETPLACE? I recently set up a storefront through Square, which allows me to offer signed copies of my books.


In order to celebrate the recent release of THE LUMPY DUCKLING, I'm offering 10% off your order when you get a complete set of the Weaver Tale series. These books are written for 9 - 12 year old readers. They are individual stories, all...

Building Character with Maggie Mae from Detective Extraordinaire The Case of the Missing Cookies

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 Maggie Mae from Detective Extraordinaire The Case of the Missing Cookies. Hey Maggie!Thanks for joining us. We’d love to hear more about you.
Hi everybody! This is my first interview ever. I’m Maggie Mae. I’m 6 years old and have one older brother who is always snea...