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Three Times a Charm is a weekly feature that spotlights authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the publishing industry. 

This week author, Susan Kaye Quinn, joins us. Thank you for agreeing to be a part of my weekly feature “Three Times a Charm.” 

Thanks so much for having me!

I’m especially excited since today is your BIG launch day for Closed Hearts the second book in your Mindjack Trilogy.  Our lucky readers even get to enter your giveaway!  But first, Susan, let’s learn a little about you.

I grew up in California, where I wrote snippets of stories and passed them to my friends during class. I pursued a bunch of engineering degrees and worked a lot of geeky jobs, including turns at GE Aircraft Engines, NASA, and NCAR. Now that I writes novels, my business card says "Author and Rocket Scientist" and I don't have to sneak my notes anymore (too bad!). All that engineering comes in handy when dreaming up paranormal powers in future worlds or mixing science with fantasy to conjure slightly plausible inventions. I write from the Chicago suburbs with my three boys, two cats, and one husband. Which, it turns out, is exactly as much as I can handle.

Tell us about Closed Hearts.

When you control minds, only your heart can be used against you.

This is the tagline for my second novel in the Mindjack Trilogy, Closed Hearts, which releases today! The Mindjack Trilogy is about a future world where everyone reads minds, except one girl. She soon discovers she can control them instead and is dragged into a hidden underworld of mindjackers. (Tag line for the first book, Open Minds: When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.) The future of her, and her fellow mindjackers, is explored even further in the second book. I’m excited to see what readers of Open Minds think of Closed Hearts, while I’m busy writing the third book in the trilogy. All my novels and short stories can be found on my blog. Open Minds and Closed Hearts are available in ebook and print on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

I can’t wait to read it myself! Now, for the Threes. Share with us your top 3’s to help us know you a little better.

• Top 3 tools of the trade you couldn’t live without.

Scrivener for Windows - I use it for keeping all my research organized, including pictures and links, and notes on bestsellers, my current draft, outlines about edits, all kinds of stuff. The only thing I don’t use it for is writing - for that I’m an old fashioned Word gal.

My moleskine notebooks - I have a dozen of them in all shapes and sizes and I tote them everywhere. I especially use them to work through difficult plot points or any kind of struggle I’m having with the story. Writing long hand is a great creativity booster for me.

My corkboard - My newest addition to the “must have” category! I’m using it now to outline my third novel in the Mindjack trilogy. I have different colored cards for scenes, structure, love story, etc. It’s really cool to see it all visually laid out and also works as a creative booster.

• Top 3 personal and/or professional goals.

My Writer’s Mission Statement has four components to it that guide my overall professional goals. From that, I have three (short, medium, long term) professional goals (recently updated in my Market Plan for Closed Hearts):

1) (short term) Finish and publish the Mindjack Trilogy, while also writing a series of short stories as a companion to the series

2) (medium term) Plan/write another series that my readers will enjoy

3) (long term) Make enough money from my indie publishing that it will pay comparably to a part-time engineering position (so I can justify, in a money sense, continuing to write). While it’s not possible to control sales or income, I can control output, so my plan to reach this goal is to continue putting out approximately 2 novels a year (and possibly more titles in short stories), building a backlist that will provide that kind of ongoing income to support my writing career.

• Top 3 professions you wanted to be when you grew up.

Veterinarian (changed my mind when I discovered that blood made me squeamish)

Astronaut (applied; they didn’t want me :))

Engineer (check!)

Susan, where can our readers go to keep up with you and your writing?

Susan on Facebook, Twitter, and her author blog, Mindjack Trilogy website

GIVEAWAY!!!!!!

Announcing the release of Closed Hearts, the sequel to Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn.

