Why I Write Middle Grade

Why do I write Middle Grade? I could answer this question with seventy-five multi-coloried heart emojis, but I'll dig deeper. The thing I love the most is writing about fiercely strong kids. They take risks and figure things out They've got troubles, but – and this especially holds for my heroine- they look monsters straight in the eye.

Pull up a beanbag, 'cause here’s where I’ll get a little personal. When I was a middle grader myself, I had a different personality profile.  At the start of 6^th grade, I was seized by out-of-nowhere anxiety.  During the school day, I was afraid to talk to people, and didn’t know how to dress myself beyond throwing a giant sweatshirt over my weird, changing body. I kept my head down, and tried to be as invisible as humanly possible. One day a popular girl complemented my necklace and my body inexplicably morphed into that of a petrified house mouse, I scurried into a hole in the wall l and lived off of discarded Lunchable scraps for the next two years.* 

I had an Eddie Munster haircut and insomnia, but I also had books. Awesome books. Books about mice that were actually warriors...

and chubby short people who love bread (like me) who could take on a dragon 

...or save the whole world. 

I got lost, then found my way in the stories, and they became the architecture of me. Not the grades, or clothes, or even friends, but the inside stuff that stays permanent. 

When I started out writing The Peculiar Haunting of Thelma Bee,  I wanted to build a kick-butt adventure with ghosthunters, science, magic,  and blueberry pancakes. But I think maybe my characters want to make a lot of noise. They shout out  –

“Weird is cool!” 

“It’s awesome to be different!” 

"Who cares about your dumb haircut?! You can save the world!"

... And if they yell loud enough, maybe someone fighting that good fight through adolescence will hear them and feel a little better about flying their own flag and managing their own bangs. Hair grows out, guys - stories are forever.

*The very mildest hyperbole

Why I Write Middle Grade

Why do I write MG? 

Well, I LOVE it, for one. And two and three...

I also believe that almost every parent-writer, at one time or another, has had a story idea of their kids lighting up the page as the main character of a world they’ve created. (Am I right?) Well, that’s how going all MG happened for me.

I can't ever remember a time when I didn't write in some way. But up until a few years ago, I'd never written a whole book. Not that I didn't want to. Oh, I always said I would...one day... If I ever had the time, when the time was right, if time allowed (if Time knew how much stuff I blamed on him he’d never speak to me again). But to be fair to the guy, I was happily writing along and never really felt pushed to compose something from beginning to end.

Until I needed to get my son to read.

*slides confessional curtain open* 

My son would rather eat a mound of booger-green vegetables than read a whole book.

Yes, I’ve checked into specialists.

And his DNA.

But never one to give up, I devised a plan: What if I made my son the star of his own story? Gave him the lead in an epic adventure, with alien-sidekicks and everything?

What kid could resist that? And other than words coming to life in the form of an Xbox game or a Lucky Charm’s marshmallow, how else was I gonna get his nose in a book?

Yup, tried cash. 

But soon the answer became clear.

                       THE PLAN: 

Write the story that would get my son to love reading! Just like Judy Blume did for me.

Except I’m not Judy Blume.

…Not even Udy Ume

But I loved to write and my son needed to love books (control issues: check).

So with my unsuspecting offspring vibrantly cast in his premiere leading role, I wrote my VERY FIRST whole story. And I’m not afraid to say I was gold-sticker proud if its beginning, middle, and end.

At first, my head was solely focused on what would engage my son, writing to his specific trigger points, creating anything that would make him want to turn the page. But the more I wrote, the more my brain sort of exploded with other stuff. 

...Ideas to expand one character then another, adding more stakes to enhance the story line…and wouldn’t it be funny if this character said this? Or did that? And what would happen if…

My brain went crazy! (yes, the good kind, this time). Soon, I was having a ball and creating a world, not only for my son, but for other kids as well. 

And for myself.  

I've been totally hooked and head-over-heels ever since!

What can I say? My epic plan turned into a mushy love story. 

