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We’re Looking For a Few New Mixed-Up Members!

By on June 25, 2020   /   For Writers  

We’d love to add some new members to our blog who love middle-grade books as much as we do.

Who should apply to be a member?

Writers or illustrators with a passion for middle grade books!

***We’re strongly committed to diversity in publishing. If you’re a writer of color or other underrepresented voice, please apply!***

 

What’s it like to be a member of the Mixed-Up Files blog?

*Members have scheduled posting dates about 5 – 7 times a year (but are welcome to add extra posts). We love having original, quality posts that can include discussion-invoking topics about the changing market, unique book lists, interviews…pretty much anything middle-grade related.

*Each Mixed-Up member has at least one job (such as keeping our parent, teacher or librarian pages updated, gathering new release information, or updating our social media pages).

*We greatly appreciate when our members join in discussions and help promote our blog via their own social media pages, too.

 

If you’re interested in joining us, click here to fill out an application.

 

We can’t wait to hear from you! Please spread the word to others who might be interested. If you applied a while back and would still like to join us, we’d be happy to receive a new application from you.

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Interview with Kristin Gray, Author of The Amelia Six

By on June 23, 2020   /   Author Interviews, New Releases  

Hello Mixed-Up Filers!

Today, I am pleased to welcome to our site, someone who I have known virtually for a while, as well as a fellow member of Middle Grade debut year of 2017, and the author of the upcoming The Amelia Six, coming from Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books next week, on June 30th.

JR: Hi, Kristin and thanks for joining us today!

JR: First off, I really enjoyed The Amelia Six. I was fortunate enough to get an advanced copy, and it was such a fun mystery. For those who don’t know about the book, can you tell us a little bit about it and where the idea for this story came from?

KG: Hi, Jonathan. Thanks for having me and thank you for the kind words about The Amelia Six.

In the story, six STEM-savvy girls spend the night at the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum in Atchison, Kansas, and get swept up in a mysterious robbery. They settle in, expecting a night of scavenger hunts and sweet treats when Amelia’s historic flight goggles disappear.

I don’t know about you, but I have always loved CLUE, both the movie and the game. I knew one day I’d like to attempt my own cozy mystery, but the whole idea seemed daunting. The first task alone—choosing a setting—was nearly impossible. I wanted a real place kids could visit, and there are just so many cool sites! But when my family took a road trip to Amelia Earhart’s birthplace, everything clicked.

JR: Yes, I LOVE Clue. Could watch the movie over and over and over. You have six characters who all take center stage at one point. How difficult was it to veer back and forth between them during plotting?

KG: Very! Each of the girls has her own hobby or connection to aviation. Millie, the protagonist, is a Rubik’s speedcuber, vintage Nancy Drew collector, and daughter of a pilot. The story is told in her POV throughout, so I used her life lens to filter the mysterious happenings and understand the cast. My editor pushed me to make the girls distinct, and I’ll be the first to admit juggling that many middle-school voices was not easy. But I am proud of the end result. And of the floor plan I drew to keep track of where everyone was in the home and when!

JR: I love that you made a map to keep track of everyone! The book has Amelia Earhart as a central figure. How much research did you have to do about her, and what is it about her that fascinated you?

KG: Quite a bit of research, including two trips to the home, reading tons of biographies and articles, hours spent browsing the online archives at Purdue University, where Amelia taught as adjunct faculty. She really was ahead of her time and took on many roles from truck driver to social worker to columnist at Cosmopolitan magazine. But digging up interesting facts is one of my most favorite parts of the writing process. I felt like a treasure hunter!

 

JR: You’ve done both MG and Picture Books, do you have a preference, and what appeals to you about both formats?

KG: I was talking to a writer friend about this recently. I enjoy both, but each format presents its own challenges. Writing picture books is deceptively difficult. It can take years to distill a story into the best few hundred words. Drafting and editing (or rewriting) a novel can take years of work, too, but gives the writer more freedom . . . I tend to work on picture books when I’m stuck on a longer project or waiting to hear back from my editor. I’m always tinkering with a story. But it’s been a blast to have books available for a pre-K as well as middle schoolers.

JR: That is great. Picture Books are so daunting Can you tell us a little bit about your writing journey getting to this point? 