Book Two of the Mindjack Trilogy

Eight months ago, Kira Moore revealed to the mindreading world that mindjackers like herself were hidden in their midst. Now she wonders if telling the truth was the right choice after all. As wild rumors spread, a powerful anti-jacker politician capitalizes on mindreaders’ fears and strips jackers of their rights. While some jackers flee to Jackertown—a slum rife with jackworkers who trade mind control favors for cash—Kira and her family hide from the readers who fear her and jackers who hate her. But when a jacker Clan member makes Kira’s boyfriend Raf collapse in her arms, Kira is forced to save the people she loves by facing the thing she fears most: FBI agent Kestrel and his experimental torture chamber for jackers.


Now available!
$2.99 Ebook at Amazon (and Amazon UK) and Barnes and Noble
Request a Kindlegraph
Paper copies available at Amazon or get signed copies from the author

Susan Kaye Quinn is the author of the bestselling YA novel Open Minds,  Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy, available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iTunes. Susan's business card says "Author and Rocket Scientist," but she mostly plays on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.

CLICK HERE to join the Virtual Party for Closed Hearts

(including bonus content for the Mindjack Trilogy and writerly guest posts) 

***Disclaimer: Rafflecopter code doesn't seem to want to work in this post - BOO. PLEASE click through to Susan's site with the link above and enter to the contest there. Might be user error, but I think it's Livejournal.

Thank you, Susan, for sharing such an exciting day in your life with us. I hope millions of readers discovers your Mindjack Trilogy. Happy release day to you and Closed Hearts!

M E D I A  R E L E A S E

CONTACT: Donna M. McDine

Website: www.donnamcdine.com

Email: donna@donnamcdine.com

For Immediate Release

Children's Book Week: Celebrate with Guardian Angel Publishing Authors

May 7-13, 2012

Established in 1919, Children's Book Week is the longest-running literacy initiative in the country. Each year, books for young people and the joy of reading are feted for a full week with author and illustrator appearances, storytelling, parties, and other book-related events at schools, libraries, bookstores, museums, and homes from coast to coast! 

Visit Guardian Angel Publishing authors via their blogs as they celebrate Children's Book Week. Each stop includes special topics of discussion: teaching writing and grammar using children’s books, road to publication, professional critiques, educator guides, Skype and in-person author visits, what’s selling in children’s non-fiction, writing narrative non-fiction, interviews, book reviews, individual book information, and so much more.

Enter at a chance to win two prizes:

·        One FREE Picture Book Manuscript Critique by Margot Finke

·        One FREE tote bag of children's books from the participating authors

Visit May 7-13, 2012 and automatically enter at a chance to win by commenting, GFC Follower, and/or become a Facebook Fan or Friend at each of the author blogs.

Guardian Angel Publishing Author Blogs:

Mayra Calvani - www.mayrassecretbookcase.blogspot.com

Margo Dill - www.margodill.com/blog

Margot Finke – www.hookkidsonreading.blogspot.com

Donna McDine - www.donna-mcdine.blogspot.com

Nancy Stewart - www.nancystewartbooks.blogspot.com

Kai Strand - www.kaistrand.blogspot.com

Nicole Weaver - www.mysisterismybestfriend.blogspot.com

About the authors:

Mayra Calvani writes fiction and nonfiction for children and adults. Her children’s picture books include Crash, The Magic Violin, Humberto, the Bookworm Hamster, Frederico, the Mouse Violinist, The Doll Violinist, The Water Cycle: Water Play Series Book I and the upcoming The Fox in the Night. She’s had over 300 reviews, articles, stories and interviews published online and in print. She’s represented by Mansion Street Literary Management.

Margo L. Dill is a freelance writer, editor, and teacher, living in St. Louis, Missouri. Her work has appeared in publications such as Grit, Pockets, Missouri Life, ByLine Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, True Love, On the Line, Fun for Kidz, and The News-Gazette. She is a columnist, instructor, and contributing editor for WOW! Women On Writing. She writes weekly book reviews for The News-Gazette (Champaign, IL). Her first book, Finding My Place, a middle-grade historical novel, will be published by White Mane Kids in 2012. She also has a picture book accepted by Guardian Angel Publishing and another by High Hill Press.

