About Heather Mateus Sappenfield

Heather Mateus Sappenfield loves adventures, especially in the Rocky Mountain landscape that’s been her lifelong home. As part of women’s teams, she’s won 24-hour mountain bike races and road bicycling’s Race Across America—San Diego, California to Atlantic City, New Jersey. She’s also competed in the Mountain Bike World Championships, ski instructed for Vail Resorts, and loves backcountry ski touring. Her toughest adventures, though, arise in the writing of stories. 

Heather is the author of two contemporary YA novels, The View from Who I Was and Life at the Speed of Us, a Colorado Book Awards Finalist. Her story collection, Lyrics for Rock Stars, released as the winner of the V Press LC Compilation Book Prize, was nominated for the MPIBA’s Reading the West Awards, was a silver medalist for the IBPA’s Ben Franklin Awards, and was featured on Colorado Public Radio. Her most recent book, The River Between Hearts, runner-up for the Kraken Prize, is a Middle Grade novel about friendship and healing. 

About The River Between Hearts

On an ordinary Monday, Rill Kruse left for third grade with a dad, but when she came home, he’d been stolen. By a river. One year and thirteen days later—on the first morning of summer vacation—Rill still insists he’s trudging home. Her mom has become a practical woman. Her older brother, Eddy, now calls her baby and dork. Gus, the second-in-command at Kruse Whitewater Adventures, Rill’s family’s rafting company, has gone from being her dad’s “risk bro” to her mom’s guardian angel. Joyce, company secretary, arm-wrestler, and mechanic, still calls Rill a fingerling, but, after learning what a cheater water is, Rill wishes she’d stop. When Rill’s cat, Clifford, leads her to the family tree fort on the mountainside behind home, she discovers a stowaway, Perla. To help Perla, Rill embarks on an adventure that tests her understanding of the world, of loss, and of what it means to be a friend. In the end, what Rill discovers will nudge her—and all those she loves—toward healing.

Interview with Heather Mateus Sappenfield

Olivia Fisher: What made you want to write for kids?

Heather Mateus Sappenfield: Oh, that’s a great question! If you look at my publishing history, I’ve written two YA novels, an adult literary story collection, and now a MG novel! I never plan to write a genre of book. Instead, I have these obsessions, stored in the back of my mind, and one day a narrator will arrive with a story that explores it. It’s my subconscious working, I’m sure, but those narrators have voices all their own and are pretty fully formed when they show up. I listen to and observe them for weeks, months, even years, and when I feel as though I know them and their story well enough, I begin writing.

One of my joys is writing for readers of all ages. That’s probably not the best choice for me commercially, but I strive to stay true to what the protagonist/characters need the story to be. Having written for adults, YA, and now MG, I must admit that writing for this youngest group of readers was the most difficult craft-wise. MG novels are just as rich and textured as books for older readers, but they must be shaped into simpler sentence structures that peel away artifice and muddled meanings. Instances of my adult perspective needed to be yanked like weeds. It took so much time to get this book right! 

OF: I love this. As a writer of MG myself, you really have to get in the head of your young protagonist and have them say and react as they would and not how you would, and that can be difficult for our adult brains! 

What was the publishing process like for you?

HMS: I had an agent for my first two novels, and she sold my books to Flux, which at the time was an imprint of Llewellyn. I unfairly assumed that she and Flux would take care of all my promotions. I was so naïve! Agents only sell and maintain a book’s rights, and marketing departments at publishing houses are overworked and underpaid. News flash: never ever leave your book’s marketing up to someone else! 

After my agent and I mutually parted ways, I was deflated by the business and quit writing for a while. The River Between Hearts drew me back. I decided to enter contests instead of seeking another agent, and I’ve published my last two books with indie publishers this way. I’ve also hired a publicist, and both have been fabulous experiences. 

Simply publishing a book is terrific—it’s exhilarating initially—but eight months down the road, with it not selling and few people reading it, the process can feel anticlimactic and hollow. 

With this fourth book, I’m finally starting to understand the selling side of the industry. It basically consists of two vendor routes: 1) big outlets like Amazon and Barnes & Noble 2) indie bookstores. 

