Author Interview: Ciera Burch and Olivia Gray Will Not Fade Away

Happy Monday, Everyone! Today I’m excited to have Ciera Burch here to share about her MG contemporary, Olivia Gray Will Not Fade Away. It sounds like a compelling middle grade story that explores sexual identity, and I’m looking forward to reading it. 

Here’s a blurb from Goodreads: 

A middle schooler navigates the challenges of feeling invisible—literally and figuratively—as she comes to terms with her asexual identity in this poignant speculative novel perfect for fans of Ellie Engel Saves Herself and Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone.

Seventh grade has just started, but Olivia Gray already knows this year is different. Her brother ignores her for his crush, and all her friends talk about is who likes who, something Olivia has never cared about—even when Robbie, the most popular boy in school, asks her to the fall formal. After unknowingly rejecting him, Olivia goes viral on the social app KruShh. As the chatter about Robbie and dating grows, Olivia starts to feel left out to the point of feeling invisible—literally.

Seen only by her new librarian and a friendly kid named Jules, Olivia flickers in and out of sight whenever the topic of romance comes up. As she begins to realize she might be asexual, Olivia struggles to actually use the label because of the negative perception behind it. All she wants is to be normal, but can she really fit in without disappearing completely? 

Hi Ciera! Thanks so much for joining us. 

1. Tell us about yourself and how you became a writer.

Thanks for having me! I’m a huge reader, lover of ice cream, a big Dungeons and Dragons nerd, and, of course, a writer. It’s hard to think of a time when I wasn’t a writer, honestly. Not in the professional sense, of course, but in terms of actually writing. I’ve wanted to tell stories from the minute I learned how to read them. 

How I became a published writer, though, was a little different. I’d been writing all my life and ended up in grad school for my MFA. After I finished my thesis, during the pandemic, I had plenty of time to keep writing and to polish it, so…I did. But even before I had an agent or published books or anything of the sort, I always considered myself a writer.  

2. Where did you get the idea for Olivia Gray Will Not Fade Away? 

Oh, gosh. I have so many ideas floating in my head at once, often, that it can be hard to remember the seeds of them, sometimes! In trying to put together some pieces about younger me—why, even in my 20s, I didn’t care about dating and no longer had the excuse of school to give people when they asked—I found Olivia in my head: a young girl who doesn’t understand the suddenness with which everyone at school starts not only liking each other, but focusing solely on ither people, her best friends included. I love writing speculative fiction and so I wanted something to really represent how Olivia was feeling, and how I felt in 7^th grade, too, and decided invisibility was a perfect metaphor for everything I wanted to talk about. 

3. It’s great that Olivia was in your head long before you wrote her story. How did you plot out this story? Was the process different than for other stories you’ve written? 

I had to make the pitch to my agent, first, so it was a little different to how I’d done things for Finch House and Camp Twisted Pine. I tend to have bullet points and little snippets of things—dialogue, description, character information—that I know I want to include and then start writing and see where I end up. This time, I needed a synopsis, so I had to know how I’d get from point A to point B, with everything at least partially fleshed out in between. But before I finished it, I wrote the first few chapters so both I and my agent, Trinica, would have some sense of the voice and the characters, to see if it was something I actually wanted to keep writing. 

From the first few sentences, I’d convinced myself. Then, it was only a matter of trying to put the pieces together and letting Olivia’s voice guide me. 

4. That is a different way of writing your story. You had to have a good sense of it to write the synopsis. In Olivia Gray Will Not Fade Away, Olivia grapples with being asexual and feeling and becoming invisible. How did you tell these parts of your story without sounding preachy?

Like with anything else I write, I try to stay true to the character. How she’s feeling, how she’s experiencing and interpreting things. Olivia is having a hard time with it, so I let her have a hard time. I didn’t make her jump to any conclusions or to acceptance right away. I gave her mentors and people who might relate and people who loved her no matter what and trusted her to navigate her way through. I also had a fictional self-help book in the novel if I did feel the need to be more explanatory when it came to certain definitions and specifics, especially since, as these things are new to Olivia, they’ll likely be new to my audience, too. 

