Middle-Grade Fiction

Scribbles & Thoughts

Middle Grade Historical Time Travel Book Mission 2: Unexpected Visitors, Maroons in the Great Dismal Swamp

Susan Stoderl

Jan 262 min

Middle Grade Historical Time Travel Book Mission 2: Unexpected Visitors, Maroons in the Great Dismal Swamp

Maroons of the Great Dismal Swamp | Middle-Grade Fiction |Mission 2: Unexpected Visitors Historical Fiction and Time Travel

Shh! Secrets Buildings Hold for Middle-Grade NYC Kids

Susan Stoderl

Jan 42 min

Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers

Shh! Secrets Buildings Hold for Middle-Grade NYC Kids

From Sophia Meets Pedro, Prequel to Mission 1: All in a Day's Work Chapter 6 Excerpt | Part 2 of 2 “And look at this planter. It was a...

Susan Stoderl

Jan 31 min

Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers

Shh! Secrets Buildings Hold for Middle-Grade NYC Kids

From Sophia Meets Pedro, Prequel to Mission 1: All in a Day's Work Chapter 6 Excerpt | Part 1 of 2 As Mr. O’D, Sophia, and Pedro...

From Beyond the Books Podcast, Vol. 3 of Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers Series is Conceived

Susan Stoderl

Oct 13, 20231 min

Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers

From Beyond the Books Podcast, Vol. 3 of Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers Series is Conceived

During this week's Beyond the Books Podcast, I interviewed Jan Burl, about having to recapture her literacy one letter at a time after a...

Middle-Grade Time Travel Book | Reading Chapter 12 of Mission 2: Unexpected Visitors

Susan Stoderl

Sep 29, 20231 min

Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers

Middle-Grade Time Travel Book | Reading Chapter 12 of Mission 2: Unexpected Visitors

Two enslaved children set out on the Maritime Underground Railroad in 1832, but end up in New York City in 2019.

Mission 1: All in a Day's Work | Chapter 14 Excerpt, Middle-Grade Fiction Ages 8-12

Susan Stoderl

Jul 7, 20231 min

Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers

Mission 1: All in a Day's Work | Chapter 14 Excerpt, Middle-Grade Fiction Ages 8-12

Chapter 14: Thursday Night Meet-Up Zelda Screech Cat taunts her bona fides while at home with her nemesis and reluctant owner, Sophia...

Writer's Life | Keeping Everything in Order

Susan Stoderl

Jun 16, 20231 min

Middle-Grade Fiction

Writer's Life | Keeping Everything in Order

This is a graphic I have used many times before because it exactly captures what is like to be a writer. However, this desk is far more...

Mission 2: Unexpected Visitors | A Middle-Grade Time Travel Novel

Susan Stoderl

Jun 9, 20232 min

Middle-Grade Fiction

Mission 2: Unexpected Visitors | A Middle-Grade Time Travel Novel

When Lionel looked into the park, all he could see was dense foliage. He heard a heavy grating noise coming from inside, but no other...

Prequel to Mission 1: All in a Day's Work | Middle-Grade New York City History

Susan Stoderl

May 26, 20232 min

Middle-Grade Fiction

Prequel to Mission 1: All in a Day's Work | Middle-Grade New York City History

Jefferson Market Library was originally built as the Third Judicial District Courthouse from 1874 to 1877 and was designed by architect...

Writing Middle-Grade Fiction | Handling Tragic Subjects

Susan Stoderl

May 19, 20233 min

Writers-Life

Writing Middle-Grade Fiction | Handling Tragic Subjects

For marketing reasons, I wrote a prequel to Mission 1: All in a Day’s Work, the first book in my Sophia of the Bright Read Sneakers...

Sun, Moon, and Stars. Astronomy for Beginners | Agnes Giberne’s Middle-Grade Books on Science

Susan Stoderl

Apr 21, 20232 min

Women Writers

Sun, Moon, and Stars. Astronomy for Beginners | Agnes Giberne’s Middle-Grade Books on Science

Agnes Giberne (1845-1903) was a prolific British writer, writing around one-hundred-thirty books. She is one of the first women to...

Writing Children’s Fiction Ages 8-12 | Letting Children Know They Are Not Alone

Susan Stoderl

Apr 18, 20231 min

Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers

Writing Children’s Fiction Ages 8-12 | Letting Children Know They Are Not Alone

Children want to know how to cope with situations that seem overwhelming, that they feel are beyond their years and ability to cope....

Middle-Grade Detective Book Excerpt | Mission 2: Unexpected Visitors

Susan Stoderl

Apr 14, 20232 min

Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers

Middle-Grade Detective Book Excerpt | Mission 2: Unexpected Visitors

Chapter 1. Apartment 4B—with a Capital “B” for Bo-o-oring! A cloud of doom hovered over the MacGregor household. Sophia propped her...

A Middle-Grade Indie Author’s Life | To-Do List v. Completed List

Susan Stoderl

Apr 4, 20231 min

Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers

A Middle-Grade Indie Author’s Life | To-Do List v. Completed List

To-Do on the Business End of Writing Read all those emails from the writers and entrepreneurs that already know what I need to know. Make...

Mission 1: All in a Day's Work | Wahoo's "Working" Relationship with Christie's Auction House

Susan Stoderl

Feb 10, 20232 min

Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers

Mission 1: All in a Day's Work | Wahoo's "Working" Relationship with Christie's Auction House

Wahoo is an arctic raven who is quite a dapper dude with thoughts only of others, such as helping Christie’s Auction House with their...

Mission 1: All in a Day's Work | Suzy Snodgrass Gives Mdm. le Diable Effects

Susan Stoderl

Feb 3, 20232 min

Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers

Mission 1: All in a Day's Work | Suzy Snodgrass Gives Mdm. le Diable Effects

Sophia and Pedro are in history class with the Cru Crew, the fashionistas and bullies of JSCA. Today’s lesson in New York City history is...

White Lady Ghost of Stow Lake—Another Fake!

Susan Stoderl

Jan 27, 20232 min

Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers

White Lady Ghost of Stow Lake—Another Fake!

“Sophia and Pedro, finish your tea and cookies. The tea house closes in fifteen minutes. Then we’ll go check out the Pioneer Mother...

What I Would Do Differently | Part 3: Who is Your Audience

Susan Stoderl

Jan 24, 20232 min

Self-Publishing

What I Would Do Differently | Part 3: Who is Your Audience

My answer was “Uhhh…,” followed by some generalized answers based on why I wrote the story I did. It quickly turned into “I don’t know.”...

A Sophia & Pedro Short-Short Story | Crocker's Nob Hill Ghost Gets Its Retribution

Susan Stoderl

Jan 20, 20232 min

Sophia of the Bright Red Sneakers

A Sophia & Pedro Short-Short Story | Crocker's Nob Hill Ghost Gets Its Retribution

Sophia and Pedro take a tour of San Francisco's Nob Hill and Grace Cathedral with their pink-haired author friend. While they are touring...

What I Would Do Differently | Part 2: Know Why You Are Writing

Susan Stoderl

Jan 17, 20232 min

Middle-Grade Fiction

What I Would Do Differently | Part 2: Know Why You Are Writing

Knowing why you write before, during, and after self-publishing a book is important. The reasons why you write determine what story you...

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Scribbles & Thoughts