As you can imagine, these two paths have distribution channels that in many ways do not mingle, and to get your book out there, you need to pursue both. The big outlets are pretty straightforward—get your book listed with them, get your advance reading copies (ARCs) on NetGalley, try to get reviews on Goodreads and seller sites, and hope for the best. 

For indies, you must recognize that indie bookstores are run by people, and this means establishing relationships. Attend their regional conferences, make acquaintances, and swim the uphill battle of getting your book into their store. 

Be sure to put your ARC on Edelweiss, and encourage folks to review it there. Edelweiss is one of the main ways booksellers and librarians learn about books! And again, hope for the best.

OF: Yes, I feel like this is something important for all writers to take away. Publishing is a difficult industry no matter if you are self-publishing, publishing through an indie publisher, or aiming for one of the big four publishers. It can take A LOT of work, and doing your research beforehand is so important! These are some great insights into how writers can prepare for this. Thanks, Heather!

What’s the hardest thing about writing a book?

HMS: When I was a little girl, I always knew I’d live in the mountains and be an author. I guess it’s what I’m meant to do. I love the entire process of writing a book, from drafting the initial pages with my ears ringing from how hard I’m listening, to tweaking the polished copy so that nuance, refrain, and thematic elements sing. 

The hardest part, though, is noticing, and then stepping back, when I’m getting in the way of the story. We all have things we avoid, places we don’t want to go, and it’s not always easy to catch those moments and then step aside so the characters can complete their journey.

OF: What’s the best thing about writing a book?

HMS: Ah, there’s two things. First, I love when I’m at the very end of the revision process, the writing is ultra-polished, and I’ve worked with the story so much that it’s as though I’m effortlessly juggling a hundred balls. I know where all the story elements reside, and how they all link. It’s an amazing sensation. 

Second; I love, love, love connecting with readers—hearing how they interacted with the book, and how the story resonated with them. That, truly, is why I write.

OF: What do you hope readers will take away from your books?

HMS: One reviewer stated (paraphrasing here) that my books are deceptively simple yet layered with meaning. I hope that each of my readers—no matter their age—takes from my books exactly what they need in their life right then. That it sustains them, helps them heal, or makes them laugh.

OF: How did you develop your writing craft?

HMS: I’ve always been a voracious reader. I especially loved science fiction and fantasy for the escape they provided. Though I have mild dyslexia, writing has always been something I excelled at. I was an English major in college. I taught high school language arts. Along the way, I wrote a bit, but not seriously. 

Then, when my daughter was a year old, she started talking with the Australian accent of her daycare provider. I love Australian accents, but…paradigm shift! I resigned from teaching. While she napped, I began to seriously pursue writing. 

I had some bad habits, though, mostly from being on the teaching end of literature. After a few near misses with getting stories published in magazines, I decided to pursue my MFA in Writing at Pacific University’s low residency program. Boy! Did they ever strip away those habits and hone my craft! I was able to study one-on-one with some incredible writers! 

In my third semester, one of my stories was runner-up in a contest. Then another story won a contest, and another was accepted for publication. 

Here I’d like to say, however, that not everybody needs an MFA. They’re costly and don’t fit with every life or learning style. What it really boiled down to for me, I believe, was the intense, focused, open-minded intentioned time dedicated to the craft.

Post-graduation, my craft has continued to evolve in a steady unfolding and unfolding and constant learning about how to write stories in ways that most directly connect with readers. Every day, I learn something new.

OF: I love this. Writing and honing a craft can be a varied journey, and one approach doesn’t fit every writer as you said. You mentioned that what it really came down to for you was the intensely focused time, and really, that’s what I feel like is both the biggest obstacle and the pivotal point of success for writers: making the time to write. But not just write, write with dedication and focus. It’s something I’ve certainly struggled with as a young mom, but that time isn’t impossible to make. It just takes work and intentionality.

OF: What’s next on your author-journey?

HMS: I hope to soon announce some good news about a finished humorous literary/women’s fiction novel! I’m in the final one-hundred pages of drafting another humorous novel. After that, I’ll start a new MG novel, I think. At least, right now, the narrator indicates it will be MG.

