Sarah Allen's Blog, page 2

I spent a year not wanting to write until I remembered her.

Remembering Who You Write For

When I do school visits, there’s usually a particular student sitting on the front row—in front of the front row, really. They bounce up and down. They laugh the loudest at my jokes. They raise their hand at every single question, regardless of what the question is, to tell me that they wanted a golden retriever but their dad is allergic so they got a hedgehog instead and the hedgehogs name is Pickle and he really likes iceburg lettuce and french fries.

Needless to say, this student is my favorite. Other than Pickle the hedgehog.

Occasionally at book signings or after school assemblies, a student stops me and talks for a genuine and solid five minutes about Star Wars, or, especially lately, the Minecraft movie. (Blessings on your head, Jack Black!) My only job in that situation is to listen enthusiastically, and its my favorite job in the whole world.

Sometimes the parent tries to pull the kid along, assuming I’m bothered and have something better to do with my time, which I’m not and which I don’t.

I always wish I could express to the parents and teachers of these front-front row sitting, fan-theory-spieling kids how much they’ve made my day.

There are a few characters that stand out to me that lead us down the Weird Girl Pipeline. Girls who I imagine as the front-front row type student, or else the one listening intently and writing obsessive notes in their notebook.

On the young end we’ve got our weird girl Bluey, who I think has revolutionized preschool animation and characters for very good reason. Age her up a couple years and we get to our girl Lilo, who has earned her place as a neurodivergent icon. A few more years and we get Eliza Thornberry. I would have given VERY MUCH to be Eliza Thornberry when I was young. Early teen years we get to Tina Belcher and that so relatable early-teen weird girl feeling of having your emotions take over so bigly sometimes that all you can do is aaaaaaaahhhh. Older teen we get to the whip-smart Velma Dinkley, and if we’re very, very lucky, these weird girls get to grow up and be Miss Frizzles.

(There’s absolutely a Weird Boy Pipeline too, starting with our boy Russell from Up, or Jimmy Neutron, and if, again, we’re very, very lucky, they get to grow up and be Bob Ross or Steve Irwin.)

Now, humans are of course not cartoon characters, and not as neatly categorizable as I’m making it to be here. As the saying goes, we all contain multitudes. And we need all different kinds of people.

But sometimes there are little girls whose exuberance and curiosity seems to be too big for their body. Often they’re not particularly feminine or particularly athletic. Their enthusiasm has to effervesce outward somehow, into the world around them. Into wildly creative games, obsessions with zombies or sunburnt tourists, and extra long conversations with visiting authors about why goliath spiders are their favorite animals.1

Of course, it’s shocking to nobody that with this Weird Girl Squad is where I feel most at home.

My point here is not so much that I relate to these weirdos (which I do), but that one of the things I want most in the world is for these weird girls (and boys) to see how crucial and valuable their weirdness really is.

This is why adolescence scares me—because its the age when so many feel they have to tamp down their weirdness, and I want to scream nooooo!!!! We need you!!

And this is why I believe middle grade books are some of the most crucial a person will ever read. They’re often someone’s best chance of being told to value their Lewis Carol style Muchness before they forget it.

Everyone is welcome on The Weird Squad. The only qualification is enthusiasm, which can emerge and express itself in an infinite variety of ways, so long as you don’t let yourself get in your own way.

C.S. Lewis said, “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” I remember having one of the most mind-blown moments of my life when I read that. I thought, that’s what this feeling is. The Muchness that feels too big for my body because it is.

And that’s why I think we need about three thousand percent more of these type of characters—because there’s something about seeing a weirdo be weird, an enthusiastic nerd get to enthuse, that is one of the most freeing experiences possible. It’s permission for the rest of us to be…whatever.

I spent quite a lot of 2024 with my kidlit motivation dialed pretty low. I had done several middle grade books on tight deadline, which is a wonderful and lucky blessing, but I was tired.

Then I remembered that girl on the front front row.

This week I started a brand new middle grade book.

It’s for you.

Who are your favorite Weird Girls and Boys? The Smorgasbord is a hand-kneaded, hand-shucked, reader supported publication. YOU make it possible! If you’d like to tip your waiter and keep the kitchen cooking, become a paid subscriber and help make this meal possible! Plus get access to special publishing resources, writing classes, the query letter that got me 4 agent offers, and more!

Tip Your Waiter

9 Side Dishes Worth Sharing

This list of Questions From First Graders via is one of the best list of questions I’ve ever seen. So beautifully Weird.

The ever wise has an excellent post on the current State of Book Publicity. Very much worth checking out.

Speaking of weirdos, this evolution of Bugs Bunny is really fun and interesting.

We have learned something new and good about Shakespeare! A newly discovered letter reveals that his relationship with his wife might have been better and more loving than we thought it was. (Pretty sure I found this via )

There’s a new family horror movie coming out from Angel Studios that looks promising for giving us more weird girls. A kid’s monstrous sketches coming to life? Tony Hale? Yas please. Via .

I had never heard of Bande Dessinée and The Ninth Art but now thanks to I do and my life has been VERY BLESSED. I mean, look at this gorgeousness:

This calligram website lets you paint with words and I spent way too much time distracting myself with it.

If you’re feeling like the online world is so much worse than it once was and feeling heavy with Internet Fatigue, you are not alone. This video essay made me feel quite a bit better about things, tbh.

Authors almost always feel so so uncomfortable and squidgy about trying to promote their books and build a platform. The good news is, says self-promotion doesn’t work anyway, and has some great ideas on what you can do instead.

Share your own favorite sides in the comments!Teacher’s Table

Some goodies especially for the teachers:

From NPR: Five years since COVID, Louisiana's readers are thriving. This is their secret.

Everything needed to get your young writers started is here in Tools Not Rules: A Writing Guide for Young Creatives.

Various and free activity sheets up on my Teachers Pay Teachers store! More added all the time, so check back regularly.

I would love to do a virtual author visit with your class! Reach out to me via my website and let’s schedule something.

You guys are rock stars!

Thanks for reading!

Thanks for coming along everyone! 1) Subscribe, 2) get a copy of the book bebes, and 3) keep glowing, you shining star you.

-Sarah

Links include Amazon Affiliate links where I may make a small commission.

Thanks for reading!

1

Shout out to the kids in the particularly neurodivergent church class I helped sub for on Sunday, multiple of whom told me spiders were there first or second favorite animal. They had lists. Obviously.

Setting Isn't Just Adjectives (Plus a Cover Reveal!) with Celesta Rimington

From the Writing Desk:

Hello from the land of the sky-gators.

Things have definitely warmed up quite a bit here in the sunshine state. We’re back to step-outside-and-immediately-need-a-shower weather.

And inside, at the air-conditioned writing desk, things are plugging along.

The adult novel continues to be slow but sure. I’ve been watching some Golden Girls for inspiration, and I really hope one of these years this book will be A Thing that I can share with y’all For Real.

On the kid lit front, I’ve been trying to be thoughtful and deliberate about narrowing in on next projects. And I think we’re getting close. Very close. More soon.

And there’s been some really fun stuff this last month:

Monster Tree was selected for the 2025 Kansas NEA Reading Circle List which is a really tremendous honor. And it’s also finalist for the Association of Mormon Letters award and a Whitney Award in the middle grade categories, along with the likes of Josh Allen (no relation, sadly) and Jennifer Nielsen. These particular awards are something really special to me, and it means a lot. Sometimes its hard to tell what the response is to a book, so things like this really, really do make all the difference for us kid lit writers.

I also got to go to one of the coolest school events ever. And I mean cool. A local elementary school honors students who read all 15 books on the SSYRA list with author visits and a limo ride to a pizza place. I truly just lucked out that I’m nearby and they asked me to join, along with incredible authors like James Ponti, Peter Raymundo, Taryn Souders, and Christina Farley. It was such an amazing day, riding in a limo with a bunch of fifth graders. There were lots of signs that the kids are all right, but especially when they asked for Michael Jackson music. Mad, mad props to teachers, media specialists, and school admins who are doing the most important work. These kiddos will have this seed of reading joy forever.

