Children's Books and the Paranormal by Diane Burton

 I'm not going to ask how it got to be August already. Nope. I'm just wondering where the previous seven months went.

I subscribe to The Passive Voice, A Lawyer's Thoughts on Authors, Self-Publishing, and Traditional Publishing. In his blog, PG (the lawyer who does not give legal advice) often includes snippets from posts by a variety of sources. 

Last week, he included a list of the best-selling children's books of the 20th century. I'm glad it was best-selling, more quantifiable than "best". So many best lists, which always make me wonder who decided something was best. But, I digress.

What surprised me about this list was how many could be listed as paranormal. Children's books. Paranormal. Here's the list so you can see for yourself.

1. The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince), Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1943) 140 Million
2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J. K. Rowling (1997) 120 Million
3. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll (1865) 100 Million
4. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C. S. Lewis (1950) 85 Million
5. The Adventures of Pinocchio, Carlo Collodi (1881) 80 Million
6. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J. K. Rowling (1998) 77 Million
7. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J. K. Rowling (1999) >60 Million
8. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J. K. Rowling (2000) >60 Million
9. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J. K. Rowling (2003) >60 Million
10. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, J. K. Rowling (2005) >60 Million
11. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J. K. Rowling (2007) >60 Million
12. Heidi, Johanna Spyri (1880) ~50 Million
13. Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery (1908) ~50 Million
14. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell (1877) ~50 Million
15. Charlotte’s Web, E. B. White (1971) ~50 Million
16. The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter (1902) 45 Million
17. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle (1969) 43 Million
18. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame (1908) ~25 Million
19. Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak (1963) ~20 Million
20. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl (1964) ~20 Million

Link to the rest at InfoPlease

I've read 15 out of the 20. As a girl, I read Anne of Green Gables. I read Charlotte's Web, Where the Wild Things Are, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to my students. Who hasn't read The Wind in the Willows or The Very Hungry Caterpillar to their children or grandchildren?

Who's surprised that the Harry Potter books are on this list? Not me, that's for sure. 

I love the fact that so many books, geared to children, contain elements of magic, other worldly, fantasy. Appeal to the imagination, make kids wonder, stretch their minds. When I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, I didn't know what paranormal was. I just knew C.S. Lewis had created a magical place. (My son gave me the whole set of audio books, so I've "read" the end. No spoilers here, but what a surprise.) 

The range of release dates for these books also surprised me--1865 to 2007. Not just recent releases. Some books have weathered the test of time. My grandmother and mother read Anne of Green Gables. My mother-in-law collected Beswick china Beatrix Potter characters. I just saw the movie about her life. So interesting.

When we write for children (of any age), we need to respect their intelligence. No talking down to them. That's a real turnoff. At the same time, we need to include elements so our readers can identify with the characters. We want to challenge their reading ability without making it so difficult they give up. Most of all, we need to challenge their imagination. 

My oldest grandchildren are fifteen and almost 13. They devour books. It was a disappointment for them that they couldn't read my books. Maybe in a few more years. 😊  Since our family are die-hard Star Wars fans, I knew if I wrote a story for them it had to be in space. Rescuing Mara's Father is a space adventure for middle school and up.

Have you written a book geared to children? Or young adult? What was the biggest challenge?

Adventure Books for Kids by Diane Burton

 Where were all the great adventure books for kids when we were growing up? I’m talking about books for the 10-14 year old reader. I’m talking about stories we could have identified with when we were that age. A difficult age. Not really a child but not an adult. There have always been lots of stories for little kids. What happened to the interesting books when we were in fifth through ninth grades?

 The adults in our lives told us to read or gave us books like Robinson Crusoe, Robin Hood, Little Women—classics that were written long before our time and in a manner that required so much concentration we lost sight of the story. Where were the books written in our time? Of all the books I read during the middle grades the only ones that I remember were stories about teen girls in early Michigan by Elizabeth Howard, like Peddlar’s Girl and North Winds Blow Free.

 Where were the Harry Potters, the Katniss Everdeens, the Percy Jacksons, the Gallagher Girls? Today’s books have characters who act and sound like contemporary kids. They have fantastic adventures. Their lives have at least a touch of reality that the reader can identify with. More than anything, though, I think it’s the voice in which the stories are written that captures the reader’s attention. The classics were written in the style of their time—the 1800s. They weren’t classics then. They were just good stories. Then.