OF: I love it! It’s so fun that you are juggling multiple genres and relishing each one! I’m excited to hear more about your next book.

Heather, thank you for taking the time to interview with me and sharing your insight into the world of being a kid lit author with us! Congratulations on your latest book The River Between Hearts. You can find Heather’s book and follow along with her author journey on her website.

Tell us in the comments: What were your big takeaways from this interview with Heather Mateus Sappenfield?

Olivia Fisher is a children’s lit writer and freelance editor with an English degree from BYU-Idaho. When she isn’t dreaming about living in a treehouse or chasing down her two young boys, she enjoys curling up with a book, watching Star Wars, writing her next adventure, and trying to live in the state of child-like wonder that we all secretly, or not so secretly, miss. Follow her adventures on Twitter or Instagram, or hire her for your next editing escapade on Fiverr.

The post Kid Lit Craft: Interview with Heather Mateus Sappenfield appeared first on DIY MFA.

Have you signed up to be a DIY MFA Radio Insider yet? This is an exciting new monthly newsletter especially for our podcast listeners. Every month, you’ll get an email from our podcast producer with recaps of the most recent episodes, a curated Listening List of episodes on a particular theme, and other fun goodies we only share via email. Best of all, it’s free to join! The theme for March is Magic, and you can become an insider by signing up with your email at diymfa.com/insiders.

In this episode Gillian McDunn and I discuss:

• How she created a dynamic depiction of neurodiversity in a novel for middle grade readers.
• What children can learn from cooking and how it applies to other life skills.
• Why middle school is an intense time for learning about adult dynamics.

Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

About Gillian McDunn

Gillian McDunn is the author of These Unlucky Stars, The Queen Bee and Me, and Caterpillar Summer, which received two starred reviews and was selected for the Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List, and Kirkus Reviews and Parents magazine Best Books of the Year lists. When she isn’t reading or writing, she is probably cooking, traveling, or spending time with her family. She lives near Raleigh, North Carolina, with her husband and children, and a very silly dog named Friday.

You can find her on her website or follow her on Twitter, Instagram, or Goodreads.

Honestly Elliott

Sometimes finding yourself can be a little messy … 

Elliott has been struggling since starting middle school, when his ADHD spiraled and his best friend moved away. He’s not too sure where he fits into his own family either, especially since his newly remarried dad and stepmom are expecting a baby. Especially when he already feels like his dad just doesn’t get him–or the fact that Elliott is happiest when he’s cooking. The kitchen’s scents and sizzles always ignite his creativity. There, it’s actually a good thing to have a brain that goes in six directions at once. 

When he’s paired with the super smart and popular Maribel for a school-wide project, Elliott worries they won’t see eye to eye. But Maribel is also looking for a new way to show others her true self and this project could be the chance they’ve both been waiting for.

Sometimes the least likely friends help you see a new side to things . . . and sometimes you have to make a few mistakes before you figure out what’s right.

Highly-acclaimed author of Caterpillar Summer, Gillian McDunn explores boyhood in a funny and big-hearted story about a kid trying to find the best way to be his best self. 

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 399

(Right-click to download.)

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Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

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Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 399: Neurodiversity, Family Dynamics, and Cooking: Adventures in Contemporary Middle Grade Fiction – Interview with Gillian McDunn appeared first on DIY MFA.

Sonja graduated from Stanford University and earned an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University, with a critical thesis on writing trauma in middle grade and young adult realistic fiction.

She is currently a creative writing mentor to youth with the Society of Young Inklings and enjoys writing poetry and prose for children of all ages. When You Know What I Know is her gorgeous debut novel. Visit her website and follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

In this episode Sonja and I discuss:

• The inspiration behind When You Know What I Know
• Plot points in a character-driven story
• Writing a book in verse instead of prose
• How an ensemble cast effects the main character
• Writing about trauma in middle grade and YA
• How attending a conference led to publication

Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

About Sonja K. Solter

Sonja K. Solter graduated from Stanford University and earned an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University, with a critical thesis on writing trauma in middle grade and young adult realistic fiction. She is currently a creative writing mentor to youth with the Society of Young Inklings and enjoys writing poetry and prose for children of all ages. When You Know What I Know is her debut novel. Sonja lives with her husband and two children in Louisville, CO.

