Middle Grade Ninja

Max Brallier and I discuss the phenomenon of his series THE LAST KIDS ON EARTH, which has spawned a show on Netflix, video games, action figures, and more. We chat about the inherent darkness of a zombie apocalypse and how to navigate it in a fun story intended for younger readers as well as why it’s necessary to plan for an ending. We also talk about how Max reviewed movies for the local paper as a kid, how working in marketing for St. Martin’s Press set him up for success, moral dilemmas in videogames, CHARLIE SHEEN: VATICAN ASSASSIN WARLOCK, and so much more.  

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Buy THE LAST KIDS ON EARTH by Max Brallier: https://amzn.to/3CEN9Nl 

Buy ALL TOGETHER NOW: A ZOMBIE STORY by Robert Kent: https://amzn.to/2JjsnpH  

Max Brallier is the New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty books and games, including the middle-grade series The Last Kids on Earth. Under the pen name Jack Chabert, Max is the creator and author of the Eerie Elementary series for Scholastic Books and author of the New York Times bestselling graphic novel Poptropica: Mystery of the Map.   He is the creator and writer of Galactic Hot Dogs, a goofy middle-grade adventure series, and has written books for properties including LEGO, Adventure Time, Regular Show, Steven Universe, and Uncle Grandpa. Max has written for adults, including the pick-your-own-path series Can YOU Survive the Zombie Apocalypse? and an entry in the zombie anthology Nights of the Living Dead.  In the olden days, Max was a game designer for the virtual world Poptropica and worked in marketing at St. Martin's Press. Max lives in New York with his wife, Alyse, and baby daughter Lila (who is a real cutie-pants).  

http://www.middlegradeninja.com/ 

 http://www.maxbrallier.com/

Amy Christine Parker and I talk about the Sunday school lessons that terrified and shaped us to write horror stories such as her newest young adult novel, FLIGHT 171. Of course, Amy did live in a haunted house when she was in the third grade, so that might also have had something to do with it. We discuss how she went from a stay-at-home parent to a professional writer in two years per an agreement with her husband, how she met her agent in a writers critique group, how she outlines her novels in such a way as to create a near first draft, how she stays fit while writing, how she watches out for serial killers, and so much more.

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Buy FLIGHT 171  by Amy Christine Parker: https://amzn.to/3SPGwgb 

Buy ALL TOGETHER NOW: A ZOMBIE STORY by Robert Kent: https://amzn.to/2JjsnpH  

Amy Christine Parker earned her degree in elementary education at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida, and then proceeded to try out many different jobs, including collectible doll maker, fondue waitress, and inner-city schoolteacher. It wasn’t until she became a mom and began making up bedtime stories for her children that she finally realized what she was meant to do. Now Amy writes full-time from her home near Tampa, Florida, where she lives with her husband, their two daughters, and one ridiculously fat cat.   

http://www.middlegradeninja.com/  

https://www.amychristineparker.com/

Stephanie Fretwell-Hill and I discuss her career in publishing from working in foreign rights with Walker Books to becoming an editor with Peachtree Publishers up to her current role as a literary agent with Red Fox Literary. We talk about making a living as an agent solely on commissions, submission follow-up practices for her with editors and for querying writers, the importance of industry relationships, the importance of maintaining an attitude of gratitude, the difference in editorial feedback from an editor vs an agent, increasing diversity in traditional publishing, and so much more.  

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Download BANNEKER BONES AND THE GIANT ROBOT BEES for free: https://amzn.to/2XyTyG2 

STEPHANIE FRETWELL-HILL started her publishing career in 2004 at Walker Books Ltd. in London, where she sold foreign language rights. Working in a design-led company with legendary artists such as Helen Oxenbury and Lucy Cousins sparked her love of illustration, while her sales role gave her an international perspective on children’s publishing. In 2011, Stephanie moved back home to Atlanta, where she spent four years at Peachtree Publishers as an editor. During her four years there, her acquisitions received such honors as YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults, Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year, Parents’ Choice Awards, and starred reviews from major trade magazines. Stephanie joined Red Fox Literary in 2016. She represents authors and illustrators of literary fiction and narrative nonfiction picture books, middle grade, and young adult. Her clients include two-time Newbery Honoree Christina Soontornvat, Beth Anderson, Carolyn Crimi, R. W. Alley, and Archana Sreenivasan. The books she represents have won numerous awards, including Newbery Honor, Sibert Honor, the Jane Addams Book Award, the Youth Book Prize for Social Justice, YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction, and many, many starred reviews. Stephanie’s tastes are eclectic, but across all genres, she looks for compelling, diverse voices and strong hooks combined with literary merit and classroom value. Most of all, she loves stories and art with the perfect mix of humor and heart. Stephanie lives in Asheville, NC with her English husband, two feisty little girls, a border collie, and 4…3…6 chickens. When she isn’t working, she can often be found hiking, sewing, playing the ukulele, or hanging out at the playground.  

http://www.middlegradeninja.com/ 

https://redfoxliterary.com/

Meaghan Tosi and I discuss her career as an artist from stop motion filmmaker to illustrator to graphic novelist. We talk about her new books, DWEEDY and SQUASHED, and how she first stared in a movie version of the latter. She shares details about her artist workdays, her creation process, collaborating with her father, self-publishing experiences, freelance services, ghost sightings, and so much more. 

