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#MGMonday Characters: Adults in Middle Grade Fiction

 Welcome back to Middle Grade Monday! Today, I'll be discussing how to deal with adults in middle grade fiction because, and I hate to break this to you, kids just don't want to read about adults stealing all the fun. Consider your favourite books from when you were younger. Mine was The Moon of Gomrath by Alan Garner. It's a story about a brother and sisters - kids, of course - who have magical adventure in the English countryside. There's danger, magic and battles. What's not to love? And yes, there are adults. But they are kept on a very short lead by the author. The most powerful character in the book, debatably, is Cadellin. He's a wizard who has a startling knowledge of the secret world of magical beings. He would find it so much easier to win in the end, but it has to be Susan and Colin (the kids) who are the centre of the book. So, what can you do with adults in middle grade? How can you make sure they get out the way? Some authors take the orphan option...
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#HistFicThursdays - And now for something completely different... COMPETITIONS!

Today's blog is a heads-up on an Historical Fiction competition which is being run by Globe Soup.
If you want more details, head over to their website here.

At Crowvus, our competition season is in full swing: entries for our Ghost Story Competition have been coming in for the past couple of months and the deadline is 30 September. We’re looking forward to reading the stories which always form a key part of our autumn reading.

If you’re looking for inspiration, look no further than Those Experiences, which is available as a free eBook from our website. This should give you a good idea of the kind of stories the Crowvus team find particularly chilling and, as we make up most (but not all!) of the judging team, that’s a pretty good place to start!

This week, another competition was announced which is of particular interest to historical fiction writers: the Globe Soup Historical Fiction Challenge. It doesn’t give you much time to write your stories but, with six great historical periods, it will certainly give you a good platform from which to launch a story!

The time periods are:

1.        The Black Death
2.        The Vietnam War
3.        The Roman Empire
4.        The California Gold Rush
5.        The Renaissance
6.        The British Colonial Period in India

And, as with other Globe Soup Challenges, you are assigned a time period blind. I knew the exact one I did not want (The Vietnam War) so opted for the mysterious Ticket 2, and got the one I wanted most!

So, there you go… two great competitions to end your summer with.

I look forward to reading your spooky stories! 

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