Overview

A Two-Night Mini Online Course

Middle grade readers come to horror, mystery, thriller and sci-fi (collectively known as genre or speculative fiction) with curiosity, perhaps some trepidation, and a lot of expectations. The imaginative nature and emotional draw of these stories reflect some of the real world fears and curiosities that our readers experience in their every day lives.

Join Edgar Award winning author Adrianna Cuevas for this short course that explores why kids love horror, sci-fi, and mystery – and how you can craft stories that will thrill readers!

This course is made up of two, 75-minute sessions, with limited participant activity and loads of information.

• Tuesday, October 21, 2025 (7pm – 8:15pm Eastern)
• Thursday, October 23, 2025 (7pm – 8:15pm Eastern)
• Webinar-style program with closed captioning available and limited interaction in the chat.
• Session will be recorded for those who cannot attend live.
• You’ll have access to the recordings through November 30, 2025.

Feedback Expected

• None included in the course. There will be limited interaction in the chat feature of the webinar-style program.
• Adrianna will address as many questions as possible during the program.

It’s a Great Fit If…

• You have an idea for a mystery, horror, sci-fi or other speculative novel. While this course will share examples specific to middle grade novels, many of the ideas can be applied to all speculative genre-themed chapter books and novels.
• You are just starting to write for a middle-grade audience. Perhaps you’ve written for younger and older audiences. Turn your attention to the middle-grade market for genre writing.
• You could use some direction on your story ideas. There will be a number of topics covered to help spark new ideas and/or develop your works in progress.
• You’re looking for something short and smart! This is not a full workshop. Instead it is two, 75-minute sessions meant to engage and build your understanding of why genre stories are a great match for middle grade readers!

Tentative Agenda

At registration: You will receive a Zoom link to use each night of the course.

IF YOU CAN’T ATTEND LIVE:

If you are unable to attend either session for any reason, you’ll have access to the recordings (with closed captioning) through November 30, 2025.

• Please note that if you cannot attend live but you’d like to receive recording links by email, you must register for this course.  Recordings are not sold separately; they are only available to those who register.
• Please also note that if you register for the course after the start of the first session, you will not receive recordings immediately.  You’ll receive both recordings after the close of the last session, usually within 24 hours.

Click on the headings below to explore the agenda in more detail.

All Times are Eastern Time.

How It Impacts Kids

Kids crave scary, thrilling, mysterious stories. This two-night mini workshop can help you bring meaningful genre tales to readers.

Related Resources

5 Reasons Middle Grade Readers Want and Deserve Horror
Celebrating a Book Birthday: We Mostly Come Out at Night
3 Questions for Diana Rodriguez Wallach and Intisar Khanani About Writing Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror