Reading 1 v 0 Xbox

The last two weeks have proved very interesting indeed and I feel my writing career has taken an incredible positive turn... mainly due to the receipt of feedback from a (up until now) silent voice. I have been creating and writing children's stories for over fourteen years (the last two years as a full time author)... up to now fantastic reviews and testimonials have been readily supplied by appreciative booksellers, librarians, teachers and journalists. And let's not forget the most important critics... the children who actually read and enjoy my books. It was a message sent to me personally by a parent (who's son attends a school I presented to this week) that really provided me with the confirmation that I've been yearning since I started to pen my Bradley Baker adventures!!! Here's what I'm referring to and proud to make a huge fuss about...

"My son met you last week at his school. He was so inspired, he hasn't stopped reading Bradley Baker and the Curse of Pathylon. I'm sure you've had similar feedback, but my son was behind in literacy for the last few years, and we've always struggled to get him to enjoy reading at home. Given that his mum is also a primary school teacher, we've still found it tough. In this last few days he's already connected that reading helps to improve his literacy all by himself, and even stays in bed when he wakes up to read instead of waking everyone else! I hope he continues with this new found enjoyment and motivation to read. Thanks so much for visiting, you've made a big difference to Daniel where we as parents and his teachers alike have not been as inspirational."

Now let's take a look at the fabulous showcase events I presented during the past few weeks (all in my home county of Devon)... my first school visit took place at Manor Primary in Ivybridge and special thanks to Caroline Sargent for organising everything. It was a great success and I'll be loading some interactive pictures from the event as soon as the school's website has been updated.

The school visits continued further up the M5 with two schools in the Culm Valley enjoying author presentations and book signing events. Children were left inspired at Willand and St Andrew's with hundreds of Bradley Baker books signed... there was a real buzz created by some much appreciated pre-visit preparations by Tanya at Willand and at Jemima St Andrew's.... the children were really primed, which is so important to me when I visit schools. Here's a picture of Niamh from St Andrew's who wrote me a really nice letter;

A break from author showcases when I paid a visit to Eden Park Primary in Brixham. Two workshops with the Year 5/6 students was very productive. We developed characters for their Murder Mystery stories and it was lovely to work with teacher Chris Hallett again.

Then it was time to head back down the A38 to Plymouth and another superb event at Victoria Road Primary. Many thanks to Becky Ferguson who arranged for the local press to be present during the book signing event. Here's a great picture taken after the showcase presentation with some of the children dressed as characters;

Well the half term break is now upon us... but please don't forget I'll be undertaking my first outing as Patron supporting Families for Children Adoption at Devon's Crealy Adventure Park on Friday 1st November. I'll be reading extracts from my latest Bradley Baker adventure "The Gullfather of New York" and hopefully signing copies of the book inside the FFC marquee!!!

 

 

Before I sign off... here are some more dates for the diary. Hope to see you at either Brixham Library on Thursday 14th November between 2pm and 5pm... or Coffee#1 in Torquay 14th November...

 

 

Catch up again after the half term break. DLJ :)