 I am fascinated by all the books available for kids today. How to choose what to read next must be a problem for them. Maybe an interested teacher or librarian who knows a kid well enough will recommend one—the way the bookmobile librarian did for me with the Elizabeth Howard books. More likely, it’s one of their friends saying, “Hey, you gotta read this.”

 My older grandchildren (14 & 11) are voracious readers. Naturally, when they learned I’m a writer, they wanted to read my books. Not for a while, their mom and I said. So, I decided to write an adventure story for them. And, since they are Star Wars fans, I made it a science fiction adventure. That’s how Rescuing Mara’s Father came about. To separate it from my adult fiction, I wrote it as D.M. Burton.

 

RESCUING MARA’S FATHER

A Middle Grade Science Fiction Adventure

 

Blurb:

Her father is gone! Taken by the Queen of Compara’s agents. Mara has to rescue him before the Queen tortures and kills him.

Instead of the kind, loving father she’s always known, he’s become demanding, critical, with impossible expectations—not just as Father but also as the only teacher in their frontier outpost. Mara would rather scoop zircan poop than listen to another boring lecture about governments on Central Planets. Give her a starship engine to take apart or, better yet, fly, and she’s happy. Now, he’s gone.

Never mind, they’ve had a rocky road lately.

Never mind, Father promised she could go off planet to Tech Institute next month when she turns fifteen, where she’ll learn to fly starships.

Never mind, she ran away because she’s furious with him because he reneged on that promise. Father is her only parent. She has to save him.

Along with her best friend, eleven-year-old Jako, and his brother 15-year-old Lukus, Mara sets off to find her father. Her mentor, old spaceport mechanic, seems to know why the Queen captured Father. In fact, he seems to know her father well. But, does he tell her everything? Of course not. He dribbles out info like a mush-eating baby. Worse, he indicates he’ll be leaving them soon. And Lukus can’t wait to get off our planet. Mara’s afraid they will all leave, and she’ll be on her own. Despite her fears, Mara has to rescue her father.

 

Excerpt: 

“There you go again.” I ignore Father’s startled look. “Why does everything have to be so hard? You used to make learning fun.”

“You were a child then. You are almost an adult. You must try harder.”

“I do try. It’s boring. Why can’t you teach interesting stuff like Basco does? He doesn’t lecture me. He doesn’t tell me I’m not good enough.”

A pained look crosses Father’s face. “That is different. When you work with him at spaceport, you work with your hands. I am trying to teach you to think, to analyze, to make—”

“What difference does it make now? I’m going to the Tech in three tendays.”

He takes a deep breath. “I know you have been looking forward to going—”

No. He wouldn’t. “Don’t you tell me I can’t go.”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean it.” I fist my hands on my hips. “You are not going to tell me I can’t go. You can’t. I’ll be fifteen in three tendays. I’m going.” We’ve had a lot of arguments, but I’ve never defied him before.

“You may be old enough to enroll in the Institute. You still need parental approval.” He lets that sink in.

I’m stunned speechless. Not for long. “You wouldn’t. You wouldn’t punish me like that.”

“Mara, you must obey me on this. You must stay here. You will pay attention in class. You will apply yourself.”

“Like Perfect Lukus? Maybe you wish he was your son instead of a stupid girl like me.”

His eyes widen. “Mara.”

My eyes burn. I’m going to cry, like a stupid girl. “I can’t believe you would forbid me to go to Tech just because I’m not a perfect student in your stupid class. You don’t love me. I’m probably not even your real kid.”

My words hang between us. My chest heaves. I clench my teeth, so I don’t start bawling. I can’t believe he won’t let me go to Tech. Worse, I can’t believe I blurted out the horrible thought that has been festering in the darkest corner of my mind for several tendays.

I wait for him to tell me I’m wrong. That he does love me. That I am his child.

Father slumps into the chair I abandoned. I’ve never seen such a look on his face. Like he’s been kicked in the stomach by a hican. For a sec, before he sat, I thought I saw something else in his eyes. Guilt? Couldn’t have been. He doesn’t care enough to feel guilty about forbidding me go to Tech.

