Interview with Kai Strand, Children's Author

Please welcome Kai Strand. Stay awhile and enjoy her Twenty Questions with Kai Strand interview that I am priviledged to share. She is  an award winning author for kids and teens and offers great insight into being a writer for kids.

1. Could you tell us a little about yourself?

 

I write fiction for kids and teens. I’m partial to fantasy, but not limited by it. I strive daily to deserve my husband. We have four awesome kids who blow me away with their coolness and kindness. Our oldest son goes into the Navy in November – so it’s best to know there WILL be a sobfest. I’m a compulsive walker. I’d eat pizza daily if I could get away with it and I’m a Mozart fangirl.

 

2. Describe your desk/workspace.

 

My space is in transition. I’m moving up into the loft. It’s strange because suddenly my desk is too small and I don’t understand that. The walls are bare. I want to paint them, but haven’t figured out what color. The floor is a long yawning space of nothing right now, but I intend to get a chaise to recline on while I write. I need bookshelves (lots – duh) and surfaces.

 

3. Do you have a favorite quote?

 

Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don't feel as if I should be doing something else -Gloria Steinem

 

4. What are you currently reading?

 

I’m listening to Ashes, Ashes, by Jo Treggiari when I exercise. I’m reading Closed Hearts by Susan Kaye Quinn on my Kindle and the big ole book next to my bed is The House of Velvet and Glass by Katherine Howe.

 

5. What is the best advice you've ever received?

 

Editing advice that I ‘hear’ again and again in my head, came from my dear, sweet ex-crit partner, Susie Sawyer, who told me, “Don’t just start to do something – do it.” It helped me spot my passive voice and pre-empt it as early as the first draft. Or most of it, at least.

 

Professional advice that I tell myself over and over is to write the next book. I get so obsessed with promotion and making sure my books are out there, in front of people so they know about them, that I eat away valuable writing time. Don’t get so caught up in it that you don’t have another book coming for your readers!

 

6. If you could have coffee with anyone (living or dead, real or fictional), who would it be and why?

 

Actually, can I have a coffee clutch? I’d love to sit and speak with a few authors about specific things I think they do exceptionally well. I’d pick J.K. Rowling’s mind about how she is able to portray so much about a character in the first introductory sentence. I’d grill Jonathan Stroud about how he incorporated so much humor into the djinn, Bartimaeus. I’d invite Markus Zusak because he’s adorable – oh and to talk about beautiful language. My goodness, I could go on an on. Maybe I’d better change this to a cocktail party!

 

7. What are your top three favorite books and why?

 

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K.Rowling – It’s such a pivotal book in the series and I’m a sucker for ‘turning points.’ The teen dynamics really heat up with the trio and beyond. There is a ball and epic dragons. Really, the book has it all for me.

 

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – The relationships, the humor, the love story. I’ll never tire of this story. I prefer to listen to an audio book. My mind trips over the language when I read it and it isn’t as smooth as it should be.

 

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll – This story is so imaginative and funny. It’s odd, I really don’t enjoy the movie versions at all (except Tim Burton’s – that one rocked) but I love the book.

 

8. What was your favorite book as a child and why?

 

My favorite was The Black Stallion by Walter Farley. All of The Black Stallion books, actually. I don’t know that I recognized why as I poured through them, but it was the journey each horse took in the different books. Overcoming the odds, the possibility of loss or worse, death! It was very thrilling for me. Plus I dreamed of owning one of those powerful stallions and being the one to tame them.

 

9. What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

 

This is lame, but I don’t think I have any. Is the lack of a quirk interesting?

 

10. Do you write full-time or part-time?

 

This is an interesting question that I’m not sure how to answer. I’m unemployed, the job search is hot and heavy, but there isn’t much out there in my small community. I’m trying to take advantage of being unemployed to get lots and lots of writing done and I thoroughly value the extra time during the day when the kids are at school. However, it could go away at any time, unless my writing starts to earn enough to replace my previous income. I’m not holding my breath for that, though. Not yet at least – but that is my goal.