*carves MG 4Ever on tree* 

So...will my son still take broccoli mud pies over a book? ...Mmmmm...not always.

But I can’t take the credit for that (although he did like dressing up in New Times Roman). There are some SUPERSTAR Middle Grade writers out who've helped open my son's heart and mind to books, and continue to inspire both of us with each new read.

I write MG because it gives my imagination a permanent hall pass to run wild.

...And if I could ever be any kid's Udy Ume, well, that would just be a dream come true!

Social Networking: Pitch Contests, Writing Pals, and Keeping it Real

If you found your way here, you are very likely a writer who has some skill navigating the universe of social networking. By some standards I’m fairly active in social media and social networking. I post on Facebook daily, I’m semi-active on Twitter, I have an Instagram account, and I’ve maintained a blog with regular updates for several years. But when compared to many, many other people, my online presence is barely a blip on the radar.

Take Twitter, for example. Before I knew anything about pitch contests, my Twitter activity amounted to little more than a few dozen followers and a snarky tweet every couple of weeks. Truly minimal involvement. I had only even started an account just to see what all the fuss was about. It was a semi-engaging way to follow musicians and authors and comedians, and occasionally find some interesting bit of information. I was much more (and, truthfully, still am) involved with Facebook for social networking, since that’s where my most of my friends and family are.

Then one of my cousins, also a middle grade writer, told me about this contest he’d read about on Twitter called Pitch Wars. A lot of people were excited about it. He was querying at that time and knew I was, so he sent me a link with the info. Long story short — we both entered, were both chosen as first alternates, and many happy days followed. My participation in Pitch Wars opened me up to this whole world of Twitter pitch contests I had no idea existed. Months later I was a finalist in Pitch Madness, which led me to finding an agent, which in turn snowballed my Twitter presence into something, while remaining relatively modest, much wider than it had been before. There's one important take-away for you -- whatever the environment you cultivate for yourself in social networking is like, you need to be prepared for it to head off in unexpected directions, and sometimes without much notice.

Twitter is now the network I primarily use to connect with the writing community. I’ve met some interesting people there I’m happy to know, and even though the frequency of my tweeting seems to come and go in waves, I try to stay in touch with them to keep from fading into the background. I don’t see myself ever being someone to tweet fifty times in a three-hour period after getting caught up in a four-way conversation, but I like the feeling of knowing there’s this greater writing community out there. I like seeing how active it can be, and knowing how welcoming it is. 

But I still wonder: Am I holding myself back by not tweeting more frequently, or reaching out to connect with more people? How much difference will having hundreds vs. thousands of followers ultimately make, either in landing a book deal or with all of the business that would come next? How vital is this for an author in the world of 21st century publishing? (And what kind of writer would I be if I wasn't constantly inventing new ways to second guess myself??)

In the end, it's fair to say that however you use social networking as a part of your writing platform boils down to two things. First, whatever interactions you have with people online need to be genuine, especially if you hope to build strong networking relationships. Most network-savvy people seem to have good filters for what’s real and what’s not, and something real is always going to give you a stronger connection.

Secondly, and probably even more important, the writing needs to be there. People might promote your book deal or retweet your cover reveal or interview you for their blog because they want to be supportive, but giving them some writing they’ll love can be very compelling motivation for them to stay on your team (as well as to keep you on theirs). A long list of friends and followers could be a good way to get people to climb up on your platform and have a look at what's going on, but the goal is getting them to stick around.

And remember while you're out there tweeting and posting and blogging and making all kinds of new pals and finding amazing critique partners, it never hurts to simply be nice to people. We're lucky to have so much niceness already as a part of our greater online writing community, and the more we can spread it around, the better. Both the Internet and the real world can always use more of it. 

The Real Trick To Social Media

Social media can be a complicated business. While the internet, in general, and social media specifically have made it simpler, cheaper, and more efficient to spread a message across, literally, the entire world, it also makes accidentally stepping into a ill-considered quagmire or misspeaking so badly you’re considering shoving your whole leg up to the knee in your mouth All. Too. Easy.

