Some of you will know that I teach creative writing and mentor writers.
Last week I was privileged to give a keynote one hour workshop at the first Society of Authors event to be held in Wales for many years.
It was held in Cornerstones, Cardiff on a too-hot day. I gave a presentation on using psychology to create convincing characters that captivate readers and leap off the page – this approach also helps to overcome writers' block.
Thanks to Society of Authors coordinator Jo McCrum for giving me the chance to do this! And all the writers who gave me such great feedback afterwards.
Jo suggested I turn my notes into an e-book. When I've finished my current non-fiction book on creating sustainable 'one planet' cities, I will definitely do this will all my material for my writing course.
The next Welsh SoA event will be held in Swansea in September and be a simple get-together run with the help of children's writer Helen Docherty who's based in the town.
Right now I have an interesting job working with six PhD students of sustainable placemaking. They want to turn their ideas about living well into short stories for children.
Being academics writing fiction does not come easily for many of them but they're doing really well! They're now well into their first drafts and we hope to have an e-book out in the autumn! More later.
If anyone here wants to know more, do get in touch and look at the page on my website about the writing course.