I’m ashamed of my outburst, ashamed that I revealed my worst fear—the fear that he isn’t my real father. We’ve argued before, but I always kept my fear a secret. Now, he knows. I can’t bear to look at him, to see reproach in his eyes. I race into my bedroom and slam the door. I force myself not to throw myself on my bed and cry.

Instead, I lean against the door and try to control the anger I just spewed in the kitchen, anger still rising up inside me. Anger at myself for letting my temper get the best of me. Anger at Father for not letting me go to Tech. Anger at him for not denying my accusation, for not taking me in his arms and saying, “Of course, I love you. Of course, you are my child.”

Anger at him for not coming after me.

If he did come, he would probably tell me again how I don’t try, how I don’t measure up. I’m not sticking around for another lecture. I grab my jacket. My trousers are heavy, but the shirt won’t be enough in the chilly evening. I search under my bed for my emergency pack—the one Father insists I keep ready at all times, ever since the riots. I grab it and slip out the window. Automatically, I close it behind me so critters can’t get in. I don’t have a plan. I just know I don’t want to see Father for a while.

 Amazon ~ Amazon UK ~ Kobo ~ B&N ~ Smashwords

 

How I envy kids the wealth of books available today, the adventures they can have by reading. What books do you remember from your pre-teen/teen years?

 

World Building: Government by Diane Burton

Did you have a good weekend? Did you celebrate Independence Day (July 4th) or Canada Day (July 1st)? 

credit: Shutterstock

I grew up in a Detroit suburb, so Canada didn’t seem like a separate country. They spoke English, the signs were in English. (Only later, the signs were in French, too.) We easily drove across the Ambassador Bridge or through the tunnel where we were asked a few questions, like how long are you staying, where are you going? (This was all pre-9/11.) My sisters and I often went shopping for the day. In fact, I got my wedding crystal in a china shop there.

This time of year, our family often drove over to Windsor for the fireworks that took place on the Detroit River as a joint celebration. 

As a youngster, I assumed our governments were the same. Until the day Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip came to Windsor. Maybe that’s when I realized our governments were different. We had a president and they had a queen, along with a prime minister.

In writing science fiction stories, I need to figure out how the worlds in which my characters lived are governed. I’m sort of a pantser. I get an idea, and I start writing. I keep writing until something stops me, and I have to plot or need to do research or figure out where in the universe I am. 

When I wrote the first book in the Outer Rim series, The Pilot, I had a lot to figure out: where does the story take place; if it’s a planet, where is that planet in relation to others; are those planets connected by a government; what type, etc. How important is that? Does it affect the characters? Once I worked all that out for the first book, the others came much easier—one of the reasons I love writing series.

The author usually knows much more than s/he puts in the book. Think of an iceberg. The story only contains that which appears above the waterline, whereas the author knows everything.

In the Outer Rim series, the stories take place, mostly, out on the frontier of space. This is what I write at the beginning of each book in the series:

The Rim is the home of stout-hearted individuals. Pioneers eager to make their fortunes. Nonconformists who want to be left alone. Escapees from the establishment or from the law. People who reinvent themselves with new names and life histories. From primitive settlements to established colonies to cities, the Rim is the place of fantasies and dreams.

So, if these people wanted to escape the establishment, I needed to figure out what that establishment was. I decided there would be a central government that ruled a Coalition of Planets. I thought of concentric circles spreading out from the main planet where the central government was located.

As the writer, I needed to know how that government worked. My readers only needed to know what affected the characters. In The Pilot, the male protagonist’s (Trevarr) mother is the president of the Coalition of Planets. When that fact is revealed, I didn’t need to give a history lesson on the Central Government. Readers know what a president is. That was enough, at that time in the story. Later, I alluded to the fact that his father had been Chief Representative. That tells the reader the Coalition of Planets were ruled by a representative government with a president. Again, that was enough.

I knew more, of course, but I try to be scarce with details that smart readers can figure out. As the occasion warrants, I dribble out enough details so my readers aren’t lost, and not too much that their eyes glaze over.

In an ironic twist to what I just wrote, my middle grade science fiction adventure, Rescuing Mara's Father, begins in school with a lecture on different forms of government. The female protagonist, Mara, is bored out of her mind and shows it. 😊

A government is only one small part of world building. Have fun developing your world.

