Let’s welcome Crystal Allen to the Middle Grade Mixed-Up Files! She’s written five books for middle-graders, including The Magnificent Mya Tibbs series. Join us as she dishes on writing, her career and other fun stuff. Read on!
You were born in a military hospital in Germany. How long did you live in Germany before moving to the States? Yes! My father was in the Army and was stationed for training at an Army base in Kitzingen, Germany. I was only there long enough to be born and ready to travel back to the States.
What are you working on now? I’m working on a paranormal MG story.
What was the inspiration for this story? It’s based on a true story that happened to me while doing a residency at the James Thurber House in Columbus, Ohio. It’s been difficult creating this story for a middle-grade audience, but I won’t give up! 😊
What is your writing process like? I enjoy writing early in the morning, and I always invite my characters to join me! They don’t always come, which makes me have to do more writing exercises or prompts and wait on them! LOL
Some writers tend to be on the introverted side (me, I’m talking about me), and you seem to be pretty extroverted, how/when did you start writing and why? My first memory of writing something significant was when I wrote a list of things I was good at and put it near my teacher’s desk. I was the new kid at school (being a military kid makes you travel and change schools more than you want), and was having trouble making friends. So, I created what ended up being an “about me” doc. Two girls in my class found the list and then asked me if I wanted to play with them! That was huge! (Note: Those two girls got in trouble a lot for being mouthy, rolling their necks when they spoke, and bragging. They may have unintentionally helped me with any sort of introverted issue I had.) LOL
How did you know writing for middle-schoolers was your jam? I kept getting feedback that my characters sounded older than their ages and that the plots were inappropriate for younger elementary school children. So, I upped the ages, and that put my characters in middle school! It worked out great for me and my characters!
Describe your writing space. A hot mess. I clean it, and it stays organized for a few hours before I have papers and pens and highlighters and my phone, a plate of fruit and a coffee cup and a map I tried to draw for a scene…ugh. But I love all of it and wouldn’t change a thing!
What was your experience getting your first book published? It was educating. I was told by a few peers that no one would buy a book about a Black boy who loves to bowl because if publishers were interested, it would already be in the bookstores in other versions. I almost believed that lie. I took my first three chapters to an SCBWI event where Jen Rofe was speaking. She loved the chapters, asked for the entire manuscript, and eventually offered representation. That was back in 2008, and she is still my agent. She took my book to auction, and it sold to HarperCollins. That taught me to always follow my heart, use my gift as it was intended, and don’t listen to the negative chatter.
What was your favorite book from childhood, and why? I was in elementary school, and I ended up living on my grandparents’ farm in Indiana. Before I was smart enough to make that “About Me” list, our school librarian gave me Charlotte’s Web to read. Looking back, I’m sure she gave me that book because I was living on a farm, and she was trying to help me become a reader. Little did she know that I would relate to Fern, the little girl in the book, because she was so much like me—had only one friend, had brothers, and loved animals. I have four copies of Charlotte’s Web in my office, just in case a few grow legs and walk out of my house with my granddaughters. 😊
What do you like to do when not writing? I love to cruise, and I love to cook. Both are very relaxing to me.
What do you hope young readers will take away from your books? I write humor and heartache. They go hand-in-hand. My hope is to give young and older readers an opportunity to see themselves in stories, and to know that life is not perfect, and neither are we.
Bonus question: If you could be any character in a middle-grade book, who would you choose? I think Amari Peters from Amari and the Night Brothers!
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She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Otis College of Art and Design and her BA in Journalism from the University of Southern California. Her early reader, "Juneteenth," part of the "Robin Hill School" series (Simon & Schuster '26) is out now.
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