Guest Vlog: Sally Harris PLUS Giveaway

About Sally:

Sally Harris is a 28-year-old writer, blogger and teacher from Melbourne, Australia.  Sally loves animals, including penguins, and if she can't have one of those as a pet, a dog would be the next best thing.

She blogs at http://www.frankly-books.com and is currently doing a blog tour.  You can also find her on Twitter @franklybooks or at Goodreads.

Yesterday, she discussed using news stories to inspire creative writing with the Book probe and tomorrow she'll be appearing with Harriet Kempton to discuss being an author-entrepreneur.

About Diary of a Penguin-napper:

3 weeks ...

2 boys ... 

1 little penguin ...

What could possibly go wrong?

When 11(and a half) year old Marty is partnered up with Jessica on the overnight science trip, he thinks all of this dreams are about to come true.  It's his big chance to impress the most beautiful girl in Year 7 (and probably the world) and he wouldn't miss it for anything.

Only problem is: Marty can't afford to go on the overnight trip. Yet.

Inspired by the urban myth that it is possible to steal a penguin from the zoo on a school visit, Diary of a Penguin-napper is a hilarious tale of growing up, bending the rules and how one big fuss can be caused by stealing just one little penguin.

Diary of a Penguin-napper is currently available on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Smashwords.

Interview with Kai Strand

Today we're talking with a wonderful author, Kai Strand. She's here to chat with us about her novel, SAVE THE LEMMINGS.

Welcome to We Do Write. Tell us a bit about yourself.

First and foremost, I'm a wife and the mother of four. That's the funnest and most important stuff I do. Beyond that, I write fiction for kids and teens, I'm a compulsive walker and a Mozart fangirl.

How long have you been writing?

I've enjoyed writing most of my life. I decided to pursue publication about nine years ago.

Tell us about SAVE THE LEMMINGS. What’s the story about?

About the book: 8th 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?

One of the take-aways I hope kids get from Lemmings is that it's important to know who you are and hold on tight to that - even if who you are isn't who the world wants you to be.

How did the idea of the story come to you?

It formed in my subconscious while I slept one night. I woke in the wee hours one morning with a fully formed idea for a book. Problem was I was sleeping on the couch in a hotel room at the time and my sisters were in the bedroom. As quietly as possible, I slipped my laptop out of its bag, powered it up and typed like the wind to capture the idea before the sun rose and it disintegrated.

Do you have a critique group/partner or beta readers, or do you self-edit?

I've belonged to the same critique group for many years! I love my critters. Not only do they give great input to my work, but they keep me sane. This business is tough on your psyche and if it weren't for them I would have given up ages ago.

Are you a planner or a pantser?

I'm a pantser. I've tried being a planner, but the act of typing out the outline saps my creative juices on the story. So, in order to keep things straight, I create a 'facts' document as I go. That way if I need to remember a middle name or hair color later, I'm not paging through 50K words trying to find where I first mentioned it.

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

Editing. Again, it's because the creative juices have been consumed and I'm left with an empty cup. Though, it's only the first edits that make me want to pull out my hair - the ones I do by myself. I enjoy working with the input from my critique group and I love working with editors. I think it's because they breathe new life into the story.

What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

Internet for dictionary.com or a thesaurus. I prefer internet because then I can do spontaneous fact checking too. But I have to have a thesaurus available at all times.

If you could have any super power, what would it be?

Ooo, this is a tough one for me. My young adult book, King of Bad, scheduled to release next year is about super villains. Needless to say I really love imagining life with super powers. However, in my less dramatic life, I think teleportation would kick some serious time management butt. Not only would it free up more time to write (not having to drive or walk places) but it would allow me to visit libraries and classrooms across the country. Uh oh, I'm drooling.

What's the weirdest thing you've googled?

Funny you should ask this! Recently we had a local court case where the defense subpoenaed the victims Google records. The judge denied the request, but the fact that they requested it became a nationwide story and the victim ended up on the Today show talking about her case. I have to say when that story broke, I kind of freaked out. If my google records were ever admitted in court, people would think I'm either very scatterbrained (WWF wrestling, popular girl baby names in 1887, tabloid headlines) or they'd think I needed to be committed (what feeds electricity that can be found in muscles, images of Tonganese men, pediatric brain cancer)!

Oh yeah, I'd definitely be in trouble if someone got a hold of my search records.

Quick writing test! Use the following words in a sentence: lemonade,
lemmings, and liturgy.

My daily liturgy of lemmings takes place on a cliff overlooking the Arctic Ocean and includes a cup of hot, spiced lemmingade. (Couldn't resist!)

LOL! Finish this sentence: If I'm not writing, I'm probably ...

walking. I walk about 60 miles or 18 hours a month.

Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Let's hear your shout outs.