An Author’s “Bible” by Diane Burton

I’m not sure how the term “bible” became connected to writing a series of stories. I certainly don’t mean to be irreverent.

When writing a series of connected stories, how do you keep the details straight? Our own Nancy Gideon is now writing the 15^th book in her By Moonlight series. I used to think writing the 3^rd or 4^th in a series was hard. But the 15^th?

Writers who use Scrivener have a built-in method of handling details. I tried Scrivener, but this MS Word girl found it too hard to change. You know what they say about old dogs and new tricks. 😊

My first book Switched was a standalone. At first. But readers asked what happened next. Who am I to ignore readers? That’s when I learned how to note all those pesky details that sharp-eyed readers will catch if you don’t get them right. For instance, the spelling of names. Switched is a science fiction romance. The alien names are made up. (BTW, make sure you can pronounce those made-up names, too.)

While writing Switched, Too, the 2^nd book in the series, I had to keep going back to the 1^st book for the details. What a pain. Being a Word girl, I opened a new document and called it “details.” (Real original, right?) With Switched open, I noted each detail after the character’s name. (Maybe I should have done one of those character charts.)

Then, I needed to note places—all that world-building stuff. What planet did that character come from? Are people from the planet Tegror called Tegrors or Tegrorians?

What about methods of travel? Food, animals, plants? All part of world-building that needed to be written down and then easily found when needed.

I learned the hard way to keep track of details as I wrote the story, not (like Switched) after completion. Before starting a new story, I open a “details” document—whether it’s part of a series or not. Like my middle grade science fiction adventure. Since I already built a world in my Outer Rim series, I used that world—just set the book on a different planet.

For my cozy mystery series (Alex O’Hara novels), I tried using a spreadsheet (Excel). It’s easier to locate characters, but I feel confined by the small squares. Until I come up with a better method, I'll keep using a Word doc for my details.

How do you keep details straight?

You can find my books on Amazon.

BFFs, Buddies, & Pals by Diane Burton #Giveaway

I love "buddy" movies. Lethal Weapon, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Top Gun. The camaraderie between friends makes a story so much better. Even under life and death circumstances, buddies lighten the scene with humor.

Early in my writing career, I learned about Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey, based on Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey. The steps were sort of what I was doing subconsciously. One of steps the hero takes on her quest is having a buddy (or buddies) to go along on the journey.

My favorite quote in the movie The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is when Sam says to Frodo, “I can't carry it (the ring) for you... but I can carry you!” That’s what friends do—whatever it takes to help his/her friend.

When I wrote Rescuing Mara’s Father, I knew Mara needed help on her quest to find her father. She gets it from her mentor, Basco, an old, spaceport mechanic. But mentors don’t go the whole way with the hero. Friends do. Mara’s BFF is Jako, an 11-year-old boy. Though he’s four years younger than her, he’s a faithful friend. He declares he’s going with her, even when his older brother, Lukus, demands he stay with him. When he can’t convince Jako to stay, Lukus goes along, too. Lukus has his own reason to accompany Mara, but it isn’t to save her father.

Together, the three friends embark on the journey. Mara’s always been jealous of the way her father favors Lukus, the perfect student. Gradually, she sees a different side of him. She understands why he has to learn as much as he can; why he takes care of Jako. By the end of the story, their friendship is strong. Steadfast Jako never wavers in his loyalty to Mara.

Friends are important in our lives. My husband has known his best friend since eighth grade. My son’s best friends were made in high school. My friendships don’t go back that far. But I do remember my best friend in high school and how much fun we had writing stories. In that period of emotional highs and lows (middle and high school), having a friend you can tell everything to makes it easier.

As I (sort of) plotted this story, I knew Mara would have friends. They start out the journey with her and are there with her at the end. 

What do you remember about friendships in middle and high school?

RESCUING MARA’S FATHER

A Middle Grade Science Fiction Adventure

3 friends, a hidden starship, a quest

Blurb:

Her father is gone! Taken by the Queen of Compara’s agents. Mara has to rescue him before the Queen tortures and kills him.

