Rainbows are Beautiful ~ Guest author, Kai Strand visits Write What Inspires You!

Connecting with fellow authors is my favorite part of the Internet, for without it I would never have connected with so many talented writers! Watching colleagues writing careers bloom puts a smile on my face and being part of their virtual book tours is an honor. I'm delighted to host author, Kai Strand today. Welcome Kai!

Rainbows are beautiful. The colors blend and arc gracefully. They instill a feeling of peacefulness and hope in many who observe them.

The Underworld city of Concord uses the color scheme of a rainbow to represent the over arching theme of unity in the city. Concord means peace. The main fountain in the center of town has shimmering rainbow colored water bubbling out of the top and cascading into pools. The sidewalks are paved with red cinders or blue lapis lazuli or covered in yellow Creeping Jenny or green Irish moss. And color coded sections of the city represent the function the residents play in the cooperative community, such as red for government, orange for harvest and pink for entertainment and well-being.

Visit the lush Underworld city and meet its intriguing residents in Kai Strand’s new middle grade novel BEWARE OF THE WHITE.

About the book

As is tradition, Terra learns on the Saturday past her twelfth birthday that she is a Natures Spirit. It is her legacy to serve in the peaceful underground city of Concord. Learning she is named in a prophecy and being threatened by the leader of the death tribe…that part breaks tradition.

The Trepidus are the death janitors of the Underworld, responsible for delivering fatalities with a smile and cleaning up after themselves until Blanco, recent leader of the Trepidus, decides the day of reckoning for his species is coming. He begins organizing the creatures and leads them toward an uprising. The prophecy says there is one person who can stop him. Terra.

With Spirit of Security, Frank, protecting her, Terra attempts to complete her training and discover her Spirit talents. Together, they go on a rogue investigation to learn how to defeat Blanco. In the end, it comes down to a battle of the minds. The future of Concord is at stake. Will Blanco, the older, more experienced being win? Or will Terra, the young, new Spirit earn back the peace of the city?

Buy It:

MuseItUp

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Or look for it on iTunes

About the author

Kai Strand writes fiction for kids and teens. Her debut novel, The Weaver, was a finalist in the 2012 EPIC eBook Awards. She is a (very lucky) wife and the mother of four amazing kids. The most common sound in her household is laughter. The second most common is, "Do your dishes!" She and her family hike, geocache, and canoe in beautiful Central Oregon, where they call home.

To find out more about Kai’s books, download companion documents, find links to her published short stories and discover all the places to find Kai both virtually and in person, visit her website: www.kaistrand.com. She loves to hear from readers, so feel free to send her an email or visit her facebook page, Kai Strand, Author.

To celebrate the launch of BEWARE OF THE WHITE, Kai Strand has awesome book related prize packages. Be sure to enter to win. And return again and again to claim entries as you qualify. Kai will also have Spontaneous Giveaways during her book tour. Those giveaways won’t be announced so be sure to follow Kai’s tour. Only virtual stalkers will have the opportunity at all the fun!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Best wishes,
Donna M. McDine
Award-winning Children's Author
Connect with Donna McDine on Google+

The Golden Pathway ~ August 2010 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc.
~ Literary Classics Silver Award and Seal of Approval, Readers Favorite 2012 International Book Awards Honorable Mention and Dan Poynter's Global e-Book Awards Finalist

Children's Author Guest Post, Kai Strand ~ Save the Lemmings! A Quotable Story

I am pleased to host my dear friend and fellow children's author today. Kai's latest book, just released is Save the Lemmings. Congratulations Kai! I'm looking forward to reading it and writing my book review in the coming weeks.

Today, Kai is sharing with us her editing process and the unexpected quotable experience she had along the way. Take it away Kai!

SAVE THE LEMMINGS! A Quotable Story

by Kai Strand

During the editing process I read my manuscript out loud to my kids. I make note of things, like when they seem to lose interest (which rarely happens - wink) or if they laugh in the right spots. I ask questions at different points of the book to see if they understand the story arc. At the end I always ask what their favorite part was and what the most boring part was.

Reading Save the Lemmings to them resulted in something I hadn’t expected. It has become my most quotable story. It’s surprising how often situations arise to use the favorite quotes.