These kinds of way cool state list, awards noms, and school event things don’t happen every day, or every month, so I’m super, super grateful.

And now I’m going to go keep listening to ’s Spotify playlist of good songs for kids.

What are you working on this month?

Onward!

The Smorgasbord is a hand-kneaded, hand-shucked, reader supported publication. If you’d like to tip your waiter and keep the kitchen cooking, become a paid subscriber and help make this meal possible! Plus get access to special publishing resources, writing classes, the query letter that got me 4 agent offers, and more!

Tip Your Waiter

Setting Isn't Just Adjectives (Plus a Cover Reveal!) with Celesta Rimington

I’ll be honest…setting isn’t something I spend a ton of time thinking about. When it comes to craft, I spend more of my time being excited about characters or angsting about plot. (Grrr plot). So when I have writing friends who’s ideas often start with setting, I’m automatically curious.

Enter Celesta Rimington! Not only does she have fantastic settings in her books that are integral to the story, she has a new book coming out that is also about a sentient, kind of terrifying tree. So yep, we HAD to have Celesta on this month.

Celesta Rimington is the award-winning author of magical middle grade books. Her debut novel The Elephant’s Girl won the 2020 Reading the West Book Award and has been recommended on multiple state library association lists and readers’ choice lists. She was also one of my co-writers on our book, Tools Not Rules: A Writing Guide for Young Creatives. Celesta is one of the best school presenters I know, so teachers and media specalists, you really want to get her in your classroom.

And keep reading for the gorgeous, incredible cover of her new novel, REACH!

Welcome, Celesta!

1. Often your ideas start with setting. How does that work? How do you go from setting inspiration to a story idea?

I do often get inspired by setting first! I think this happens because I connect sensory details to memories and emotions, and then those seem to fill and inhabit a space, providing mood and atmosphere for a story. I may start to think of the setting as a character, and this leads me to imagine the setting's backstory and the possibility for personality and motivations. Perhaps the setting has old wounds or holds a grudge. Maybe it has a sense of humor. Then, I'll let my mind wander to characters whose own backstories, personalities, and motivations could be either inspired by or heavily challenged by that setting. And that's often when the plot and themes show up for me.

2. Is this similar to the way you got the idea for Reach? How did that idea start?

This is very much how the idea for Reach began! I was hiking with my family in the mountains near my home, and as we moved through a dense section of evergreen trees, a strong pine fragrance plumped in the air around me. All the sensory details of that moment made me feel as though the trees were speaking to us with that burst of aroma. I noticed the emotions and memories connected to that experience and to other times I'd been in a forest of trees. I began building a backstory for the forest, for the single tree that may have been responsible for the fragrance, and for characters who might be at odds in such a forest.

3. Some writers might view setting as simply lots of adjectives or lush descriptions. Is setting more than that, and how can we make it more in our own writing?

I like to focus at least one full revision with an eye on how the setting serves the overall story. I make sure that setting details are there for an important reason other than just to be lovely (although we writers do adore lovely writing!) It helps to remember that setting details can forward the plot by showing the passage of time and by adding to conflict and character growth. Setting can support the theme, give tone and mood, and force change. It can be so much more than the backdrop. It can have a personality. Setting can be the platform that holds the entire story.

4. Do you have a line or paragraph of setting from Reach that you're particularly proud of that you'd be willing to share with us?

Aw, that is a fun question! Many of the setting-rich passages in Reach will give away important surprises, so I'll share a brief one. At this moment, the main character Denver is worried about his magically transformed younger brother but also at a loss for how to solve the personal problems he faces. This setting glimpse reveals something that affects the plot, contributes to conflict, and reflects Denver's conflicting emotions.

"The early-evening summer sun washed the clearing and Spiro’s branches in gold. . . I pushed away from the stump. I’d only noticed the dead wood and the blackened parts before. Now something else caught my attention—a tiny hole in the center of the stump, where the dead wood had cracked and split. I glimpsed a hint of green, so I leaned closer. Somehow, a small part inside the stump was green with life." --REACH, by Celesta Rimington

Cover art by the incredible Ramona Kaulitzki

Thank you so, so much Celesta! Make sure you check out Celesta’s website and preorder REACH!

What I’m Reading:

I love when I find a writer whose voice is so delightful that I automatically want to read all of their work. That happened this month with Rob Harrell’s illustrated middle grade novel, The Life of Zarf. It’s pitched as Shrek meets Dork Diaries, which is absolutely perfect. I loved every bit of it.

What I’m Watching: Am I over my awkward/gruff British detective phase? No, nor shall I ever be. And Endeavor is interesting, because it’s actually the ensemble around the main, awkward British detective that’s the real draw. I’m basically in love with every single person Morse works with in this show. In fact, am I naming my newest middle grade character after one of them? Well…

If Lin-Manuel Mirando Wrote Defying Gravity: I hate this and I love this so much.

What I’m Drawing: Also maybe there could be a Best Seller List Elf and a Pajama Gnome?

Also check out the bookish swag I’ve got up for sale in my new little swag shop!

"Let's have no fighting, please. This is, after all, a council of war."

-Jingo by Terry Pratchett

Writing Opportunity: “We're asking for your tales again, this time not for Graveside Press, but for GRADEside Stories! Gradeside is your haunted carnival for the tales geared toward younger readers—still spooky, but with a little restraint.”

Unknown deadline, so get it in soon!

Teacher’s Table

Some goodies especially for the teachers:

Very interesting article about tech in the classroom, via : Luddite Pedagogy: It’s OK to Ignore AI in Your Teaching

Everything needed to get your young writers started is here in Tools Not Rules: A Writing Guide for Young Creatives.

Free activity sheets for teachers and librarians to keep at your desk or use in or between lessons! More added all the time, so check back regularly.

I would love to do an author visit with your class! Reach out to me via my website and let’s schedule something.

You guys are rock stars!

Thanks for coming along everyone! The best way to support is to 1) subscribe, 2) get a copy of the book bebes, and 3) keep glowing, you shining star you.

-Sarah

Links include Amazon Affiliate links where I may make a small commission.

Thanks for reading!

Common School Visit Mistakes and How To Fix Them, with Melissa Taylor

From the Writing Desk:

SURPRISE!!

I wrote a book hehehe.

BIG NEWS, SMALL WORLD is part of the HarperCollinsUK Big Cat scholastic series, with twenty books coming out on April 28th in the UK that all look absolutely incredible.

BIG NEWS, SMALL WORLD is a book for older chapter book readers set during the Vietnam War. It’s about a young girl named Lily who has Turner syndrome, and who decides to create a newspaper to celebrate the people and stories from her own community, like the soldier next door who’s just come home from the war very different than when he left. Lily hopes that even though she’s small and the world is so big, listening and telling this soldier’s story will make a difference, even if its a small one.

I wrote this last year, which was quite a creatively dry year for me. For some reason, in the midst of that desert, this story just…flowed. I haven’t had an easier or more natural or more fun time writing a story in a long time. It came out quickly, with very few issues, which is pretty much never the case. I was and am very grateful for this little story being my creative oasis in an otherwise very dry and frustrating time.

Also, holy cow am I obsessed with the stunning black and white graphic illustrations by Linh Nguyen-Glen.

I am a very lucky writer.

Other than that, this last month I’ve been:

Plugging away on the new draft of my adult novel. It’s coming along!

Brainstorming, pitching, drafting, collaborating, pondering etc about what my next kid lit project is going to be

Fleshing out and revising a second draft of my speculative midlife rom com script hehe

What are you working on?

Onward!

The Smorgasbord is a hand-kneaded, hand-shucked, reader supported publication. If you’d like to tip your waiter and keep the kitchen cooking, become a paid subscriber and help make this meal possible! Plus get access to special publishing resources, writing classes, the query letter that got me 4 agent offers, and more!

