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Finding 40: How to Discover Critique Partners and Elevate Your Writing

By Chris Low on March 10, 2023 / Articles, Writing

A few weeks ago my wife and I had a parent-teacher conference for our son in kindergarten. Overall it was a lovely meeting — he’s reading and writing and learning how to take care of worms. But when we got on the subject of math, the teacher’s bright expression faltered just briefly as she said, “There is one area where we’re still having some trouble.” She then explained that when our son counts, he has a habit of reaching the number 39, then jumping back to 20.

My wife and I digested this new revelation, both of us trying to remember when we’d ever asked him to count to 40 (I’m all for the functional application of kindergarten math, but I don’t think we have 40 of anything in our house). To prove her point, the teacher called to him on the other side of the room, and sure enough, he shouted back, “37…38…39…20…21…”

“There you go,” she said to us with a slight shrug. But then she did the teacher thing and helped him on the spot, talking him through the numbers until he broke through the invisible wall between 39 and 40. If she hadn’t intervened, I wonder if we might still be in that conference listening to him count.

We all get stuck sometimes, and I’m especially prone to this tendency in my writing. My plot hits a snag or I can’t get a character motivation quite right, and it’s like getting caught in a loop. I’m missing something, but since I don’t know what it is, I’m stuck repeating the same mistakes and landing in the same place I started. I need someone like my son’s kindergarten teacher to shout the numbers from across the room so I can figure out where I’ve gone wrong. For most writers, this takes the form of a critique partner or a critique group. They’re the people in our lives who listen to us count and tell us when we’ve accidentally skipped back to 20.

But getting connected with critique partners can be a daunting task. It’s not as simple as walking into a parent-teacher conference and knowing that the person on the other side of the desk is uniquely equipped to help you solve your problems. And what’s worse — these aren’t just meaningless numbers. They’re words…your words. Words you probably spent months or even years poring over and fine-tuning. I’ve been there. I know it’s scary. But it’s not as scary as being stuck at the number 39 and never even realizing it, so take the leap with me and consider these options to help you break out of the loop and find the number 40.

SCBWI Local Critique Groups

If you’re a member of SCBWI (The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators), you may not have realized that it’s one of the best places to get involved in a critique group. Start by reaching out to your local chapter, since every region does things slightly differently. There’s also the SCBWI blueboard, which can be a little challenging to navigate, but does provide a forum for getting connected with other authors. I actually found two or three long-time critique partners through the Blueboard, one of whom eventually connected me with my literary agent!

Facebook Groups

Even with all the other social media options out there, Facebook remains one of the best ways for writers to connect, get advice, and collaborate with fellow creators. There are even a few groups that exist almost entirely for the purpose of exchanging manuscripts and critiques. My favorite for this purpose is Kidlit411 manuscript swap but there is also Middle Grade Fictions Writers, where authors often post looking for critique swaps or beta readers.

The Writer’s Match

This highly organized system developed by Megan Taraszkiewicz was created with the purpose of connecting like-minded writers. It’s completely free and could be a great way to establish some new critique partnerships that are tailored to your specific interests and needs.

Critique Circle

Critique Circle is one of the most equitable ways to give and receive feedback. Writers earn credits by critiquing others’ work, which can then be applied to posting work and receiving feedback. When using the system, I always found that reading the work of others was just as valuable as the credits, since giving critiques can often be just as insightful as getting them!

Additional Lists and Resources

I’m hardly the first author to compile this information, and there are plenty of other blogs and articles that cover the topic. A few of my favorites include Carrie Finison‘s very helpful (and much more comprehensive) list of critique resources, as well as Jane Friedman’s article on how to find the right critique group.

I hope this list has helped you find some motivation to get others in front of your work. It’s been a revelation for me, and I know I’m not the only one who found a jolt of new energy and progress after summoning the courage to let someone else take a peek at that beloved but oh-so-flawed manuscript. You can do it! In fact, let’s practice together right now:

37…38…39…

WNDMG Wednesday – Celebrating – and Fighting for – Queer Joy

By Heather Murphy Capps on March 8, 2023 / Articles, Guest Posts

Illustration by: Aixa Perez-Prado

WNDMG Wednesday is excited to host authors Nicole Melleby and A. J. Sass this week as they write about celebrating and fighting for queer joy. Welcome to WNDMG!

