by Kai Strand, @KaiStrand
I’ve been writing with the intent to publish for more than a minute now. More than a decade. I’m not even going to do the math to see if I’ve hit the double decade mark. Who wants that reminder?
I mostly write for kids and teens. I love crafting stories that involve discovery and problem solving and friendship. Oh, wait, books for the grown-ups among us contain those themes as well. Huh. When an idea I’d had bumping around inside my head wouldn’t convert well into a story for young adults, I realized I should just write a book for adults and a new pen name was born.
As I mentioned, I write mostly for kids and teens. Most of my published work is targeted for the middle grade or young adult reader, but I do have a few books published specifically for adults. I purposefully chose to publish those under a different pen name – not because I think I can hide my identity from my teen readers and keep them from discovering books where adults might do more than kiss, but because I wanted to make sure there is a clear line in the sand.
As an author, I write stories that contain adventure, sometimes fantasy, love, heartache, characters acting heroically or making bad decisions. When the name Kai Strand is on the book cover, you are less likely to find the main characters falling into bed together (though the teenagers often want to!) When the name LA Dragoni is on the cover, they still might not be falling into bed together, but they also might. Does it bother me that my teen reader might migrate to my adult reads? I don’t think it’s my place to worry. I’m not marketing the books directly to underage readers, and hopefully their parents are involved in their reading choices.
How do I decide who to write for next? It depends. When readers are clamoring for a specific book, that definitely inspires my choice. If I have a series going, I generally try to keep it moving forward at a reasonable pace. For example, I’ve recently sent the prequel to Day of Reckoning to my critique partners and hope to publish it soon. Otherwise, I write what I’m inspired by. I often have several manuscripts going at a time, because I’m not adverse to hopping from middle grade to adult to young adult from one day to the next. However, once I get into a story line, I’m usually too invested in the characters to leave them until their story is told. And I hope you feel the same way when you read their story.
Award winning Kai Strand, author of The Super Villain Academy series, is often found exploring hiking trails and snapping pictures of waterfalls in her Oregon hometown. Mother of four, Kai uses her life experiences to connect with young readers. With middle grade works such as Save the Lemmings, and The Weaver Tale series, and emotional YA adventures like Finding Thor, and Worth the Effort, Kai has written compelling stories that tweens, teens, and their parents love.
Kai has given numerous presentations throughout Oregon about her work and the writing process. She loves interacting with teens and gaining their insight on their latest reads as well as what they would like to see in future stories.
To find out more about Kai, please visit www.kaistrand.com.
About the book:
Not only does twelve-year-old, Terra, learn she’s a Nature’s Spirit destined to serve the peaceful underground city of Concord, but she also finds she is named in a prophecy as the only one who can thwart the leader of the death tribe.
The Trepidus are the death janitors of the Underworld. They’re responsible for the termination and cleanup of Concord’s beings. When their leader, Blanco, learns Terra is the one who can derail his day of reckoning, he does everything he can to get rid of her. Including, dispatch a “Bringer” to complete the ultimate of death janitor duties.
Not only does Terra want to stay alive, but she hopes to complete her training and discover her Spirit talents too. So, Frank, a Spirit of Security, is assigned to protect her. Together, they undertake a secret investigation of how to defeat Blanco. But with the future of Concord and Terra’s very own life at stake, will they find the answer in time?
You can find Day of Reckoning at: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Kobo
How Author @KaiStrand Chooses What to Write Next: Click To Tweet
Photo on VisualHunt
Thanks for the post, Kai! I only have one non-cozy, but, like you, I decided to use a pen name for it. No point in confusing my regular readers with a different genre.
Thanks again!
This is really interesting! Thanks for sharing how you choose which project to work on next. There are so many possible roads to take that I think it can be hard to decide which one.
Keeping a clear line between adult and kids is a good idea. We do hope parents are involved in what their kids read, too.
I think it’s fascinating to be able to write in different genres and for different age groups. Thanks for sharing.