I am available to do author talks and creative writing workshops with all ages from 14 years upwards. I can tailor the sessions to suit particular requirements. Contact me for more details.

 

AUTHOR TALK TO LOCKSIDE WI PEWSHAM 2018

Throughly enjoyed my visit to Lockside WI on the 24th April, my first WI visit. I was not sure what to expect from a more mature audience. However, I needn’t have worried as I was made very welcome from the start by a roomful of enthusiastic ladies keen to hear my writing story and pick up tips for writing projects that some of them had planned. During my talk I read chapters from Happy Deathday and Outside the Box to illustrate points made about the creative writing process. The session was followed by Q & A’s and book signing.

“Thank you so much for coming to see us on Tuesday. So many of our members said how much they had enjoyed your talk and I certainly did. I look forward to starting your book very soon and may attempt some writing – starting with our Newsletter!” (Sue Reed, President Lockside WI)

BRYANSTON SCHOOL – Author Talk and Creative Writing Workshop 2017

On the evening of 12th June, I visited Bryanston School in Blandford, Dorset to give a talk and creative writing workshop to their D and C pupils. The session I did for them came under the umbrella theme of ‘Creating Stories’ and included an author talk outlining how I went about writing the two novels in the Happy Deathday series, including helpful tips about the creative writing process and readings from Happy Deathday. A short creative writing exercise followed, using a picture as visual stimulus. It was incredible how many ideas for short stories, in a variety of genres, that the pupils came up with in such a short space of time. I was very impressed!

“It was lovely to see you and thank you for all the work and preparation that you put into making the visit and creative writing workshop successful. I felt that the level was pitched well for Year 9s and they clearly engaged with the writing process. It was lovely to see the girls take an interest in reading and they took the initiative to come up to you at the end which was great.” (Emma Minter, Chartered Librarian, Bryanston School, Blandford, Dorset)

NEW HORIZONS BOOK AWARD 2016

In March 2016, I undertook a series of author talks and creative writing workshops in secondary schools in Dorset, as part of the Dorset Public & School Library Services NEW HORIZONS BOOK AWARD 2016 and its associated creative writing and arts competitions. The Award is given to the best debut novel for young people published between January 2014 and July 2015. It proved to be a very busy but highly enjoyable two weeks in which I worked with dedicated teachers and librarians helping them to promote a love of reading and creative writing to their students.

“On Tuesday March 1^st a lucky year 8 class, who have been making fantastic progress with their reading targets this year, were chosen to attend a special author visit from Sue Yockney. Sue has written two teen dystopian thriller novels called Happy Deathday and Resurrection. She spent the first half of the session chatting with the group about how she came to write these books and her thoughts on dystopian fiction and its current popularity in the YA/Teen fiction market. Sue then asked the students to participate in a short writing exercise. They were shown an image for the first time and had to then record their honest first impressions. These were used to plot a fictional storyline around the photo. There was some very excitable feedback at the end of the session as a lot of the students wanted to showcase their ideas about the story behind the image. This session was scheduled as part of our World Book Day celebrations.”  (Katie Wyatt, Librarian Shaftesbury School, Dorset)

“As part of our ongoing World Book Day celebrations, we were visited by local author Sue Yockney on Tuesday. She ran a two hour creative writing workshop in the Library with Upper IV girls, who all benefited from her experience and practical advice. Everyone left the session buzzing with enthusiasm and full of new ideas to help them in their own writing.”  (Min Edmonds, Librarian St Mary’s School, Shaftesbury, Dorset)