Celebrating–and Fighting for–Queer Joy

Guest Post by Nicole Melleby and A. J. Sass

When it came time for us to write this essay, it would have been all too easy for us to sit here and talk about book bans, and challenges, and how queer authors, like ourselves, are often thrust into the spotlight as a result of them. This is an important topic, without question. Because kids deserve to see themselves and their identities represented in books without bigoted pushback–because we deserved to see ourselves in books when we were kids, too, but we rarely did and we want to do our part in giving young readers this representation now, despite the repeated attempts to censor it. And we also acknowledge that these acts of censorship are hard on queer authors and their readers. It’s sad and terrible that this has been happening with increasing frequency.

It’d be all too easy for us to focus an entire essay on that.

But this is not what our novel, Camp QUILTBAG, is about. At least, not for us. Camp QUILTBAG is pure queer joy, and when we sat down to write it together, that was exactly what we felt: Joy. There was something special about sitting down with a best friend and saying, “Let’s write about these queer kids–one who is like me, and one who is like you, and let’s give them support, and love, and a place to be safe and feel comforted.” There was something special about laughing and creating together as queer authors, something so incredibly rewarding about the happiness we found while losing ourselves in developing these characters and creating these pages.

Safe Places

When it comes down to it, that’s what we believe is important. Giving an anxious, twelve-year-old who loves Laura Dern and knows she’s a lesbian but is ridiculed by her old friends at her Catholic school a place to find kids who understand her. Offering a hurt, angry, and closed-off thirteen-year-old nonbinary kid a place where e can let eir guard down, to understand what it really feels like to give and have support, to maybe even develop a crush of eir own. What was important to us was giving a trans boy a safe place to get his period for the first time, and having a friend who understands why he feels betrayed by his own body. It was important to give an autistic queer kid the room to fully embrace who she is, and to fight for what she believes in. It was giving a Jewish kid the space to have a conversation about queerness and faith with a Catholic kid. It was introducing all of these kids to one another and saying, “Hey, all of your problems aren’t going to magically go away, but look how much love and support and comfort you can find in the meantime, together.”

The queer joy is important. Realizing you can have that happiness, even when people are trying to tear that joy away, is important. Being able to look the lawmakers trying to pass these blatant attempts at censorship in the face and saying, “You may want to ban our books, you may want to create laws that take our rights away, you may want to try and take our happiness away” but telling them, and showing them, we can be happy and joyful anyway–that’s what is ultimately important. It feels especially crucial for our readers to see.

It’s important to us, anyway.

Both of us were sad, confused, sometimes angry, queer kids–even when we didn’t fully realize our identities, we knew something was different. Neither one of us had books at our disposal that reflected who we were. We didn’t have representation we could look at and say, “Hey, that character is like me!” Sometimes we didn’t even have the vocabulary to describe how we were feeling, and sometimes that made us feel very much alone. It’s hard to find joy when you don’t know how someone like you is supposed to be happy–or that you even can be. It’s hard to know what support looks like when you can’t find any examples anywhere.

Examples and Role Models

Examples and role models are so important within the queer community, which is why we’re also so grateful to be going on a book tour together to celebrate Camp QUILTBAG’s release. Two queer authors, talking about our friendship and our writing process. Two examples of living, breathing queer joy for young readers and their caregivers to see, along with a message for them: you may feel confused or alone or angry right now, but there are people out there just waiting to love and support you. There is a future for you that has every good chance of exceeding your wildest expectations. There are adults who will never stop fighting to ensure this happens. We are so honored to count ourselves among them.

And in a time when books are being banned more, and more, and more–it’s important to keep pushing back, yes, but it’s equally as important to keep talking about the fact that being queer IS joyful. That being queer is okay. It’s normal. Even more than that, being queer is wonderful. We wrote Camp QUILTBAG because we envisioned a place for kids like us to thrive–because every kid, no matter how they identify, deserves to have support and acceptance and feel joy.

