For Writers

Writers’ Gratitude

By on November 25, 2022   /   Articles, For Writers, Writing  

Today we’d like to share what we are grateful for as children’s writers. So, I asked the Mixed-Up Files contributors to write a little about what they are thankful for as authors. Hope you enjoy our thoughts.

 

“I’m thankful for the kidlit community. I’ve been in other writing communities and kidlit creators are the best. They’re like family, supporting each other and encouraging. We have a higher purpose, in creating books that are going to make children readers for life, and I’m thankful that we do that together.”

—Samantha M Clark, author of ARROW and the GEMSTONE DRAGONS books

 

Image: Tarpon Springs Public Library, Tarpon Springs, FL via tarponlibrary.org

I’m grateful for…. public libraries
My most powerful—and most wonderful—memories around books are thanks to public libraries.
For years, each Saturday, my mother and I would walk to the public library near our apartment, climb the

stairs to the children’s section on the second floor, and I’d pick out a stack of books to read for the week. Like the greatest shopping trip ever, where the only limiting factor was how much we could carry. Then there was that one long, hot, un-airconditioned summer in Florida, where I lived with my father, where I worked through the local library’s very small “YA” shelf of books. I stumbled over a novel I’d never heard of before, S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, my favorite book of my middle-grade reading years by a mile.

Reading has been a constant companion and source of joy and comfort in my life. So thank you, libraries and librarians, for all that you do for your communities.
“When my last MG manuscript failed to garner the attention (I thought) it deserved, I fell into a dark hole of despair. Then I did what many writers do when faced with existential burnout. I stopped writing.
But then, last summer, while I clearing out my mom’s apartment, I found a black garbage bag inside a kitchen drawer. I peeked inside and discovered a trove of letters. My letters—hundreds of them—written to my parents from sleepaway camp. Naturally, I made myself comfortable and started reading.
Hours later, I knew I had found the inspiration for my next book. I didn’t know what the book would be about at this point, but I knew I had some first-rate material. I grabbed my notebook and started writing.
Four months later, I had a first draft. I sent it to my agent, who responded: “Whenever a burned-out writer gets their second wind and writes a great novel, an angel gets their wings.” 
My agent’s words made me glow from within. I found my second wind—and I’m grateful for it, wherever it may lead me.”
—Melissa Roske
“I’m grateful to be able to write while cuddling a kitty on my lap and looking at beautiful trees.  It may sound simple, but the deep peace of this space helps free my
mind to create.”

—Heather Murphy Capps

 

 

 

 

 

“I’m grateful for amazing teachers like Ms. Klipfel who encourage and inspire their kids to use STEMbooks to explore their imagination!  Go STEM/STEAM!”
—Jennifer Swanson
“I’m so grateful for all the support my debut novel Honey and Me is receiving from friends, family, the wider communities I’m a part of and the ones I didn’t even know about. Thank you!”
—Meira Drazin

Image: Trisha Speed Shaskan,  trishaspeedshaskan.com

 

 

“I’m grateful for book events with local and national authors. They give me a reason to celebrate books, meet and talk with local authors, and discover new authors and their books. It’s inspiring and fills me with motivation to be surrounded by such talented writers.”

—Karen Latchana Kenney
We are also all thankful for YOU—our wonderful readers!
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All About Books: An Interview with Middle School Librarian Erin Wyatt

By on November 23, 2022   /   Articles, For Writers  

I thought it would be helpful to readers to get an inside perspective on middle grade books. What are middle schoolers reading? What holes are there in the market? And, with the holidays coming, what should you consider when buying a middle schooler a book as a gift? I wanted to utilize a great source to answer my questions: a middle-school librarian! Erin Wyatt is not only the librarian of my own children’s school here in Illinois, but we both used to work at the same school in our previous lives. I knew she could offer great insight to my questions for writers, parents, and teachers!

Hi Erin! I’m excited to pick your brain. Tell us a little about your background as a librarian and learning center director for a middle school.

I started my career in education as a high school English and social studies teacher where I spent four years in the classroom. I went to library school and have been working as a middle school librarian ever since. I have an MLIS (Masters of Library and Information Science) from Dominican University and a Ph.D. in information science from the University of North Texas. This is year 24 of my time working in libraries. It’s hard to believe it has been so many years. Being a school librarian is an amazing job!

 

What are the typical struggles middle schoolers have when choosing a book?

I think a lot of the struggles are the same for lots of people, kids and adults alike.

There are so many of choices of books that sometimes it proves an obstacle. At Highland, we’ve organized books by genre to make the library more browsable, utilized displays and rotating dynamic, face out shelving, and do lots of recommended reads.

