Seek and you shall find; but it won't be easy.

Today's objective - find websites and blogs that can be used as valuable resources when writing for children. I am searching for information that pertains specifically to middle grade books. I'd like to compile a list of books that are popular among children ages 8 through 12 and who's authors have received recognition for their outstanding work. I plan to visit the Hernando County Library tomorrow afternoon and bring along a list of check-out possibilities.

It is my hope that in analyzing these books I will be able to uncover not only what makes them appealing to young children but that from them I will be able to create guide or list of do's and dont's to use for my own writing. So far the course I am working through has only provided a general definition of a middle grade book and has not gone into detail in describing the requirements one should fulfill when attempting to acclimate themselves to writing for children who are fluent readers and are ready to move on to books in novel form.

While I have not spent much time searching the Internet today I consider myself very lucky that I was able to find a website entitled "From the Mixed Up Files ... of Middle-Grade Authors."  The site is maintained by a group of nearly thirty authors of middle grade books and contains a vast expanse of information. I have already made use of their multiple book lists and have quickly read over the link and resources sections of the site, in doing so I feel confident that I will be spending a great deal of time navigating their websites pages. If you are interested in seeing the site for yourself  you'll find a link at the bottom right of this page.

Today I was also giving thought to bringing life to a new character. I think I'm going to name him

Silas (woodland dweller)    Duncan (dark warrior)

Just the meaning of the name brings to mind a setting for the story and provides some character traits for the young man. I don't have a story line in mind for him yet, but I already have a good idea of what kinda of person he is and where he will reside. I am a terrible artist so I can not complete a sketch but over the next few days I will be working on flushing him out a bit more.

~K