KG: Sure. I wrote picture books for several years (back in the days of snail mail!) before one editor suggested I try writing something longer. My first middle-grade novel didn’t go anywhere, but my second novel’s opening garnered editor interest at a local SCBWI meeting. Encouraged, I took those same pages to another conference—Big Sur Writer’s Workshop—where I met and signed with my agent. That book went on to sell to Simon Kids/Paula Wiseman Books and became my debut novel, Vilonia Beebe Takes Charge.

JR: I read on your website, https://kristinlgray.com/ , that you’re an expert cookie dough taster. Is that more of an honorary title, or something that you had to be certified in?

KG: Haha. I love cookie dough, especially if I’m on deadline or you know, quarantined! Tried-and-true chocolate chip is my favorite, though peanut butter is also good. I would love to be certified, if that’s a real thing. Is that a thing? Can we find this out, Jonathan? Maybe this needs to go in a book!

JR: Okay, more importantly, I also read that you love peanut butter cups. Aren’t Reese’s Cups the equivalent of manna from heaven?

KG: Absolutely! And weirdly, I think the mini Halloween-size ones taste better than the regular-size two packs. It’s all about the perfect ratio of chocolate to peanut butter.

JR: What’s your writing process like?

KG: Sporadic at best. Especially now with my children home. I don’t write every day unless I’m on deadline. Some days are reading days, or research days, or thinking days, or responding-to-email days, like today. I’m grateful for all of it.

JR: I’m glad this was part of your diversion! What’s your favorite book from childhood?

KG: Charlotte’s Web

JR: What’s your favorite childhood movie?

KG: The Goonies

JR: That’s a popular answer here! Something people would be surprised to learn about you?

KG: I’m a twin! (We didn’t get a picture of Kristin with her twin, so just make a copy of her picture above and hold them next to each other)

 

JR: What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve received and is there any advice you can give to writers looking to break in?

KG: Best piece of advice: Pay attention to the world around you and write it as only you can.

To those looking to break in: Keep going. Find a few trusted writer friends. And always keep a stash of ice cream.

 

JR: That is great advice, and hopefully you mean pistachio ice cream. What are you working on next?

KG: I’m pages into what I hope will be my next middle-grade novel. Stay tuned!

 

JR: How can people follow you on social media?

KG: I’m @KristinLGray on all formats.

 

JR: Okay, lastly, as I mentioned, we were in the same debut year, so when you’re done with this, can you please send me a quick 20,000 word essay explaining how I was your favorite member of that debut group, and especially more than Melissa Roske?

KG: Haha! You know I’m a big fan of you and your books, Jonathan. Though I will say Melissa did buy me pancakes . . . 🙂

JR: That sounds like she was just kissing up.

 

JR: Thanks again to Kristin Gray, and make sure you go out and get The Amelia Six!

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STEM Tuesday– SHARKS! — Writing Tips & Resources

By on June 23, 2020   /   Sharks, STEM Tuesday  

Write Like a Shark

It’s Summer 2020.  Sorry, just a plain and simple statement that it is indeed the summer of 2020. None of the traditional exclamation points to celebrate this time of the year. The COVID-19 pandemic, the problem of ingrained and institutional racism, and lives that have been completely turned on edge are just a few of the problems we deal with every day. Besides community involvement, raising our voices, and giving of our time, talent, and treasure, another good way to navigate good or bad times is through writing. 

Writing provides an outlet. Whether you are a middle-grade student on summer break trying to make sense of the world or a seasoned adult trying to make sense of the world, writing can help navigate life. Writing can be personal and kept under lock and key or it can be shared. Writing is yours. Every word is yours. As the words are placed on paper or screen one after the other, your thoughts and ideas become more real and tangible.

The two things at the core of the From the Mixed-Files…of Middle-Grade Authors blog are reading and writing. For the STEM Tuesday group, those two core activities also hold true except we adjust the focus to STEM nonfiction. Today, I suggest a STEM nonfiction slant to assist you as you embark on your 2020 writing adventures?

Want to write but don’t exactly know how to take the first steps? First and foremost, just write. Begin the physical process with one word and keep adding another word until you give the thoughts in your head a life. Next, take a few pointers from the star of STEM Tuesday, June 2020, the magnificent shark!!! (Now there’s a sentence deserving of exclamation points.)

Writing advice from a shark?

Absolutely!

I know a shark can’t actually write. A shark can’t hold a pencil. A shark’s journal would merely become a soggy mess in the ocean. A shark may have plenty of bite, but none of that bite leans toward the literary. Allow me to explain how the fabulous members of the Selachii superorder can get you circling the waters to write like a shark.