((If you enjoyed this guest post, you might enjoy reading this archived WNDMG interview with Nicole Melleby.))

About the Authors:

A.J. Sass

A. J. Sass (he/they) is an author whose narrative interests lie at the intersection of identity, neurodiversity, and allyship. He is the critically acclaimed author of the ALA Rainbow Book List Top 10 titles Ellen Outside the Lines, which was also a Sydney Taylor Honor Book, and Ana on the Edge, as well as the co-author of Camp QUILTBAG (with Nicole Melleby). All three books are Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selections.

A. J. is the author of the upcoming middle grade book Just Shy of Ordinary (Little, Brown, 2024), the picture book Shabbat Is … (Little, Brown, 2024), and a contributor to the This Is Our Rainbow (Knopf Books for Young Readers), Allies (DK/Penguin Random House), and On All Other Nights (Abrams, 2024) anthologies.

When he’s not writing, A. J. figure skates and travels as much as possible. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his husband and two cats who act like dogs. Visit him online at sassinsf.com and follow him @matokah on Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram

Nicole Melleby

Photo Credit: Liz Welch

Nicole Melleby, a born-and-bread Jersey native, is the author of highly praised middle-grade books, including the Lambda Literary finalist Hurricane Season and ALA Notable Children’s book How to Become a Planet. She currently teaches at the Fairleigh Dickinson MFA Creative Writing program, and spends most of her free time roller skating. She lives with her wife and their cat, whose need for attention oddly aligns with Nicole’s writing schedule. Feel free to follow her on Twitter @NeekoMelleby.

About Camp Quiltbag

Twelve-year-old Abigail (she/her/hers) is so excited to spend her summer at Camp QUILTBAG, an inclusive retreat for queer and trans kids. She can’t wait to find a community where she can be herself—and, she hopes, admit her crush on that one hot older actress to kids who will understand. Thirteen-year-old Kai (e/em/eir)is not as excited. E just wants to hang out with eir best friend and eir parkour team. And e definitely does not want to think about the incident that left eir arm in a sling—the incident that also made Kai’s parents determined to send em somewhere e can feel like emself. After a bit of a rocky start at camp, Abigail and Kai make a pact: If Kai helps Abigail make new friends, Abigail will help Kai’s cabin with the all-camp competition. But as they navigate a summer full of crushes, queer identity exploration, and more, they learn what’s really important. Camp QUILTBAG prominently centers queer joy and community in a book that promises love and encouragement to all who turn its pages. As one of the first middle-grade books with an all-LGBTQIA+cast of characters, the enormous breadth of queer identity and experience portrayed will help young readers discover the language and encouragement needed to explore and affirm their own identities. This unapologetically warm book offers readers the delight of feeling part of a community, and the happiness and freedom that comes with being and loving themselves.

Preorder Camp Quiltbag here!

Turtles of the Midnight Moon: Debut Author Interview + Giveaway

By Natalie Rompella on March 3, 2023 / Articles, Author Interviews

Turtles of the Midnight Moon

María José Fitzgerald takes us on an adventure to Honduras where we encounter many twists and turns in solving a mystery. I had a chance to find out more of the behind-the-scenes with my interview with her. Read to find out about how this book came to be, tips on writing your own eco-mystery, and ways to use the book in your classroom. Plus, enter the book giveaway for a chance to win a copy of Turtles of the Midnight Moon!

Maria Jose’ Fitzgerald – Debut Author Interview

About the Book

Hi Maria! Thank you for sharing Turtles of the Midnight Moon with me. I love a good eco-mystery! Can you give us a short summary about the book?

Thank you so much for sharing my debut novel in From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle Grade Authors!