5. What was a challenge you faced when writing this story or working on it with your editor? How did you overcome it? 

I didn’t really have any challenges with my editor, Kate, because she’s lovely. But in terms of challenges I faced while writing, I worried about getting the definitions about asexuality and aromanticism correct, but not bogging down the story with technicalities, and that I was also making things clear, understandable, and genuine when it came to how Olivia was dealing with everything. I also worried that just the word asexual, because it has ‘sexual’ in it, might worry some parents or readers. 

6. I can see why you were worried about those things. You’re a former assistant editor at HarperCollins. How did that strengthen your writing in general and in writing this book? 

Ha, is it bad to say that it didn’t? Writing and editing are such separate skills for me and I find that if I get too bogged down with focusing on one while I’m doing the other, I’ll get overwhelmed. I do write pretty clean drafts and tend to edit lightly as I write, but if I do it to the level of actually editing, I’ll second guess my word choices or story beats or pacing and will get stuck writing and editing the same chapter for ages. 

I think what I did learn while at Harper, and at HMH before that, is how an editor looks at things; the specifics I might not think of as the writer. It also keeps me grounded whenever an edit letter comes in! My feelings aren’t hurt by suggested changes or cutting certain plot points, for example, because I’ve been on the other side and I know it’s all in favor of making the story the greatest it can be, not trying to nitpick me or change who I am as a writer. 

7. Share how you got your agent, if any, and your first book deal? 

I mentioned it a little before, but I finished my MFA thesis in 2020, right at the start of the pandemic, and decided that once I finished my full novel and got it to a place I felt was good enough, I’d start querying agents, since I’d been laid off from the bookstore I worked at and had plenty more time to write, suddenly. I’d had interest from an agent after my short story was picked as Boston’s One City, One Story but hadn’t had anything to show her and promised I’d send something once I did.  

Once I sent my manuscript to that agent, I realized I might as well send it to others. I’d had a spreadsheet I’d been building all through grad school with the names and information of agents who represented my favorite authors and books, and decided I’d go in rounds. I only got through the first round before I got a few requests for full manuscripts and the next thing I knew, I was talking to Patrice on the phone about how much she loved and connected to my book, and was signing with her. 

My first book deal actually happened pretty quickly! It’s still all a bit of a blur, but I think everything, from submission to author calls, to signing a contract, happened in about a month or so. Once Patrice, my then-agent, decided to take a step back from agenting, her assistant, Trinica, asked if she could represent me and as I already knew—and loved—her and working with her, I was happy to agree. 

8. That’s a cool story about getting your agent and publishing contract. It sounds like everything fell into place easily. You’ve published two young adult and two middle grade novels since your first book was published in 2023. Besides writing good stories, why do you think you’ve been able to sell so many books in such a short time period? 

Oh, gosh, I’m still asking myself that question, honestly! I think it’s a blend of hard work, having an amazing agent and team, some amount of luck, and plenty of time spent staring at words on my computer trying to get them all to come together. 

I’m a pretty fast writer, which is part of things. I can usually knock out a first draft in a couple of months and move onto something new while that one is being read and/or edited. I was also lucky that I had two separate two-book deals, which meant I didn’t have to worry about going on submission again, just getting the interest and approval of my current editors. 

  

9. From your bio, it looks like you write full-time now. What made you decide not to have a day job, too? What advice do you have for other writers thinking of making this decision? 

 I did, and then it got a little unsustainable and I missed having a true routine and going outside and talking to people. Writing full time was a lot of sitting in my apartment alone and writing, which isn’t always great, even for an introvert like me. Even though I’d been working from home before I started writing full time, I missed the communication of meetings and emails (the horror, I know!) and having a set time when I started working and when I ended it.  