Margot Finke is an Aussie transplant who writes midgrade adventure fiction and rhyming picture books. For many years she has lived in Oregon with her husband and family. She has 11 books published so far. Gardening, travel, and reading fill in the cracks between writing. Her husband is very supportive, though not interested in children's books . Their three children are now grown and doing very well. Margot didn't begin serious writing until the day their youngest left for college. This late start drives her writing, and pushes her to work at it every day. Margot said, "I really envy those who began young, and managed to slip into writing mode between kid fights, diaper changes, household disasters, and outside jobs. You are my heroes! "

Donna McDine is an award-winning children's author, The Golden Pathway, an historical fiction story book about the Underground Railroad. Her stories, articles, and book reviews have been published in over 100 print and online publications. Donna has three more books under contract with Guardian Angel Publishing, Hockey Agony, Powder Monkey, and A Sandy Grave. She writes, moms and is the Editor-in-Chief for Guardian Angel Kids, Publicist for the Working Writer’s Club, and owner of Author PR Services.

Nancy Stewart is the bestselling and award winning author of the four Bella and Britt Series books for children. Her newest book, Katrina and Winter: Partners in Courage, is the biography of Katrina Simpkins with Winter, the dolphin. All are published by Guardian Angel Publishing. She is a frequent speaker and presenter at writing conferences throughout the United States. A blogger with a worldwide audience, she writes of all things pertaining to writing for children.

Kai Strand writes fiction for children and young adults. Her debut title, The Weaver, was a finalist in the EPIC eBook Awards. Her upcoming titles, Save The Lemmings! and The Wishing Well, Another Weaver Tale, will be released in 2012. Links to current and upcoming short stories can be found on her website. You can find book related downloads and more information about Kai and her writing at www.kaistrand.com.

Nicole Weaver was born in Port-au-Prince Haiti. She came to the United States when she was ten years old. She is fluent in Creole, French, Spanish, and English. She is a veteran teacher of French and Spanish. Her second children’s trilingual book, My Sister is My Best Friend was published by Guardian Angel Publishing, November 2011. She is also the author of a children’s trilingual picture book, Marie and Her Friend the Sea Turtle. The story is about a Haitian girl who resides by the beach in Haiti.

We look forward to your visit. Thank you and good luck!

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Our daughter, double majoring in music & psychology, called on Monday and said, “I think I forgot to tell you that my recital isn’t next week, the 8^th. It’s tomorrow night. So I called my husband, who was in Bakersfield, CA at that very moment and said, “You up for this?” Being the world’s best dad, he was all over it! So, he drove from Bakersfield, to Eugene, Oregon to drop off some family members, then home to Bend, Oregon. He got home about 1:30 am, slept a couple of hours, got up and went to work. We left at 12:30 pm and drove 5 ½ hours to Boise, Idaho. We got there about 7:00 pm and went straight to our daughter’s recital. I believe there were 9 recitalists (is that a word?). The music was lovely and they all did a beautiful job, but of course my daughter was the best.

After the recital, we went to dinner with our daughter and a few of her friends. The people at the restaurant graciously let us hang out talking an hour past their closing. Around 11:00 pm, my husband and I said goodbye to the kids and went to check into our hotel. We slept for three hours, got up at 3:00 am (2 a.m. our time, it was too short of a trip to switch to mountain time!) and headed home again. Whirlwind to say the least.

My husband drove the first half of the trip, but eventually he admitted defeat. I drove the last stretch of the long, boring road, but I didn’t mind because we had been listening to Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. Between Shades of Gray is a powerful story of the people of the Baltic nations who Stalin sent to camps in Siberia and the Arctic.

I love finding the title of a book within the text. I feel as though I’ve uncovered a secret that I can share, or keep to myself. The moment the title was revealed in this novel happened to align with my trip in an evocative, thought-provoking way. I drove westward. The road stretched and undulated forever toward the horizon. The breaking dawn revealed sagebrush crowding together in a rolling desert terrain. A coyote ran across the road in front of my car. Grazing antelope, camouflaged by their arid coloring, only revealed themselves with a flick of an ear or a raised head. A red tail hawk perched on top of a fence post, patiently awaited the scurry of a field mouse or a baby jackrabbit.