Turtles of the Midnight Moon follows two 12-year-old girls, Barana and Abby, as they attempt to solve a sea turtle egg poaching mystery in Barana’s coastal village in Honduras. Barana has a special—almost magical—connection to the leatherback sea turtles that come to her beach to nest. She is a poet and an artist with great compassion for the planet and its creatures. She also feels invisible and misunderstood by her family. Abby lives in New Jersey and is a multi-cultural kid with a Honduran father and American mom. She is a budding photographer who sees the world through her camera. Abby longs to one day visit her father’s homeland. As she struggles to reckon with a difficult year in 6^th grade, she’s overjoyed to finally get the opportunity to join her Papi on a work trip to his childhood home. Abby and Barana’s stories come together when Abby and her father stay at Barana’s abuela’s casita, or guest house. Upon first meeting, Barana and Abby want nothing to do with each other, but soon enough, they join forces as the two commit to trying to stop the poachers and bring them to justice. As they hunt for clues and follow leads, the two of them also wrestle with questions of identity, family, and friendship. Turtles of the Midnight Moon is a story about our connection to the natural world and each other, and how compassion and courage can cause big waves of change.

Preorder Available Now

When does it come out?

The book is available for pre-order now and will hit bookshelves on March 14^th, 2023!

Tell us who would especially enjoy this book?

Readers who love a character-driven mystery and who appreciate our amazing planet and its creatures will especially enjoy this novel.

Weaving Parts of Yourself into the Story

How did your childhood help to shape this book? (Be sure to tell us about your grandfather’s impact on you!)

As a kid I was a little scared of the ocean, but I loved it anyway, and I believed there was something magical about it. Every year, we spent time on the beach with my family. It was my paternal grandmother, Bela’s, happy place, and where she was born. One of her favorite stories to tell us was how they’d set up shark alarms on the beach to alert the fishermen when there was a shark in the water! I learned to swim and snorkel at an early age, and I would explore until my fingers looked like raisins, despite constantly looking over my shoulder for sharks and barracudas. Though I never saw a leatherback sea turtle, I did see many other beautiful creatures in the reefs, including other species of sea turtles. My paternal grandfather was a big nature lover. He’d go on long walks in the woods and sometimes take us with him for parts of it, pointing out birds and other critters. He nicknamed each of us after an animal. I was his bunny—Coneja. Many of the characters in my story have bits of my childhood and my family. Tulu’s disdain for plastic and trash, Chiqui’s art, Abby’s questions about her identity as a Honduran-American, the food in the novel, and so much more. I think it’s impossible to tell a story without weaving in parts of yourself, little anecdotes, and even things that we are not even conscious about as we’re writing them!

Becoming an Author

How did you end up becoming an author? And did you have other jobs before that?

I always loved stories, writing, poetry, and keeping a journal, but I never, ever imagined I’d be a published author. I studied Ecology, Education, and became a teacher. Though I was a teacher for a long time, I also had other odd jobs throughout my young-adult life, all of which have shaped who I am. In 2019 I turned 40 and decided to take a break from my teaching career to focus on my family (and to possibly give writing a try) …That summer, Barana and Abby came to me as fully formed characters, and I wrote a (pretty bad) first draft that year. A little backstory: when I was in my twenties, I wrote a picture book about sea turtles. The opening poem in Turtles of the Midnight Moon is a revised iteration of that picture book!

As writers do, I started querying after sharing my first draft with a handful of friends. I received a lot of rejections in 2020, and a couple of R&R’s. It was discouraging, but I wasn’t about to give up. Later that same year, my manuscript was selected for Pitch Wars. That was the moment everything changed. Under the mentorship of Jessica Vitalis and Julie Artz, I was able to rewrite, revise, and polish my manuscript and sign with my agent. While I returned to the classroom this year, I am still writing and dreaming up stories in my free time. Stay tuned for my second book announcement sometime this year.

Congratulations on your second book! What authors (and/or books) would you say influenced your writing style?

So many authors have inspired me and influenced who I am as a writer. E.B. White is a big one that comes to mind–I love the compassion in his stories. Erin Entrada Kelly is a master at creating memorable, relatable characters, and I love to read her stories as mentor texts for that reason. Other authors whose work inspires me are Katherine Applegate, Adrianna Cuevas, Meg Medina, Heather Murphy Capps, Anne Ursu, Rebecca Balcárcel, Kim Baker, Anna Sewell, and Rebecca Stead, to name a few!