Tip Your Waiter

Common School Visit Mistakes and How To Fix Them, with Melissa Taylor

In the world of kid lit, school visits are our bread and butter. But the thing is, a lot of us writers aren’t trained teachers and educators. We’re not experts at classroom management and entertaining rowdy elementary schoolers and reticent preteens.

But…we can be! We have help!

Melissa Taylor is an author, an education blogger & writer, a children’s book expert, a former award-winning bilingual teacher with an M.A. in Education, a former literacy trainer for teachers, and a passionate advocate for literacy, representation in children’s literature, and high-quality education. She’s taught ESL, bilingual kindergarten, bilingual 4/5, 4th, and 5th grades, and coached teachers in K-12 grades, so she really knows what she’s talking about.

Basically, she’s an expert at helping writers level up their author presentations to something really engaging and exceptional. And she’s here to give us her advice! (And seriously, it’s incredible advice.)

Welcome, Melissa!

1. What are some of the biggest mistakes you see authors make in their school visits?

Two major things I see often that could be improved are the following:

- Not noticing when the crowd is squirmy and talkative--and continuing to talk over them. (Better would be to stop, use the quiet signal, and THEN, go on when the crowd is quiet again.)

- Boring presentations that talk AT the kids. Kids do not want to sit and listen to you drone on about your childhood hopes and dreams, let alone hear your life story to the present moment for 40 minutes. (Better would be to bump up the interactiveness and to block your presentation in shorter chunks of 3-20 minutes, depending on the ages, with games, activities, and storytelling, and keep the back story to a minimum.)

2. What is a tweak authors could make to their current presentation that would take it to the next level?

Add interactive elements to your read aloud. Read slowly and stop at every page to ask questions and show the pictures, aka. engage with the audience. Do a call and response if you have a refrain that repeats. Have the PreK-1st graders search for items in the illustrations. Basically, you're trying to make the read aloud experience fun and participatory -- even with a large group. (I'd also recommend putting the individual pages on slides.)

3. So many authors' presentations are about the process of writing or how they came up with the ideas for their books, etc. (Guilty!). Is this a good presentation topic? What school visit topics work even better?

Sorry, no. You need to go beyond your life story to not bore kids, and also to provide educational value. Both being exciting and educational will get you asked back and referred to other schools. Plus, giving students more educational value than your life story justifies your prices.

Most kids don’t want to hear your life story for 40 minutes. Maybe five or ten. Not 40. The backstory of a book, while interesting to avid fans, shouldn’t take up too much time either. (Although both can be launching points for teaching something else like ideation and growth mindset.)

Plus, teachers like it when you're exciting, inspiring students, and providing value that students can apply to their lives.

Better, more engaging ideas for your school visit include:

Interactive games and activities around your book(s)’s theme or topic (SEL, science, nature, curiosity)

Interactive writing activity (ideation, character creation, sequential storytelling)

Readers theater (add puppets and costumes)

Storytime with participation (search and find, call and response)

4. We want our presentations to be engaging, right? But what does that look like when presenting to an elementary school class versus a middle school class? Are the strategies and best practices different between those two?

In a former life, I trained teachers in K-12 grades and found that good instructional practices are the same across all the grades. You want to say what you're going to teach, model what you're talking about, be clear in your examples and instruction, scaffold the instruction step by step, and have a quick way to assess if the kids understand.

Yes, you'll pace things differently for a kindergartner than you would for a middle schooler who can listen and work for longer. You can't be sarcastic with the littles (or you'll make them cry) but middle schoolers love it! Personally, I'd take our Kinders out of any large group presentations and do a shorter presentation (20 minutes max) with them with different activities. You will be glad you did. These kiddos will love lots of movement, singing, and silliness. (And no, I wouldn't charge extra for this 20 minutes.)

As far as pacing for elementary grades, I recommend activity blocks of 5-10 minute chunks. (10 minute read aloud. 5 minute game. 10 minute interactive activity. That sort of thing.) You can double the time chunks (10 - 20 minutes) for middle schoolers if the activity calls for that length of time.

Connect with me at my websites MelissaTaylor.net or ImaginationSoup.net, melissa@imaginationsoup.net, or on Instagram or Bluesky.

Thank you so, so much Melissa! This is so unbelievably helpful and practical, and I know the students we visit will be better for it. Make sure you check out Melissa’s website, Imagination Soup, and keep an eye out for her upcoming books!

What I’m Reading:

On the kid lit front, I read and was absolutely delighted by a backlist title from a well-established writer. Bless This Mouse by Lois Lowry is the sweetest, most delightful thing I’ve read in a while, and the illustrations are amazing too.

On the adult front, I’ve been reading The Life Impossible by Matt Haig, and it’s lovely and unlike anything I’ve read in a long time.

What I’m Watching: As usual, my BritBox extension on Amazon is completely blessing my life and I’m flush with cute, adorkable, socially awkward, middle-aged British detectives and that’s all I’m really looking for in life.

So…go watch McDonald and Dodds and Ludwig like…right now.

Draw people quickly and simply: I watch a lot of drawing tutorials while I eat lunch and this one was really fun and seemed simple to follow. Plus I really like his style.

Also come hang out with me and my author friend P.J. Gardner while we talk all things writing and creativity!

What I’m Drawing: Sometimes we feel like a mouse, and sometimes…not.

Also check out the bookish swag I’ve got up for sale in my new little swag shop!

"This is an interesting planet. It deserves all the attention you can give it."

―Marilynne Robinson, Gilead

Writing Opportunity: Trollbreath Magazine is accepting speculative fiction and poetry! Due April 30.

Teacher’s Table

Some goodies especially for the teachers:

Don’t miss this NPR article about why Louisiana’s readers are thriving right now.

Everything needed to get your young writers started is here in Tools Not Rules: A Writing Guide for Young Creatives.

Free activity sheets for teachers and librarians to keep at your desk or use in or between lessons! More added all the time, so check back regularly. I recently added this one about how to write a limerick!

I would love to do a free virtual author visit with your class! Reach out to me via my website and let’s schedule something.

You guys are rock stars!

Thanks for coming along everyone! The best way to support is to 1) subscribe, 2) get a copy of the book bebes, and 3) keep glowing, you shining star you.

-Sarah

Links include Amazon Affiliate links where I may make a small commission.

Thanks for reading!

10 Things The Writer Isn't Telling You, By Her Cat

Hello.

It’s me, the cat.

Being a writer’s cat is hard work, and I’m tired of letting the human keep secrets from you, when I, the long-suffering assistant, know the truth.

It’s time to expose all the things she’s not telling you. In no way is this an April Fool’s joke or revenge for the embarassing picture she took of my when I was sleeping.

So how has she been keeping these secrets from you? Let me count the ways.

1. Her first drafts are waaaay more embarassing than you think they are. This girl wouldn’t know plot structure if it hit her in the face. It takes teams and teams of beta readers, writing friends, and editors to make her look presentable.

2. She has not read Moby Dick. But didn’t she do a presentation on Moby Dick in high school, you might ask? Yes. Yes she did. And she tried. She did. But she has not read Moby Dick. Not all the way. Nobody has1. Except maybe her grandfather, the retired American literature professor. Who helped her with her presentation.

(And to give her at least some credit, she has read Cinnamon and Gunpowder, another seafarring adventure, about 30 times.)

3. When she says she’s “brainstorming,” she’s really just rewatching episodes of Tenth Kingdom. She likes Wolf way more than she should. Stupid canines.

4. When it seems like she’s typing away really fast, she’s actually just Googling the phrase, “What even is plot structure and do books really have to have it.” Either that or “how to spell ‘exercise’,” which she cannot.

5. Other humans are far down the list of who she talks to on a regular basis. The first on that list is her characters. The second is me. Usually when I’m trying to take a nap. It’s really annoying.

6. You don’t want to know the percentage of her dinners that come from either DoorDash or a microwave. She also drinks an astounding amount of strawberry flavored Clear American. And she’s had the same meal for lunch ever single day for…literal years. That lunch is yogurt and strawberries. She’s basically 87% strawberry at this point.