“I began my walk through the snow, 5 kilometers to the tree line. That’s when I saw it. A tiny sliver of gold between shades of gray on the horizon. I stared at the amber band of sunlight, smiling. The sun had returned.”

I glanced in my rearview mirror and the sky behind me was alight with gold and orange and pink. I was struck by the hopefulness of that moment. The sun cresting the horizon behind me shone an apricot spotlight on the theme of the book.

HOPE

The message, wrapped up in gray paper and tied with a thin gold ribbon, was so full of a dire beauty that only the suffering can appreciate. I instantly hoped that I already have or someday will present such a gift to my readers.

My husband snoozed beside me. The book ended with an inspiring epilogue from the author and her father. The miles droned under my tires. And I continued to hope. Hope that I can touch a reader so profoundly that it gives her strength or awards him confidence he hadn’t believed in before. Hope that my words resonate like the sunrise in my rearview mirror or the sun returning after an artic winter.

There are some really beautiful moments in life. Be sure you acknowledge them.

Three Times a Charm is a weekly feature that spotlights authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the publishing industry.

This week author, Danielle Kirrane is visiting with us. 

Thank you for having me!

Danielle, tell us about you.

I am the author of the new children’s book, The fish who swam too far. I live in New Jersey with my husband and our two amazing daughters. I have a big goofy dog, an absolutely hysterical cat, and a lot of fish. I am a stay at home mom and I love every minute of it. Reading is a must in my house. I make sure that I read with both of my children every day. I think it is very important to build a love for reading with your children from an early age. I have been writing stories for fun since I was a little girl. It wasn’t until about a year ago when my oldest daughter suggested that I publish one. I could not be more grateful to her. She paved the way for my success.

Tell us more about your new book.

The fish who swam too far is about a clownfish named Harry who is afraid of everything around him. After being teased relentlessly by his siblings, he becomes so angry that he ventures out in to the ocean alone. He ends up coming across a beautiful female clownfish caught on a hook. Even though he is terrified and there are hooks all around him, he finds his courage and springs in to action to save her. The end result is a completely new Harry. He realizes that not only is he no longer a coward, but he is brave. The part I love best is when he says to the girl clownfish, “That’s why they call me, Harry the brave!” You get the irony, right?

Now, for the Threes. Share with us your top 3’s to help us know you a little better.

• Top 3 skills to hone for people just starting in your business.

You must have the ability to deal with rejection. Unfortunately, it is a part of the process. With each rejection, push yourself a bit harder.

Never take it personal. It never is. It is simply a matter of who is the best fit for your work.

Get to know a lot of people in your field. Not necessarily authors, illustrators, or publishers, but anyone who shares your interests. Don’t be shy to talk about your work. Be proud of your accomplishments, and share what you are working on with everyone.

• Top 3 personal and/or professional goals

I started working on a chapter book last summer and I would really love to have it finished by this summer.

At some point before the end of this year, I would love to go through my documents and actually complete all of the books that I have written. (Yes, I do write and stash)

On a more personal note, I would love to be a bit more carefree. J  I do tend to stress the small stuff a bit more than I would like to. 

• Top 3 pieces of advice for kids these days.

Always be yourself! There will be many people in your life that may not like you. If you stay true to yourself, the important ones will love you!

Never tease or bully anyone for being different than you. Treat everyone how you want to be treated.

Never give up on your dreams or goals! If you keep trying, you eventually will succeed.

Danielle, where can our tech-savvy readers go to keep up with you and your writing?

My website address is http://daniellekirrane.tateauthor.com/

My e-mail address is danikirra@gmail.com   

Although I am not on twitter as much, my twitter name is @danikirra

You can find me on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/danielle.kirrane.9.

Thank you for visiting with us on this week’s Three Times A Charm, Danielle. Best of luck with your writing!

Editing is a tedious process for me. I complain about it more than I should, I’m sure. I apologize if I sound like a whiner. But there is one editing tool that I couldn’t live without.