And that’s to say nothing of the frothing horde of angry users who apparently view every online interaction as a kind of electron-driven Cyber-Thunderdome, where “Two Comments enter, One comment leaves”, and every hint of opposing opinion needs to be challenge, shamed, and, sometimes (horrifyingly) threatened.

For someone writing Middle Grade books or just wanting to get the word out about a new project or something awesome a friend has going on, it can all be a little daunting.

But really, my buddy and fellow Middle-Grade Minded contributor, Tom, already covered all of this with a much more colorful brush than I’ve got in a post last week.

The one thing he touched on, but didn’t quite cover fully, though, was one making genuine connections through online exchanges, and that’s exactly why I find social media so compelling. Don’t believe me? Well, as the old saying goes, showing is better than telling, so I present to you this Storify’d twitter conversation from Friday:

Fried Chicken at the Clam Back, (A play in 60+ tweets)

Admittedly, there’s nothing about this exchange that makes anyone’s manuscript stronger or necessarily improves someone’s art, but instead demonstrates how four or five kid-lit’ers from a variety of geographic places and backgrounds can use social media to great effect. Over the course of a conversation including things as ridiculous as singing clams and chicken disco with some people I knew and others I didn’t (yet), my book-loving, art-forward tribe grew a little bit and we all had a pretty good chuckle on a Friday afternoon.

And that, to me, is kid of both the why and the how of using social media, especially for someone who’s been a painfully shy introvert all of his life.

Pud’n

Advice from a YouTuber

Emily Wass is a sixteen-year-old YouTuber. In just over a year, her BWithEmMarie channel has built a following of over 36,000 subscribers. Please welcome Emily as she talks about YouTube and how writers might use it to build their online presence.

How did you get started with YouTube?

I got started with YouTube because I have always liked making videos. It gives me an opportunity to share something I love while helping other people along the way. 

What is your channel about?

On my channel I make primarily DIY and lifestyle videos. I use it as a way to help out younger girls and hopefully inspire them to pursue what they enjoy. 

How did you gain so many subscribers in such short period of time?

I gained subscribers by making videos that are popular and are known to get a lot of views, but then putting my own twist on it. This helped bring people to my channel and kept them interested.

How often do you watch other people’s YouTube channels and comment on their Instagram/Twitter/Facebook posts?

I watch other people's videos every day. I love seeing what other YouTubers create and get inspiration from it. I often comment on their social media because YouTube is a community where everyone generally supports each other. 

Do you think YouTube could be used as a way for children’s writers to promote their books? How might writers do this?

YouTube could definitely be used as a way for children's writers to promote their books. One of the best ways to do this would be by contacting YouTubers and having them talk about the book. It takes a lot of time and effort to build up an audience on YouTube, so having someone children already trust talk about a book would be the most beneficial. If a writer wants to post a video themself, they should make sure to include their face in it and talk directly to the camera. This will create a more personal relationship with viewers/potential readers.

Any other advice for writers hoping to use social media to build connections with readers and other writers?

To build a social media following, it is important to be consistent. Focus on posting at least once a week, depending on the social platform. Don't worry about being professional; instead, act like you're having a conversation with a friend. This will attract people to your social media and create a connection with them. Also, interact with everyone who comments on your posts. Reply to the comments and have conversations. The more genuine you are, the more people will be interested.

Thank you, Emily!

Social Media - the gateway to the soul of a 24th century author!

Okay, just give me one second.....and done.

We're starting up with a new topic of discussion this month, folks. And that's social media. Now if you don't know much about social media, well then I'm not exactly sure how you got to this blog. But if you are involved in social media, then you may be asking yourself, "what the heck does social media have to do with me getting a book deal / agent / editor / etc."

I've got news for you. A LOT. Welcome to the 24th century....(i jumped ahead a few centuries).

We live in a world where anything and everything could be found out with a click of a button. Don't lie. You know you've sat on wikipedia for roughly four hours looking up pointless information on the Kardashians. ADMIT IT!!! Ahem...but here's the thing. It's a good thing, and a bad thing when you're talking about endless access to information, especially in the veins of social media. I figured I'd sit down and talk about some the PROS and CONS I've experienced with my dabbling in social media, and how it could benefit you as an upcoming author.

