Category: Uncategorized

Middle Grade Ninja: Book Review: THE MONSTER IN THE MUDBALL by S.P. Gates

First Paragraph(s): Madalitso dragged a chair over to her wardrobe. It took almost all her strength. Shakily she climbed up onto it. Her legs were as thin as sticks. But her eyes blazed with fierce determination. Her lips began to move. “Are you listening,  Zilombo?” she whispered. “I know you can hear me in there.” […]

Middle Grade Ninja: Book of the Week: SARASWATI’S WAY by Monika Schroder

Oh my goodness, Esteemed Reader. Through sheer dumb luck I have managed to land interviews with two of my favorite middle grade authors from my childhood. I’m not going to tell you their names (where’s the fun in that), but you would know them if I did because they’ve each been on the scene long enough to […]

Middle Grade Ninja: Thoughts on the Indiana SCBWI Conference

Greetings and salutations, Esteemed Reader. I am back from a weekend at the Indiana Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators conference. It was a fine event and one I recommend you attend if you get the chance. Really, if you’ve never attended a writer’s conference, you should find one and attend it. I know they’re expensive, […]

Middle Grade Ninja: GUEST POST: “Beyond the Doors: Find Your Avocados!” by David Neilsen

The journey I underwent to get my upcoming novel published is not one I would recommend for other writers. While I am quite pleased and proud of the final result, a deliciously-creepy, humorous Middle Grade adventure called Beyond the Doors, getting to this point was difficult, stressful, and difficult. Did I mention stressful? The story […]

Middle Grade Ninja: GUEST POST: “Hybrid Me” by C. Lee McKenzie

I never thought I’d self-publish a book. Why should I? I’d sold two novels to publishers, I’d found a small press to publish two more. I’d learned the ropes about querying, signing contracts, meeting deadlines and marketing the way the publisher wanted. But here I am officially a hybrid author. Maybe I should go back […]

Middle Grade Ninja: GUEST POST: “Past Classics Still Inspire the Present” by Sally Barlow-Perez

I was about 18 months and 20,000 words into my middle grade novel, The Unintended Runaways, only then, it was called, Lia’s Journey.  It was starting to lag. I worked in the afternoons and my mornings seemed to be getting shorter and both my writing and my psyche seemed uninspired. Furthermore, my weekly library runs –which included […]

Middle Grade Ninja: GUEST POST: “UGH! The Creative Process” by Margaret R. Chiavetta

I didn’t really get into creative writing until after college, when I worked on an island full of monkeys (sorry, I’m not explaining that any further). Most writers boast that they’ve been writing ever since they were kids. Well good for them! I’m sure they are seasoned veterans when it comes to the struggle that […]

Middle Grade Ninja

First Paragraph(s): Woodridge Academy, a private school in Heath Cliff, Pennsylvania, had once been the home of William Heath, after whom the town had been named. Nearly three hundred students now attended school in the four-story, black-and-brown stone building where William Heath had lived from 1891 to 1917, with only his wife and three daughters.  Tamaya […]