In which I am left speechless

I have been asked to write a post explaining why I write middle grade novels. It’s very simple. It’s because:

It all started by chance one hot summer day (Curse you, Dia Calhoun!)

I started writing as a child and I have never stopped (I was gonna say that, Trudi Trueit!)

Because I expect a good book to take me someplace I've never been, to do something I've never seen done, to wow me in ways I never knew I could be wowed. (OK, but I thought of it first, Alan Gratz!)

I wanted to write for the twelve-year-old me (Get out of my head, Steff Burgis!)

I love books now, but I lived books when I was 10. (Vengeance will be mine, Tyler Whitesides!)

It seems the problem with posting towards the end of the month is that your blogmates get first dibs on all the really good reasons to write middle grade. And they end up being far more eloquent than you.

So I’m just going to go with the obvious reason: because the Voices tell me to.