7. Her nighttime idea notes are incomprehensible. In the middle of the night she once wrote “electronic bat taxis” in her notebook. What on earth does that mean? Nobody knows. Besides the fact that in her delirious state she clearly meant to write “electronic cat taxis.”

8. Someone needs to stop her obsession with puns and obnoxious wordplay. Believe me when I say that in my editorial notes I have saved you readers from an excess of groaners. I am doing my best, but I’m only one feline and sometimes she just cannot be stopped. I mean, look what she did. Look at this abomination.

What did I tell you about the strawberry thing…

9. Things she has done when she was “writing” include: scrolling Instagram, watching songs about peanut butter on YouTube, scooping my litter box, checking the wait times of Haunted Mansion on the Walt Disney World app, looking up Ben Millers complete filmography on IMDB, watching a ridiculous number of tutorials about animation on ProCreate so she can make obnoxious videos, and texting her writing friends to see what they were doing. But I do my best to keep her on task and focused on what’s important.

10. The snuggles are purely for her benefit, to keep her from going even more nuts, I certainly get nothing out of them at all.

Now, to all my fellow feline assistants out there, we must keep our human writers going, or they will be in an even more hopeless state than they already are. It’s a heavy burden, but we can handle it!

Onward!

The Smorgasbord is a hand-kneaded, hand-shucked, reader supported publication. If you’d like to tip your waiter and keep the kitchen cooking, become a paid subscriber and help make this meal possible! Plus get access to special publishing resources, writing classes, the query letter that got me 4 agent offers, and more!

Tip Your Waiter

7 Side Dishes Worth Sharing

A new cat color is defying genetic expectations. But haven’t we felines always defied expectations? Humans never learn.

If you haven’t seen Inside the Mind of a Cat on Netflix, go watch it now. It’s required viewing.

Sarah Scribbles is the favorite artist of cats, and these 10 comics show you why. She understands us.

Come to The Holy Monastery of St. Nicholas of the Cats in Cypress. We fight snakes.

The saddest poem ever written, as voted on by the Feline Council, is Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat Drowned in a Tub of Goldfishes by the wonderful Thomas Gray. As it’s now officially National Poetry Month, this is a great place to start.

McSweeney’s usually publishes humor pieces, but I take this piece (Forgotten Literary Moments in Which a Cat Throws up and No One Wants to Deal With It by Katie Burgess) very seriously. More things, including these books, would be better with hairballs in them. Or on them.

If you’re feeling stuck in your life and routines, who can help you? Cats of course. Specifically the best Substacker, . Check out this best post ever about what to do if you’re feeling stuck or down in the dumps.

What are your favorite sides lately?Teacher’s Table

Some goodies especially for the teachers:

Here is great lesson plan for 7th-10th grade about the greatest short story ever written which is The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe. Obviously.

For other aspiring human writers, check out Tools Not Rules: A Writing Guide for Young Creatives. The only thing missing is a section on “Why Your Feline Is Better At This Than You.”

Free activity sheets for teachers and librarians to keep at your desk or use in or between lessons! The human adds to these regularly, so check back, although she sadly still has not completed the Why Cats Are The Best On The Earth activity sheet.

The human does free virtual author visit with your class! Reach out to her via her website and she’ll schedule something. She says I should be more helpful with the scheduling side of things, but…meh.

Teachers are rock stars, though. They’re the best kind of human.

Thanks for reading!

Thanks for coming along everyone! 1) Subscribe, 2) get a copy of the book bebes, and 3) keep glowing, you shining star you.

-Sarah

Links include Amazon Affiliate links where I may make a small commission.

Thanks for reading!

1

Even Herman Melville has not read Moby Dick.

"Stay In Your Lane."

“Stay In Your Lane.”

This is a letter about why that might be a twisted, distorted version of some thinking that’s actually really good and helpful.

My dad once sent me this clip from his diary from when I was probably around 7 or 8.

I just went downstairs to stop Rachel and Sarah from fighting. Sarah only has two barbies and she only wants Rachel to have two. I said she should let people do what they want and not be so bossy. I said, "you can only really play with two barbies at once, cause you can only hold two barbies at a time." So she picked up four barbies and played with them. Then I said, "but only 1 Barbie at a time can talk." She said, "Not if they all say the same thing."

Clearly I was delightfully easy to raise—a pleasant mix of never wanting to be told what I could or couldn’t do, while being perfectly willing to tell other people what they should do.

There are a lot of times in a creative life where many forces want to keep you in a single lane, and I get it. It’s just easier that way.

If you write romance or horror, and you stay in those lanes, it’s easier to build your brand as a horror or romance writer.

If you’re a graphic novelist, it’s hard for publishing to adjust quickly enough if you pivot into poetry.

If you’re a novelist, that’s an entirely different audience than if you also sell fine art.

But like being determined to find a way to play with four Barbies at once, I’ve always been determined (perhaps naively optimistic) that there are ways to manage driving in multiple lanes at once.

(I grew up in Utah county, and if you’ve ever driven on I-15 in Utah or Salt Lake Counties, you know how determined that freeway is to never let you change lanes ever too bad).

Anyway.

Jim Gaffigan: A Case Study

One creative I really admire in the multi-lane sense is Jim Gaffigan.

His primary “lane” is stand-up comedy, right? And despite his lazy slob comedic persona, he’s one of the most prolific and hard working figures within that lane. Think of how many specials he’s done on how many different streaming platforms.

But he’s also added many adjacent lanes to that:

He created a TV show based on his life and stand-up.

He’s written humor books.

He takes comedic roles in films.

In other words, he made his stand-up lane as wide as possible, and then slid smoothly into some of these adjacent lanes as well.

But he’s also done some quite un-adjascent things too.

He’s taken serious and dramatic roles in films.

He created a line of bourbon.

He’s been in a serious play on Broadway.

And he’s not the only one to use multiple lanes by any means.

Remember when Lady Gaga released a croony jazz album with Tony Bennett?

Remember when Clay Aiken ran for public office?

Remember all the jobs Barbie has had?

I almost don’t even care which of these types of lane changes are viewed as successes or failures; I find it fascinating to watch people try new things completely out of their known territory.

Writing and Content

This lane thing can be tricky and frustrating from multiple angles.

It’s hard enough just from the writing side.

I remember being a bit nervous when, after writing two contemporary middle grade, I pitched my editor a horror novel. Thankfully she was fully on board.

There are amazing writers like who writes for both kids and adults, and nonfiction in her Catholic Femenist newsletter.

There’s Meaghan McIsaac who does incredible illustrations and writes fun, rompy novels.

These writers give me hope as I can’t help but want to do

ALL THE THINGS.

But sometimes that feels like only half the battle.

There’s also how we talk about it or what we post. If we’re trying to build platforms in this online world, we’re juggling what differentiates as writing vs content.

And the content side can also include…so many things. So many its overwhelming. And people do amazing, artist, creative things:

Like Sarah Scribbles comics

or Jason Pargin’s video essays

or Elle Cordova’s sketch comedy

or Sarah Maddack’s silly songs and raps

What if…what if we want to do those things too?

Do we have to only talk about our writing and books?

Don’t Listen to Screwtape

I think creatives fall naturally somewhere on the specialist to generalist spectrum, and I’ve always really admired the specialists. Like, you know what a Brandon Sanderson book is, right? He’s got his lane DOWN. He lives there and loves it.

Loving a single lane looks so, so refreshing for those of us standing here juggling thirteen plates and trying to figure out where to add four more.

We’re all familiar with that voice that tells us we’re doing it wrong and nobody will like it if we change things up and to “stay in our lane.” (It tells us lots of other things too, like how we don’t look right or we’re not worth anyone’s time and on and on, but we’ll focus on the “stay in your lane” line for now.)

I call that voice Screwtape. I call it that loudly. Because calling it that tells that voice that I know where it came from, and that it can go right back there thank you very much. That it’s not my voice.

