Being an Author in the Classroom is one of the most rewarding jobs I have ever had; it is constantly surprising and energising. Working with children makes me think about my practice and process as a writer and question not only why I write but how I do it. 

Do you want to inspire the next generation? Would you like to use your creativity in new settings and  be inspired by the creativity of young minds?

You don't even have to be a children's author or a teacher. You just need to bring your creative spark and a willingness to share your skills and writing process.

How to be An Author in the Classroom will show you: 
How to plan sessions that engage children
How to deliver creative writing workshops with confidence and clarity
How to get work and get paid as an author in a school

​Plus: examples of programmes and writing games for children 

Are you ready to share your skills as an author? Then read on.

Isn’t it interesting how words echo back at us down the decades? They seem to come from a random source, triggered by some thought process we are unaware of.

These words are etched deep into my memory, not because they were hurtful or upsetting, but because they struck a chord. These words form one of those seminal points in my life where a fragment of truth joins up with another piece of a giant puzzle and you see something you hadn’t seen before. You know something which you may have already known, but which now, you understand.

The words were shouted at me across a dance studio, in an early morning class at The Place, London, some decades ago. Our teacher, a well-known hero in the contemporary dance lexicon of her time, had set a routine which I was trying to get my head round; walking it though; checking the mirrors in an attempt to co-ordinate the various parts of body movement. I was trying to understand it with my head.

She could see that I was working from the head, from the outside in and not feeling the movement from the inside out. I was disconnected from the spirit of the movement and was analysing the mechanics. She knew how I worked and in that moment, understood more about me than I did about myself. The words struck a chord and have stayed with me.
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That little phrase has impacted on my creative process ever since. Head versus heart is a common theme which many artists struggle with and of course, we need both if we are to create anything. Even now when I am working out a plot point or stuck in my writing, I go into myself – into my head to find the answers.

The problem is that my head is a confusing place to spend too much time. It can be overwhelming, like an overstuffed attic where everything I have ever seen, known, heard, or remembered is dumped in no particular order. Memories which sting like barbs alongside the tingling delights which are like nuggets of pure gold. Ideas, thoughts, plans which I can use, alongside the trash I should have thrown away decades ago. 

Becoming aware of my creative process has been essential since I became a writer; owning my unique way of doing things and creating some order in my thoughts and memories is a vital part of my process as I complete the first draft of my new novel: The Renaissance of Rafaela Brown, which requires both head and heart. 

Knowing when it is time to stop thinking and just do it is a life lesson I am grateful for.

The two activities of writing and delivering creative writing workshops in schools are symbiotic; being an author adds validation to being a creative writing tutor and devising and delivering workshops inspires my writing.

I am back in schools next week and planning the sessions for a project I have delivered a few times before in many local primary schools.

It is a project funded by my local council which was originally aimed at educating children about hate crime. It has now turned into a bigger project about cultural awareness and transforms the participants into Junior Ambassadors for their school and community.

The project involves artists from Africa, India and China as well as a session from local refugee support, an illustrator as well as my sessions as an author.

My job is to follow these other creative practitioners into the school and to deliver a creative writing response to the stimulus from their art forms.

So, for example, I will develop poems with the children following their Bollywood Dance experience, and focus on feelings and the senses. After the African drummer and storyteller, I will deliver a creative writing session which I call the 'Story Bones' where we will uncover the nature of story, and write our own African stories. And after Chinese calligraphy, we will explore 'characters.' I will use China as the setting and the characters will be based on the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. The programme about refugees is more generic; we will look at first hand testimony from refugees and write an account, or a letter home following an exploration of their journeys.

I am followed in each school by an artist, who explores images with the children which will illustrate their writing. The local council will then print a booklet of the children's writing and pictures for the school's library.

It is a big commitment from the schools, which are complex organisations under constant pressure to measure children and meet targets. And yet I have found that all the schools I have worked in have embraced this programme and managed to incorporate both the method and the message into their teaching schedule, especially in a time of Covid.

Over the past five years, I have worked in dozens of schools delivering a wide range of creative writing programmes. This work enables me to write. The two activities of writing and tutoring are symbiotic; being an author adds validation to being a creative writing tutor and devising and delivering workshops inspires my writing.

My programmes aim to make writing fun and my challenge is to inspire even the most reluctant writer. It is not about literacy – teachers are expert at that and do it really well. The work I do in schools is about the joy of writing and supporting children’s well-being through releasing their innate creativity. 

Creativity can provide an anchor for children’s wellbeing in a world which is sometimes chaotic and often baffling. And that is true for grown-ups as well. Especially at the moment.

We are still in the midst of a global pandemic and measures are in place which make the work more challenging to deliver, but with hand washing, mask wearing, distancing, quarantining of shared resources and daily testing, we will make it safe.

I will continue my work in schools because in this programme, it nourishes not only the children's fluency in writing and ability to express ideas, but also delivers a strong message of tolerance and kindness. It opens minds where when we have been locked down for so long; it gives children experiences of cultures they may not have come across; and it gives them a way to express their creativity through real life experiences.

It is May and Mole is ready to head out into the world and inspire children to write stories! 
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I have spent almost every day, so far, this year working on
A Month of Writing Adventure for children. It has been a mammoth task, creating the book, structuring a schools programme around it: working with an artist, and compiling words and images into a book which is a combination of a teaching guide and creative notebook. It is beautifully illustrated by Charlotte Cleveland who has brought my ideas and story to life. I am sure A Month of Writing Adventure will excite even the most reluctant writer.
 
By combining story structure with creative skills, A Month of Writing Adventure is a roller-coaster ride with The Story Moles. Full of interesting tasks and challenges, with space in the book for children to explore their own stories though words and pictures.

Saturday Morning. I slept too much. Finally woke up feeling rubbish after being stuck in a  very confusing dream which I couldn't escape. 
I was obviously in the place #RubySixpence would describe as:

Woohoo! It's arrived:
Divas, Dogs and Dreamers
A heartwarming and uplifting tale of backstage love and drama

When Sophie Wilde is knocked off her bicycle by Producer Alex Brooke, she becomes entangled in his world of Royal Gala's, Divas and dogs. She doesn't mean to fall in love with him; her life is complicated enough with her alcoholic, boomerang ex, her chaotic family and busy life in the wardrobe departments of London’s West End Theatre.

But Sophie is a serial daydreamer and makes lists to put off doing what needs to be done. When the singing Diva from hell, Callandra Jewell, throws a mega tantrum on tour, all the lists in the world cannot control the powerful mesh of emotions generated in the confusion.which follows.

​Available now on Amazon
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Divas-Dogs-Dreamers-tender-backstage-ebook/dp/B08DRT6K1V​

If Bridget Jones had a Fairy Godmother, she would want her to be Ruby Sixpence. 
A long, long time ago, Ruby’s father bet a silver sixpence that his child would be born on a leap day; a spare day in which magic happens. Born in that enchanted crack in time where opportunities, and people like her, slip through. 
Over the centuries Ruby Sixpence has nurtured the uncommon art of bringing lovers together, a gift which comes in the same package as aging one year in four. 
But these gifts come with a price and make her duty bound to play cupid in the lives of reluctant lovers. 
Take the unusual case of Katie Hope and Joe Lawrence who are so far from a perfect match that only drastic action from Ruby will bring them together. Her unorthodox methods are surprising, however, and she doesn’t always get it right.
With the stage set, Ruby Sixpence Whistles up a Storm and stands back to stir the pot.

​https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ruby-Sixpence-Whistles-Storm-Magical/dp/B0851MJLS3/