Since I’m not a massive New York Times bestseller or anything, I didn’t always have too much to fill up my days, especially when I was waiting on manuscripts to come back to me from my editors, so I felt a little lazy at times. But the initial decision, I think, was the freedom and the excitement of writing full time. It had always been my dream and it was something I could have fully realized in my 20s, so I felt the urge to, well, try it out. 

For other writers, I’d say make sure you have a safety net. Things really pile up when you have a set amount of money coming in based on your contract and life is expensive! It’s so different from having a biweekly paycheck. Have some sort of routine so you don’t drive yourself crazy trying to fill your time or feeling guilty for not writing for 8 hours a day. Also, if you’re American, figure out what you’re going to do about health insurance. 

10. Yes, health insurance is important. What are you working on now? 

I’m trying things out in the adult romance sphere currently, since I’m a big romance novel reader, and I’m having a lot of fun trying something new! 

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Ciera. You can find Ciera @cierasurch on Instagram or at cieraburch.com. Book buy link: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Olivia-Gray-Will-Not-Fade-Away/Ciera-Burch/9781665972628 

About Ciera:

Ciera Burch is a lifelong writer and ice cream aficionado. She has a BA from American University and an MFA from Emerson College. Her books include the middle grade novels Finch House and Camp Twisted Pine, and young adult novels Something Kindred and Out of Step, Into You. Her fiction has appeared in The American Literary Magazine, Underground, Five Points, Stork, and Blackbird. Her work was also chosen as the 2019 One City One Story read for the Boston Book Festival. While she is originally from New Jersey, she currently resides in Washington, DC, with her stuffed animals, plants, and far too many books. Visit Ciera at CieraBurch.com. 

Giveaway Details

Ciera’s publisher is generously offering a hardback of Olivia Gray Will Not Fade Away for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower of my blog (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment by March 21st. If I do not have your email (I can no longer get it from your Google Profile), you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. Please be sure I have your email address. 

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or other social media sites and/or follow me on Twitter or Bluesky or follow Ciera on her social media sites, mention this in the comments, and I'll give you an extra entry for each. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This book giveaway is US. 

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is hosted by Greg Pattridge. You can find the participating blogs on his blog.  

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops 

Wednesday, March 11, I have an agent spotlight interview with Lindsey Aduskevich and a query critique giveaway 

Monday, March 16, I’m participating in the Chasing Rainbows Giveaway Hop 

Monday, March 23, I have a guest post by Aaron Starmer and a giveaway of his MG You Are Now Old Enough to Hear 

Wednesday, March 25, I have an agent spotlight interview with Rob Broder and a query critique giveaway 

Monday, March 30, I’m participating in the Honey Bunny Giveaway Hop 

I hope to see you on Monday!

 

Author Interview: Stacey Lee and Heiress of Nowhere Giveaway and IWSG Post

Happy Wednesday! I’m so thrilled to have Stacey Lee here to share about her new YA historical fiction mystery, Heiress of Nowhere. I’m a huge fan of Stacey’s. Thanks to Stacey’s publisher for providing me with an ARC of Heiress of Nowhere to prepare for this interview. It was a real page-turner that left me guessing until the end. 

Stacey is also so inspiring as one of the founders of the We Need Diverse Books movement. As an adoptive mom of a daughter adopted from China, I really appreciate that there are now books that kids like my daughter can see themselves in. There weren’t any when she was growing up. 

Here's a blurb of Heiress of Nowhere from Goodreads: 

An orphan races to uncover a killer—who may have come from the sea—when she and her beloved orcas fall under suspicion in this “atmospheric…beguiling” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) historical gothic mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of The Downstairs Girl, Stacey Lee.

1918. Orcas Island, Washington.

Lucy Nowhere has spent her eighteen years working on the vast estate of the eccentric shipbuilder who took her in after she washed ashore in a green canoe as a baby. But she has long wished for a life off the island, and in a matter of days, she is set to leave for college—and, for the first time, choose her own future.

