The question for Michele Corriel was....
Discuss why you write MG versus YA or adult, what’s great about it, what’s hard about it.
In my other life (the one that sort of pays the bills) I’m a freelance magazine writer. I write about art, and houses, interesting people and places. In that world I know I’m writing for an adult audience. When I sit down to write middle grade, I know I’m writing for kids of a certain age, but I don’t do it consciously. I do it because that’s the story that needs to come out, needs to be written by the characters in my head that just happen to be that age.
What’s great about writing Middle Grade books? Everything! I love the fun, most of all. How everything can be just what it seems to be. I know there are some very edgy middle grade books out there … but to me, this age seems to scream for funny books that everyone can read and enjoy. And, as an added bonus, the middle grade voice feels very natural to me. For me, when I’m in the middle grade mode, it’s a matter of connecting with my characters in a very honest, up front way.
Maybe it’s the kid I never was – because when I was in middle school I was more serious than any forty-year-old I ever came across.
I also write YA, although those books aren’t out yet, and for me YA is different, a tad bit more serious, maybe more poetic? I don’t know. I’ve read plenty of YA books that weren’t the least bit poetic, so I guess that’s just my personal YA voice.
And I love to write in all the genres. I don’t feel like I have to be limited to one genre. Maybe that’s something I need to talk to a therapist about J But I feel like I have a lot of stories to tell, and limiting myself to one voice, one age group wouldn’t help me to get those stories out there.
Thanks Michele! Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.
-Harmony B.