Reading aloud. When I feel my story is fit for human consumption, I read it out loud to my children. I watch for reactions; laughs, furrowing brows, wandering attention. Sometimes I stop at certain points and ask what is going on in the story to see if they’ve picked up on a subtle story line. Or I ask what they think will happen next to see if the plot is too predictable. I offer as little information as possible (extremely hard for me, might I add!) Based on any comments they offer, questions they ask, or when I lost their attention, I go back to the editing process and tweak and tuck and cut and boost.

Then I read it out loud again, but this time I record myself. I plug a microphone into my computer and record an audio file (or several if it is a novel.) I attempt to read in different character voices with emphasis and verve. I try NOT to edit or to even really think about the story beyond the reading process, because a few days later I listen to it. Ideally, it would be fabulous if I had some crazy friend willing to sit in front of my computer for hours on end and read into a microphone, but I haven’t found that selfless being yet, so I’m the next best option.

Can I just tell you how much you catch LISTENING to your story! I don’t read along in my manuscript while I’m playing the audio, because then I stop really listening. When I hear an awkward phrase or out of character dialogue, I pause the recording and find the place in the manuscript to mark for future editing. Then I continue LISTENING.

Huge help!

What’s your best editing tip?

Three Times a Charm is a weekly feature that spotlights authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the publishing industry.

This week author, Chris Cloud, joins us as part of his virtual book tour.

Welcome, Chris. Can you tell us a little about yourself.

            I began writing fiction full time at the age of 66 after a long career in journalism and public relations. I graduated from the University of Missouri in 1967 with a degree in journalism. I worked as a reporter, editor, and columnist at newspapers in Texas, California, and Missouri. I was employed by a major oil company as a public relations executive, and later operated my own public relations agency. I created the board game Sixth Sense in 2003. I live in Joplin, Missouri, and enjoy golf and hiking.

Fascinating career you’ve had. You just keep reinventing yourself. Tell us about your book, A Boy Called Duct Tape.

`My groundbreaking novel A Boy Called Duct Tape is available at all online bookstores, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. Paperback copies are available through CreateSpace. Told through the eyes of 12-year-old Pablo Perez, a poor kid from the wrong side of the tracks, A Boy Called Duct Tape brings to life a Missouri legend that has endured for more than 130 years.

The long-lived folklore claims that outlaws Jesse and Frank James stashed millions of dollars in gold and silver coins in a remote cave in the Ozark hills of southwest Missouri. A middle-grade story, A Boy Called Duct Tape is the first novel to scrutinize this legend, thus earning it the title of “groundbreaking.”

Now, for the Threes. Share with us your top 3’s to help us know you a little better.

• Top 3 books you’ve read in the past year.

1.)    Delirium by Lauren Oliver. This novel was written in the first-person, present tense, and I found that refreshing. Ms. Oliver has a wonderful ability to capture a character’s emotion in both dialogue and action.

2.)    Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King. Full Dark is four separate stories via novellas. What can I say about King that hasn’t already been said? He is my favorite author because of his attention to detail in narrative, action, and dialogue. He paints wonderful pictures.

3.)    Blink and Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones. This is what I would call unconventional literature. It moves from first-person present to third-person present on a couple of occasions, but that doesn’t spoil the magic. Jones has been around the block a time or two, and it’s reflected in his storytelling. 

• Top 3 tools of the trade you couldn’t live without.

1.)    PC. If I had to go back to a typewriter I’m not so sure I’d write.

2.)    Thesaurus. I’ll get stuck on a clichéd word every chapter or so, and turn to it.

3.)    Internet. I do a great deal of research for every novel I write. For my latest novel, for example, A Boy Called Duct Tape. I did research on antique coins, caves, and the legend of the “lost treasure” of Jesse James. I spend dozens of hours of research online. That would translate into hundreds of hours in a library. (Vive la Internet.)

• Top 3 skills to hone for people just starting in your business.

1) Discipline. You can’t write when you feel like it. You establish a schedule, perhaps daily, and stick to it. You write on those days when nothing in your story seems to work.