Instead of the kind, loving father she’s always known, he’s become demanding, critical, with impossible expectations—not just as Father but also as the only teacher in their frontier outpost. Mara would rather scoop zircan poop than listen to another boring lecture about governments on Central Planets. Give her a starship engine to take apart or, better yet, fly, and she’s happy. Now, he’s gone.

Never mind, they’ve had a rocky road lately.

Never mind, Father promised she could go off planet to Tech Institute next month when she turns fifteen, where she’ll learn to fly starships.

Never mind, she ran away because she’s furious with him because he reneged on that promise. Father is her only parent. She has to save him.

Along with her best friend, eleven-year-old Jako, and his brother 15-year-old Lukus, Mara sets off to find her father. Her mentor, old spaceport mechanic, seems to know why the Queen captured Father. In fact, he seems to know her father well. But, does he tell her everything? Of course not. He dribbles out info like a mush-eating baby. Worse, he indicates he’ll be leaving them soon. And Lukus can’t wait to get off their planet. Mara’s afraid they will all leave, and she’ll be on her own. Despite her fears, Mara has to rescue her father.

Excerpt:

“There you are!” Jako kneels next to me, his urgent voice and torchlight in my eyes wake me up.

I gasp, my heart racing. I must have fallen asleep. I was dreaming about being chased.

“I’ve been looking all over for you!” He lowers his torch and scoots back.

As I sit up, I shove my hair out of my eyes. My braid came undone while I was sleeping. Automatically, I reach up and use my fingers to comb through my long hair. Jako is breathing hard and heat rises off his small body.

“Why were you looking for me?” I ask as I rebraid my hair.

“I was afraid they got you, too.” He gasps for breath. “I didn’t see you when they took him on board, so I ran back to your house. The Dunpus brothers were laughing about how the goons hauled you away, screaming and crying. I knew they were lying. You wouldn’t cry.” His eyes grow wide. “You should’ve seen their ship, Mara. It was so cool. It was a—”

“Hold on. Took who?”

“Isn’t that why you came up here? To get away from them?”

“Them who?” I might be awake, but my mind is still muzzy. “Slow down. You aren’t making any sense.”

Jako grabs my arm. “Your father, Mara. Coalition goons arrested your father.”

RESCUING MARA’S FATHER is available

as an ebook:  Amazon ~ Amazon UK ~ Kobo ~ B&N ~ Smashwords

in print:  Amazon

  

GIVEAWAY

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Many chances to win.

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Note: you probably notice my name on this book is different. Because I wanted to keep my adult fiction separate from children's fiction, I chose to write under my initials, D.M. Burton.

Using Pinterest by Diane Burton

First, an apology to regular readers. My normal dates to blog are the 1^st and 13^th of the month. Lately, my memory is like a sieve. February 13^th rolled around, and it didn’t even occur to me that I needed to post. Maybe I could blame the Polar Vortex for my memory loss. Anyway, here’s my make-up post.

In 2010 when I returned to writing after a long hiatus (family issues), I discovered this thing called social media and that I was supposed to use it to advance my career. I didn’t know Facebook from MySpace, Twitter from Triberr. With the help of friends, I learned to use Facebook—besides looking pictures of nieces’ and nephews’ kids. An author friend wrote my tweet. I learn best by seeing how something is done. One bit of social media, though, eluded me.

Pinterest

Back in the old days (pre-social media), I’d read about writers using poster boards and cutting out pictures from magazines then pinning them to the boards. Not my thing. I had too much to do getting back into the writing game. I didn’t have time to look through magazines, especially since I discontinued most of my subscriptions because I didn’t have time to read them. Someone mentioned Pinterest, that it was sort of like those poster boards. Still, I didn’t see how I would use it . . . until I read an online article or maybe a post on a Yahoo group. (Remember how I mentioned my mind is a sieve? I don’t remember. Sorry.)

That changed everything.

I could use Pinterest for my writing. I read some authors have a board titled “inspiration for” the name of a book. Why not try it? Since my first books were science fiction romances, I searched for sci-fi “pins.” Wow. That was fun. Then I discovered Pinterest sends pins (and boards) that I might be interested in, based on what I’d pinned. Double wow! I didn’t have to search.