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Buy SQUASHED by Meaghan Tosi: https://amzn.to/3DyFWPJ 

Download BANNEKER BONES AND THE GIANT ROBOT BEES for free: https://amzn.to/2XyTyG2 

Meaghan Tosi was born and raised in New Hampshire and earned a BFA from Laguna College of Art & Design. They illustrated the middle-grade novel "Six Thousand Doughnuts" alongside author Thomas Tosi, and created the graphic novels "Dweedy: The Imagined Adventures of My Deceased Cat" and "Squashed". They are currently continuing "Dweedy" as a graphic novel series and are illustrating the next book with Thomas Tosi, "The Curse of the Crummy Mummy". They now lives with their partner Daniel and many plants in Portland, Oregon, for the art scene, extraordinary hikes, and many neighborhood cats. 

http://www.middlegradeninja.com/  

https://www.dooneypress.com/

Diane Magras and I discuss fantasy worldbuilding, monsters, and horror in her newest middle grade novel, SECRET OF THE SHADOW BEASTS. We talk about author day jobs, why it’s important to get in the habit of finishing your story (even if it’s bad), her writing process, the power of constructive criticism and how she learned to open herself to it, Stephen King, Kurt Vonnegut, what it’s like to be an author married to a book critic, and so much more. 

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Buy SECRET OF THE SHADOW BEASTS by Diane Magras: https://amzn.to/3Bcs3UK 

Download BANNEKER BONES AND THE GIANT ROBOT BEES for free: https://amzn.to/2XyTyG2  

Diane Magras, award-winning author of the New York Times Editors’ Choice The Mad Wolf’s Daughter, its companion novel, The Hunt for the Mad Wolf’s Daughter, and the upcoming Secret of the Shadow Beasts, grew up on Mount Desert Island in Maine, surrounded by woods, cliffs, and the sea. An unabashed fan of libraries (where she wrote her first novel as a teenager), history (especially from cultures or people who’ve rarely had their story told), and the perfect cup of tea, Diane lives in Maine with her husband and son and uses the pronouns she/her.  

http://www.middlegradeninja.com/  

https://www.dianemagras.com/

Patricia Nelson and I discuss how she got her start in publishing and joined the Marsal Lyon Literary Agency as well as why it takes an average of around five years to make a living as a literary agent. We do a deep dive on the questions she asks through Query Manager, how she evaluates the answers, submission red flags, the future of publishing after so much recent disruption, the importance of not being an agent’s “first pancake,” and so much more. 

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Download BANNEKER BONES AND THE GIANT ROBOT BEES for free: https://amzn.to/2XyTyG2 

Patricia Nelson joined Marsal Lyon Literary Agency in 2014. She represents adult, young adult, and middle grade fiction, and is actively looking to add to her list. She is always especially interested in seeing novels by BIPOC, queer, and disabled authors in all genres that she represents. In general, Patricia looks for stories that hook her with a unique plot, fantastic writing and complex characters that jump off the page. On the children’s side, Patricia is open to a wide range of genres of YA and MG, with particular interest in contemporary/realistic, magical realism, mystery, science fiction and fantasy. On the adult side, she is seeking women’s fiction both upmarket and commercial, historical fiction set in the 20th century, and sexy, smart adult contemporary and historical single title romance. Patricia’s clients include NYT bestselling author Axie Oh (The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan), National Book Award finalist and Printz Honor award winner Candice Iloh (Every Body Looking, Dutton Children’s/Penguin Random House), Printz Honor award winner Mary McCoy (Indestructible Object, Simon and Schuster Children’s), Dahlia Adler (Cool for the Summer, Wednesday Books/Macmillan), Anna Meriano (This Is How We Fly, Philomel/Penguin Random House), Alexandra Leigh Young (Idol Gossip, Walker US/Candlewick), Hayley Chewins (The Turnaway Girls, Candlewick), Margaret Dilloway (Summer of a Thousand Pies,  Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins), Kristi Wientge (Honeybees and Frenemies, Simon and Schuster Children’s), Sandy Stark-McGinnis (Extraordinary Birds, Bloomsbury Children’s), bestselling women’s fiction author Loretta Nyhan (Digging In, Lake Union Publishing), bestselling romance authors Kate Bateman and Charis Michaels, and forthcoming debut authors Jen Ferguson (The Summer of Bitter and Sweet, Heartdrum/HarperCollins), Claire Forrest (Where You See Yourself, Scholastic), Juliana Goodman (The Black Girls Left Standing, Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan), Edward Underhill (Always the Almost, Wednesday Books/Macmillan), and Kirya Traber (Dutton Children’s/Penguin Random House), among others. Patricia holds a master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Southern California and a master’s degree in Gender Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to becoming an agent, she spent four years teaching literature and writing at the college level.  

http://www.middlegradeninja.com/ 

https://www.prospectagency.com/

Greg Van Eekhout and I discuss climate change, Norse mythology, and the awesomeness of dogs, all of which are on display in his newest novel, FENRIS AND MOTT. We talk about the psychology of writers, how he found the confidence to know he’ll adapt as a writer, helpful activism in the face of book bans (beyond Twitter), Whovian philosophy, writing from outlines designed for contracts, Big Foot, the Loch Ness Monster, murder hornets, and more.  