Then she finds her employer’s severed head on the beach. Rumors swirl that a mischievous spirit and its minions, the sea wolves, have struck again. Lucy doesn’t believe in myths. She knows that a human—a human murderer—killed him. And when she is unexpectedly named heiress to the estate, she understands the next target is her.

Her closest friend, the estate’s vigilant young guard, begs her to escape while she can. But Lucy knows the only way she can discover who she is, and free the island of its curse, is to find the real killer—before she becomes the next victim.

 

Before I get to Katie’s interview, I have my IWSG post.  

Posting: The first Wednesday is officially Insecure Writer's Support Group Day. 

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!  

The awesome co-hosts this month are: PJ Colando, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, and me! 

Optional Question: What elements do you include in your book launch? Or what do you have in mind for your future book launch? Or what advice do you have to offer to others planning to launch a book? 

While I’ve never launched a book, I’ve interviewed hundreds of authors who have and have watched many of them launch their books. Here are some tips in case they help you: 

·       Don’t try to do it all. You can’t do everything—if you want any time to write. Many authors recommend choosing the activities you enjoy most and focusing on them.

·       Look for new audiences. When going on a blog tour, try to find sites where you’ll reach new audiences. Don’t just go on a blog tour with friends. Some bloggers organize blog tours for a fee. While you have to pay some money, you could reach readers you don’t know. You’ll get more interaction if you pair your blog tour with a good giveaway, like a $50 Amazon gift card. I participated in Sherry Ellis’ blog tour, during which she received over 20,000 entries in her giveaway contest.

·       Band together with other authors. I’ve seen some debut authors form groups to support each other and help market each other’s books. Finding a small group of authors who write in your genre and are publishing books in the same year as you could open new opportunities for you.

·       Connect locally. Reach out to your local bookstores and libraries to see if they’ll stock your book. If you live in a metro area or there are nearby cities, reach out to them, too. You might also want to network with local nonprofits and offer your book as an auction item (maybe in a reading-theme basket) to reach new potential readers. 

Interview with Stacey Lee 

Hi Stacey! Thanks so much for joining us. I’m so excited you’re here. 

1. Tell us about yourself and how you became a writer.

Thank you so much for having me—Literary Rambles was one of my first interviews back when my first book UNDER A PAINTED SKY came out and I’m so glad we’re both still here!

I honestly don’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing. I was a quiet, shy kid who found refuge in books and was always fiddling with a story of my own—whether it was about my sister’s canker sore, the spotty banana in my lunch, or the mean girl who took my cupcake. 

I grew up wanting to be a writer, but my parents encouraged me to think of it as a hobby rather than a serious career. So I did what many people do: I pursued a practical profession and wrote on the side. I worked as a lawyer for nearly a decade, writing early mornings, late nights, and weekends, sending out manuscripts and collecting rejections, until a publisher finally took a chance on me. Now I write historical fiction for young people, often centering girls who have slipped through the cracks of the historical record—and I’m deeply grateful I didn’t stop writing while I waited for that door to open.

2. Yes, it was a guest post with your agent. I can’t believe how many authors are former lawyers. I understand it as I’m a retired author. Where did you get the idea for Heiress of Nowhere? 

The seed of Heiress of Nowhere began with a question about fate and connection. How much of who we are comes down to chance—where we’re born, who raises us, what we inherit, not just materially but emotionally and historically? From there came the image of a baby arriving by canoe on a remote island, with no knowledge of where she came from, and a young woman who grows up feeling unmoored. Once I placed her on an isolated island and gave her an unexpected inheritance, the mystery followed naturally. Her search for a murderer runs parallel to her search for her own identity. 

3. In your author’s note, you mention that you’ve always written stories that you know, and that Heiress of Nowhere was the first book you wrote where this wasn’t true. Why did you decide to write outside of your comfort zone, and what additional challenges did you face writing this story? 

I never let unfamiliarity with a setting deter me, but with Heiress of Nowhere, I was stepping into unfamiliar territory not just geographically, but tonally. This was my first gothic novel, and gothic thrives on atmosphere, uncertainty, and a quiet sense of unease. 