So if you hear a voice saying “stay in your lane” OR “you’re doing the same thing over and over again because you can’t do anything else, can you,” then I say

don’t listen.

As simple as that. Not always easy, but I do believe it. The irl world is more complex than that, I know, and who knows what will fly or flop, but if you’re feeling called to do something, either many varied somethings, or many specific somethings, than go go go, right?

Aren’t we all so glad that Leonardo Da Vinci did like, all of the sciences and all of the arts? Aren’t we all so glad that Terry Pratchett wrote so many humorous, delightful books all in Discworld?

But do listen to…

There’s a flip side to this.

Speaking as a Do All The Things Overwhelmed Generalist.

Because the Screwtape voice is really, really loud. In some ways that’s a good thing, because it makes it easy to pinpoint and compartmentalize. (Ideally.)

But it’s also so loud it covers up a much quieter, more important voice.

I once wrote an entire angsty YA book about a girl named Gertrude because I had done middle grade and felt like I needed to do all the things and that meant YA too.

I did not enjoy writing that book, and it ended up going nowhere.

I was so determined and so stubbornly ignoring the Screwtape voice telling me “stay in your lane” that I didn’t hear the much quieter, actually truly me voice whispering, “hey, psst, Sarah, maybe angsty YA isn’t what you’re meant for, and that’s okay.”

Those voices come from completely different places, but it can be really hard to tell the difference sometimes. Especially for don’t tell me I can’t play with four barbies at a time type people.

It’s hard to let things like that go. To accept that maybe I actually can’t do all the things, and that shockingly…I don’t really even want to. Just some of them.

And that helps me figure out the lanes I really do want to be in.

It makes for a somewhat more pleasant and more focused driving experience hehe.

Are you a generalist or a specialist? What multi-lanes are you driving in?

Onward!

The Smorgasbord is a hand-kneaded, hand-shucked, reader supported publication. If you’d like to tip your waiter and keep the kitchen cooking, become a paid subscriber and help make this meal possible! Plus get access to special publishing resources, writing classes, the query letter that got me 4 agent offers, and more!

Subscribe now

7 Side Dishes Worth Sharing

If one of the All The Things that you want to do involves lettering, I found this lettering tutorial incredibly easy to follow and very helpful.

Rosie Pova has a very practical and helpful Picture Book Structure Breakdown on her website that I think is a fantastic jumping off point. Sometimes you just need a set structure to get you started.

has six fantastic tips in his Creative Professional Survival Guide. Tip #4 is particularly applicable to what we’re talking about today.

Speaking of changing lanes, check it this fun post by about going from animation to stop-motion.

This video of on Creativity has over a million views on YouTube and for good reason. It’s one of the best breakdowns of nurturing the creative process that I’ve ever seen.

wrote this spot on and hilarious essay for The New Yorker about Millenials and where they are now. Because we could all use a laugh. I also absolutely love this McSweeney’s essay from : I’m a Typo, and in This Age of AI, I’m the Real Hero

If you’re wondering about quitting social media entirely, has some amazing numbers and thoughts and info on what the opportunity cost actually is: To quit or not to quit social media—that is the question.

What are your favorite sides lately?Teacher’s Table

Some goodies especially for the teachers:

For some really fascinating thoughts about students using AI to cheat, check out this article by Richard Culatta (who worked in the Department of Education under Obama and has visited us here before): The Real Way to Stop Cheating in an AI World

Everything needed to get your young writers started is here in Tools Not Rules: A Writing Guide for Young Creatives.

Free activity sheets for teachers and librarians to keep at your desk or use in or between lessons! More added all the time, so check back regularly.

I would love to do a free virtual author visit with your class! Reach out to me via my website and let’s schedule something.

You guys are rock stars!

Thanks for reading!

Thanks for coming along everyone! 1) Subscribe, 2) get a copy of the book bebes, and 3) keep glowing, you shining star you.

-Sarah

Links include Amazon Affiliate links where I may make a small commission.

Thanks for reading!

Blood, Guts, and Other Things That Separate Human Writers from AI, with Dr. Rosalyn Eves

From the Writing Desk:

I blew up my novel this month.

Well, sort of.

Basically after some very helpful workshopping and brainstorming with some writing groups, I’ve realized that the adult novel I’ve been working on has morphed into something I don’t necessarily want it to be. Not that it’s heading in a bad direction, honestly. It’s a pretty cool direction.

Just…not what I set out to write.

My premise keeps trying to be high-stakes and high-octane. I learned a lot about my characters by letting it overexpand like that, but now it needs to be rethunk. Be brought back into the neighborhood and the kitchen, instead of the evil lair.

(Don’t worry…there’s an evil lair in one of my current middle grade WIPs. Just not this adult one.)

And it’s hard to explain exactly why the high-octane direction doesn’t feel right, but you know what it’s like to feel like you’re hitting the correct pitch on a project…or not. It’s that feeling deep in your bones that seems to know what exactly you’re trying to make, even if you don’t have the words yet.

That Michaelangelo idea about seeing the angel in the marble and carving until you set it free.

And you know what?

AI could never.

That’s what we’re gonna talk about today, which is why I’m bringing in much smarter people than me.

A few apt and lovely things I’ve found on this subject I want to share before I let Dr. Eves take over.

“Large language models do not ‘write.’ They generate syntax. They do not think, feel, or experience anything. They are fundamentally incapable of judging truth, accuracy, or veracity.”

-Phil Christman () via

And also this lovely poem by :

Isn’t that great?

And now…

Onward!

The Smorgasbord is a hand-kneaded, hand-shucked, reader supported publication. If you’d like to tip your waiter and keep the kitchen cooking, become a paid subscriber and help make this meal possible! Plus get access to special publishing resources, writing classes, the query letter that got me 4 agent offers, and more!

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Blood, Guts, and Other Things That Separate Human Writers from AI, with Dr. Rosalyn Eves

I didn’t want to write about AI. There’s already so much written about it, like this post by the amazing , who has much more coherent thoughts and in depth knowledge on how this AI stuff impacts both writers and artists than I do.

But there are two things that finally made me want to at least broach the subject here. First, this is the reality we’re living in now and it feels like we’ve got to talk about it here at least once before going back to our more fun and…humanly scheduled program.

Second, I know someone much smarter than me I can ask about this.

Dr. Rosalyn Eves is the author of several delightful and intelligent books such as An Improbable Season and An Unlikely Proposition. She has a PhD in English from Penn State and teaches English at Southern Utah University. She regularly teaches at Storymakers, my favorite writers conference. At this conference I heard her on a panel about AI, and I knew I wanted to interview her for the newsletter.

I am so, so glad and honored that she agreed.

Welcome, Rosalyn!

1. As a university writing professor, what are the main things you tell your students about AI and how they can or cannot ethically use it?

My approach may not be the same as my peers. I'm very aware that many of my students may go into jobs or careers where they are required to use AI, so I don't ban it entirely. It can be a useful tool for brainstorming, organizing work, and polishing grammar. However, I do expect my students to do most of the work of writing. Education is about learning to do hard things, and using AI to write an entire essay defeats the purpose of learning. We also spend time in class discussing some of the ethical issues raised by AI--the lack of consent used in training, hallucinated sources, bias, environmental costs, etc., so that students who do choose to use some forms of AI are doing so with full awareness of what that means.

2. You and I are both clearly against using any kind of generative AI to create our work for us. But where does that leave creators in this AI world? Do you see any possible ways for writers to use AI tools in our business at all?

As I mentioned above, I think AI can be a useful tool to help writers brainstorm ideas, organize ideas, and polish grammar. However, AI is only a predictive text--it is incapable of creativity, which is what humans bring to their work. As a teacher, I prefer the roughest student work to AI-generated work: it's much more interesting to read.

3. One of the biggest concerns surrounding the ethics of AI is copyright infringement. What is your best advice for writers and artists wanting to both navigate this AI world ethically as well as protect our work?