There is sometimes a reluctance to try something new and a gravitation to the comfort of the familiar. Creating opportunities for students to recommend books to each other and doing things like low risk book tasting activities where students just spend a minute or two exploring a book to see if it is one they’d want to read can help connect students with new books and authors. During these types of activities students build their criteria to see what they are looking for in a book and strategies for looking at a book to see if it matches what they want and need in a read at that moment.

 

What is the most popular genre in your school’s library?

The most popular format the last few years has been graphic novels. Graphics are written in every genre, and there has been a lot of student demand for all kinds of graphics including nonfiction and manga.

The last couple years, there’s been a rise of popularity in students seeking out scary stories and mysteries. But certainly there is readership among all genres and my colleagues in the English Language Arts department encourage their students to read widely.

 

What books are very popular with this age group (at least at your library)?

I noticed the other day that our state readers’ choice shelves were nearly bare of the multiple copies the library owns of the books on the Readers’ Choice Lists for the state of Illinois. At Highland, we include the Illinois Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award Program nominees for grades 4-8, some of the books from the Bluestem list for readers in grades 3-5, and the Lincoln list for grades 9-12 in our yearly Readers’ Choice offerings.

When books are made into TV shows and movies, there is usually been a bump in demand. That’s certainly been the case this year for The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han.

I looked at our top 50 books circulated so far this year to help respond to this question. This year we’ve seen a Hunger Games resurgence. Certain authors have been popular like Kwame Alexander, Alan Gratz, Barbara Dee, and Stuart Gibbs.

Our all school read this fall was House Arrest by K.A. Holt. We were lucky enough to have Ms. Holt do an author visit. That is always impactful in terms of readers’ gravitating to an author’s books that they’ve had a chance to meet.

 

What is a book you often suggest?

Oh, this is a tough one as so much often depends on the reader too!

New Kid by Jerry Craft

Front Desk by Kelly Yang

Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman was a wow from me from last year. Plus it is a genre (historical fiction) that I don’t always gravitate toward.

Legend by Marie Lu

Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt

I could really go on and on…

 

FOR WRITERS

What holes do you feel are still in the middle school market? 

There are so many great options being published. However, working in a middle school and thinking about 7thand 8th grader readers, it seems like there is a gap of books for those readers who are upper middle grade or lower YA.

As I try to build an inclusive collection of diverse books, there is an increasing number of stories from different perspectives and experiences in realistic fiction. However, in genre fiction (like fantasy, scifi, mystery, thriller), there is a need for more stories being published with characters who are Black, Indigenous, People of Color, LGBTQ+, disabled and the need for more stories in these genres being written by authors from historically marginalized groups.

 

What do you consider when looking at middle-grade books to purchase for your school library?

Lots of factors. First I consider the students at my school and the potential readers of the books. I think about the connection to other books and the ways those move or don’t move off the library shelves. I consider the subject, genre, and who’s voice is featured in the book. I think about the curriculum at the school. I look at book reviews and listen to student requests. Budget is also a factor because there are a finite number of resources to build and maintain our library collection.

 

When you’re reading through a middle-grade novel, is there anything that writers do that you feel may be a turn-off to middle schoolers? 

In book clubs, students often comment about the way the characters talk. When the voice doesn’t ring true to them, that’s usually seen as a problem with the book.

For many student readers short chapters and use of cliff-hangers are a hit to make them pick up a book and keep reading.

 

FOR PARENTS

How can parents help children who say they don’t like to read?

Read together and carve out time for reading, for both the parents and children. Having reading role models is important. Reading out loud or listening to books is a way to have that reading time together and create that culture and habit of reading in your family.

Having parents know and believe that listening to books IS reading. Graphic novels are REAL books. For some readers, these things might grow and sustain their interest in books and stories.

Parents can also help their students discover stories! They can connect to libraries and give their children access to materials to read whether those are physical books and reading material or linking to online resources.

 

I know as a parent, if I see a sports-related book, I assume my sporty son will like it, which, of course, isn’t the case. With the holidays approaching (books make great gifts!), any tips for picking out a book for someone else?

Books do make great gifts! We want to share stories that moved us with other people. I think it is so powerful when giving a book to someone to tell them why I gave that specific title to them.

When recommending books to people I think about ways to match their interests and what I know about them as readers to books by considering genre, style of writing, voice, format, main character, writer, and (for some) length. When buying books as gifts, I also consult gift guides, best of lists, and the work of other book people who share recommendations on social media or online.

 

FOR TEACHERS

Any suggestions for teachers wanting to bulk up their classroom libraries?

Talk to your librarian and build up that partnership! Both the classroom library, the school library, and the public library are important places for young readers to encounter books.

I would encourage teachers to think about voices that are not represented in their classroom libraries and make sure that all students in their classroom can see themselves in stories on the shelves.