The biggest challenge was learning to trust that uncertainty—allowing questions to linger and letting folklore and fear exist alongside realism. As a people pleaser, the idea of making readers uncomfortable made me uncomfortable. But I’ve come to believe that a good book should unsettle you just enough—and then reward you with moments of intrigue, beauty, or even delight so you’ll keep turning pages. I had to trust readers to sit with ambiguity rather than rushing them toward neat answers.

4. Well, you wrote a great story. I loved that your book was set in Orcas Island and other nearby islands (some made up) in the Pacific Northwest. What made you choose this setting, and what research did you have to do into the sea life, rare plants, other aspects of the setting, and the 1918 time period?

Setting always goes hand in hand with story for me. I spent time in the Pacific Northwest in my twenties and was struck by how the land and sea feel constantly in conversation with each other. Orcas Island offered isolation and beauty, along with the sense that nature could be both life-giving and capable of swallowing you whole. 

For research, I visited the islands, spoke with historians, naturalists, and artists, and immersed myself in early 20th-century newspapers. I toured a cannery and learned far more than I ever wanted to know about how salmon was processed—knowledge that will stay with me forever, whether I like it or not. I also took educational boat tours focused on wildlife conservation, particularly orcas and marbled murrelets, and learned about native plants and the realities of island life in 1918, including the shadow of World War I and the Spanish flu. All of it helped ground the story in a very specific time and place

5. Wow! That’s a lot of research. Like many of your books, Heiress of Nowhere involves a murder mystery. How did you learn to write them? What advice do you have for other writers wanting to write a murder mystery?. 

I thought it would come naturally because I love reading mysteries. It turns out that reading mysteries for enjoyment and analyzing them to understand how they’re constructed are two very different things. Kill Her Twice was my first murder mystery, and it taught me how to plant clues, build tension, and misdirect without cheating the reader. Heiress of Nowhere pushed those skills further, because the mystery had to operate alongside atmosphere, folklore, and a very isolated setting. 

I’ve learned that a mystery only works if it’s driven by character. The crime has to matter emotionally, not just intellectually. My advice to writers is to work backward—know your ending, understand your characters’ motivations deeply, and remember that suspense often comes as much from what characters fear as from what they discover.

6. I really agree with you that the best mysteries have memorable characters. Not all do. Lucy is a very compelling character that readers can’t help but root for. Talk about how you developed her as a character. Did you pretty much know who she was when you started writing your story?

I always begin with a central truth about a character. For Lucy, that truth was that she felt unmoored—she had no knowledge of her origins and was tired of not knowing where she belonged. That feeling isn’t a personality, so as the story unfolded, Lucy revealed herself through her choices. In the first chapter, she’s alone in a canoe sketching an orca—that told me she was observant, bold, and comfortable with risk. I didn’t know everything about her at the start, but I trusted the story to ask questions that would force her to answer them.

Your Road to Publication 

7. Kristin Nelson is your agent. How did she become your agent?

Kristin became my agent after reading the third manuscript I had queried her with, which is to say—it took time, persistence, and a healthy tolerance for rejection. At the time, publishers weren’t especially interested in stories centered on people of color, but Kristin believed the story I was telling deserved to be out in the world and was willing to take that risk with me. What I appreciated right away was her editorial insight and her long-term perspective. She wasn’t just thinking about a single book, but about building a career, and that belief made all the difference.

8. Since your debut book, Under the Painted Sky, was released in 2015, you’ve published nine young adult books and three middle grade books. Besides writing good stories, which of course is always essential, how have you grown your career as an author? What advice do you have for other authors?

Writing good stories is always the foundation, but beyond that, I’ve learned to pay attention to what genuinely sustains me creatively. One concrete example is writing middle grade novels alongside young adult books—not because it was a strategic career move, but because I truly love middle grade. Those books allowed me to lean into wonder, curiosity, and voice in a different way, and they reminded me why I started writing in the first place. 

I’ve also learned that careers grow unevenly. Some books resonate more than others, some risks pay off quietly, and some take time to find their readers. My advice to other authors is to think long-term: follow the work that keeps you engaged, stay open to learning, and don’t measure success solely by immediate results. A sustainable career is built as much on creative fulfillment as it is on external milestones.

Promoting Your Book 

9. That’s great advice. And I can see why also writing middle grade stories would be a strategic move. I saw on your website that you have a book launch and several book festival events to celebrate the release of your book. How were they scheduled? How has your approach to marketing your books changed over the years?

Most of my events are scheduled with the help of my publisher, publicist, and the wonderful booksellers and festival organizers who support my work. Early in my career, I felt pressure to say yes to everything, but over time I’ve learned to be more intentional about how I show up. For example, I’ve discovered that improv-style events—which require quick banter and thinking on your feet—are absolutely not my natural habitat, and I avoid them whenever possible. 

What I do love are quieter, more meaningful interactions: talking with librarians in signing lines, having thoughtful conversations with readers, and visiting schools and libraries where stories are taken seriously. As my approach to marketing has evolved, I’ve learned that the most effective outreach is also the most authentic—focusing on connection rather than performance, and choosing events that don’t require me to pretend I’m someone I’m not.

10. What are you working on now? 

Right now I’m in the imagination-and-research stage—part dreaming, part very practical investigation. I’m trying out ideas, asking what kind of research they’ll require, how accessible that research is, what’s been written before, and what might still need to be told. It’s less about daydreaming and more about actively chasing stories to see which ones can hold up over time. I just ordered a stack of ship diagrams, which feels like a promising sign—or at least an entertaining one. 

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Stacey. You can find Stacey at: 

https://www.facebook.com/staceylee.author/

Instagram: @staceyleeauthor

Website: www.staceyhlee.com 

Giveaway Details

Stacey’s publisher is generously offering a hardback of Heiress of Nowhere for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower of my blog (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment by February 14th. If I do not have your email (I can no longer get it from your Google Profile), you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. Please be sure I have your email address. 

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or other social media sites and/or follow me on Twitter or Bluesky or follow Stacey on her social media sites, mention this in the comments, and I'll give you an extra entry for each. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This book giveaway is US. 

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops 

Monday, March 9, I have an interview with Ciera Burch and a giveaway of her MG Olivia Gray Will Not Fade Away 

Wednesday, March 11, I have an agent spotlight interview with Lindsey Aduskevich and a query critique giveaway 

Monday, March 16, I’m participating in the Chasing Rainbows Giveaway Hop 

Monday, March 23, I have a guest post by Aaron Starmer and a giveaway of his MG You Are Now Old Enough to Hear 

Wednesday, March 25, I have an agent spotlight interview with Rob Broder and a query critique giveaway 

Monday, March 30, I’m participating in the Honey Bunny Giveaway Hop 

I hope to see you on Monday!

 

 

 

7 Ways to Write Health Issues into a Middle Grade Novel—Without Preaching or Making It the Whole Story by Donna Galanti and The Secret Winners Club Giveaway

 Happy Monday, Everyone! Today I’m excited to have Donna Galanti here to celebrate the release of her new MG contemporary, The Secret Winners Club. It sounds like a fantastic contemporary story that is on a lot of bloggers’ anticipated 2026 lists, and I’m looking forward to reading it. 

Here’s a blurb from Goodreads:

 

1st Rule of The Secret Winners Do whatever it takes.Thirteen-year-old Sunny Whitlock has alopecia; an autoimmune condition that’s made her lose her hair—and she’s desperate to be seen as more than just the bald kid. But how? By setting an epic win her school’s junkbot club competition. And if she’s #1, then other kids will have to see beyond her disease … and she’ll finally fit in.

Sunny’s immune-deficient best friends are also tired of looking different and achieving second place in their school competitions. With a bold plan, Sunny bands with them to create The Secret Winners Club, a club devised to win—at any cost—and push them outside their comfort zones.