When You Know What I Know

A sensitive, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful novel in verse about one girl’s journey in the aftermath of abuse.

One day after school, on the couch in the basement, Tori’s uncle did something bad. Afterward, Tori tells her mom. Even though telling was a brave thing to do, her mom still doesn’t believe her at first. Her grandma still takes his side. And Tori doesn’t want anyone else — even her best friend — to know what happened. Now Tori finds herself battling mixed emotions — anger, shame, and sadness — as she deals with the trauma. But with the help of her mom, her little sister, her best friend, and others, can Tori find a way to have the last word?

From debut author Sonja K. Solter comes a heartbreaking yet powerful novel that will strike a chord with readers of Jacqueline Woodson and Laurie Halse Anderson. According to The National Center for Victims of Crime, children are the most vulnerable to sexual abuse between the ages of seven and thirteen. Sonja K. Solter took a difficult subject matter such as sexual abuse, and has beautifully written a powerful narrative that will spark a conversation between teachers, parents, and children.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio or Google Play and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 303: A Survivor Story as a Middle Grade Novel in Poems – Interview with Sonja K. Solter appeared first on DIY MFA.

Below, we’ll look at ways authors and illustrators are helping young readers and parents, and then explore some free or inexpensive resources currently on offer. But first:

If you’re struggling to create… you’re not alone.

In the first days of quarantine, there were a lot of people talking about it like a vacation–a period with lots of free time in which people could get things done. Surely writers, who prefer isolation anyway, would be writing up a storm now!

But that’s not always how it works. Sure, some people are able to throw themselves into their creative work–it can be cathartic, a mental escape–but for others creating right now is an uphill battle. COVID-19 is scary. The uncertainty is scary. And being anxious, worried, and uncertain is not necessarily a great recipe for creativity. Or productivity in general.

Rule #1 is to be kind to yourself. That means you shouldn’t berate or blame yourself if you’re having a hard time right now. 

What Kidlit Authors & Illustrators Are Doing For Readers

While parents and kids are stuck at home there’s a growing need for entertainment, comfort, and educational resources. The outpouring from creators has been overwhelming.

Writers are doing read-alouds and discussions, illustrators are doing draw-with-me sessions, and publishers are granting permission to teachers and librarians to stream or record themselves reading books. All in the name of helping our favorite people: kid readers! 

Rather than try to collect the myriad links for these online resources here, check out these articles with lists of where to find them: 

• BookRiot – Kid Lit Authors Stepping Up During the COVID-19 Crises and Quarantine
• LAist – Coronavirus Storytime: Here’s Where To Find Celebrities Reading Children’s Books Online 
• The New York Times – Home With Your Kids? Writers Want to Help 
• Publishers’ Weekly – How Kids’ Lit Is Responding to the Coronavirus 
• School Library Journal – Kid Lit Authors Step Up To Help Educators, Students, and Parents 

Indie authors are also getting creative. Many have discounted their books, or made them free. Sarra Cannon is reading a paranormal YA novella on YouTube as she edits it, an interesting twist for writers. 

Don’t Miss

LeVar Burton Reads – Yes, the same LeVar Burton who used to host Reading Rainbow on PBS now offers a podcast and Twitter streaming reading series for grown ups, and during the pandemic he’s expanding to multiple times a week with offerings for kids and teens! Including works by Neil Gaiman! 

Everywhere Book Fest – A virtual book festival designed to “bring the book festival experience to everyone.”  

Coronavirus: A Book For Children – A free book to help explain the virus to young children, illustrated by Alex Scheffler of Gruffalo fame, and written in consultation with psychologists and medical experts. 

Resources For Kidlit Writers

It’s not just love for readers being put into the world. Writers are helping other writers, too. 

Funds

Because time is a critical factor in addressing people’s needs, deadlines and thresholds may already have passed. There will likely be more, and these are listed as examples of what to keep an eye out for. Social media can be an excellent resource for finding similar opportunities. 

We Need Diverse Books Emergency Fund for Diverse Creatives in Children’s Publishing – A fund to support diverse traditionally published writers and illustrators, and publishing professionals. 