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Buy FENRIS AND MOTT by Greg van Eekhout: https://amzn.to/3CCIETQ

Download BANNEKER BONES AND THE GIANT ROBOT BEES for free: https://amzn.to/2XyTyG2 

Greg van Eekhout was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, in neighborhoods with hippies, criminals, working people, and movie studios. His parents were Dutch-Indonesian.  Like many writers (and many people who aren’t writers, for that matter), Greg has done a number of things to put food on the table and keep a roof over his head. He has worked as an ice cream scooper (or dipper, as people who sell ice cream are sometimes called), a political fundraiser (or telemarketer), a comic book store clerk, a bookseller, a bookstore assistant manager, an educational multimedia developer, and a college teacher (of English and of multimedia development). Among other things. His next book, Fenris and Mott, comes out August, 2022.  Greg has lived his entire life in the Western half of the United States. He prefers beaches to deserts. He currently lives in San Diego.  

http://www.middlegradeninja.com/  

https://www.writingandsnacks.com/

J. Elle and I discuss her young adult fantasy novel, WINGS OF EBONY, and her new middle grade novel, A TASTE OF MAGIC. We talk about planning a series, worldbuilding, magic systems, tips for faster drafting, her time working as an intern for a literary agency, Twitter opportunities for writers, that time she wrote a book in nine days, and so much more.

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Buy A TASTE OF MAGIC by J. Elle: https://amzn.to/3QVDV3n 

Download BANNEKER BONES AND THE GIANT ROBOT BEES for free: https://amzn.to/2XyTyG2  

J. Elle is a prolific Black author and advocate for marginalized voices in both publishing and her community. Her debut novel, Wings of Ebony, is book one in a YA fantasy duology about a Black girl from a poor neighborhood who learns she’s magical. Wings of Ebony is a lead title with Simon & Schuster, out February 23, 2021. Six months later Elle also sold rights, at auction, to Park Row Magic Academy, an MG contemporary magic school series about a Black girl who learns she’s a witch and fights to save her inner-city magic school with baking. A Taste of Magic is also a lead title on Bloomsbury’s 2022 list.  From growing up poor to being a first-generation college student, Jess’s tenacity and passion for empowering others date back to her first career in education, teaching tweens and teens from traditionally underserved areas to fight for their dreams. More recently, as the founder of the Your Story Is Your Power, a creative writing workshop, she mentors high schoolers on the craft of writing and the importance of sharing stories from their perspective.  Elle has a MA in Educational Administration and has worked as an Editorial Intern at P.S. Literary Agency and Gelfman / ICM Partners. She’s also served as a mentor for both Pitchwars and Author Mentor Match. Elle is the founder and co-host of #MondayMixer, a Twitter chat to engage writers on the platform. In her spare time, you’ll find her cooking up some dish true to her Texas and Louisiana roots, loving on her three littles, and traveling the country with her nomadic spouse.  

http://www.middlegradeninja.com/  

https://www.authorjelle.com/ 

Ally Malinenko and I discuss glorious middle grade horror such as her novels GHOST GIRL and THIS APPEARING HOUSE and why it’s important for children to have access to scary stuff. We talk about the trauma of surviving cancer and living life (and writing) with NED, or “No Evidence of Disease.” We also chat about Ally’s tumultuous publishing journey, flying saucers, the after life or lack there of (naturally), and so much more.

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Buy THIS APPEARING HOUSE by Ally Malinenko: https://amzn.to/3zRkKRr 

Download BANNEKER BONES AND THE GIANT ROBOT BEES for free: https://amzn.to/2XyTyG2  

Ally Malinenko is a poet, novelist, and librarian living in Brooklyn, New York, where she pens her tales in a secret writing closet before dawn each day. Connect with Ally on her website at https://allymalinenko.com/ .  

http://www.middlegradeninja.com/  

Rachel Orr and I chat about her career in publishing from her time as a bookseller with Barnes and Noble, her time as an editor with Harper Collins, and her current role as a literary agent with Prospect Agency. We talk about her love of reading, writing, and agenting, all of which she frequently does while cooking.  We also discuss the types of projects she’s looking to represent, some advice on how to answer Query Manager questions, the author/agent relationship, increasing diversity in traditional publishing, a ghostly ladder, and so much more.  

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Download BANNEKER BONES AND THE GIANT ROBOT BEES for free: https://amzn.to/2XyTyG2 

Rachel Orr represents both authors and illustrators on a wide range of projects—from picture books to YA, both fiction and non-fiction. She joined Prospect Agency in 2007, after eight years working for HarperCollins Children’s Books, and brings her editorial experience to her clients’ work. Rachel enjoys cooking Chinese food, watching “Homeland”, and taking public transportation. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two young children. You can follow her on Twitter @rachelprospect. 

http://www.middlegradeninja.com/ 

https://www.prospectagency.com/