Blacktip reef shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) by I, Luc Viatour / CC BY-SA (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)

1. Design

The basic biological design of a shark has been relatively unchanged since it originally appeared 350-400 million years ago during the Devonian Period. When something works in nature, it usually sticks around and is passed on to the next generation. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.  In simpler terms, the structure and basic plan of a shark work well. In writer terms, we could learn a lot from the shark’s basic evolutionary outline. 

The shark has a plan. A built-in plan that has withstood the test of time and shifting conditions. As a writer, follow the shark’s example and develop a design plan that works for you. Find structures and experiment with them. A few basics to think about are: 

  • Time dedicated to writing. 
  • Materials (journals, notebooks, pens, pencils, or electronics.) 
  • Space (both physical space and headspace.) to work in. 
  • Ideas and capturing them. 

Design your physical writing life and hone it until you are as effective as our favorite ocean predator has been for millennia. Piece together a plan in your head and use either a simple or a complex—or something in-between—outline to give your writing good bones (maybe that should be cartilage?) to build upon. 

Erik Zachte at the English language Wikipedia / CC BY-SA (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)

2. The Blank Page

Unfortunately, one of the biggest mountains to climb with writing lies at the very beginning of the process. The blank page. The idea. The “AAARRGGHHHH I DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO WRITE DOWN WITH THIS TWENTY DOLLAR PEN I JUST BOUGHT MY WRITER-SELF” problem. Every writer ever has felt the dread of the blank page at one time or another. 

Ideas. Are. Hard.

When the blank page spreads fear down your spine, remember how a shark hunts. It’s always on the lookout for a meal and when it finds one, it attacks. Value story ideas and attack them with the same frenzy as the shark attacks its prey. Be prepared to circle the waters to sustain the enthusiasm while being willing to keep working hard after enthusiasm wanes. 

There’s no such thing as a bad idea if that idea gets the writing process started. How selective is a shark come feeding time? If it’s food, it’s good enough. This is where I’m a firm believer in the power of nonfiction, especially STEM nonfiction, to help the writer juices flow. The curiosity about how the world works is always a great tool for writing. How do the things that surround us work, why they work, and how they affect us or make us feel?

No matter what life throws at you, write your way through it. Whether with difficulties, joys, failures, and/or accomplishments, use writing to help make sense of your world. Now, arm yourself with your favorite pen and notebook and then write. Remember to design a writing plan that works for you and always be on the hunt for ideas, just like a shark.

Best of luck in Summer 2020.

Stay safe.

Be healthy.

Be kind.

Write like a shark.

File:Hammerhead Shark (PSF).png

Mike Hays has worked hard from a young age to be a well-rounded individual. A well-rounded, equal opportunity sports enthusiasts, that is. If they keep a score, he’ll either watch it, play it, or coach it. A molecular microbiologist by day, middle-grade author, sports coach, and general good citizen by night, he blogs about sports/training related topics at www.coachhays.com and writer stuff at www.mikehaysbooks.com. Two of his science essays, The Science of Jurassic Park and Zombie Microbiology 101,  are included in the Putting the Science in Fiction collection from Writer’s Digest Books. He can be found roaming around the Twitter-sphere under the guise of @coachhays64.

 

The O.O.L.F Files

This month on the Out Of Left Field (O.O.L.F.) Files we’re talking sharks. Everyone’s favorite marine predator. The world of sharks is fascinating. Enjoy the links below, hopefully, learn a thing or two, and have a great STEM Tuesday Shark Month!

Sea World All About Sharks & Rays

Shark Cam at The Monterey Bay Aquarium

Shark Week @ The Discovery Channel

Sharkfest 2020 from The National Geographic Channel

Jaws

  • The single greatest movie about marine predators ever made. It even scared the bejeezus out of a kid from Kansas when he first saw it at the theatre back in the 1970s.
  • As we all know too well from the first half of 2020…nobody EVER listens to the scientists & the experts!

Megalodon

  • Giant dino-sharks! Count me in!

Sharknado! The end of an era?

No shark list is complete with a mention of this SYFY network gem. Complete ridiculousness that somehow becomes entertaining by taking an unapologetic stab at the nature-apocalyptic film genre. Where does one even begin?

 

 

 

 

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