Maurice Sendak Emergency Relief Fund by the New York Foundation for the Arts – A fund for picture book writers and illustrators in need due to the crisis. 

Education

The Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) is offering members free digital workshops every week. 

WriteOnCon Anytime Archive Access – This year’s virtual writers conference has passed, but access to four years of content for 30 days is now only $10. 

About Publishing

Authors, illustrators, agents, editors, and other publishing pros are all enduring this pandemic alongside us. Their reactions range from “Give me more manuscripts to read!” to “I made… more tea? That’s something, right?” to “I have kids I have to homeschool there’s no way I can work right now!” 

YA author Alexa Donne is a wealth of writing and publishing knowledge. On her YouTube channel she answers the question, “Should you query your book now?” She also talks about how other parts of the traditional publishing machine are faring. 

There are also a ton of resources being aimed at indie, and aspiring indie authors right now. A lot of them are very expensive. A lot of them are free. Start with the free resources so you can better judge which gotta-buy-now offers may or may not be worthwhile. 

While these are uncertain times, you can count on the kidlit community to prioritize young readers. And in the writing community at large there’s always someone offering a helping hand up. 

Take care of yourselves, Word Nerds, and stay safe.

Bronwen Fleetwood writes fiction for young adults, and nonfiction for writers. Bronwen studied creative writing at Eugene Lang,The New School for Liberal Arts, has acted as leader of the Princeton Writing Group, and as a Municipal Liaison for National Novel Writing Month. Bronwen currently lives on the Whale Coast of South Africa, between the mountains, the sea, and a lake. You can connect with her at bronwenfleetwood.com.

The post Kidlit’s Coronavirus Response appeared first on DIY MFA.

This much-debated topic has no easy answer. First, an overview of the debate, then we’ll discuss how the dynamics shift when your target audience skews younger, and how to make your references work if you do decide to use them. 

The Changing of the Old MFA Guard

According to Electric Literature, the question picked up steam in the 1980s at MFA workshops. The professors had grown up in a world largely devoid of corporate branding slapped onto every aspect of their lives, but their students had come up surrounded by brand name cereals, trademarked products, and a wider common culture made possible by the spread of national TV and radio. To the young writers it was normal to say Kleenex or Hoover, instead of tissue or vacuum: the brand was the item. 

Their teachers objected, essentially claiming that all these brands and pop culture touchstones were ephemera, that they were fads that would fade as easily as they had come. After all, there was no MTV when they were kids! These professors said literature should seek to be “timeless” rather than products of their era. 

That’s the theory, anyway. 

What actually happened is that while specific pop icons like Davy Jones and Bananarama faded from popular consciousness, a lot of things haven’t. Coca-Cola is a prime example, a brand that’s been around since 1886 and keeps reinventing itself to stay relevant. Their product is so ubiquitous that many people don’t say “I’ll have a soda” or “pop,” they say, “Gimme a Coke.” Brands are absolutely everywhere (we’re all encouraged to even have personal brands to compete). The Internet has been divided up between Facebook, Google, Amazon, and other massive conglomerates. “To google” is now a verb. We now communicate through pop culture using GIFs taken from popular shows and movies. The zeitgeist has zeitgeisted itself. It’s all very meta. 

All that to say: this is how we live now.  So, can contemporary fiction that doesn’t incorporate or refer to the ubiquity of pop culture and big brands really call itself realistic fiction? 

What Readers and Other Writers Think

Both readers and writers are split, but they tend to have strong feelings about their preference. Discussions on Reddit are illuminating, from both the writers’ perspective and the readers’. Here are some highlights.

Don’t use references when they’re… cheesy, overdone, exist ‘just to appeal to readers’, are used as a prop, can be ‘distracting filler’, look like showing off, or come over like Steve Buscemi’s “How do you do, fellow kids?” when not used correctly.

Do use references when you want to… flesh out worldbuilding, anchor your story firmly in time and/or place, add in-jokes and layers of additional meaning, or quickly communicate something about a character through the references used. 

Most readers agree that if it’s done well, it can work. We’ll get into how to use pop culture references well in a moment. 

