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I present talks and run workshops, from one-hour to full-day sessions, for school students and adults. (Some examples follow.) Talks and workshops can also be tailored to suit particular requirements. I am a registered teacher.

Contact me for details of bookings and costs. 

Animal mummies and tomb robbers

Writing a young adult novel set on an archaeological excavation in the western desert of Egypt, and in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Where the idea came from and how it developed, with a powerpoint presentation of animal mummies and Egyptian locations – and a (genuine) mummified rat.

Adapting a story for the screen

How an existing story in another form (novel, short story, comic strip, theme park ride, video game, musical, whatever) can become a screenplay – and how to do it.

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How many drafts did you say?

The publishing process. How a book is made, with real-life examples, from the first scribbled, hand-written draft through editorial changes, text proofs and illustrator’s proofs.

Page to screen

How a television script (using Dancing Pants animated film and book as an example) becomes a picture book and how, and why, it changes along the way.

Where do ideas come from?

How a story begins with an idea and how it develops, using examples including a mummified child’s hand from ancient Egypt, a stone circle and an Eastern Dwarf tree frog – and the books they inspired.

Bog bodies, druids and wicker men

Writing a young adult novel about the Celtic Iron Age. Where the idea came from and how it developed, with a powerpoint presentation of Celtic rites and relics and a life-size replica of a bog body.

This full-size replica of a 2000-year-old bog body, (Windeby Girl, discovered in Denmark in 1952) travels with the author to talks on Bog bodies, druids and wicker men

A replica of a Celtic chief's roundhouse, at Butser Ancient Farm in Hampshire, England. From a power-point presentation for Bog bodies, druids and wicker men.

Recreation of Beltane, the ancient Celtic rite of Spring, at Butser Ancient Farm, Hampshire. These days, the wicker man is not filled with sacrifices! From a power-point presentation for Bog bodies, druids and wicker men.

 

In-your-face first sentences

The importance of the first sentence. How to grab readers’ attention in the first fifteen seconds and keep them reading on.

Cue the herd of pink elephants!

The absolute freedom of writing an audio script, and how it’s done.