They promise to trust no one else. It’s all classified! And in total secrecy they aim to help one another become #1 before this middle school year is over. But as they start to succeed, they quickly discover that crossing the line and hurting others can make them even more visible and even more an outsider. 

Now here’s Donna!

March is Autoimmune Awareness Month, and which is why I’m grateful that my newest middle grade book by Wild Trail Press, The Secret Winners Club, publishes this week because it has three characters with autoimmune diseases—just like me. As an adult, having conditions that make me look different is often a challenge. However, when it struck me just how much harder this would be for young people in middle school, I wanted to create a story for them. 

Writing about medical or health issues in middle grade fiction is powerful, but it’s also tricky. Kids don’t want lectures. They want stories that move, surprise, and entertain them. With this in mind, I wanted to weave health realities into the fabric of the story, so they feel authentic, not instructional. 

If you’re writing about characters with medical conditions, here are seven craft approaches that can help health issues exist meaningfully on the page without becoming the entire point of the book. 

1. Let the Character Want Something Bigger Than the Condition

In The Secret Winners Club, the main character, Sunny Whitlock, doesn’t wake up every day thinking about her alopecia, she’s thinking about winning the junkbot competition. Her health condition matters, but it’s not her driving force. Middle grade readers connect most strongly to goals they recognize like belonging, achievement, friendship, and independence. When a character’s primary motivation reaches beyond their diagnosis, the story stays character-driven instead of issue-driven. 

2. Show the Condition Through Obstacles, Not Explanations

Rather than stopping the story to explain a diagnosis, let the condition quietly shape what’s harder—or different—for the character. A moment of hesitation before a public event, an extra layer of planning, or a social misstep can convey more than a paragraph of exposition. Kids are super smart at picking up context clues. Trust them to understand without being told exactly what to think. 

3. Make the Health Issue One Thread in a Bigger Tangle

Middle grade lives are messy. School pressures, friendships, family dynamics, competition, jealousy, and secrets all overlap. Medical issues should be one strand among many, not the entire rope. In The Secret Winners Club, Sunny and her two friends, Vee and Trev, each deal with visible autoimmune diseases. They also want to win their individual school competitions so they can be seen as more than their conditions and beat out their rivals. When it comes to Sunny’s alopecia, Vee’s vitiligo, and Trevor’s psoriasis, these threads all intersect with ambition, moral choices, loyalty, and identity—so it feels like part of life, not the lesson of the book. 

4. Avoid the “Inspiration” Trap

Kids with health challenges don’t exist to inspire others. They exist to live full, complicated lives. Let your character be funny, flawed, competitive, jealous, or wrong. Sunny and her friends make questionable choices in pursuit of winning, which I hope keeps them human and relatable. When characters with health issues are allowed to fail or act selfishly (like we all can at times), they feel real and just not symbolic. 

5. Use Peer Relationships to Reflect Reality

Friendships are where middle grade stories truly shine. Showing how peers respond—supportively, awkwardly, incorrectly, or inconsistently—mirrors real-life experiences kids recognize. Sunny’s friendships aren’t perfect, and that’s the point. By letting relationships strain, heal, or shift, the story explores health issues socially without moralizing. 

6. Let Consequences Do the Teaching

If there’s a message, let it come from outcomes, not speeches. In The Secret Winners Club, the “win at any cost” mindset creates consequences that Sunny and her friends didn’t anticipate. Readers learn alongside the characters, discovering that shortcuts and secrecy can backfire. This approach respects young readers by allowing them to draw conclusions themselves. 

7. Trust Kids with Emotional Complexity

Middle grade readers can handle nuance. They understand that someone can be proud and insecure at the same time, or brave and scared in the same chapter. Health issues don’t need to be softened or oversimplified, but they also don’t need to dominate every emotional beat. When you trust kids with layered emotions, the story resonates longer and deeper.

The most effective middle grade novels don’t teach kids what to think—they invite them to feel, question, and reflect while making their own choices. When health and medical issues are written as part of a character’s lived experience rather than the moral center of the story, readers come away not with a lesson, but with empathy. This is far more powerful than preaching. 