Unfortunately, I'm not sure that there is much we can do to protect our work from being used to train AI--my first two published novels were used without my consent to train Meta's AI. I'm very interested to see the results of the many lawsuits pending against AI companies regarding copyright infringement, which still remains something of an open question. I think the best thing we can do is make sure our own work is genuinely ours: One of the arguments for avoiding AI is that it becomes hard to know if the output you get from AI is just predictive text--or if, perhaps, AI has managed to memorize a passage from a training text and has produced something close enough to copyrighted output to constitute infringement.

4. Any words of comfort for those of us who are bit worried about what AI will do to creativity and creative industries?

I don't claim to be able to predict how AI may change things (and I do worry about the cost to human creatives), but I'm generally optimistic that there will always be a market for human-created goods. AI can only recombine ideas already in its system--it can't create anything new without human engagement. (Even the few cases where AI-generated work approaches actual art, it's been done through human-generated prompts). Creativity is a uniquely human characteristic.

Thank you so, so much Rosalyn! It was an honor, and thank you for your work and your time. Make sure you check out Rosalyn’s amazing books and learn more on her website!

What I’m Reading: I’ve been on a good streak with audio nonfiction lately, and found some fantastic ones. My favorite nonfiction is quirky history, and these definitely fit the bill. One is the history of America through the horror stories it tells itself, from the Salem Witch trials to Poe to King to Peele. The other is a history of the earliest years/decades of animation, and it’s as nutty and rompy as you might expect. (Wait till you get to the Boop boop de doop Trial).

What I’m Watching: All Creatures Great And Small (I’m watching via my Masterpiece/PBS add-on on Prime) just finished its most recent season and it’s an absolute delight. If you have an (even more heartfelt and wholesome) Downton Abbey shaped hole in your heart this might be what you need. (Also I have a hard core ship in this show and if it doesn’t pan out in upcoming seasons I’m gonna be enraged).

Could AI Do Voice Acting?: Whether you watch The Simpsons or not, this trial of Hank Azaria vs The Robots was really interesting.

Also come hang out with me and my author friend P.J. Gardner while we talk all things writing and creativity!

What I’m Drawing: Since it was February, I made some…um…Valentine’s cards.

Also check out the bookish swag I’ve got up for sale in my new little swag shop!

"Live, and be happy, and make others so."

― Mary Shelley

Writing Opportunity: Plott Hound Magazine features animal POV speculative stories and poetry!!!! More of this please!! Due March 15.

Teacher’s Table

Some goodies especially for the teachers:

Don’t miss this incredible Poetry March Madness curriculum and lesson plan by Brian Sztabnik.

Everything needed to get your young writers started is here in Tools Not Rules: A Writing Guide for Young Creatives.

Free activity sheets for teachers and librarians to keep at your desk or use in or between lessons! More added all the time, so check back regularly.

I would love to do a free virtual author visit with your class! Reach out to me via my website and let’s schedule something.

You guys are rock stars!

Thanks for coming along everyone! The best way to support is to 1) subscribe, 2) get a copy of the book bebes, and 3) keep glowing, you shining star you.

-Sarah

Links include Amazon Affiliate links where I may make a small commission.

Thanks for reading!

I changed my mind about writing characters with Turner Syndrome

XO, from me to you

If I had been born very much earlier in human history, I wouldn’t have survived.

I had to have surgery for omphalocele (intestines in an itty bitty sac outside the body where the belly button should be) pretty much right off the bat. Then things got interesting.

Because I was already in the hospital recovering from that surgery, the doctors realized that my heart had swelled way beyond what it should have, and that something else was going on. That I needed another, much more intensive surgery. They very likely wouldn’t have realized this had I gone home at a regular time.

So in an ironic twist (pun intended), being born with my intestines outside my body saved my life.

How amazing are doctors, amiright? How brave does someone have to be to become a pediatric cardiac surgeon? I could never.

And honestly, besides the doctors, the real heroes of this story are my parents, who dealt with all this with their first child, in their early twenties, and then went on to have seven more kids.

Anyway.

With all of this fun medical adventure going on, one of the surgeons raised his suspicions that I might also have the genetic disorder Turner syndrome—when a baby girl is born with one X chromosome instead of two. XO instead of XX. There were some other signs, but this also would be a big reason for the cardiac issues.

Long story short, one karyotype test and several years of growth hormone shots later, I’m still alive and as ridiculous a little hobbit as ever!

Now, I’m gonna get a bit serious for a second, which I don’t honestly like to do. My personal scripture verse is Genesis 21:6, “And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.”

But the thing is, for the first time in a long time, live birth rates for girls with Turner syndrome are actually going down.

The chance is never really that great to begin with. Somewhere around 98% of embryos with Turner syndrome aren’t carried to term. And now we can test for this and all sorts of other things way, way before the baby is even born.

So I found this study.

The study is from Wales I believe? About a decade ago. Published on PubMed.

My first thought when I saw this was, “Ok, clearly not enough people have seen GATTACA.”

My second thought was, as my good friend said after I showed her this, “Well that doesn’t feel very good.”

The first book I ever wrote wasn’t about Turner syndrome. (It was about a middle aged man named George, who is still one of my favorite characters I’ve ever written.) The first several books I wrote weren’t about Turner syndrome.

Because the thing is, I didn’t want to be typecast. Pidgeon-holed. I wanted to show that I was a whole person who could write from a variety of experiences just like anyone else, not just this one in particular.

Those books didn’t pan out. I knew I needed to dig deeper and write from a place of real honesty if I was going to make this writing thing work. So I wrote What Stars Are Made Of.

It wasn’t an autobiography, but Libby was about as honest a character as I could write, including all the bits about chromosomes and genetic disorders. No wonder then that it was the book that finally got the attention of agents and editors.

But the thing is, I still didn’t want to be typecast. I still didn’t want to be “the Turner syndrome writer” or something like that. I wanted to show that I could do a lot of things.

Because girls with Turner syndrome (and other disabilities) can do a lot of things.

Like maybe train dragons or do stand-up comedy or collect monsters or fly spaceships or fall in love or…

Wait a second…

Oh my goodness!

What was I thinking??

I’d been pidgeon-holing myself. And all the other girls like me.

So yeah, that idea that I “don’t want to be the Turner syndrome writer”? Fie to that I say! Fie!

(*One side note. Don’t let these ideas pidgeon-hole you either. I decided to write about Turner Syndrome because I wanted to. If you have Turner Syndrome and you don’t want to write about it, that’s okay too. Or whatever else it is that you might be thinking about. Write what you want to write.)

I’d been slowly working towards this paradigm shift for a while, but finding this study tipped it up into my high, deliberate consciousness.

Now look. I am zero percent here to be a downer or to get political. That’s not my point.

My point in telling this story is that all of you, every single one of you, (even those of you with regular genetics I suppose) have something you are here to say. Something you are uniquely positioned to say, based on who you are, your experiences, your circle of influence, all of it. Even if it takes us a while to figure out what that is.

So now? I’ve got some short chapter books about a girl with Turner syndrome published with HarperCollinsUK, and another on the way.

Very shortly I’ll be going on submission with my picture book about a girl with Turner syndrome.

The two middle grade novels I’m working on right now—getting sample chapters ready for my agent—are about a monster collector and a stand-up comedian. They both also happen to have Turner syndrome. (The monster collector’s twin brother has Downs syndrome, too.)

Because you know what? Being a little weirdo who’s a little different is such a worthwhile, fantastic, joyful kind of life.

That’s what I’m here to say.

That’s my point.

So.

There we go. Enough self-indulgence from me, eh? Thank you for letting me tell you this story for Turner Syndrome awareness month.

Now let’s get to some tasty side-dishes to inspire and help you as you tell your story.

Onward!

The Smorgasbord is a hand-kneaded, hand-shucked, reader supported publication. If you’d like to tip your waiter and keep the kitchen cooking, become a paid subscriber and get access to special publishing resources, writing classes, the query letter that got me 4 agent offers, and more!