Pop Culture 4 Kidz

The same Do’s and Don’ts provided above still apply to writing for kids. However, age does make a difference when it comes to how specific and far-reaching your references can be. 

When writing kidlit, your first responsibility is always, always, to the intended audience: young readers. You want to depict a reality (be it historical, fantasy, or the future) that current young readers can understand and relate to. That means that when you’re writing about right now, you have to reckon with the influence of pop culture on our everyday lives. 

You also want to be careful about seeming to promote or endorse something you have no control over (people and brands can make mistakes!), and looking like you’re selling to kids. The opposite won’t save you–if you’re too harsh, you might have to deal with a legal team alleging that your work is insulting and damaging. 

In works for younger readers (picture books through some Middle Grade), it’s safest to steer clear of specifics. Generic terms can still get the point across, like tablet instead of iPad. (Besides which, iPad implies the money to acquire one, that the family uses Macs vs. PCs, and so on. Word choice matters!) Because younger kids have less experience, their frame of reference is limited. Today’s ten year olds were born when the 6th Harry Potter movie debuted, so Harry Potter means something different to them, if it means anything at all. 

Older readers (some Middle Grade and Young Adult) are more likely to be aware of pop culture and history, but they’re also extremely discerning. They can tell when an author is dropping names and slang they’re not comfortable with. You can use specific references for this age group so long as you don’t overdo it. 

How To Make References That Work

Provide context

Think of pop culture or historical references like uncommon or “fancy” words: the reader should be able to get the gist from the surrounding text. The Writer magazine has a great piece on how to make references, and the linked New Yorker piece has a lot of examples. 

The Writer provides this example:

[In his essay “Frame of Reference” in the New Yorker, John] McPhee cites a reference in the book Captured by Aliens [by Joel Achenbach], in which a professor supposedly looks like Gene Wilder, with “some of the same manic energy.” Readers who are familiar with Wilder are immediately treated to a vision of blond curls and bright blue eyes; readers who aren’t are still clued into the key reason for the comparison (the “manic energy”).

Try to anticipate frame of reference

…but don’t drive yourself to distraction. You can’t anticipate what every reader will or won’t be familiar with, but you can make assumptions based on their cohort. 

Every year since 1998, Beloit College circulates the “Mindset List” which “reflect[s] the world view of 18 year-old entering college students each fall”. For instance, the class of 2022, born around 2001, has “always been able to refer to Wikipedia” and “Oprah has always been a magazine.” College professors need to keep their references current if they want to reach students, but we as kidlit writers can glean important insights from them, too. Historical writers can refer to the book The Mindset Lists of American History: From Typewriters to Text Messages, What Ten Generations of Americans Think Is Normal.

Aim for popular or universal references, where possible

…but remember that you can’t cover every frame of reference. 

Keep in mind that with the Internet all knowledge can be searched for (and usually found), so if a reader really wants to know they can find it. But no one knows everything, and we increasingly occupy siloed communities which have their own subcultures. A political wonk will know things that a K-POP fan has never heard of, and vice versa. (Don’t forget the person who follows both! Crossovers happen because people contain multitudes.)

Try to use enduring references

There’s a conversation to be had about historical works that make pop culture references. They do! Some we recognize, some we don’t. Electric Lit points out that these are often considered references to “high art”, which means the item is still recognized because it’s become an enduring “classic”. Often we confuse “enduring” with “superior”. Just because the Odyssey has survived to the present doesn’t mean a play written in the same year was a worse play. 

It’s impossible to say in 2019 whose legacy will endure (BTS, Adele, or Beyonce?), so we just have to use what will be meaningful to current readers, and our best guess for future readers.

If you really want to play it safe, stick to references that are safely in the past. THE HATE U GIVE’s title refers to Tupac Shakur lyrics, and it works because time has passed since his death and his legacy is now relatively stable. The same book also references current pop stars, prompting a reddit user to say:

Some of the references already aren’t aging well, like the am I Beyonce or Taylor Swift today reference since now T Swift is seen as a problematic white pseudo-feminist that causes drama instead of a broken hearted girl anthem queen. Even Beyonce’s image, while still positive, now has changed to a woman who stayed strong through a betrayal. So the reference has a completely different meaning already which confused me (Did Chris cheat? Is that why she’s Beyonce?) etc. 

