Adult/Kid Dichotomy in YA and Middle Grade

The separation between adult and kid's worlds in YA and Middle Grade books can be confusing at times. I mean, they do both live in the same world, but sometimes it doesn't feel like it. The extreme example are the so-called sitcoms on the Disney Channel where adults are so clueless you wonder how they manage to hold a job while the kids are clever but mean and sarcastic to everyone, including their parents.

Part of the dichotomy is due to the way the stories have to be set up. Mysteries that have the kids running around finding clues and solving problems would end rather swiftly if adults listened to what the kids said they saw and acted to shut down the problem right away. Instead, the "meddling kids" have to work under adult radar and solve the mystery themselves, sometimes against well-meaning adult interference. Would Harry Potter have been a shorter series if Harry had been able to get Dumbledore to listen to him right away?

Sometimes the separation is due to the kids feeling that they have to hide things from their parents, whether it's bullying, grades, or a strange alien creature that just landed in their back yard. Sometimes the adults are the ones so caught up in their own lives that they don't notice that their kids are behaving strangely.

This is a standard trope in YA and Middle Grade books. Most times it works (which is why it's a standard trope), and other times you just want to yell at the characters to listen to each other.

In my own Talking to Trees Peter has to hide the fact that the person his mother is driving home with them from the mall is a tree being from another world.

Peter frowned at his sister. "We need to go to the woods later today, Mom. Got a project...for Science. I'll be meeting my study partner there. This is Twyl, Jody's study partner."

Jody stared at Peter in shock. Peter never lied--yet here he was telling their mother these big fibs without a qualm! And he was scowling at her as if ordering her not to say anything about what was really happening! As if she knew.

[snip]

When they got home, she followed her brother into his room and, despite her worries about smells, shut the door. "Peter Robert Burns! You lied to her!"

"Well, what am I supposed to say? 'Hey, Mom, we're off to defeat an evil creature in another world and if we're successful we should be back by dinner?' You think Mom would say, 'yes, dear, go ahead,' to that?"

Mark Reads has started on Diane Duane's Young Wizard series and within the first few pages he was remarking on how great the interaction was between the adults and the kids. The fact that Nita has been bullied is evident right away to a librarian and then later her parents and each tried in their own way to help.

What books have you enjoyed that handled the trope well? Is having the kids hide things from the adults something that bothers you or is it something you accept?

***

A final reminder for anyone interested: my stories The Crystal Throne, Agents and Adepts, Talking to Trees, "Oracle of Cilens", and "Search and Rescue" will only be available through March 30, 2016 at Amber Quill Press (e and paper), Amazon (paper) and B&N. The free short story, "Hiding in Plain Sight", is only available at Amber Quill Press until then, when Amber Quill Press closes. The quick link to these (or a link to keep track of where these might end up), is through my book and short story page.

Changes

All good things end eventually. At the beginning of this month, Amber Quill Press announced that it would be closing down March 31, 2016. I have three books and three short stories with this publisher, and after March I will be looking to find a home for them with another publisher.

I've been with Amber Quill since 2003. They've always been a class act - great editors, beautiful cover art, regular quarterly royalty statements and payments, and creative promotional efforts. Their short story line gave me an opportunity with three of my shorts. One of those, "Search and Rescue", is currently a finalist in the EPIC Ebook Awards in the Short Works category. And its cover artist, Trace Edward Zaber, is a finalist for EPIC's Ariana Award in the Fantasy/Paranormal category.

This isn't the first time something publishing-related has ended for me. Over the years I've had a magazine close before an accepted short story of mine was published, and I've also had two other different publishers drop an anthology line, which meant three anthologies that I had short stories in went out of print. But I have short stories in anthologies with other publishers, as well as a picture book, and I'm currently working on a middle grade science fiction book.

In the meantime, though (for anyone interested), The Crystal Throne, Agents and Adepts, Talking to Trees, "Oracle of Cilens", and "Search and Rescue" will still be available through March 30, 2016 at Amber Quill Press, Amazon and B&N. The free short story, "Hiding in Plain Sight", is only available at Amber Quill Press until then. I'll have paper copies of the three books with me at conventions until I run out of stock. But the e-versions will be gone after March. (Amber Quill has the e-versions of the books on sale at their website, btw). If anyone wants a quick link to these (or a link to keep track of where these might end up), my book and short story page will always list them.