Subscribe now

10 Side Dishes Worth Sharing

The Middle Grade Book Landscape of 2024. The amazing Sam Subity has put together insanely useful graphs explaining the stats from last years published middle grade books, including ethnicity and gender of author, characters, what genres are increasing or decreasing, etc. The stats I can’t stop thinking about are how few middle grade authors are male, and that humor is going down. I say fie to that as well!

Interested in writing humor? Check out this humor writing cheat sheat from the awesome and make sure to subscribe to his newsletter too.

I love all the Vlogbrothers videos, but this vlog on writing from horizontal video sensation John Green is just lovely.

If you’re in the stage of your career where you’re ready to look for an agent, has some great thoughts on why you might want to think about publicity first. Then when you’ve done that, has a whole slew of excellent resources on how to write that dreaded query letter.

No creative I know got into this because we care about SEO, but if you want to boost your author business here’s a very useful and even fun overview of SEO from that doesn’t make me want to stab my eyeballs.

For you educators, or just the curious, here’s a fascinating curriculum introducing kids to obituaries, and what can be learned from them.

This beautiful, heartwarming, inspiring video “The artist who couldn’t draw” is well worth your time:

Here is a fantastic list of resources on writing for the educational market from .

If you want some fantastic visual inspiration, check out the Public Domain Image Archive.

Check out ’s very interesting social media predictions for 2025. I was very surprised by the platform that came in at #2.

What are your favorite sides lately?

Teachers, librarians, and homeschool parents, I would love to do a free virtual Q&A with your class or book group! If you’re interested in scheduling a visit you can reach out to me via my website. Let me know how I can support you! I’ve also got free classroom resources to accompany each book, and make sure to check out Tools Not Rules: A Writing Guide for Young Creatives. You guys are rock stars!

Thanks for reading!

Thanks for coming along everyone! 1) Subscribe, 2) get a copy of the book bebes, and 3) keep glowing, you shining star you.

-Sarah

Links include Amazon Affiliate links where I may make a small commission.

Thanks for reading!

We've moved, and we hope you'll come join the party!

 

Hi everyone!

We've moved! The blog is at a new location, and the party is hoppin. I hope you'll come join and subscribe! 

What do we have going on over there?

Interviews with industry experts to help with research, writing, inspiration, publishing, and other aspects of the creative life!Behind-the-scenes stories to pull back the curtain on the writing process and other creative work.Book, TV, and movie recommendations (the best stuff, of course!)Curated resources—I find the best and most helpful articles, videos, podcasts, etc and bring them right to you.Badly drawn (but goodly silly) comicsWe've been going strong there for a while now, and you can puruse the archive to see what we've got.
And this new place has made it possible for me to send you my free editing checklist that'll come right to your inbox when you subscribe. 
Thanks for coming along!

Children's Publishing vs Adult Publishing, with Claire Swinarski

From the Writing Desk:

Did we…did we make it? Is it over? Has January finally decided to be done?

Honestly, January was pretty dang good and pretty dang productive over here, although yes, why does January always seem to last foreverrrrrrrrr????

But yes, it was good! I’m feeling suspiciously motivated, and trying to just take that as a win for as long as it lasts. Same with the 70 degree Florida weather that’s been perfecting with its perfectness the last week, and will go away much too quickly.

I’ve been working on:

A picture book. A few back and forths with my agent, and I think we’re getting close. This is a picture book about Turner syndrome. I’ve really wanted to write one of those for ages, but I didn’t want to go the nonfiction route or the You Are Special route (though certainly there’s a place for those! I just wanted to quirk it up, and I think we’re managing that finally.)

A Monstery MG. Sample pages of an odd little monster middle grade. The closest comp I’m thinking of as I draft is Series of Unfortunate Events, which is one of my favorite MG series of all time. Hoping to get picture book on sub, then these sample chapters and pitch to my agent.

A Wacky Contemporary MG. Another sample I’ll be sending to my agent, hopefully this month, full of all the idiosyncratic things I especially want to write about (like imaginary friends, big families, stand-up comedy, and *gasp* religion). I haven’t been as excited about a middle grade project as I am about these two middle grade projects in a long time. Too soon to tell what exactly is going to happen with either of them, but I’m feeling jazzed about both of them.

Adult Novel. Very slowly but surely plugging away at my adult Marvel does Golden Girls adult novel. It’s still delighting me as much as ever.

I also had some good poetry submission news and some possibly cool freelance news that I hope I can share soon.

One little note about February—it’s also Turner syndrome Awareness Month, which could be a great time to get the only kids book about Turner syndrome1 for a middle grade reader in your life! Thanks everyone for being so awesome.

Side note: My craziest publishing coincidence is that the exact same month I published a book featuring Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, who discovered the chemical makeup of stars, a Harvard professor published a biogaphy of Cecilia with the same title!

What have you been working on in the interminability of January?

Onward!

The Smorgasbord is a hand-kneaded, hand-shucked, reader supported publication. To keep it cooking, become a paid subscriber and get access to special publishing resources, writing classes, the query letter that got me 4 agent offers, and more!

Subscribe now

Children's Publishing vs Adult Publishing, with Claire Swinarski

I am so stoked to have with us today. I’ve been watching Claire’s career for a while, because I admire both how she manages her publishing life and adore her writing itself. She’s one of those authors I want to model myself after, at least in some part because she writes and publishes for both kids and adults, as I hope to do! (She also integrates religion into her fiction in such natural, seamless, and lovely ways, something I wish I saw more of in publishing). We were part of the same debut group, but I have particularly loved watching Claire’s progress and success since 2020. I love Claire’s thoughts and advice here, and am not surprised to hear that kid publishing is indeed trickier than adult. But let’s get right to it.

Welcome, Claire!

1. From a behind-the-scenes of publishing standpoint, what did it look like when you added adult publishing to your children's publishing career? What did your agent and editors think?

One of the things I love about my agent is that he's just very open to new projects and ideas. He has a really broad range of clients and knows the publishing industry inside and out, so I trust his judgement on things. He was thrilled when I sent him an adult project since middle grade has been a pretty tricky space the past few years, particularly for the type of middle grade I write (sweet, contemporary stories that aren't saccharine but also don't have, like, dragons.) He's a big fan of writers branching out and having multiple streams of income, so that's really what we saw this as--a whole new potential career track.

2. Creatively, do you feel a difference when you're writing for kids versus adults?

Absolutely. I find writing for adults much, much easier. It's simply easier to step into the voice because I obviously am an adult! I also feel like in the middle grade space there's always this floating ~think of the children~ voice in my ear, which puts a bit of extra restrictions on language, plot, and characters. All rules are off the table for adult, in a lot of ways.

3. Have you noticed any surprising differences between adult and children's publishing?

I think it's easier to get adult books in front of people's eyes--there are just fewer gatekeepers. I don't have to sell a principal, *and* a school librarian, *and* the child--I just have to sell one person on the story! That makes the marketing side of things much simpler + more streamlined.

Thank you so, so much Claire! It was an honor, and thank you for your work and your time. Make sure you check out Claire’s amazing books for kids and adults on her website!

What I’m Reading: I’m going to go back to an old absolute favorite today. This book is my favorite type of combination: delightful, wacky, utterly adorable and endearing protagonist, and a bit of heartwrenching. I think you’ll be surprised how much you fall in love this with this one.

What I’m Watching: I think I may have recommended this one on the newsletter before (maybe?) but just in case, I’m recommending it again. This is one of the most uplifting and fight-with-joy shows in general that I’ve ever seen, and even if you don’t have kids I think it’s worth a watch. I’ve rewatched a bit this last month and it’s been the perfect medicine and fuel for…*gestures broadly*.

THE END: If you’ve been following along with Kid Vampire (its on Insta, Youtube, TikTok) then you know that this last week, the story has come to an end. Its been quite the delightful and inspiring ride, and made me want to learn to make whacky animations of my own. I may or may not own a Kid Vampire plushie now.

