“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!

 

 

Chasing Rainbows Giveaway Hop

 

Happy Monday, Everyone! Today I'm excited to participate in the Holly Jolly Giveaway Hop hosted by MamatheFox and MomDoesReviews. I hope you're having a good rest of your March. We're finally having some warmer days that remind us here in Michigan that spring will come. I should start my spring yard clean up too. It's always much more fun at the beginning of the season.

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 31st 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 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 

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 Monday!

And here are all the other 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.

Literary Agent Interview: Lindsey Aduskevich and Query Critique Giveaway

Today I’m thrilled to have agent Lindsey Aduskevich here. She’s a literary manager at Martin Literary Management. 

Hi­ Lindsey! Thanks so much for joining us. 

Hi Natalie! Thank you so much for having me. 

About Lindsey: 

1. Tell us how you became an agent, how long you’ve been one, and what you’ve been doing as an agent. 

Great question! I have been interested in agenting ever since my first SCBWI regional conference in 2019 where I attended as a picture book writer. After honing my writing craft for a few years, I began to apply to agent internships in 2022. Trying to get an agent internship felt just like being in the query trenches. The next three years I got a lot “no’s” and “almosts.” Finally, in the beginning of 2025 I got my “yes!” from senior Literary Manager Kristen Terrette. Kristen spent six months teaching me everything she knows, and it was in October that I received an email with the subject line “Let’s Chat” from Vice President Jen Newens. Very shortly after our meeting, Jen and Sharlene Martin, the president of Martin Literary Management (MLM), offered me a position with the agency. I have been doing my dream job ever since. 

As for what I’ve been doing, I am connecting with editors and reading manuscript after amazing manuscript in search of the ones that won’t let me sleep at night. I made my first offer of rep in December (which I did not get by the way), my second offer in January (which I did get!), and my third in February (which I also got!). I am currently preparing an incredible historical fiction middle grade for submission and plan to go out with another historical fiction in the fall. 

About the Agency: 

2. Share a bit about your agency and what it offers to its authors. 

MLM prides itself on considerate management, meaning we aim to be respectful, kind, nurturing, and communicative. Our agency has been championing books into the world for 23 years now, and thanks to Sharlene Martin’s connections in the film industry, many of those books became documentaries, movies, or series. When I joined MLM as an intern, I was struck by how warm and friendly everyone was. When I joined as an agent, it truly felt like family. We are all here to support each other, answer questions, help with clients’ work, contracts, proposals, submission lists—anything we need from each other. What that means for authors is all the agents here have an incredible support system. With MLM, you don’t just get one agent rooting for you—you get an entire team!  

What She’s Looking For: 

3. What age groups do you represent—picture books, MG, and/or YA? What genres do you represent, and what are you looking for in submissions for these genres? 

I represent picture books, middle grade, young adult, and new adult. I am open to fiction, informational fiction, and non-fiction. 

For picture books, I love humorous, lyrical, hard topics, silly, serious, prose, rhyme (as long as you know what you’re doing because I don’t!), holiday, dark humor, spooky, historical…pretty much anything. But there is one key ingredient I absolutely must have: heart…and the heart has to be big. I want the whole emotional experience. Send me your manuscripts that will make me laugh, cry, or race to tell my critique partners that I just read the most amazing story! 

For middle grade, pacing and stakes are key here. I am looking for phenomenal voices that keep me on the edge of my seat. I want escalating tension, standout characters, and fresh topics. I am open to paranormal, contemporary, spooky, mystery, horror, or magical. 

For young adult, I would love to see romcoms, romantasy, historical fiction, fantasy, horror, paranormal, and even some genre mashups. Think paranormal romance, romcom thriller, etc. My true love is a really good historical fiction, but I’m very selective in this area. 

In new adult, I like college campus settings or just starting out in the work force. The same genres for young adult apply here, too. 

4.  Is there anything you would be especially excited to seeing in the genres you are interested in? 

I would love a good YA horror. One with emotionally complex characters and a swoon-worthy romance. I am also highly interested in a picture book that tugs on my heart and begs to be read again and again. 

What She Isn’t Looking For: 

5. What types of submissions are you not interested in? 

If I had to list a few things that interest me the least, it would be books about gaming and saving turtles eggs. I promise I’m not a monster! I love all animals, including cute, adorable turtles. I think it’s just an overdone concept for me. But as of right now, I am not closed to anything. If the story is good, I’m game! 

Agent Philosophy: 

6. What is your philosophy as an agent both in terms of the authors you want to work with and the books you want to represent? 

I am looking for authors who are kind, understanding, and have an open heart. I prefer voices and stories that are uplifting. I want to represent books that foster empathy, shine light on new experiences, teach readers information in exciting ways, and/or help readers escape into a fantastical world. 

Editorial Agent: 

7. Are you an editorial agent? If so, what is your process like when you’re working with your authors before submitting to editors? 