2.) Read. A. Great. Deal. I’m always reading a book. There was a time, before I started writing, when I might be reading three or four books at once.

3.)Pay attention to your surroundings. Try to memorize physical images that might serve you well in your novel. Same goes for dialogue. Especially, dialogue. Listen to how people talk (or kids or teenagers) and try to emulate that tone.

• Top 3 personal and/or professional goals.

1.)    I want to write two novels a year for the next five years. A Boy Called Duct Tape is my first for 2012. A teenage love story set in post-war Japan is scheduled for release later this year. (I attended high school in Japan, and the story is based loosely on my experiences.

2.)    I believe reading is the foundation to learning, and learning is a foundation to a better life…so I try to involve kids in the reading experience. I’ll be donating 100 paperback copies of my novel A Boy Called Duct Tape to the R-8  Joplin School District later this month.

3.)    I’ve been single now for five years. My personal goal is to stay single for another five. Heck, maybe 10.

My computer is my lifeline as an author as well. I have so much respect for authors who had to compose on a typewriter or on paper.

Where can our readers go to keep up with you and your writing?

Ron Hutchison – mowriter.hutchison@yahoo.com

                        http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1164545217

Christopher Cloud – chris@christophercloud.com

                                    www.christophercloud.com

Thank you for joining us on Three Times A Charm, this week. I wish you the best of luck to A Boy Called Duct Tape and your upcoming projects.

THANKS!

***

Geek alert:  the following is an admission of geek guilt! Proceed with an open mind. We’ve all got geek tendencies in some aspect of our personalities.

Organize

verb

to systematize: to organize the files of an office.

This is what I love about Windows7. The filing system that it has fits so well with my way of organizing. 

My photos folder is like a mecca of organization and I feel a flutter of pleasure each and every time I have to go into it. Which can be several times a day. Constant flutters may explain my effervescent personality or perhaps the bubbly persona is the reason for the giddy pleasure over photo folders. It’s a chicken and the egg thing, I think.

Anyway, My Photos is so well categorized, it’s SCARY. I have a folder titled ME. In the Me folder are pictures of … yes, me! There are also other folders inside ME with names like “Headshots” “Weaver” and “Wedding.” I have a folder named FAMILY with subfolders titled “Veteran’s Parade” “Wyoming” and “Pets.” There are sub-subfolders inside the “Pets” folder named “Bunn Bunn” and “Blanco” There are a few things I’ve hedged on. For example, I have a folder titled AUTHORS, this is where I store all the headshots for the people featured on my blog or on the GAP Family Blog. But not all the people featured are authors. Some are bloggers, some are illustrators, editors, etc. I considered renaming the main folder HEADSHOTS, but the folders are listed alphabetically and I access this folder so frequently, that is it most convenient for it to start with the letter A. So I’ve left it.

It is unusual that I can’t remember where I’ve stored a picture, but it does happen. Most of the time it is if the picture could be categorized in different spots, because it has several family members (I have a separate folder for my husband and each of my children) and it is a specific event or trip. But even then it generally doesn’t take me long to find it.

My documents are filed the same way as well. I have an INTERVIEWS folder with subfolders named “With” “For” and “3x’s A Charm” In the For folder, the documents are saved under the name of the blog or host I’m completing the interview for. In the 3x’s A Charm folder the documents are saved under the date the interview is scheduled to run and then the interviewee’s name. It’s really beautiful. I wish you could see (but not touch). However, Word it isn’t as visually pleasing as Windows7. Windows 7 has the cascade of pop outs that entice you to open the folder and explore its contents.

I’m doing a bit of spring cleaning in my folders. Making sure things are categorized efficiently. If I didn’t know how anal it was, I’d pull out a ruler to make sure each folder is the same distance apart on the screen.

Why isn’t my real life as organized as my virtual life? Do you have any organization tips you’d like to share either in real life or your virtual life? Is there a certain aspect in your life that is organized in a way that makes your heart smile each time you see it?

Your turn.