PROS

The absolute best thing about social media is that fellow writers are EVERYWHERE. I'm not even kidding when I say most if not all of my writer buddies have come out of twitter / blogs. Seriously, I wouldn't know anybody in the writing world if it wasn't for these methods of communications. I lack the time to attend conventions, so most of my exposure is through the interwebs massive tunnels of information.

But that's the great part about it. You are able to talk to writers from ALL OVER THE WORLD with different genre specialties, interests, knowledge, skills, and more. And above all, you can use this to your advantage. What better way to find a wide variety of critique partners than by utilizing social media. Post on twitter LOOKING FOR A CRIT PARTNER - LETS TRADE MS. I guarantee you'll get a thousand responses. Most people on social media are looking to help one another.

And who couldn't use a few writer pals? *waves at all his friends!*

CONTESTS

If you haven't seen them already, now is the time to go looking. There are dozens of writer contests out there year round that can help even the newest offer make his or her mark in this cutthroat industry. I'm talking about such events like PITCH MADNESS, PITCH WARS, SUN VS SNOW, etc. Google them. Look them up. Check out their blogs. And be amazed.

I've been lucky enough to be a mentor in some of these events, and the exposure to talent you are going to receive is awesome. So many writers are involved in these contests with one goal in mind. To help new writers.

The amount of success stories out there coming from these contests is mind blowing, and we a owe a lot of it to the people who take their time to organize these events.

AGENTS AND EDITORS ARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA!!!!!

Trust me when I say that most of the agents and editors live and breath social media. It's a superb way to pimp their clients novels, or seek new talent. Heck, there's an event on twitter called #MSWL (manuscript wish list) where agents call out what they're looking for. I kid you not, I FOUND MY AGENT THIS WAY. SEE!? SOCIAL MEDIA WORKS!

Not to mention, its a great way to put your foot in the door and actually have some open conversations with agents and editors. They're people too. Don't be afraid to message them or tweet them. They'll talk to you!

PLATFORM BUILDING

You may not think about this much now, especially if you're trying to perfect your novel, but platform building is a huge...HUUUUGE part of the industry. Editors and agents like to see you establishing yourself outside your novel, and working on establishing some sort of platform before you even have a book published. Whether that's taking part in conversations online on twitter, or creating a blog / podcast, or just being vocal, building that platform helps jump start the sales of your book. After all, it's a bit easier to sell your book when thousands of people know about you already, right?

I started building my platform for my first novel COPERNICUS NERDICUS ( a middle grade novel based around video games) a long time ago. I created a youtube channel, and a blog based around video games to help promote my interests and gain some fans. Although CN is shelved for the moment, and I'm working on other novels, I do have a growing group of followers that would help me in the future. I HOPE :)

Then again.....maybe I still just do it for fun because I love video games so much...but that's another story lol.

Now these are just a small portion of things that are positive about social media..I just wanted to dabble in it. But it's not always bunnies and cupcakes.

Social Media can backfire.

CONS

CRUELTY

Once you're on social media, you're always on social media. And I'm not talking about being addicted to it lol. I'm talking about be careful about what you say. Because things spread like wild fire. If you turn into some sort of bad egg, or if you insult someone, or you start spouting nonsense. It is going to bite you in the arse, real hard and real fast. Which brings me to rule #1 of social media.

Don't be an a**

Not everyone is friendly on social media. In fact, most people are downright cruel. Don't turn into one of them. Be positive and make it a positive experience for everyone around you. Trust me, its a small industry despite how big it is. Don't dig yourself a hole you can't get out of.

JEALOUSY

I'll be the first to admit it. But I do get jealous. Everyone does, and if you say you don't you're lying to yourself. When you find yourself on social media, get ready to be exposed to a lot of people sharing their success stories.