Make your reference serve more than one purpose

Why are you using a given reference? Does a character’s favorite TV show say something about their taste, and what we can expect of them later in the book? Will naming the band playing at prom flesh out the worldbuilding? If the reference adds something to your story, it’s often worth leaving in. 

Next time you pick up a new book, ask yourself what hallmarks of the era are included, and what’s left out. 

There is so much more I could say about this topic. (Thank you to Rachel for suggesting it!) Ultimately, using pop culture references is a choice for each writer and each project. Hopefully these tips and resources will help you make that call. 

Bronwen Fleetwood writes fiction for young adults, and nonfiction for writers. Bronwen studied creative writing at Eugene Lang,The New School for Liberal Arts, has acted as leader of the Princeton Writing Group, and as a Municipal Liaison for National Novel Writing Month. Bronwen currently lives on the Whale Coast of South Africa, between the mountains, the sea, and a lake. You can connect with her at bronwenfleetwood.com.

The post Should You Use Pop Culture References in Fiction (For Kids and Teens)? appeared first on DIY MFA.

Janae is an award-winning children’s book author living in Connecticut. She has an MFA in Creative Writing with a concentration in Writing for Children and Young Adults from The New School, and is an active member of the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). Her debut is the middle grade novel,  From the Desk of Zoe Washington, which we’ll be discussing today.

Janae also happens to be one of my dearest writing besties. She’s known me since before DIY MFA was even a twinkle in my eye, like back when it was still just a “crazy idea” I was kicking around on my personal blog. She and I were also in the same thesis critique group so she has seen my writing in all its many forms: from the good, to the bad, to the… what the heck were you thinking, Gabriela?

One of my favorite things—one of the things that brings true joy to my heart—is when I get to introduce my favorite people to the word nerd community. I’ve known Janae for a long time; I know how much of her heart and soul she’s poured into this book and I am so excited for the world to discover Zoe Washington and this sweet, heart-felt middle grade novel.

Without further ado, welcome Janae! It’s so great to have you here.

In this episode Janae and I discuss:

• How Serial and Making a Murderer inspired From the Desk of Zoe Washington
• Aging a character down from YA to Middle Grade
• Weaving serious, real-world issues into a middle grade story
• Balancing parenting and writing
• Using Camp #NaNoWriMo to write a novel
• Different types of writing friends and communities
• Finding a community-focused writing conference

Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

About Janae Marks

Janae Marks is an award-winning children’s book author living in Connecticut. She has an MFA in Creative Writing with a concentration in Writing for Children and Young Adults from The New School, and is an active member of the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). She is the author of the middle grade novel FROM THE DESK OF ZOE WASHINGTON, which will be published on January 14, 2020 from Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins. It will also be available in the UK and Italy. She is represented by Alex Slater at Trident Media Group. Connect with her on Twitter, Instagram or her website. 

From the Desk of Zoe Washington 

Dear Marcus…

Zoe Washington isn’t sure what to write next. What does a girl say to the father she’s never met, hadn’t heard from until his letter arrived on her twelfth birthday, and who’s been in prison for a terrible crime?

A crime he says he never committed. 

Could Marcus really be innocent? The truth is somewhere out there, and Zoe is determined to uncover it. Even if it means hiding his letters and her investigation from her mom and stepdad. Everyone else thinks Zoe’s worrying about doing a good job at her bakery internship, and proving to her parents that she’s worthy of auditioning for Food Network’s Kids Bake Challenge. It’s been Zoe’s dream to become a star baker, and she can’t afford to mess anything up. Her best friend and neighbor Trevor would’ve been her confidante through all this, but Zoe’s not speaking to him anymore. She’ll have to figure this out alone.

With bakery confections on one part of her mind, and Marcus’s conviction weighing heavily on the other, this is one recipe Zoe doesn’t know how to balance. The only thing she knows to be true: Everyone lies. This captivating novel by debut author Janae Marks follows one courageous girl as she questions assumptions, searches for the truth, and does what she believes is right, even in the face of great opposition.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

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The post Episode 288: Find Your Community — Interview with Janae Marks appeared first on DIY MFA.