Inspo: Contemporary middle grade

Thirteen-year-old aerial dancer on her pink aerial silk, facing left and dangling upside down. She's wearing a sparkly purple leotard and turquoise tights. She's in an industrial-type studio with performers and spectators in the background.

When I first started working on this book, I wrote pages initially inspired by the play and the classic film, The Shop Around the Corner, later adapted into the musical She Loves Me! and the modern film, You’ve Got Mail. An adult romance? That doesn’t sound like a middle grade book!

Flash forward a few years, I was still inspired by the potential parent romance subplot. But I needed a PLOT for a middle grade main character. Cue attending my first performance at Iluminar Aerial, where I was completely entranced by aerial. To get a taste of their performances check out: Iluminar Aerial Instagram page. And suddenly, I knew what my main character, Rhett, wanted and what she could lose.

Aerial turned out to be only one component of this book as we needed a setting. I chose southern California near the beach because of my history growing up near there, which felt fitting because dealing with divorce was something I also experienced growing up.

Rhett needed a place where she could earn the money to pay for her prank. I worked in a catering company during my master’s program, and I was eager to share my fun experiences of catering through Rhett.

Upper left: attic room with messy bed Upper right: palm trees and sand Upper middle left: Girl sitting on chair next to ocean Upper middle right: Girl on phone Middle left: Girls in uniforms looking at each other Middle right: person running on the beach with the sun behind them Lower left: Fancy muffins Center: Girl on blue silk facing away Lower right: melting ice cream at the beach
Upper left image: red curtains in shadow Upper right image: white spotlight beaming in the darkness Center left image: white and black feathers with a little red Center image: silhouette of a woman dancing with white, smoky light behind her Center right image: dark reflections of a girl dancing Lower left image: girl in a black leotard facing the yellow light Lower right image: black and white image of a woman inverted on an aerial silk, spreading the silk with her hands

Yet, we weren’t done with aerial. It wasn’t just something she loved and almost lost because of her pranks. It needed to also be something she could struggle with. With my background in theater, I knew this book needed a narrative for the spring show. The classic ballet Swan Lake and the modern film Black Swan, which is definitely NOT for kids, were some of the inspirations I incorporated into Rhett’s journey.

Bringing all of these elements together with other middle school struggles, the movie Mean Girls and the junior stage adaptation, Mean Girls Jr., provided even more inspiration for this book and the obstacles Rhett faces.

Finally, I needed musical inspiration for Rhett and her performances and while writing. Here is a short playlist with some of the songs in the book:

From where I grew up to jobs I held to my passion for theater and movies, plus falling in love with aerial and the perfect tunes — this book was born! Thanks for checking out what inspired Rhett’s story. I hope you feel inspired to write something new, too!