Will come and talk at the drop of a hat! Well, not exactly...
I like sitting in my log cabin in the wilderness (well, the garden) and writing. But it gets a bit lonely sometimes, and so it's great to get the chance to come and meet real live children and talk about books and writing. I can either talk about my books and the process of writing and being published, or I can do workshops. Here's some feedback from teachers and pupils after recent visits.
Also, click here to read about recent school visits, and here to read an account from Haygrove School's website about my visit there at the beginning of March.
Feedback
From teachers…
‘The feedback from the day (children and adults) was brilliant. Warrior King is already doing the rounds in the classroom and proving to be very popular!’
Peter Hoyland,
‘Many thanks for your very informative presentation with the children yesterday. The kids really enjoyed it – I had a lot of positive feedback from the kids at lunch time.’
Chis Perret,
‘… I would like to say a massive thank you for coming into Norton Hill. The kids really did get so much from hearing you speak. It made them realise that published authors are actually real people!! …I’ve rarely seen that Year 8 class quite so fascinated and engaged!’
Juliet Reid,
From children…
‘I think that her visit has inspired many people to start writing now in our class!’
H.
‘It was really awesome for sue Purkiss to visit Broadlands, she explained and showed why and how she writes her books.’
L.
‘I thought it was fantastic to have an author in school. All of her ideas of how to write a book have given me inspiration to write one myself now.’
Anon
‘I think her visit helped when she showed us her draft of The Willow Man as I didn’t realise authors had to draft too!’
M.
‘I liked listening to you and you have inspired me. I have written a poem and Miss Reid read it and she liked it. So maybe one day I’ll be a poet. Once again thank you so much and it was nice meeting you.’
A.
‘Thanks for coming in, I think you described the structure of the book very well even I get it now!!!’
R.
‘I thought The Willow Man was a really good book and the part I liked best was when Ash ran away because that’s when the tension starts building.’
J
Information for teachers and librarians
My books are for children from about seven and upwards. For children younger than this, I think a picture book author would probably be better, though I'm open to discussion on this - particularly if you ask me to do workshops with older children, but would like the little ones to have chance to meet a real live author as well.
I used to teach in secondary schools, so am happy with this age group too. The Willow Man, and my new book, Warrior King, are excellent starting points for discussions with students at Key Stage 3 and beyond. The Willow Man is strong on the kind of problems that lots of young people may have to cope with - click here for more about the book - whereas Warrior King, with its Dark Age background, offers a different kind of reading experience. Both are strong on a sense of place, and also on the interior landscape - what life feels like.
I can talk to older students about the process of writing - gathering ideas, drafting, editing - and about different elements of creating a story, such as character, setting, strcture and so on.
I'm happy to do workshops or talks/readings. Bear in mind that workshops will take longer, and that groups for them should be no bigger than class size
I have several 'ready made' workshops/talks which I'll list further down the page. The age ranges suggested are approximate - you know your own pupils best, and all talks can be adjusted to fit.
I'm also happy to do a made-to-measure one if there's some particular aspect of writing that you'd like me to cover.
Arranging a visit
I live about 15 miles south of Bristol. I'm happy to travel, but just bear in mind that that may involve overnight accommodation expenses. Do get in touch to discuss - click here to send an email.
Cost
I charge £250 a day, plus travel expenses. (But if yours is a small school, or you have a small group you'd like me to talk to, do get in touch to discuss.)
For a school visit, I'm normally asked to do three sessions a day, but there is some flexibility here - it depends partly on the kind of session you ask for. I do ask that you have a cheque ready on the day of the visit - anything else makes life much too complicated.
Children often like to have a signed copy of a book by an author they've met, and I can either bring copies to sell at a 10% discount, or you can arrange for a local bookseller to supply copies - you may be able to negotiate a discount.
Workshops and talks
Spectacular Spooks
This is a workshop based on my two books about ghosts. (For more details about the books, click here.) I'll talk about how I developed the characters in my books, and we'll exchange ideas/yarns about different kinds of ghosts, and different kinds of story - funny, scary, etc. Then the children will go on to write the opening to a story of their own. NB Spook School and Spooks Away are for 7-10 year olds, and they're funny rather than scary.
* For ages 7-11
Wonderful Witches
Similar to the above, but based on Changing Brooms, which is about witches.
* For ages 7-11
Natural Giants
With this one, I begin by reading brief extracts from my own Willow Man, from The Iron Man and from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (amongst others) We look closely at the words and devices such as synonyms and alliteration which are used to create these giants, and we discuss what other natural materials such a giant might be made of. Then we brainstorm 'wow' words which could be used to describe them. The children go on to make up their own natural giant, and, depending on time, to construct a powerful passage introducing their giant, or a sentence to form the 'shout line' on a book cover.
* For ages 7-11
Character Forming
The children do fun exercises which are designed to make them think about how to create - and write about - believable characters.
For older students, we can look at what the relationship is between characters and the real people who sometimes inspire them. Most, if not all of my books, have one or two characters who share some experiences or features with real people - but they're not portraits of those people... honestly!
* Any age from 7 upwards.
Creative Writing
I'm happy to do creative writing workshops with sixth formers who are doing English Language - the particular focus could beplanned according to your need.
* 16-18
The Pathway to Print
This is a talk about the process by which a book is produced, from the first glimmer of an idea to publication. For one of my books, I've kept everything from the first random jottings through first draft, edits and proofs, to illustrations and cover.
* Can be adjusted for any age
The Hodder Reading Project
The Willow Man is one of the books used in The Hodder Reading Project, so if you are using that, a visit would be a great opportunity to question the author. Independently of this, quite a few schools have bought class sets of the book. It should bring up a lot of interesting things to talk about: see the reviews page for some ideas.
* Up to age 15: in the Reading Project, the book is used for National Curriculum Level 4
Willow Workshops
If you go into certain schools in Somerset, you may spot deer, sheep or pigs - all made out of willow! If you are interested in combining an author visit with the chance for your pupils to be shown how to make creatures of their own, I can put you in touch with artists who work in willow, and join you to introduce or conclude the day with a talk about the part the great figure of the Willow Man beside the M5 played in my book. If you like the idea, do get in touch to discuss.