About Donna Galanti:

Donna Galanti is the author of middle-grade books with the Unicorn Island series, Joshua and the Lightning Road series,  Loon Cove Summer, and The Secret Winners Club (3/3/26). She’s also the author of the paranormal suspense Element Trilogy for adults. Donna has lived in fun locations including England, her family-owned campground in New Hampshire, and in Hawaii where she served as a U.S. Navy photographer for Fleet Intelligence Pacific. Donna is an avid outdoor adventurer and nature lover. She volunteers for the Old-Growth Forest Network and the National Audubon Society. For more information on her books, online courses, speaking, and events, visit her at: www.donnagalanti.com. 

Giveaway Details

Donna is generously offering a paperback of The Secret Winners Club for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower of my blog (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment by March 14th. If I do not have your email (I can no longer get it from your Google Profile), you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. Please be sure I have your email address. 

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or other social media sites and/or follow me on Twitter or Bluesky or follow Donna on her social media sites, mention this in the comments, and I'll give you an extra entry for each. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This book giveaway is U.S. 

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday is hosted by Greg Pattridge. You can find the participating blogs on his blog.  

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops 

Wednesday, March 4, I have an interview with Stacey Lee and a giveaway of her YA Heiress of Nowhere 

Monday, March 9, I have an interview with Ciera Burch and a giveaway of her MG Olivia Gray Will Not Fade Away 

Wednesday, March 11, I have an agent spotlight interview with Lindsey Aduskevich and a query critique giveaway 

Monday, March 16, I’m participating in the Chasing Rainbows Giveaway Hop 

Monday, March 23, I have a guest post by Aaron Starmer and a giveaway of his MG You Are Now Old Enough to Hear 

Wednesday, March 25, I have an agent spotlight interview with Rob Broder and a query critique giveaway 

Monday, March 30, I’m participating in the Honey Bunny Giveaway Hop 

I hope to see you on Wednesday!

 

 

Lady Luck Giveaway Hop

 

Happy Sunday Everyone! Today I'm excited to participate in the Lady Luck Giveaway Hop hosted by MamatheFox and MomDoesReviews. I hope you're doing well. I've had a good two weeks. The sun has been shining, and our temperatures are above average--in the 30's and 40's. It's amazing how good a bit warmer weather and sunshine can do to improve my mood.

Book of Your Choice or Amazon Gift Card Giveaway 

I’ve got a lot of exciting newly released MG and YA book choices this month that you might like. You can also choose another book in the series by these authors or a book of your choice. You can find descriptions of these books on Goodreads. Here are your choices:

If you haven't found a book you want, you can win a $10 Amazon Gift Card.

 

Giveaway Details

To enter, all you need to do is be a follower of my blog (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment by March 15th telling me whether you want a book, and if so, which one, or the Amazon gift card and your email address. Be sure to include your email address. If I do not have your email (I can no longer get it from your Google Profile), you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. Please be sure I have your email address. 

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or other social media sites and/or follow me on Twitter or Bluesky, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry for each. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. The book giveaway is U.S. only and the Amazon gift card giveaway is International.

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops 

Monday, March 2, I have a guest post by Donna Galanti and a giveaway of her MG The Secret Winners Club 

Wednesday, March 4, I have an interview with Stacey Lee and a giveaway of her YA Heiress of Nowhere 

Monday, March 9, I have an interview with Ciera Burch and a giveaway of her MG Olivia Gray Will Not Fade Away 

Wednesday, March 11, I have an agent spotlight interview with Lindsey Aduskevich and a query critique giveaway

Monday, March 16, I’m participating in the Chasing Rainbows Giveaway Hop 

I hope to see you on Monday!

And here are all the blogs participating in this blog hop: 

MamatheFox, Mom Does Reviews, and all participating blogs are not held responsible for sponsors who fail to fulfill their prize obligations.