 

Anything else you’d like to share with us?

In our recent author visit, I felt rockstar adjacent walking the halls with our visiting author. Thanks for writing and sharing your stories. It has an impact on your readers.

 

Thanks, Erin! It was really helpful to hear your answers as a writer, a teacher, AND a parent! (And I will definitely be putting a note on books I give as gifts, sharing why I thought it would be the perfect book.)

If you’d like to learn more about Erin and her library, check her out on Twitter:

Highland Middle School Library – @hlcD70

Erin Wyatt – @ejdwyatt

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Retreating

By on October 19, 2022   /   Articles, For Writers, Writing  

A few years ago I was awarded a Residency from Playa, Summer Lake. Cue the universe. First, in the form of a wild fire
that postponed my much anticipated Residency for one year. Then, Covid, which is still postponing pretty much everything. But this month, the stars aligned, and I was able to pack a bag, some food. and my laptop for a much-needed internet-free retreat.

Armed with some wonderful advice from Therese at Writer Unboxed (if you are a writer and aren’t familiar with this blog, be sure to check it out!),
Jen Louden’s The Women’s Retreat Book, and my N95 masks, I set out for the Oregon’s Great Basin to do some much needed healing – of my manuscript, sure, but
also of my soul.

I was not disappointed.

Playa is a haven on Summer Lake – a  desert lake in Lake County, Oregon. The Great Basin landscape is a unique mix of ponds, dry lake bed, and wetlands.

It is magical.

It was the perfect place to rest, repair, and rejuvenate my writer self.

I spent my mornings watching the sun rise, journaling, and writing.

I took long walks. Sometimes I made notes about my novel using my phone’s voice recording app. Sometimes, I just walked.

I sat. (I honestly cannot remember the last time I just sat down and took in the world. It was marvelous).

I read.

I spent a not insignificant amount of time lying on my back on a bench by the pond, looking up through the trees, and feeling like a kid.

I wrote.

I did self-hypnosis.

I watched a hawk hunt, a woodpecker peck, and a flock of goldfinches flutter.

I spent my evenings watching the sun set, journaling, and writing.

I listened to coyotes sing.

I looked at the stars.

I felt my writer self expand. Which is magic in and of itself.

I can’t really articulate the value of my experience. 5 days, solely dedicated to your artistic self is a luxury that not many of us can afford – even in the best of times.
I’m not sure when I will be able to make such time again – let alone spend it in such a magical place.

But if you do get the opportunity to spend some time alone, dedicated to your writing self, I have a few tips to offer – one for each day of my Residency:

1. Be generous with yourself. If you are on fire to write, by all means write. But if your soul is crying out to sit, to wander, to play, to rest, please let yourself do those things. They all fill the writer well. They all count.

2. Bring music. I don’t listen to music at home when I write. But, I brought some with me, just in case. I was so happy I did. I played music off and all all day – when I wrote, when I needed a dance party break, when I did some yoga stretches. I was surprised by how much simple joy it brought.

3. Bring something great to read. I brought two writing craft books and my Kindle. I had borrowed a middle grade novel, some poetry, and a short story collection from the library’s Ebook library before I left. The poetry was great for starting and ending my day. The middle grade provided some nice afternoon reading on the deck and not a small amount of inspiration. I never touched the collection of short stories (sorry Hilary Mantel. I know it’s wonderful and I will read it. May you RIP).

4. Bring some art supplies. I’m not an artist by any means. But I did throw in some old watercolors and some fresh pens before I left just in case. I was glad to have them. I doodled and created some laughably terrible and totally fun watercolors several times during the 5 days. It was surprisingly freeing to just let myself be bad at something and have fun doing it.

5. Bring food, but don’t get too precious about it. (Unless food is really your thing. Then do you). I looked at some retreat tips before I left and so many people mentioned food. Elaborate food. I kept it simple because I didn’t have time to prepare something wonderful. I’m glad I did. It turned out I just didn’t care that much about what I ate. I had toast and fruit most mornings, crackers and cheese, raw vegetables, and salami for lunch most days, and fruit and bread for dinner most evenings. Soup and sandwiches filled in the gaps on other days just fine. I did have a few pastries (nothing special) and some cookies as treats which were nice when I wanted them, and a tiny bottle of Prosecco to acknowledge the experience. One thing I wish I had brought was better coffee. That’s it.

Now that I am home and back to the regular world of laundry and grocery lists and empty cat bowls, I am eager to weave the learning and magic I gained from this Residency into my everyday writing life. I left the Playa with a plan for my current work in progress and for myself. I’m excited to get started on it.

Huge thanks to everyone at Playa who made this possible, with extra thanks to Carrie and Kris for being so gracious and wonderful and accommodating <3

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