Kai Strand's Blog, page 53

It's Here! The Wishing Well: Another Weaver Tale

I'm thrilled to announce that my book THE WISHING WELL: Another Weaver Tale is here!

About the book: 

Molly Minstrel is treated worse than Cinderella by her mom and sisters. When Molly meets the magical creature, Unwanted, she wishes her problems away. However, you must first understand what you need before knowing what to ask for. Molly will have to look within for the solution to her troubles.

Written for 9 - 12 year olds, THE WISHING WELL is a story of misplaced blame and survival. It is...

Dominion by Melody Manful

I Dare You.
Look Over Your Shoulders.
Do You See Them?
They are behind you...
They are always behind you.

Abigail Cells had a nightmare the day before she met Gideon, the new guy in school who has every girl drooling just to be near him. In her nightmare, she was murdered by a magical creature. As she gets to know Gideon, she begins to remember pieces of her nightmare, and was shocked when Gideon turned out to be the creature from her nightmare. Who is Gideon really, should Abby allow herself to f...

Dragons, Sock Monkeys and the Royal We

My short story, Kell, was published today on Knowonder. Be sure to stop in and give it a read. Remember you can download the free app and have a new story a day available to read to your child at bedside.

Also, my lovely niece, Jennifer Hartsock is hosting a giveaway on her blog. I know how you all love a giveaway, so hop on over to her site to see how you can enter to win a $20 gift card and a sock monkey key chain (the key chain alone is so worth it!)

Last but not least, I'm preparing my very...

Three Times A Charm with David Turnbull

Three Times a Charm is a weekly feature that spotlights authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the publishing industry.
This week author, David Turnbull, is visiting with us. David, can you please tell us a little about you? 
David Turnbull was born in Edinburgh and grew up in the Scottish borders, an area of Britain quite similar to the Low Counties as depicted in The Tale of Euan Redcap.He now lives in South East London, His short fiction has appeared in num...

Three Times A Charm with Jo Linsdell

Three Times a Charm is a weekly feature that spotlights authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the publishing industry.
This week author/illustrator, Jo Linsdell, is visiting with us. Jo, can you please tell us a little about you? 
I'm originally from the UK but moved to Rome Italy in 2001 where I now live with my Italian husband and our two sons. I've been writing pretty much since I could hold a pen but only started taking it seriously in 2006 after having m...

When No Means No - A Guide To Rejections

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...

When Research is Fun

I am not a camper. I don’t mind going without a shower. If the woods are deserted enough, it doesn’t bother me to do my business out in the open. But I can’t sleep worth snot away from home and when I’m camping, I may as well, not even lay down. The nights are painfully long and either miserably cold or stifling hot. If it weren’t for the nighttime, I’d really enjoy camping.

Hardman - I REALLY wanted to go insideSo you can imagine my husband’s surprise when I said, “You know what I want to do...

Three Times A Charm with Elaine Westley

Three Times a Charm is a weekly feature that spotlights authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the publishing industry.
This week author, Elaine Westley, joins us. Elaine, tell us about you.
Even as a kid I loved to make up stories, but knowing it wouldn’t be easy to earn a living as an author (and eat!), I trained as a journalist instead. Jobs in papers, radio and PR followed and then, after a move from the UK to Australia, various roles on various magazines took m...

World of Ink Tour with Sands Hetherington

Night Buddies and the Pineapple Cheesecake Scare by Sands Hetherington is an after lights-out adventure story that will delight young readers and middle graders who relish roller coaster fantasy and fun, filled with unforgettable characters and an astonishing and inventive collection of magical whatchamacallits.
The book is all about the nighttime adventures of a young boy named John, who is not ready to go to sleep, and his friend, a bright red crocodile named Crosley who turns up under John’...

Three Times A Charm with Linda Derkez

Three Times a Charm is a weekly feature that spotlights authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the publishing industry.
This week author, Linda Derkez is visiting with us. Welcome to Strands of Thought, Linda. Can you please tell us a little about you? 
I’ve always enjoyed writing, especially journaling. The mother of three, I began writing children's stories that would reinforce lessons or values I wanted my children to learn. I’m the author of one previously...