Three Times a Charm is a weekly feature that spotlights authors, illustrators, bloggers, agents, editors or promoters from the children’s publishing industry.

This week we are celebrating Earth Day with author, Kathy Stemke. Welcome, Kathy. Can you tell us about yourself?  

I have always had a passion for writing, the arts and all things creative. My teaching degree is from Southern Connecticut State University. I also have a B S from Covenant Life Seminary, as well as graduate coursework from New York Institute of Technology and Columbia University. Hanging my hat in Mount Airy, Georgia I have been a dancer, choreographer, teacher, tutor, writer and an antiques dealer for many years.

As a freelance writer and ghostwriter, I have published over one hundred articles in directories, magazines and on websites. I’m a reviewer for Sylvan Dell Publishing and a former editor for The National Writing for Children Center. As a retired teacher, I have several activities published with Gryphon House Publishing. I’m also part of the team at DKV Writing 4 U, a writing services company that includes ghostwriting, copywriting, editing, proofreading, critiquing, and resumes.  http://www.dkvwriting4u.com

Congratulations on so many published articles and reviews. Are you busy with any other projects, as well?

My first children’s picture book, Moving Through All Seven Days, was published on Lulu. My next two picture books, Sh, Sh, Sh Let the Baby Sleep, and Trouble on Earth Day were released in 2011. Both of these books have been awarded the Children’s Literary Classics Seal of Approval. 

My blog offers great teaching tips and children’s book reviews as well as a Free monthly newsletter titled, MOVEMENT AND RHYTHM, on her blog. http://educationtipster.blogspot.com

With Earth Day approaching, can you tell us more about your book, Trouble on Earth Day?

Trouble on Earth Day is a charming story of friendship and cooperation. Shelby wins an Earth Day poster contest and learns to rethink, reuse and recycle Earth’s precious resources. When she meets a homeless bluebird, she uses her new knowledge to rescue him and bring singing back to the forest. The twenty-three pages of activities include comprehension and discussion questions, action songs and games, worksheets, recycling crafts, and the hist

ory of Earth Day.

Now for the three’s. Share with us your top 3’s so we can get to know you better.

• Top 3 books you’ve read in the past year.

I recently won over 50 books as a door prize at a SCBWI conference in Atlanta. I’m trying to read as many as possible before I donate them to my local library. Three I enjoyed are “Possess” by Gretchen McNeil, “Cleopatra Rules” by Vicky Shecter and “The House on Dirty-Third Street” by Jo S. Kittinger.

• Top 3 skills to hone for people just starting in your business.

Social media has become an important tool for authors. Building your number of followers on facebook, twitter, and your blog will give writers an edge. The key to this is to be interested in other people and write blog posts that will help others. My education tips blog helps parents, teachers and writers alike. I have over 500 subscribers to my newsletter. In other words, PAY IT FORWARD.

Join at least two critique groups. Not only will you get advice and support from other professionals, but you will experience different writing styles as you read and critique your partners.

Thoroughly research a publisher or agent before you submit your work to them. If you’re a picture book author, make sure they know the picture book market and have had experience in that genre.

• Top 3 professions you wanted to be when you grew up.

I wanted to be a dancer, photographer and of course, a writer. Early on I put together a photography/poetry book titled, “Visual Dance Poetry.”

Kathy, where can our readers learn more about you and your work?

Sh Sh Sh Let the Baby Sleep is available through the publisher, http://guardianangelpublishing.com/shshsh.htm and through Amazon, B & N, and other online stores.

Trouble on Earth Day is available at a discounted price on my blog: http://educationtipster.blogspot.com and through Amazon, B & N, and other online stores.

http://www.helium.com/users/406242.html http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/237923/Kathy_stemke_dancekam.html

Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/kathystemke

Follow me on Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=6147172660&topic=4910#!/kathymarescomatthews.stemke?ref=profile

Follow me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/kathy-stemke/13/269/285

Thank you for visiting with us for this week’s Three Times A Charm. It has been a pleasure getting to know about you and your work. Come back and visit us again!

THANKS!

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