“The Middle”: Guest Post by Aaron Starmer and You Are Now Old Enough to Hear This Giveaway

 Happy Monday, Everyone! Today I’m excited to have Aaron Starmer here with a guest post to celebrate the release of his middle grade speculative, You Are Now Old Enough to Hear This. It sounds like a story full of mysteries to solve, and I’m looking forward to reading it. 

Here’s a blurb from Goodreads:

There’s always more to the story.

In the latest middle grade speculative novel from Spontaneous author Aaron Starmer, Roman follows the twisted threads of bizarre family legends and magical secrets to write his own chapter in his peculiar family narrative.

"A triumph of imaginative storytelling…"—Booklist, starred review

The Toe Beast looms large in the Barnes family lore—a tale concocted by twelve-year-old Roman’s grandpa to explain his missing toe. But Roman has never actually heard the full story, and after his grandpa dies suddenly, it seems like he never will.

That is, until Roman is tasked with clearing out his grandpa’s house, and stumbles upon some strange things. An old mason jar full of formaldehyde, a mysterious handwritten book about a girl and a pack of dogs, a rusty metal bucket with peculiar abilities. And they all tie back to extraordinary secrets from the distant past.

By unraveling even more unbelievable stories that have been hidden from him, Roman is forced to rethink how he fits into his family’s history. Now it’s up to him to see his own story through to the end. Because the Toe Beast was only the beginning . . . 

Now here’s Aaron! 

I’m going to paraphrase Ben Affleck. No, I’m not going to do a Batman impression, or try to remember some dusty Good Will Hunting quotes. I’m simply going to summarize some wisdom he recently shared during an interview about the rise of AI in the creative world. What he said, more or less, is that an LLM (Large Language Model) does nothing more than aim for “the middle.” 

He’s right. Even if it can produce clean and clear stories, or provide solid, recognizable scaffolding for a narrative, generative AI in its current form is designed to push away the sorts of ideas that exist on the fringes of the human mind and instead focus on safe, well-trodden territory. It steals from the artistic works it “trains on,” but it doesn’t steal the good stuff, or at least not the stuff that I like. It steals the middle. 

When I was young, first exploring what it meant to write stories, I didn’t really know what the middle was. Partly because I hadn’t read enough, but mostly because I was focused on my own idiosyncratic view of the world. When I wrote, the results were amorphous and messy, but they certainly didn’t fall in the middle. As I grew older, my prose crystallized into more coherent and better crafted stories, and as writing became my career, I thought more and more about the middle. Do most readers want the middle? Is the middle the ultimate goal? 

I don’t have a definitive answer to that first question, but I can answer the second one, at least as

it relates to my writing. No. The middle is not my ultimate goal. I’ve tried to write the middle and it doesn’t work for me. I’m not very good at it.  It doesn’t come off as genuine. And one thing I do know about most readers is that they care about writing that’s genuine. 

As I was crafting my latest novel, You Are Now Old Enough to Hear This, I kept this in mind. The ideas I was coming up with were weird. Very weird. The temptation to push those ideas toward the middle was strong, but I resisted. This was my sixteenth novel. I still had a lot to learn about being an author, but I was experienced enough to keep my writing disciplined while trusting my instincts to stay true to my very weird self. 

That’s ultimately why I wrote a tale about a severed toe and a haunted, rusty metal bucket. About a curiosity shop with a baffling inventory and a wild child that arises from the sewers. About a growing pack of dogs and an assortment of other mystical beasts. About sealed envelopes and sealed doors and secrets, secrets, and more secrets that a family has kept hidden for decades until a twelve-year-old named Roman Barnes is brave enough to uncover them all. I enjoyed writing this book about as much as I’ve enjoyed writing anything, probably because it recaptured the wild thoughts, fears, and obsessions I had when I was Roman’s age. 

You Are Now Old Enough to Hear This is a middle grade novel. It’s written for middle schoolers. But let’s be honest. The kids I wrote this book for don’t need more “middle” in their lives. Their best moments and memories exist on the periphery, where their distinct personalities are being formed. I hope my story honors that. And if it doesn’t, they know which finger to raise and wave in my direction. 

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

Website: www.aaronstarmer.com

Publisher: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/737851/you-are-now-old-enough-to-hear-this-by-aaron-starmer/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aaron_starmer/

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@aaron_starmer

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/aaronstarmer.bsky.social 

Giveaway Details 

Aaron’s publisher is generously offering a hardback of You Are Old Enough to Hear This 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 April 4th. 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 Aaron on his 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 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

Wednesday, April 1st, I have an interview with Christopher Roubique and a giveaway of his MG Mythspeaker and my IWSG post 

Monday, April 6th, I have an interview with Jill Tew and a giveaway of her MG Rayana Johnson’s Giant Leap 

Wednesday, April 8th, I have an agent spotlight interview with Saritza Hernández and a query critique giveaway 

Monday, April 13th, I’m reviewing Jennifer Nielsen’s MG The Free State of Jax and Magnitude with a book giveaway 

Thursday, April 16th, I’m participating in the Rain Drop on Roses Giveaway Hop 

Monday, April 20th, I have an interview with Van Hoang and a giveaway of her MG Auntie Q’s Golden Claws Nail Salon 

Monday, April 27th, I have an interview with Gareth P. Jones and a giveaway of his MG Solve Your Own Mysteries 

Wednesday, April 29th, I have an agent spotlight interview with Erica Bauman and a query critique giveaway 

I hope to see you on Wednesday!