Technically, those early pins weren’t inspirations, rather they were descriptions of my book. For instance, Switched, my first published book, takes place on a farm in Michigan. I found pins of farms, interiors and exteriors. Jessie, the heroine, is beamed aboard a starship, so I found pins of starships. The Hitchcock movie Vertigo was inspiration for one of the last scenes in the book. I grabbed the movie poster pin. More fun.

With each book, I looked for pins that represented details, loaded the cover—with a link to Amazon—and spent hours searching for more pins. Once I had all my published books and their associated pins loaded, I started on works-in-progress. Now I really had inspirations. I’m not very good at descriptions. My forte is dialogue. In fact, my first drafts look more like screenplays with dialogue and stage directions. With the pins I’d found of Victorian houses, I could better describe the house in Romance Rekindled.

Of course, I couldn’t resist personal items, like recipes (never mind I rarely cook), ideas for homes (at the time we were looking for a new house), favorite movies and books, vacation ideas, travel, etc. I was really getting into this. The more I used Pinterest the more ideas I came up with. I have a board labeled “Authors On My Blog” that include the author’s photo and a link to their last post on my blog. (This is one board I’m behind on.)

The first time an interviewer asked, if my book was made into a movie, who would play my characters, I drew a blank. I didn’t know current actors. When I visualized my characters, they were actors from the 1970s and 1980s. Okay, maybe a little later. That’s when I created the board “Possible Characters for my books.” I searched for current actors. As soon as I saw a photo of Kaylee (Jewel Straite) from Firefly, I immediately thought of Jessie in Switched. After I saw Chris Pine in Guardians of the Galaxy, I saw him as Scott, the hero in Switched, Too.

Pinterest can suck up a lot of time. No other social media does that for me. I get started then I can’t stop. LOL Hubs often reminds me of ROI (return on investment) when I spend time on certain things. I have to ask myself how am I advancing my career when I spend time on Pinterest. I see at least two things that my time on Pinterest returns to my writing career. One, I can better visualize details in my WIPs. Two, it’s advertising for my books. When readers accidentally, or on purpose, happen across my inspiration board, I hope they find the pins so intriguing they’ll buy the book. Or, if they’ve bought it, they’ll see what I see in it.

I created most of the “Inspiration For…” boards after publication. I hope readers enjoy seeing how I visualized my story. Now, as I write a new story, I really do go to Pinterest for inspiration. My newest book, coming next month, is Rescuing Mara’s Father, a middle grade science fiction adventure. I don’t have very many pins for that board yet. Working on it.

Much of what I learned in using Pinterest came from other authors. I was so intrigued by the banner at the top of Maureen L. Bonatch’s site that I asked how she created it. She told me about Pinterest for Business. I’m sure I don’t use that to the fullest capacity. Instead, I feel like the toddler just learning to walk. The key word in that last sentence is learning. Despite my mentioning a toddler, many days I feel like an old dog. Fortunately, this old dog is open to new ideas. Pinterest opened up a whole new world for me. I hope it does for you, too. If you want to see what I’ve done, here’s the link to my site: Diane Burton, Author.

Do you use Pinterest? In the comments, please share something you’ve learned and include a link to your site. Thanks.

How RESCUING MARA'S FATHER, a science fiction adventure, Came About #sf #MG by Diane Burton

I love reading authors' accounts of how a story came about, what inspired them to write that story. Wish I could tell you how Rescuing Mara's Father came about. Like many of my stories, I'm sure my Muse whispered in my ear while I was in that twilight between sleep and awake. She does stuff like that.

I didn't intend to write a children's book. Until I shared it with my daughter (a middle-school teacher), I thought I was writing a Young Adult novel. She said, no, it's middle grade (ages 9 -12). Huh? Groan. I didn't know anything about MG stories. 

So off I went online to read samples of MG books. Holy smoke! She was right. The sound, the adventure, the characters. Middle Grade. I did more research, looking at other stories that my grandkids (ages 11 and 9) read. Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series. J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter. Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. Say what? The Hobbit? 

That's when it hit me. When I taught sixth grade, I read A Wrinkle in Time and The Hobbit to my students. (If my teaching days weren't so far behind me, I would've read Riordan's books to those kids.) I've read the Percy Jackson series, I loved the Harry Potter books. I did know MG stories.