For example, in one scene the main character Natalie and one of her best friends, Jayne, are working on the case design for Natalie’s invention, the Texty-Talky. Jayne is sitting in front of a computer researching a sturdy material they might build the prototype out of and types into the search bar a misspelling of the word “laminate.” It accidentally pulls up search results for “lemmings” and Natalie discovers a foundation called Save the Lemmings!, which helps prevent the needless suicides of lemmings in the arctic. Jayne is in no way touched by the plight or picture of the adorable yellow steppe lemming and says to Natalie:

“Oh my gosh, you have tears in your eyes. Natalie, we’re working on your invention here. Don’t get distracted by the gross little rodent.”

I can’t count how many times (as a family) we’ve used, “Don’t get distracted by the gross little rodent” in our household. And that was before we got a rabbit!

Another example is a scene near the end. By this point, Natalie’s involvement in the Save the Lemmings! Foundation has become public knowledge. Bad girl, Trudy, who loves to give Natalie a hard time over everything, says to her one day:

“When life gives you lemmings, you make lemmingade. Anyone got a blender?”

My kids use the lemmingade quote when they, or someone they know, faces a difficult decision or situation. Occasionally they inquire after a blender, but that’s usually only when the circumstances need a lot of levity.

Your turn! Share your favorite quote(s) and the books they come from.

About the book: SAVE THE LEMMINGS! 8^th grade inventor, Natalie Isabelle Cailean Edwards is the N.I.C.E. girl who finishes last with the kids in school. Sappy inspirational phrases and monochromatic outfits have all but her best friends wrinkling their nose at her. When Natalie’s invention, the Texty-Talky, goes nationwide, she becomes an overnight sensation. Suddenly her days consist of photo shoots and interviews with little time left for her friends. A local reporter shatters her good-girl image by reporting a graffiti incident and the media launches into a smear campaign. It is so bad, even her friends start to believe the stories. Will Natalie be able to overcome the lies being printed about her? Read an excerpt and order your copy of Save the Lemmings here: http://www.featherweightpublishing.com/ShowBook.php?YA=KS_SAVE_LEMMINGS

About the author:  Kai Strand writes fiction for middle grade and young adult readers. Her debut novel, The Weaver, was a finalist in the 2012 EPIC eBook Awards. The Wishing Well: Another Weaver Tale is set in the same storytelling village as The Weaver. She is a (very lucky) wife and the mother of four amazing kids. The most common sound in her household is laughter. The second most common is, "Do your dishes!" She and her family hike, geocache, and canoe in beautiful Central Oregon, where they call home.

To find out more about Kai’s books, download companion documents, find links to her published short stories and discover all the places to find Kai both virtually and in person, visit her website: www.kaistrand.com. She loves to hear from readers, so feel free to send her an email or visit her facebook page, Kai Strand, Author. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Best wishes, Donna M. McDine Award-winning Children's Author
Connect with Donna McDine on Google+
The Golden Pathway ~ August 2010 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc. ~ Literary Classics Silver Award and Seal of Approval Recipient and Dan Poynter's Global e-Book Awards Finalist

Book Review ~ The Weaver by Kai Strand

Title: The Weaver


Written by: Kai Strand

Cover Art by: K.C. Snider

Soft cover: 96 pages

Ages: 9-12

Publisher: Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc.

Print ISBN 13: 978-1-61633-121-4

eBook ISBN 13: 978-1-61633-127-6

Published: December 2010

Print Price: $19.95

eBook Price: $5.00
In the world of Mary Wordsmith the talents of weaving stories garner a feeling of acceptance into this special community. For Mary the overwhelming feeling of living in another person’s shadow hinders her ability to master the art of weaving. Feeling like an outcast, Mary’s despair mounts when a simple routine errand goes wrong. Can nothing be easy for Mary?
In her travels she meets a peculiar looking blue little man whom promises to make her most desired wish come true. Desperate, Mary relents and asks, “I wish I could weave a yarn as beautiful as my mother’s.” As time goes by Mary sees no improvement in her storytelling and becomes annoyed with herself for believing the little blue man. However, friends start to notice special trinkets left in Mary’s wake when practicing weaving. When thanked for the beautiful miniatures, Mary is perplexed and says she has no idea what they are talking about. Believing these odd occurrences will make her a further outcast, Mary swears her friends to secrecy. Will her secret stay such for long? Will Mary discover in time that words can be taken literally and her art of weaving an ingenious story may just be beginning?
Find out what becomes of Mary’s storytelling and the trinkets in this compelling story, which will have the reader turning the pages as fast as lightening. Children’s author, Kai Strand expertly weaves together the art of storytelling and holding one’s audience captive into a spellbinding adventure of finding one’s place in the world.
Be sure to visit with Ms. Strand and learn about her masterful writing career at Strands of Thought http://cleanwriter.livejournal.com/.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Best wishes,
Donna M. McDine
Award-winning Children's Author
The Golden Pathway ~ August 2010 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc.
http://www.guardianangelpublishing.com/