This is great! Thanks for this.

My bestie for cheering me on.
My extended family for the love and the 'Woots.'
My friends for suggesting my books to their friends.
My kids for listening to my stories again and again.
My husband for believing in me more than I do!
My publishers for taking a chance on me.

And finally, where can people find you and your books online?

My website is kaistrand.com and it has info about my books, downloadable companion documents, buy links for print and electronic versions. It has links to my short stories - many are FREE! It has info about my upcoming publications.
I'm on Twitter (@KaiStrand) and Facebook (Kai Strand, Author)
and I blog at Strands of Thought

Thanks for stopping by and chatting with us today, Kai! Your books all sound amazing, and I wish you lots of success.

Thanks for letting me visit with you and your readers, Dorothy! It's been so much fun.

Interview with Alan Tucker

Tell us a bit about yourself.

Thanks for having me here! I'm a writer, a graphic designer, a dad, and a soccer coach — not necessarily in that order! I've been writing off and on since I was little. Plays, short stories, poems, you name it. I started a handful of novels but never completed one until 2010.
When I'm not writing or performing other tasks to keep a roof over my head, I like to spend time with my two daughters (21 and 16 now — holy cow I'm old!) and our family pets: Penny, the dog in my bio picture, and cat Goldielocks. I've also coached soccer for many years.

How long have you been writing?

I’ve always written, ever since I was little, but in most cases I would start something but not have an ending, or vice versa. My graphic design business was a little slow a few summers ago, so I thought I’d give this story a shot. About four months later, I had a complete first draft finished. Then, I sent it out to a few friends and relatives who encouraged me to take it farther. I haven’t really looked back since.

Tell us about A MEASURE OF DISORDER. What's the story about?

This book begins the tales of an eighth grade science class that is sent to another world while on a field trip. Once they discover what's happened, they try to find a way home, only to have the world begin to reshape each of them according to its vision of their inner being, or soul if you will. I had one reviewer describe the concept as "completely insane," but in a good way!

How did the idea of the story come to you?

My younger daughter was about the age of the characters when they start out as eighth graders and I wanted to write a story featuring that age group. Most books I found were either younger or older aged characters. As far as the story goes, I’ve never been a fan of the “everything goes back to normal” formula of a lot of stories. Change is an integral part of life and I wanted to portray that in the stories. Growing up is hard. Growing up and becoming something else entirely would present a whole new set of problems.

Are you a planner or a pantser?

A little bit of both, but if I had to pick one I'd say pantser. I usually have a pretty good idea of where I want the story to go when I'm writing it, but how I get there is rather unscripted a lot of the time.

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

Lately finding the time! I just finished up a ghostwriting project and I've also been busy with graphic design projects, but I'm definitely itching to get back to my current work in progress. As far as the process itself, the little unexpected details can take more time than anything else. You come to a point in a story where your character does something that, on the surface, seems like an ordinary activity, like fly fishing. But, when you start writing about it, you realize that you want to describe the flies he's using or just more about the activity. So, you have to start doing some research about something that has very little to do with the grand scheme of things in the story, but it's those little details that are so important to creating a rich environment.

What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

The only thing I can think of is my computer, but even that isn't entirely true because I often work on plot points or particular passages in my books while I'm walking the dog or running errands. My stories are never far from my thoughts.

If you could have any super power, what would it be?

The Flash was one of my favorites as a kid. I always thought it would be the coolest thing to be able to run fast enough to be invisible, or even time travel! Flash had a special treadmill he used a few times to do that and those stories really fired my imagination.

What's the weirdest thing you've googled?

Mustard gas. I needed to research it for my last project.

Quick writing test! Use the following words in a sentence: liquidate, liquid, and date.

The delicious, syrupy liquid from the last date dribbled down my chin as I frantically searched the house for something valuable to liquidate in order to purchase more of the magical fruit from the vendor across the street.

Good one! Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Let's hear your shout outs.

Thanks again to you for having me here today! And many thanks for Megan for putting this tour together. I never knew so much work would go into a book after I typed "The End"! Most of all, though, I'd like to thank all the readers who've given my work a chance and took the time to write reviews saying how much they've enjoyed the stories. No book will ever be universally liked, but I've had a tremendous amount of positive response thus far. I will do my utmost to continue to live up to the high expectations that have been set.

And finally, where can people find you and your book online?

The ebook is free everywhere:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004SUOZHM

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/14010

Barnes&Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-measure-of-disorder-alan-tucker/1021181565?ean=2940000890691&itm=1&usri=a+measure+of+disorder

Apple: http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/a-measure-of-disorder/id371474877?mt=11

The website for the series is: http://www.mother-earthseries.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MotherEarthBookSeries

Thanks so much for chatting with us today, Alan. I wish you lots of luck with your book!