Reblogged: Sir E. Robert Smythe and writing for Middle-grade

Sir E. Robert Smythe:

Writing for Middle-grade

Christina Weigand

 Time to talk a little bit about my Middle-grade series.  A few years ago I approached a gentleman about taking a series of children's scripts and aging them up to middle-grade. I felt that since I was writing young adult, writing middle grade would be easy. I quickly realized when I started working on this new series that middle grade is definitely different from writing young adult. I won't go into all the differences here, just know that there was a slight learning curve. It has been an exciting challenge to write for people in this age group.

Although many of the characters had already been created, I felt one more was needed. So I created Sir E. Robert Smythe. He is the Chief Safety Ambassador for the Galatic Safety Council from the planet Gwill. He works with Queen Sage and an array of characters that come to Earth to help children navigate their way through many of the social issues plaguing today's society.

Sir E. Robert  helps  boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 14, deal with school bullies, homeless people, death of a loved one, rich girl vs. poor girl, self esteem issues, suicide, arts vs. sports and A.D.H.D.

Someone once asked me why do kids need fantastical creatures to guide them through life? Don't the parents do that? At the time I was so upset that I could not formulate an answer. ( A problem I frequently have when in a confrontational situation). Looking back on that evening from this point of having finished six books with these characters, I think I finally have a partial answer. So here it is: This is a very unique age group. These kids are on the verge of teen years where they become more responsible for their decisions and yet they are at a point that they still want their parents to give them all the answers. They don't want to listen to their parents and yet they are  in a place where adults are still needed. The fantastical creatures of the Gwill create an atmosphere for these young people to begin to formulate the person that they will grow into, provide gentle guidance while still giving the preteen room to make their own choices.

Anyway that's what the series is all about. Two of the books are published: Sir E. Robert Smythe and the School Bully and Sir E. Robert Smythe and the Lost Detective. The third one, Sir E. Robert Smythe Goes Shopping will be released in the next few months

and the remaining three books are with the publisher with plans of releasing them over the next few years.

God willing these books will serve to help 8-12 year-olds become aware of social issues and find a way to navigate their way through them.