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#HistFicThursdays - Capturing the Essence of History

 I - along with my fellow members of Crowvus - are very excited about our new release on 16th September. We fell in love with this story for a number of different reasons, and one of the key ones for me was the role of history. Of course, when you have a story about the governing and governance of time, there is going to be some element of the past, but the way in which Elizabeth McKay so casually and seamlessly interweaves the past with the present is both clever and effective. Finding our own place in time is not always easy, and neither is finding a place in our current time for the past. Discussing an historical fiction book recently over the weekend's breakfast, we were led into the confusing cycle of how fine the line is between pioneering characters and utterly unbelievable ones. The conversation actually began because of a discussion into our family tree and a look at how the role of registry offices allowed for a step away from the power of the church. In our increasingly ...
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#MGMonday... Middle Grade Genres: An Introduction

Middle Grade Genres: An Introduction


Image by eightonesix on Freepik

I used to think that middle grade was a genre in itself, partly due to the number of awards and competitions that have all the genres known to man for adult books, and only one category for middle grade.

Middle Grade, however, is simply a suggested age range, much like the suggested ages on board games. The genre list is the same for children as it is for adults, although adapted to make it suitable.

One genre that you won’t find in middle grade is Romance. For obvious reasons! That doesn’t mean, however, that romance is banned in middle grade, and I’ll be covering this more in February, for Valentine’s Day. It just means that it will be a very minor subplot.

Every month throughout 2025, I’ll be looking at different genres for middle grade. No, I’ve not covered everything because the possibilities are endless! This genre series will run on the second Monday of each month...


The Schedule


10/2/25        Romance in Middle Grade
10/3/25         Middle Grade Science Fiction
14/4/25         Middle Grade Fantasy
12/5/25             Middle Grade Non-fiction
9/6/25          Middle Grade Adventure
14/7/25                 Writing Danger in Middle Grade
11/8/25          Middle Grade Historical Fiction
8/9/25         Suspense in Middle Grade
13/10/25         Middle Grade Horror
10/11/25         Comedy in Middle Grade
8/12/25         Why I Don’t Set my Books at Christmas


Favourite Genre

I think everyone has a favourite genre or two, no matter how much they deny it! Personally, my favourite is adventure, closely followed by fantasy. Whatever you enjoy reading, that should be your first genre to try writing. Not only will you enjoy it more, you’ll also automatically know more about that genre than any others. You’ll have already done some involuntary research when you’ve been reading your favourite books time and time again!

Most of my books are fantasy adventure, simply because that is my favourite genre to read. What's yours?


Campaign to Stop Seeing Middle Grade as a Genre

No, I don’t really have a campaign going, but I’ll join under the flag of anyone who wants to take up this battle!


What’s New With Crowvus

All the Crowvus team have other jobs, meaning that the publishing is a part-time affair. We’re setting aside Wednesday for the admin bits and bobs, and we have a concise calendar for our to-do list.

We had initially meant to publish non-fiction picture book "Sir Louis Curlewy" in May. But did you know that World Curlew Day is on 21st April? What better way to celebrate these amazing birds than publishing a book all about them? We've therefore brought forward the release date a month, so it's all systems go!

All the book covers for books to be published this year are to be finalised in February. Watch this space!

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