 

11. If you could do anything in the world, what would it be and why?

 

I’d cure pediatric cancer. Cancer is a horrible disease and no child should suffer the indignities of it.

 

12. What is the craziest thing you ever did? This could be as a writer or any other time in your life.

 

I’m not a risk taker, so I don’t have any zip lining in the Congo or walking down the street in a cow costume (Libba Bray) tales to tell. However, my mom sent me to France when I was thirteen. Alone. To stay the summer with a family I didn’t know. Though it isn’t a crazy thing in particular, it was most certainly a life-changing event for me.

 

13. Did you feel like a celebrity when you held your first published book?

 

Gosh no! I still don’t feel like a celebrity. No one recognizes me or fawns over me, or my work. I’m just a girl, writing books, in a town that might not actually care much. (wink)

 

14. If you could have a star like on Hollywood Blvd, who would you want to have your star by? This can be an actual star on Hollywood Blvd. or someone you just admire.

 

I’d want my star next to Dwayne Spiekerman. I went to school with Dwayne back in Wisconsin. He was different, so everybody made fun of him. Honestly, I was afraid of him, because he acted differently and I never knew what to expect. He and I used to walk the same way home. For years, he was either a few paces ahead of me or a few behind. You know what? He was always nice to me. He’d ask me how I was doing. He’d ask if I had a nice day. He’d ramble about things I didn’t even understand. But he never encroached on my space. He was just nice. Yet I remained afraid that he’d suddenly do something creepy, because that’s what I believed based on what other kids said. If I could, I’d go back to that time and wipe away my fear and be nice back (I wasn’t mean, I wasn’t anything!) Since I can’t, I’d proudly cement the fact that I’m no longer afraid of Dwayne so that everybody could see.

 

15. Is there anything in your life you wish you could do over and why?

 

Well, I’ll expand upon my last answer, because it’s important. REALLY IMPORTANT. It isn’t easy to realize that you’re a coward or that you’re one of those who stand by and say nothing. My daughter was at a music camp once and noticed a girl disappearing after each meal. She followed her one time and found the girl in the restroom, expelling her meal. My daughter didn’t know her, but waited for her and then talked to her about what a bad thing the girl was doing to herself and offered to help her for the remainder of the camp. When she told me this after she got home, I was completely blown away by the courage she showed and was ashamed that I didn’t have that kind of courage. I’ve been trying to be like my daughter ever since. Not surprisingly my daughter has remained in contact with the girl and has a friendship has formed.

 

16. Who has been your biggest support or inspiration?

 

One of my biggest inspirations is my daughter. Not only is she a better person than I am, she is so committed to her dream. I’ve watched her work hard to earn the necessary scholarships to go to college. I’ve watched her as she worked three jobs to earn enough money to pay rent and eat while she goes to college. I’ve listened as she practiced scales or a specific run in a difficult piece for hours upon hours so that she’d be sure to score high in a competition, in order to earn that scholarship, in order to achieve her dream… She’s truly inspirational.

 

My biggest supporter is most definitely my husband. I think he believes in my writing more than I do! In my lucid moments, I understand that he simply doesn’t have to battle a lack of self confidence like I do, but I turn to him and his solid belief in my ability whenever I start down that slide and he’s always the first person I share good news with, because he truly deserves that consideration.

 

17. Could you share about any current writing projects?

 

I am finishing up the first draft of the second book in my young adult super villain series. The first book in the series, King of Bad, will be published in 2013.

 

18. What would be the best way for readers to contact you?

 

My one stop shop where readers can find book blurbs, downloadable documents, upcoming events, social media and email information is my website: www.kaistrand.com.

 

19. Where can people find your books?

 

Readers can ask their local bookstore to order for them, or they can get a print or electronic copy at:

 

The Wishing Well: Another Weaver Tale

Guardian Angel Publishing
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

 

Save the Lemmings

Featherweight Press
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

 

20. Is there anything else you'd like to share?

  

 Thank you so much for allowing me to visit with you and talk about my shiny new books.