As I reread Rescuing Mara's Father, in preparation to sending it off to my editor, I recognized the elements that made it a story that would appeal to that age group. The ages of the characters (16, 15, 11), friendships, camaraderie, high stakes, a life-death adventure. I'd instinctively written a Middle Grade story. 

At last, a book my older grandkids could read. They know I'm a writer. They've "approved" my covers. They also know they have to be older to read my books. Now, they won't have to wait so long.

Because Rescuing Mara's Father is still a work-in-progress, here's the tentative blurb:

My father is gone! Taken by the Queen of Compara’s agents. I have to rescue him before the Queen tortures and kills him.

Never mind, we’ve had a rocky road lately. Instead of the kind, loving father I’ve always known, he’s become demanding, critical, with impossible expectations—not just as Father but also as the only teacher in our frontier outpost. I’d rather scoop zircan poop than listen to another boring lecture about governments on Central Planets. Give me a starship engine to take apart or, better yet, fly, and I’m happy.

Never mind, Father promised I could go off planet to Tech Institute next month when I turn fifteen, where I’ll learn to fly starships.

Never mind, I ran away because I’m furious with him for reneging on that promise. Father is my only parent. I have to save him.

Every weekend, I share snippets from Rescuing Mara's Father with the Weekend Writing Warriors. Pop on over to my blog tomorrow to read the next snippet.

SMART Goals for 2019 by Diane Burton

On January 1^st, I posted about setting SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely.

In the comments here and on my post for Insecure WritersSupport Group, several people mentioned breaking down big projects into smaller more manageable goals. Mind you, sometimes parts of our goals depend on someone else. For my main goals, I have to depend on the time beta readers, my editor, and cover designer can get back to me.

So, as promised in my post, I’ve written out my SMART goals for this year.

Goal #1: Publish Rescuing Mara’s Father by March 31, 2019.

·         Final review and edit manuscript by Jan. 10

·         Contact cover designer by Jan. 15

·         Submit to beta readers by Jan. 20

·         Revise returned ms by Jan 30

·         Send to editor by Feb 5

·         Set up pre-order by Feb 28

·         Revise edited ms by Mar 15

·         Format ms for e-book and print book by Mar 24

·         Upload final ms by Mar 25

·         Rescuing Mara’s Father available for purchase on Mar 31

Goal #2: Develop promo plan by Mar 1

·         Promote Rescuing Mara’s Father on a minimum of 10 blogs by April 30, 2019

·         Set up blog tour by Mar 30

·         Write 10 blog posts by Mar 10

·         ???

Goal #3: Publish The Spy by Aug 15

·         (same breakdown with smaller goals as above)

Goal #4: Develop promotion plan for The Spy by July 15

Goal #5: Publish the 4^th Alex O’Hara novel by Dec 15

As you can see, I’ve taken big goals and broken them down into smaller ones. Some items overlap, and I can do certain steps during “down” time (e.g., when the beta readers and the editor have the manuscript. As I see what promo I need to do for Rescuing Mara’s Father, I’ll use what works for the other works. Or, I’ll try other methods.

Am I being too ambitious? I’ve never published three full-length novels in one year. But, Rescuing Mara’s Father is completed and revised/edited. The Spy is half-written, and the 4^th Alex O’Hara mystery needs 50k words. I think I have a shot at this.

Then again, maybe I’m expecting too much of myself. I need balance in my life. I have a family, grandchildren who need babysitting and/or would like my presence at their sports’ games and dance recitals. Even though Hubs is really understanding, he needs some of my time. We have vacations planned, vacations where it’s understood I leave the laptop home, willingly. LOL I need to refill that creative well with reading, movies, and other experiences.

Last April, I joined Weight Watchers. I lost 28 pounds by August. Then, I got negligent and, even though I attend meetings each week, I've gained back 8 of those pounds. I’m sure you’ve all heard of the yo-yo effect. I lose two, gain back one, or gain three, lose one, etc. If I let it, those pounds will continue to creep back on. With the new year, I’m determined to get back on track. So, here's my personal goal: I will lose 20 more pounds by April 1^st. No fooling. 😊

I hope you have your goals for 2019 prepared. If my example helps, great. But I’m sure you’ve figured out a better way to kick off your career this year. Please share.

Good luck.