Children's Author Interview with Kai Strand

Meeting and getting to know fellow author’s through the Internet is one of my favorite topics to blog about. Kai Strand a “fellow angel” at Guardian Angel Publishing recently took the time out to chat with me about her new book, The Weaver. Sit back and enjoy getting to know Kai through her interview and you’ll be happy you did.

DMc: When did you decide you wanted to become an author? Do you have another job besides writing?

KS: Like most authors, I’ve always written, but I decided to pursue publication seven years ago. My third child had just started Kindergarten and I’d written a middle grade novel (for my personal entertainment, actually). I was a full-time Mom at that point. Then I realized that if I was going to spend time writing, I should at least try to get paid for it.

I work part-time at the local Habitat for Humanity affiliate. I celebrated my five year employment anniversary with them this month. I’m the Operations Manager which means I make sure the policies and procedures and resources are in place so that everyone else can do what they need to do in order to build affordable housing in our community. A behind the scenes job for a worthwhile cause.

DMc: Were you an avid reader as a child? What type of books did you enjoy reading?

KS: I was an avid reader. I read lots of Judy Blume, all the Little House on the Prairie books and most of the Black Stallion books. I also read lots of Henry David Thoreau. This is all very meaningful, because now I write fantasy (which I didn’t read then) and I can’t write poetry to save my life (which I did read then).

DMc: Tell us a bit about your book, and what inspired you to write such a story.


KS: The Weaver is a lyrical story with a little bit of magic and a lot of storytelling. It has an old fashioned feel with a timeless theme.

About the book: In a town of word weavers, Mary suffers through her third year of Novice Word Weaving. Mary thinks her troubles are over when she meets a gnome-elf who grants her a wish. But instead of weaving a better story, she's weaving strange yarn charms to accompany her still pathetic tales.

One day I was searching the cobwebs in my head for my next story idea. I was sitting in front of my computer, where I compose my stories, and I had the website up for my online critique group, Silver Web. The idea of a spider building its web slowly twisted into weaving a web of words together to build a story. That was the nugget that eventually developed into The Weaver.

DMc: How would you describe your creative process while writing this book? Was it stream-of-consciousness writing, or did you first write an outline?


KS: My writing is always unscripted. This book had a very stuttered composition. I wrote just over half of it and then stopped. I didn’t touch it for a very long time. I don’t really know why either. I guess those who outline would suggest that my lack of a direction is why I lost my way, but I worked on other projects in the meantime and did think about The Weaver now and then. One day I gave myself a good talking to. “You have this perfectly good manuscript doing nothing on your hard drive. It wouldn’t take much to finish it and you’d have a marketable story. So open it up and get to work!” Good thing I listened, huh?

DMc: From the moment you conceived the idea for the story, to the published book, how long did it take?


KS: I honestly don’t know. I don’t remember when I started it and it sat around, unfinished, for so long. I’m sure I’d blush if I realized how long it took.

DMc: A signature request I like to ask every author, illustrator, editor, etc., I interview is for the individual to share with us a tidbit form their lives that the reader will find either humorous or surprising. Kai, can you please share one with us?

KS: I am frequently NOT recognized. I tend to wear my hair differently from day to day. Sometimes I have glasses, sometimes I don’t. I don’t know why else, but my entire life I’ve had to re-introduce myself to people I’ve met previously. I’m actually surprised when someone does recognize me the second time they see me.

Donna, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to interview me and for your interest in The Weaver. It has been a pleasure visiting with you and your readers.

Kai, it was as pleasure interviewing and getting to know you better. Visitors please stop back tomorrow when I share with you my book review of The Weaver.

Visit Kai at her blog – Strands of Thought http://cleanwriter.livejournal.com/

Thank you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Best wishes,
Donna M. McDine
Award-winning Children's Author
The Golden Pathway ~ August 2010 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc.
http://www.guardianangelpublishing.com/