Character Connections

You mentioned the characters Abby and Barana are inspired by your daughters. Who do you feel you’re more like of the two?

I am definitely a little bit like both of them, but perhaps I share a few more traits with Barana than I do with Abby. Barana’s love of words and poetry, her special connection to Luna, her compassion for wildlife, and her frustration with the gender roles she must abide to in Honduras are things I have in common with her. I wish I were as brave as Barana though! She is certainly much more of a risk taker than I ever was at her age. I can relate deeply to Abby’s struggle with not feeling “Honduran enough” or “Latina enough,” and also like Abby, I dealt with my closest friend moving away in 6^th grade.

Research/Writing

What was your original spark for the book?

It’s hard to explain, but the stories that come to me just show up like lightning in my mind. I have no idea what sparks them. Life experiences, personal interests, timing, and the mystery of the human imagination!

I know that you grew up in Honduras, but I’m guessing you still needed to fill in some holes. What research did you end up having to do?

Yes, I did have to fill in some holes. I spent a lot of time reading about the lobster diving industry, decompression sickness, and the many issues faced by lobster divers and environmental activists in Honduras. I knew quite a bit about sea turtles already, but I did have to do some fact checking about leatherbacks for the novel. For Abby, I spent a lot of time following, reading about, and admiring some amazing wildlife photographers on social media.

What is something from your childhood that you snuck into the book?

I snuck in a lot of things, but I’m not sure I can list them all here! The food, for one. I included my favorite dishes growing up in Honduras, which continue to be my comfort food. The trash collecting and recycling we see Tulu doing is something my father still does to this day. He does not make art sculptures per se, but he will reuse anything and everything, and he’s built a lot of decorative windows from recycled bottles. The scuba diving, sibling rivalries, and church-going in the story are all very loosely based on my own experiences as a child.

Turtles of the MidniAny tips on writing an eco-mystery or a mystery in general?

Writing mysteries can be scary for writers. They’re like a big puzzle that you have to somehow structure in your mind and then get on the page. For me, it required lots of pre-writing and lots of thinking! Here are three tip I can offer for writing a mystery in general:

Know who your villain/culprit is from the get-go. Whether you are a plotter, a pantser, or anything in between, knowing the ending is crucial for a mystery.
Try to include a plot twist after the mystery has been ‘solved’ so that both the reader and the protagonist can discover the real truth at the same time.
Remember your readers are smart! Leave hints and plant them throughout the novel but keep them subtle and organic so they feel naturally a part of the scene.

For Teachers

This would be a great read aloud or small group novel in the classroom, teachers! My suggestion of topics to discuss and research: the impact of humans on wildlife, the culture and the biodiversity of Honduras, and friendship.

Maria, any suggestions you have for ways to use Turtles of the Midnight Moon in the classroom?

I think this novel lends itself nicely to an interdisciplinary unit that includes science, language arts, social studies/geography, and art. Students can research marine ecosystems and sea turtle ecology in science, explore the themes, magical elements, and structure of the eco-mystery novel in language arts, make art sculptures or collages from recycled plastic in art, and perhaps study Central American geography in social studies.

Are you doing school visits related to this book? Tell us more!

Absolutely! I am very excited to do school visits! The target grade range is 4^th-7^th grade, with the sweet spot being 4^th and 5^th grade. I’ll cover topics such as the writing process, how a book gets published, and share a little bit about the novel itself (without spoilers), Honduras, and sea turtles. I will try to deliver a message of hope and empowerment, so that kids leave my presentation knowing that they, too, can have a great impact in their local community’s natural environment.

How can we learn more about you?

My website is www.mariajosefitzgerald.com

I am mostly on Instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/mariajosewrites/

María José Fitzgerald will be giving a copy of Turtles of the Midnight Moon to a lucky reader. Enter the giveaway below for a chance to win a copy. (U.S. addresses only, no P.O. Boxes)

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Articles

Finding 40: How to Discover Critique Partners and Elevate Your Writing

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WNDMG Wednesday – Celebrating – and Fighting for – Queer Joy

Celebrating–and Fighting for–Queer Joy