James really enjoys taking part in festival events and visiting schools to give talks or run creative writing workshops. He has visited hundreds of schools since The Apprentice Witch was released in 2016 and also appeared at the Hay and Edinburgh book festivals. Please contact James or Authors Aloud for his availability and current costs which are all in line with the recommendations of The Society of Authors.

Author Talk

(Suitable for Years 3-8, Ages 7-12)
James offers a fully interactive talk, looking at the inspiration that went into the creation of The Apprentice Witch series, from fairy stories and legends to real historical accounts of witches. There is lots of fun, a few games and even a bit of dressing up! And you'll get to meet Beatrice the celebrity (rubber) toad.

The talk lasts 45 minutes to one hour in total, including a short reading and a question and answer session.

These events usually include a signing session as well, where children have the opportunity to buy a copy of one of the books and meet the author after the event.

Creative Writing Workshops

Focusing on being creative, idea generation and bringing out the fun in creative writing, James' three workshops are adaptable to a range of ages. The workshops work best for class sized groups. If you have specific requirements please do get in touch to discuss.

Creature Workshop

Introduction to James and The Apprentice Witch series and a little about how James works, what sparked the original ideas for the stories etc.

Students work in teams and individually to create a new magical creature, deciding key facts about it which will be used later as they write a short piece featuring their new creature.

Odd Objects Creative Writing Workshop

Introduction to James and The Apprentice Witch series and a little about how James works, what sparked the original ideas for the stories etc.

Students are given strange or unusual objects and asked to think who they may have belonged to and what their use is, real or imaginary.

This is then used as a basis for a piece of creative writing featuring the object and their imagined owner. James also looks at how other things can spark ideas for stories, such as music, images etc.

Story Starter Workshop

Introduction to James and The Apprentice Witch series and a little about how James works, what sparked the original ideas for the stories etc.

Taking the 3 key things needed for a story, character, setting and plot students work through the workshop with James generating a worksheet full of ideas to take away for their own creative writing at home or in class.

For more information please do get in touch and to check availability or make a booking please contact Authors Aloud.

VIRTUAL EVENTS

James is happy to join you through the wonder of the internet either via Skype, Zoom or Microsoft Teams.

· Reading & Q&A
· Author Talk & Q&A
· Writing Room Tour & Q&A
· Creature Workshop & Q&A

All events last up to 1 hour and James is happy to set a writing challenge for your group to complete after the session.

James will also send a signed poster for our class or library.

Please contact James or Authors Aloud for his availability and current costs which are all in line with the recommendations of The Society of Authors.