K is for Kids (and what they want to read)

the challenge

K is for Kids

I write MG and YA mostly (though I am writing a NA contemp romance at the moment). Plus, I have three boys at home, so it's only natural that K made me think of them. When it comes to writing for kids, I can't help but think of my own children... a lot.

What do they like?
(Dragons, pirates, legos, marbles, pizza, pizza, pizza, messes, races, cars, My Little Pony- hey, don't judge.)

Classic: Legos

What would they relate to?
(kids with helicopter parents, kids with siblings, kids who go to church on Sundays, kids who spend holidays out of state with extended family, kids who have special talents, kids who struggle in a certain subject, kids who like to read, kids who like to play video games on Kinect, kids who are hilarious and always telling jokes, playing pranks)

He cut his own hair and is inexplicably wet.

What makes them sad?
(a lot of the same things that make adults sad: death, illness, trying really hard and failing, wanting to be good at something that doesn't come easily, being second best (my boys are really competitive), getting a lesser toy for Christmas or a birthday, running out of ice cream, no seconds of their favorite dinner, being yelled at, being disciplined or corrected in any way, breaking a favorite toy or tool)

Focusing really hard on a lacing project

What makes them jump up and down?
(exciting movies with scary bad guys, a chase/race, high stakes, something really funny, a reunion after being apart for so long, daddy coming home, sleepovers, birthday parties, new games, new anything)

Clowning around

Since I have all boys, you may will have different experiences with your own kids or kids you know personally. 

Just like adults, kids have varying tastes, interests, and personalities. What makes one kid hug the book might make another kid throw it at the wall. I mean, I hope you're teaching your kid not to throw books. That's terrible! Why is your kid throwing a book? Get that kid under control before you bring him back to my blog.

Ahem, for all you good parents whose kids would never dream of throwing a book at a wall...

Darn. Lost my train of thought. Trains! Kids like trains. 

It's 1:30am, y'all, and I have to get up early in the morning. 

I have kids, you know. :)

Hope you found something thought-provoking in my kid lists. If not, you can't go wrong basing your character off a real person. C.S. Lewis did it all the time. Happy Weekend!

Don't miss my post at Operation Awesome today. (And in case you were sleeping yesterday, here are the results of April's Mystery Agent contest!)

My 3-Year-Old Comedian Quotes my Characters

So I was just feeling dark and down about the uncertainty in my publishing future when my darling little boy put his fingers up, itchy-fingers-style, and quoted one of my villainous characters: Countess Bula.

"They think they're so special!" (shrieked like the wicked witch of the west)

(3yo says this monster is eating a red sock)

How did he come to be acquainted with one of my villains? you ask. Well, aside from the fact that I read my middle grade manuscript to him at nap times, he overheard me doing an impression of Countess Bula to my husband in the car one day.

Yes, I am a huge, monster geek.

I do impressions of my characters. Countess Bula is one of my favorites because she's positively rotten to the core.

"Why do we hate good people?" Her tongue waved out of her mouth like she was ejecting the bad taste from saying the g-word. 

Everyone answered whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted, so it was tough to decipher one answer from the roar of noise echoing off the stone walls.

“So true!” the skinny, clawed woman agreed, sitting at last behind a huge metal desk. “As you say, they are hypocrites. They do care way too much about what people think. And they do write horrible poetry. What else?”

Another assault of yelling and snarling ensued, but Robert could hear one answer above the rest. A sickeningly high voice from the back of the classroom screeched, “They think they’re so special!” 

“Aha! You’ve got it,” Countess Bula grinned. “You, Violent Violet, have pin-pointed the #1 reason why we hate those people. They think they’re so special."

It's one of my favorite scenes because it's the first glimpse of the villain community (oxymoron, right?) and we can really see what motivates them at the very core. Also, I just like thinking about a bizarrely bad teacher and what she might teach her pupils.

So you can imagine how big my smile got when my lil' guy spouted Countess Bula's thesis about why villains hate good people.

Lil' guy saves the day again!

Now I will go back to refreshing my mail box over and over again. Make sure to leave comments so I can get notifications in my email. Gotta get SOMETHIN'!