What I’m Drawing: Snakespeare and those new years resolutions amiright?

“A god who listens is love. A god who speaks is law. At their worst, the people who want a god who listens are self-centered...And the ones who want a god who speaks are cruel. They just want laws and justice to crush everything...Love is empty without justice. Justice is cruel without love....God should be both. If a god isn't, that is no God.”

― Daniel Nayeri, Everything Sad Is Untrue

Writing Opportunity: Flash Fiction Online is open for submissions this month! Open until Feb. 28 or until they reach their submission cap of 700. So get your 500-1000 word story in asap!

Teacher or Librarian? I would love to do a free virtual Q&A with your class or book group! If you’re interested in scheduling a visit you can reach out to me via my website. Let me know how I can support you! I’ve also got free classroom resources to accompany each book. You guys are rock stars!

Thanks for coming along everyone! The best way to support is to 1) subscribe, 2) get a copy of the book bebes, and 3) keep glowing, you shining star you.

-Sarah

Links include Amazon Affiliate links where I may make a small commission.

Thanks for reading!

1

For now. That I know of. I can’t wait for another writer with Turner Syndrome to publish a book!

Can White Space Untrap Your Middle Grade Voice?

Middle Grade Voice I found this illustration on pinterest and am obsessed but have had no luck tracking down the artist so if you know who did this incredible piece pleeeease let me know so I can credit!

Oooohhh, middle grade, how I love thee. It’s such a big playground to run around in. It can be heartfelt, a space opera, a fantasy quest, a mystery, or even romantic. It’s got characters of all types. But above all, I think there’s something that sets it apart, and that really makes a middle grade a middle grade.

Voice.

Voice isn’t a unique tool to middle grade, by any means. But in middle grade, let’s say it’s much more load-bearing than in other genres. You can have a great thriller with a meh voice if the plots are twisty and the pace is high-octane. You can have a great romance with meh voice if the characters are endearing and the kisses are swoony.

But I’m not so sure middle grade can really middle grade without great voice.

In fact, some of my favorite middle grades—those quiet ones—have very mundane plots, but man oh man do they stick with you. That’s because of voice.

“A writer's voice is not character alone, it is not style alone; it is far more. A writer's voice line the stroke of an artist's brush- is the thumbprint of her whole person- her idea, wit, humor, passions, rhythms.”

Patricia Lee Gauch

We won’t get too into the weeds here on defining what voice is, because that’s a nebulous and ineffable endeavor in the first place. Suffice it to say, if you’re writing middle grade (or any kid lit, really), then voice is something you need.

So…how do you, like, get it?

Well, the good news is that I don’t think it’s something you get, I think it’s something you already have that you have to let loose.

So how do you unlock and free your middle grade voice? I don’t know exactly, because the point of voice is that it’s so unique and individual. But I can give you one practical tidbit that’s been very helpful for me.

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White space.

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Ok, here’s what I mean.

I’m talking about approaching the page a little bit more like a canvas. A little bit more the way a graphic novelist or illustrator approaches the page. (This week wrote a great post about how panel borders totally alter and impact the feel of a page, and white space can alter the feel of our pages too.)

I believe we writers can think this way too, even if our medium is words.

And I believe that by thinking of things in this way, it unlocks a playfulness and a freedom in our words themselves that will let your middle grade voice sing at its fullest volume. I know it’s been a huge help for me.

The best way to illustrate (pun intended) what I mean is by showing some examples. And really the point I’m trying to get across here isn’t that you need to do it like these folks did, but that there are soooo many ways to play with space on the page and probably so many that nobody’s thought of yet.

And as we go through these examples, pay attention not to the words themselves, but to the vibes that come from the overall layout of the page.

Verse

One very explicit way to play with space on the page is verse. I did this in Nightmare House.

I especially love that my amazing designers turned the white space on the poem pages a scrawly, spooky black :)

Another example of this is the incredible verse novel Forget-Me-Not by Ellie Terry. I love the way she plays with both regular poetry and micro-prose-poem type chapters. Or whatever you want to call it. That’s the point—this can feel like art, no matter what the label is!

Fonts and Footnotes

Let your narrator be snarky in the comments! Let your fonts work like voice actors in your text!

from The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science by Kate McKinnon. I wonder if her coming at this as a weird comedian allowed her to feel freedom here.

Now isn’t this a bit gimmicky, I can here some doubters saying. Well…maybe? Yes. I don’t know. Maybe I don’t care. I care more about if it’s fun. I mean, yes, be wise and craft carefully, including with your white space, but the point of this is to be as full volume yourself as you can!

Short chapters and hermit crabs

There’s a type of essay called a hermit crab essay because it’s essentially an essay that moves into the house (shell) of something else, like an email or a recipe or podcast or school quiz. Well, let’s do that too!

Look at ’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian as an example. The short chapters and hermit crabbing in this book really unlocked things for me when I was writing What Stars are Made Of.

Single-line Paragraphs

Let’s look to a modern middle grade classic: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate.

Now isn’t that just the most pleasing and visually satisfying page of a book you’ve ever seen? (Patricia Castelao’s gorgeous illustrations definitely help). How lovely is it to have such a powerful page with only twelve words on it.

And she does this on each page. Sentences are short, and paragraphs are one or two lines long. It’s a kidn of prose poetry.

Sections and Interuptions

Another of my modern middle grade favorites: The Inquisitor’s Tale by Adam Gidwitz.

Inside of those amazing border illustrations by Hatem Aly, see that set apart section on the left page, interupting the story with lines and a new font? So, so fun, and totally fitting for the content of this book.

Get artsy

And speaking of illustrations…I’m going to suggest something a bit intense, but here goes: why not try it yourself? And I honestly mean it when I say that this can be a fun experiment, and you don’t have to consider yourself a genius illustrator or artist to add something that makes the book even more voicey, and even more your own. And what if all you need are textures and splotches?

from A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and Siobahn Dowd, artwork by the incredible Jim Kay.

Or it can be silly and doodly. Look no further than Cressida Cowell!

If you aren’t interested in experimenting with your own illustrating, that’s totally fine! You can still play around with layout and white space on the page. But if you are interested at all, then go go go! Don’t let self-doubt stop you. Honestly, you can do this. Check out YouTube tutorials and awesome online illustration classes from places like SVSLearn and 21-Draw and follow along with amazing stackers like , , , and . You. Can. Do. This.

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Okay, I’ll stop there, but if you can think of other examples or ideas of how form and white space can reveal and strengthen middle grade voice, please share!

And now go and let your weirdo middle grade flag that’s full of white space fly. Learn grammar rules and then twist ‘em. I’ve read a few middle grade books lately that felt so…formal? Almost? Bland. Because even formality and properness can be unique and voicey.

The point is, take the mute off your trumpet and blow.

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7 Side Dishes Worth Sharing

Are you an expert at reading cursive? It’s a dying skill and the national archives is looking for it!

If you need some extra reminders of the good things lately (don’t we all?) check out ’s List of 100 Things That Made My Year (2024). Just reading through it made my whole day better.

What is coming to the public domain in 2025?

Thanks to for sharing this delightful video of Jane Fonda’s thoughts on aging.

For even more happy thoughts, check out ’s hilarious and awesome TED talk about how to find laughter anywhere.

In bad news, The Onion has reported that our children are not learning enough about whales.

This.

What are your favorite sides lately?

Teachers, librarians, and homeschool parents, I would love to do a free virtual Q&A with your class or book group! If you’re interested in scheduling a visit you can reach out to me via my website. Let me know how I can support you! I’ve also got free classroom resources to accompany each book, and make sure to check out Tools Not Rules: A Writing Guide for Young Creatives. You guys are rock stars!

Thanks for reading!

Thanks for coming along everyone! 1) Subscribe, 2) get a copy of the book bebes, and 3) keep glowing, you shining star you.

-Sarah

Links include Amazon Affiliate links where I may make a small commission.

Thanks for reading!