I am! I will always give my clients both line comments and my overall thoughts. I will focus on assessing character arc, structure, pacing, tension, stakes, grammar, etc. Once I have organized my feedback, I will send it to the author and wait for the revisions. We will go back and forth until we both think the manuscript is perfect. But one quick note: for grammar, commas never landed with me. As hard as I tried, that is my one weakness. That and rhyme. Okay, I have two weaknesses. 

Query Methods and Submission Guidelines: (Always verify before submitting) 

8. How should authors query you and what do you want to see with the query letter? 

I would love for authors to query me via my Query Manager. Please do not send queries to my email. 

Regarding query letters, we all know writing is HARD! There are so many rules. For some of us, (me for sure!) it takes years to hone our craft. And we don’t just have to learn how to write a story, we have to learn how to write a query letter. A well-written query letter tells me that you have spent time on your craft, and that you are invested in your future as an author. I love a well-written query letter. Don’t be afraid to let your personality shine, but don’t stray too far from the structure. 

What I personally like to see is the hook, book, and cook technique all on one page. 

1.     Start with a few lines about why you are querying me (not always necessary but appreciated).

2.     Give me your pitch—bonus points if it is in the voice/tone of your manuscript.

3.     Comps, themes, and why this book is needed in today’s market.

4.     Bio. Don’t forget your bio! I love a good, succinct bio. 

All of these things are what make a great query letter, but don’t stress too much about them. If one or more of these areas are stressing you out, do your best and that’s good enough! 

9.  Do you have any specific dislikes in query letters or the first pages submitted to you? 

I don’t have dislikes, but I do have things that will make me hesitate. If a query barely resembles what a query should look like, then I don’t feel as connected to the author and (not willingly) find myself less invested. 

As for the first pages, again, no dislikes, but try to stay away from overdone scenes. Waking up in bed and stretching is an overdone opening scene (though I’m not saying this won’t work!), and so is “once upon a time” and “there once was a little boy who…”. Challenge yourself to find something unique that will set your book apart from all the others. 

Response Time: 

10. What’s your response time to queries and requests for more pages of a manuscript? 

Right now, I am aiming for three weeks or less for queries. As I build my list, I know this will not be feasible. For those I request more pages from, sometimes you will hear from me in about a week or so. Longer manuscripts could take up to a month. If it’s been over three months, absolutely nudge. But please know I will always try to respond as quickly as possible. A month tops would be my goal. 

Self-Published and Small Press Authors: 

11.  Are you open to representing authors who have self-published or been published by smaller presses? What advice do you have for them if they want to try to find an agent to represent them? 

I am definitely open to authors who have self-published or been published by smaller presses. This should never make a writer hesitate to query me as long as it’s new work. My advice to self-pubbed or small press pubbed authors is to keep writing amazing stories and getting them out there. 

Clients: 

12. Who are some of the authors you represent? 

Right now, I have two clients who I am still pinching myself over. Mengxi Seeley is an incredibly talented author who writes novels inspired by historical research, with fantastically happy endings. And Victoria Winterhalter Brame who writes exceptional middle grade and young adult novels focused on hidden histories and characters discovering their self-worth.

I am eagerly searching for more talented writers to join our team, and I hope to sign some soon! 

Interviews and Guest Posts: 

13. Please share the links to any interviews, guest posts, and podcasts you think would be helpful to writers interested in querying you. 

I’m going to skip this question since this is my first interview. 

Links and Contact Info: 

14. Please share how writers should contact you to submit a query and your links on the Web. 

QueryManager: https://QueryTracker.net/query/4083

Website: https://lindseyaduskevich.com/

X: @LAduskevich

Bluesky: @laduskevich.bsky.social

Insta: @lindsey_aduskevich 

Additional Advice: 

15. Is there any other advice you’d like to share with aspiring authors that we haven’t covered? 

You’re never going to get your “yes” if you give up. Writing may be a rollercoaster, and gosh darn those “ups” are high and those “downs” are low, but if you give up…it will never happen. And always remember, not every story will land. In fact, most of your stories may not. But don’t forget, you write because you love it. You love the community, you love putting your emotions down on paper, you love creating characters and situations that are going to resonate with readers. Just because a story you wrote doesn’t land with your critique partners, an agent, or an editor, doesn’t mean you didn’t create something special. Something that, hopefully, brought you joy, exercised your writing muscles, and led you to the path you are currently on. If you are in that boat where your stories aren’t landing (and so many of us are!), give yourself a moment to feel those feels, but then pick yourself up, dust yourself off, write something new (or revise something old), and get yourself back out there. Because…your “yes!” can only come if you don’t give up! 

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Lindsey! 

Giveaway Details 

­Lindsey is generously offering a query critique to one lucky winner. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment through March 21st. If you do not want to enter the contest, that’s okay. Just let me know in the comments. 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 follow me on Twitter or Bluesky or mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. This is an international giveaway. 

Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops

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! 

Have any experience with this agent? See something that needs updating? Please leave a comment or email me at natalieiaguirre7@gmail.com 

Note: These agent profiles and interviews presently focus on agents who accept children's fiction. Please take the time to verify anything you might use here before querying an agent. The information found here is subject to change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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!