Kelly Pawlik dabbled with story writing from a young age. She spent her childhood reading, dressing her beloved cat, Midnight, up in doll clothes and hunting garter snakes in the backyard. Her childhood dream was to be a writer and she is proud to have made that dream a reality with her middle grade series, Olympic Vista Chronicles (formerly the Legends of The Link novellas).
Kelly is also a tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) designer. After co-founding Dire Rugrat Publishing in 2015 with her husband, she couldn’t get enough. Her credits include work for Kobold Press, Lazy Wolf Studios, and Zombie Sky Press, among others.
Kelly lives on Vancouver Island, BC with her husband, their three inquisitive children, and two lazy cats.
Kelly Pawlik answers “Why middle grade?”
One of the reasons I write middle grade is because I read middle grade. I read a variety of other genres as well: fantasy, sci-fi, thriller, YA and even non-fiction. But middle grade novels have a special place in my heart. Partly, I think it’s the size of them. Middle grade book lengths vary, but they tend to be substantially shorter than large tomes of fantasy. As a mother of three with a late diagnosis of ADHD, something I’ve often been short on is time and an attention span. Middle grade books offer a variety of enchanting, thought provoking, and fun stories to consume, all in a much more manageable size than many other genres.
I also appreciate the stakes. The struggles feel real, and sometimes even quite dire, but the protagonists of these stories manage the obstacles in a much timelier fashion than their counterparts in epic novels, meaning I can sleep at night rather than being consumed by the anxiety of wondering just when and how they’ll succeed.
With my love and appreciation for middle grade books, it seemed like the perfect genre to write in. The Olympic Vista Chronicles are great for young readers, but they are just as great for adults who have a fondness of the genre, and who appreciate the nostalgia of growing up before cell phones and the internet.