Now let me explain. When someone I know announces signing with an agent, or signing with a publisher or getting a book deal, or whatever...I am ecstatic for that person. I love seeing my friends succeed. But then I get hit with it. That little twang....that evil jealousy bug that hits me for 2 seconds. And it's not even that I'm jealous, it's more like I'm asking myself "WHEN IS IT MY TURN?" - It's going to happen, and there's no escaping it, especially if you're on social media.

The important thing is to step away. Don't start doubting yourself. I've done it before, but luckily enough I have some awesome friends that I can talk to about it. Accept it. Talk to someone. And know that your time will come.

I don't know you, but I have faith in you.

Well, that's about it....

I only just scratched the surface folks, but let me know. How has social media benefited you? Do you use it, and if so how often? What do you like about social media in terms of being an author?

KEEP ON WRITING PEOPLE!

Why I Write Middle Grade Fiction

I grew up in a family with an unwritten rule: there was no such thing as boredom so long as there were books.

And there were always books, because every Friday night we piled into my father’s Chevy Impala and drove to the local library, which at the time was located in our town’s old railroad station. Each of us filled a sack with at least 4 or 5 books.

The Old St. Croix Public Library, St. Stephen, New Brunswick

How cool to have your library in an abandoned train station, huh?

I didn’t realize until adulthood the rarity of having two parents who read voraciously and encouraged voracious reading. Now it seems the most precious gift I could have received.           

Those books took me everywhere: on a wagon train to the west, back and forth to Narnia, to a faraway planet to search for my lost brother, through a phantom tollbooth. I sailed to a small island in Britain and camped out. I solved mysteries. I was certain small people lived in my bedrooms walls.

It wasn't all adventures. I sobbed when beloved characters died  - my eyes still sting thinking of Matthew Cuthbert, Beth March, and Charlotte the Spider.  But in a tangible way, those literary deaths in middle grade fiction prepared me for real-life deaths and loss.

My daily voyages made me want to try bottling that magic myself, and I began to write to make sense of the world around me. I still have many of the stories I wrote when I was young, and while they lack a certain technique, they make up for it in sheer enthusiasm, although I feel great sympathy now for my 5th grade teacher, who read them all!

Every book had a lesson, and those lessons were personal and universal all at once. No, I wasn’t an orphan like Anne of Green Gables, but I knew what it felt like to be an awkward outsider at times. No, I didn’t live in the 1860s, but it turned out children who lived then also loved their families or felt petty or were frightened, just like me.

I wish I had this copy...

Is it wrong to covet?

Yes - I thought so...

While other books from my childhood were precious to me, there was some unspoken acknowledgement that my middle grade books were the most precious of all. I hauled them from one end of the country to the other when I grew up.

Even pulling a few out for a picture made

me want to stop and read them again!

And in times of stress and great need, they were the books I turned to for comfort. I reread the entire Betsy-Tacy series during the week I sat by my dying mother’s hospital bed. I took Anne of Green Gables with me to the nursing home when my Dad passed away.

Middle grade is when we dip a toe into the world of independence while staying connected to our families. We read for pleasure and we read to find the truth of ourselves in the truth of others. The books can take us to the inner-city, or help us escape from it.  Middle grade fiction authors weave worlds of wonder, worlds of understanding, worlds of caring. It is an awesome responsibility.

A few years ago, I decided to begin to write again after a long and self-imposed hiatus. I’d never stopped reading middle grade fiction, thanks not only to reading to my own children, but to the prodigious talents of authors like Neil Gaiman, Kate DiCamillo, Kevin Henkes, Tim Federele, Patricia Wrede and my own recognition that good fiction is good fiction regardless of the age of the protagonist.

Each time I thought of a new story to tell, I seemed to naturally filter it through the lens of a middle grader, the person whose changing world is magical and terrifying and strange. I worried that it might be difficult to conjure up those emotions and feelings again as an adult, but surprise: they’d never left me. 

I suppose in life we never forget our first loves. I read everything and anything I can get my hands on. I may write in other genres. But one thing I know for sure: I will always write middle grade fiction.