Date Published: 06-08-2021
Immortal Trickster, Luke, is starting a fresh life in a new-to-him seventeen-year-old body. With yet another lifespan stretched out in front of him, he’s questioning what purpose his endless compulsion to play tricks serves.
Agnar, a Thor look-alike claiming to be his adoptive brother from the planet Asperian, appears to declare Luke has been away from home too long. One problem. Luke doesn’t remember Agnar or living on another planet.
With more questions than answers, Luke cautiously agrees to accompany his “brother” back to Asperian, but the travel portal rejects him, leaving him behind to continue his mundane life of trickery. When interplanetary soldiers show up intent on killing him, he’s forced into hiding and his list of unanswered questions grows.
Will Luke remain trapped on Earth forever, pulling meaningless pranks? Or will he finally figure out his true purpose?
Is There a Message in Your Novel That You Want Readers to Grasp?
Not this one! Most of my books are written for entertainment
purposes only. The main character’s journey may model how certain character
traits are important in a decent human being or may show how bad behavior can
impact others, but that’s because I try to make my characters real – relatable.
If they don’t go through the same things you and I have or are going through,
how can they grow and why would the reader care?
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Commas. I can’t remember the rules. When I look up the rules and
try to apply them, I get lost. My brain is not punctuation-savvy.
How many books have you written and which is your favorite?
I write for middle grade and young adult under Kai Strand, and I
write for the grown-ups among us under the pen name L.A. Dragoni. Across the
two names, I’ve published 18 books. I’d say my favorite of my middle grade is
The Lumpy Duckling – a story about friendship and expectation. Of my books for adults,
probably (this is hard) Again, For Love – a time travel romance. Of my young
adult titles, oh jeez, it’s always so hard to pick! An Unwitting Trickster is
fun and humorous, like my Super Villain Academy series. I Am Me and Worth the
Effort are emotional and deep. Finding Thor is an edge of your seat read. How
can I pick from those?
If You had the chance to cast your main character from Hollywood today, who would you pick and why?
Though it would be AWESOME to have someone like Tom Holland cast,
it also wouldn’t really be right. The whole idea behind Luke is that he is
utterly average looking so that he isn’t memorable. How else can he get away
with pulling prank after prank? All those seasoned Hollywood actors are just
too charming. It’s like they can’t help but ooze charisma. Someone who is still
sort of under the radar like Max Charles would
make a great Luke. For this movie at least. He’d have to be recast in the second
movie ;)
When did you begin writing?
I’m a mother of four. When the kids were young it was always busy,
busy, busy. When my third child started Kindergarten and I was left with only
one at home it felt like I had all the time in the world! So, I sat down and
started to write. We lived in the country and the bus would drop my kindergartener
at the end of our long driveway. They could only let him off the bus if I was
there to receive him. I would get so lost in writing that I would lose track of
time – and couldn’t hear the bus blow it’s horn because of that long driveway! The
bus driver would have to radio into the bus barn, and they would have to call
me. I’m still sorry for those numerous inconveniences, Mr. Bus Driver!
How long did it take to complete your first book?
That first book only took me two months to write! It ended up
somewhere around the 85k word mark. I foolishly thought that was how long it
took to write all books. By the way, the book was crap, and it took me nine years
to edit it into publishable condition!
Did you have an author who inspired you to become a writer?
The Harry
Potter series is what inspired me to write. My oldest child and I had read all
four Harry Potter books over the summer and the fifth wasn’t set to publish for
a time. I really missed Hogwarts. When the kids headed back to school in
September, I was searching for a new book to lose myself in – a replacement for
Hogwarts. That’s when I decided to create my own world. I’d always written, but
never a full novel. That inspiration was all it took.
What is your favorite part of the writing process?
Definitely the first draft! I love the creative process of the
story tumbling out through your fingers into the computer. The sloggy middle
where you think the whole thing is moving too slow and is all a steaming pile of
dung. Then the end where suddenly you figure out how to connect all the dots,
wrap up loose ends, set teasers for the series. I always feel remarkably clever
after I’ve completed a book!
Describe your latest book in 4 words.
An Unwitting Trickster is fun, snarky, humorous & (surprisingly)
heartfelt
Can you share a little bit about your current work or what is in the
future for your writing?
I am finishing up the second book in the Trickstering series. I’ve also
been working on a couple more YA books, a teen spy-like novel, and a swan princess
– or maybe a swan warrior type of book, which is most likely the YA book I’ll
finish next after my trickster book. I have an emotionally heavy middle grade I’d
like to finish, and I really need to finish the third book in my Touched by
Afterlife series (for grown-ups) before I start getting hate mail. Lol. And
then of course I have a document full of ideas that I want to explore, it’s
never ending! When I can write full time, I can usually finish novels in a
couple months (now that I know what I’m doing) so, my goal is to get back to full
time writing so I can crank out books like I used to.
About the Author
Award winning Kai Strand, author of the action packed 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, The Weaver Tale series, and The Concord Chronicles series, and emotional YA adventures like Finding Thor, I Am Me, and Worth the Effort, Kai has written compelling stories that tweens, teens, and their parents love.
Kai has given numerous presentations in classrooms, to writer groups, and at workshops 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 Kaistrand.com.
Contact Links
Twitter: @KaiStrand
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