Amber Quill Press has been a wonderful publisher and I will greatly miss the creative, encouraging and supportive people who have made it such a great press.

Secondary Characters

I moderated an interesting panel discussion at Archon 39 this past weekend. "When Your Secondary Characters Demand Their Own Stories", with panelists Jacqueline Carey, Adrian J. Matthews, Cindy A. Matthews, Henry Melton and myself, started with examples of just those times. At first, these seemed to point out the differences between "plotters" - those who plot out their stories beforehand - and "pantsers" - those who write by the seat of their pants with no initial plan. "Pantsers" had characters who seemed to wander into a story while "plotters" didn't allow their characters to stray outside their predetermined roles.

But, as the discussion went on, it turned out that there wasn't that much difference between the two sliding scales of writing. What mattered was the character. Some background characters could appear, speak their lines or carry a spear, and vanish in the next paragraph. A secondary character could stay in the shadow of the main character, never moving out of the role of the main character's best friend or supporting team. But then there are those, that due to either being so well developed or with such an interesting backstory, that somehow catch enough interest (either the author's or readers') that people demand that more be told. Cindy Matthews found it happened with just one throwaway line spoken by a character. Henry Melton noticed one secondary character had become so interesting that he realized that the story should be about that character, the father of the main character, rather than the son.

Several of my short stories in Agents and Adepts are due to my own "secondary characters want their own story" issue. While looking for a publisher for my first book, The Crystal Throne, I found my Fleet Ones, a race of talking horselike beings in that book, rather pushy in that regard. Renw's story of how he teamed up with an elf to become a scout was something I had to explore, as well as how Elin left the herd to learn magic. Elin even pushed his way into Talking to Trees.

Is this something you can plan? The panelists were divided on that. In order to make a story interesting, you have to have interesting characters. One way to make a character interesting is to mention details, such as what the character likes or dislikes, mannerisms, etc. The more details we know about the character, the better. The problem comes with knowing so much about the character that she or he takes over the story. The panelists did agree that, if a character doesn't fit a story, no matter how interesting he or she is, for the sake of the story it might be best to move him or her to another file to save for another story.

Patricia Wrede covers this dilemma well in her tips on writing about secondary characters.

What secondary characters are you aware of that have gone on to their stories?

The Day after New Year's

It's the day after New Year's Day, and writers all know that that means, right? Yes, it's time to start getting the receipts and invoices and such (like end-of-the-year odometer reading) ready for income tax filing.

When I first started writing, back in pre-computer days, I had a little ledger that I kept track of everything I spent on my writing: postage, paper, typewriter ribbons, index cards, etc. The ledger was easy to update, but since I hadn't sold anything yet, it was more practice than anything else.

After I had a few books published and began traveling to conventions not as a fan, but as a published author, I didn't have time to keep organized records. All receipts and notes on expenses throughout the year got dumped into a box, and the first week or so of January was spent separating out all those office invoices and receipts and travel expenses and re-organizing everything into something an accountant could make some sense of. I had checked with the authors at my university and went with the accountant the mystery writer in the English Department used. That accountant wisely sent out a worksheet every year listing the expenses I could deduct, and, after organizing and sorting everything (usually on the floor, which worked until my birds blew over stacks whenever they flew in to investigate what I was doing), it was a simple matter of filling in the blanks on the worksheet.

Nowadays I have a few files on my laptop (convention expenses, postage, office supplies, inventory, promotion, sales, royalties) that I update on a daily or weekly basis throughout the year. The receipts go into an accordion file into their separate categories as soon as they come in. So the January sorting is down from a week to less than half a day. And most of that is basically just adding the sums in the various files and filling in the blanks on the worksheet my accountant sends me. And then waiting until the official forms (including the 1099s from my publishers) arrive.

I'm sure other authors have spreadsheets or software programs that are much more efficient. What system do you use?

Finally, two small bits of self promotion: First, Saturday, January 3rd, is the last day of Amber Quill Press' New Year's 50% off sale. Which means the e-versions of my books, The Crystal Throne, Talking to Trees and Agents & Adepts are 50% off today through Saturday (Jan. 3, 2015).

Second, on January 4, 2015, Amber Quill Press will have a free short story by me on its website. Look for "Hiding In Plain Sight" starting January 4th.