Ask the Author: Meg Medina
Answered Questions (9)
Meg Medina
No sequel, but the novel will come out in graphic novel format in September 2023. Mel Valentine has done the adaptation, and it's wonderful. Hard to believe that the novel is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2023.
Meg Medina
Hi Paolina! It's such a challenge to generate enough income when we are early in our writing careers. There's a long spread of time between advances, and we might not have a backlist of titles that can help tide us over, either. First there is no shame in having other jobs while we are building our career. My suggestion for moving toward full-time writer status is to start to align your efforts around your expertise and interests in writing. Consider speaking engagements at schools, conferences, etc. (These won't be very highly paid in the beginning either, but they will help spread the word among your state librarians groups, etc.) There are work-for-hire pieces you can do, either for local newspapers as a freelancers or for publishers, such as Capstone (check it out here: https://www.capstonepub.com/contact/s...) . What you are trying to do is create a portfolio of experiences that help you improve your writing craft and public speaking skills, and that get your name out in the writing community. I'd also consider joining writing organizations, so that you're in the loop of conference opportunities where you can further network and hear about other opportunities. Here in Richmond, VA, it's James River Writers. Nationally, many folks follow PEN or SCBWI, as well.
Meg Medina
Ann! Nice to hear from you on this holiday Monday! I had no notion that Merci Suárez was going to be anything but a short story at first. Then, after the first novel, I thought I would surely be done. But no. I ultimately decided to write her entire middle school transformation, one book for each grade. In it, I grow her emotionally. As for the physical disability, thank you. I love Wilson as a character, especially with that awkward romantic potential. We have preciously few main characters in kid lit who have disabilities.
Meg Medina
Hi Jenn! I remember reading Judy Blume's Are You There god, Its Me Margaret and feeling so connected to her angry feelings about her mother's "packaged cakes" and more. I was always drawn to books that focused on characters' feelings more than strictly on the adventure. As for readers today...I do hear from them, and I love it. I especially love when they share with me something in their own life that has to do with what they read. It makes me feel like they are getting some clarity about growing up and, more, that they are connecting with their imagination and their intuition about people. Social media and all the electronic options have definitely changed how kids connect, but the thirst TO connect is still there and I still see them interacting with books that move them.
Meg Medina
This is a great craft question, Emily. There is no hard and fast rule on how I decide. It has to do with the object matter and what part of it I want to explore. I also consider the reader's age. So, for example, I could do a picture book about divorce or a young adult novel about divorce, but they'd be very different books. With younger children, I might focus on the fact that your parents can continue to love you, each on their own. In a YA novel, I might explore all the adult ugliness and feeling caught between them. And yes, sometimes I start writing a book one way and I realize it's meant for another age group. Most often that happens between middle grade and YA novels, since there is so much overlap...
Meg Medina
Hi Janet! Right as the pandemic broke out, I was scheduled to spend several weeks in China and then, on the way back, in Hawaii...which of course is not another country, but still kind of other worldly to me! I don't have international travel plans yet for the book. Things are slowly coming back but publishers, schools, and conference planners are cautious. I HAVE considered setting a book in Cuba and in the Canary Islands.
Meg Medina
Hi Kasie - Thanks for the question. Burn Baby Burn has been optioned, which means there is interest and the rights have been purchased to search for all the partners who would work together to make the movie a reality (show runners etc.) Hollywood can be a tough place, though, and a lot can happen. So, I am very excited, but also feeling cautious. Keep your fingers crossed!
Meg Medina
I have three projects spinning. The first is a short story for Tyranny of Petticoats, volume 2, from Candlewick. It's edited by Jessica Spotswood and features stories of strong girls in all different periods of history. I love writing short fiction, so it feels like a pleasure to work on that. More long term, I have two books on contract with Candlewick. The first is a middle grade novel about a girl navigating that awful time when we move from being girls of the playground to middle school girls. I haven't written a middle grade novel since my first book, so it's a way to stretch myself again. I think it will be out in 2018, if all goes well.
Meg Medina
Burn Baby Burn is set in a time that was seared (couldn't resist the pun) into my mind. I was 13 years old and living in NYC in 1977 - arguable one of the city's most volatile years in history. The filth, the crime, a serial killer, and an epic blackout were too much to forget, I suppose. How does a young person grow up against a backdrop of violence? That question seemed to apply, then and now.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more