As promised, I mixed up all the names of those who commented to win Lisa Lewis Tyre’s Last in a Long Line of Rebels and out popped…hold on a tic. I also promised to share writing gems from the SCBWI conference I attended. So those who didn’t win today would still win, so to speak.

And as it happens, Lisa Lewis Tyre is hosting a Writer Wednesday Blog Party wherein we’re invited to link up over there with our writerly wisdom. So stand back whilst I multi-task, writer style:

From Kaylan Adair, lovely editor at Candlewick, I learned much about the middle grade reader. Honestly, most of my manuscripts are middle grade, so you’d think I’d already know much about the middle grader, and from an instinctive place, I do. But it was nice to have an in-depth look at middle graders and what makes them tick. If you’re writing for middle graders, consider Kaylan’s best tip: find the “flawed” heart of your middle grade protagonist. These characters are almost always good kids who are flawed in some way; they want to do the right thing but often make the wrong choices (which they come to regret). Many middle grade stories don’t quite work because they’re missing “heart.” Bottom line: You’ve got to have heart, flawed though it may be, to have a compelling middle grade story!

From Heather Montgomery, author of How Rude, Real Bugs Who Won’t Mind Their Manners (Scholastic 2015), I picked up a few tips on breaking barriers in non-fiction. But I can sum it all up in Heather’s favorite mantra: Don’t do boring! There are so many different approaches to non-fiction now, but you won’t find the stodgy styles of our youth. Read a dozen or more of the latest non-fiction books out there, including Heather’s books, and find out how writers are dialing up the excitement level if you want to tackle this hot publishing trend.

From Kami Kinard, author of funny middle grade books, including The Boy Problem, I got some great ideas about incorporating unconventional formatting into a manuscript, namely her first tip: The text box is your friend. And I could barely concentrate on what she was saying after that, I was so eager to get back to one of my manuscripts that had all kinds of opportunities for unconventional text boxes! But if you want to understand more about her ideas, read her books. They’re chock-full of unconventional and fun formatting.

So, how’s that for writer gems and multi-tasking? And if you want even more writing wisdom, join us at Lisa’s place!

Oh, d’oh. Almost forgot to tell you who won Last in a Long Line of Rebels. It was Debra (and P.S. you’re gonna love it, doncha know!)