Services
First Fifty - Substantive Editing
Be Independent - Mentoring
Encouraging Essays - Guidance
Tangled Speech - Positive Language Relations
School Programmes
Writer Programme
First Fifty
A review of the first fifty pages of your manuscript, focussing on content and structure, and addressing language and style.
Genres: Fact or fiction, including novels & general knowledge.
Novels: Literary, family drama, historical, family history, comedy, bildungsroman, dialect novels and diary novels. I enjoy descriptive prose, strong characters and lively dialogue.
Specialist Skill: Dialect.
Output: You will receive a one-page document with feedback within one week of the booking & a short telephone/video call at handover to summarise.
Cost: £300.00
This is not a copyediting service.
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Writer Programme
Be Independent - Mentoring
A customised solution depending on the status of your manuscript.
The three stages are:
1. First Fifty: See above
The services described below are available at an additional cost. Quotes available on request.
2. Full Manuscript: If the first fifty pages require no major substantive edits, we can proceed to the full manuscript. You will have three weeks to make any minor edits to your full manuscript based on the First Fifty report. I will then mark up the remainder of the document. The focus will be a substantive edit, but I will help you copyedit if the manuscript is at an advanced stage. I recommend a final proofread before you publish.
3. The Road to Publishing: This takes the form of a telephone or video meeting:
I will chat to you about taking your book to market, provide feedback on networking, festivals, events and the distribution channels open to you as a self-published writer and show you how to prepare your template for publication.
Maximum manuscript length: 80,000 words.
A similar service is also available for local historical journals, university anthologies & community publications.
This programme can be adapted for those applying for Arts Council of Northern Ireland Funding to help with self-publishing. In this case, we will skip First Fifty and move straight to Full Manuscript or The Road to Publishing.
Student Programme
Encouraging essays
The aim of this service is to encourage you to become a confident essay writer. This is a guidance service, focussing on structure and content, though I will offer grammatical help.
Designed for university students or A Level/BTEC students.
Output: You will receive a marked up document on Google Docs or MS Word and a short video message within 2 days of booking.
Communication with those under 18 (or at school) should be organised through a parent.
Quotes available upon request.
Designed for university students or A Level/BTEC students.
Output: You will receive a marked up document on Google Docs or MS Word and a short video message within 2 days of booking.
Communication with those under 18 (or at school) should be organised through a parent.
Quotes available upon request.
Council/ Good Relations Programme
Tangled Speech
A fourteen-week programme designed for Peace Plus providers and Council Good Relations teams. This is a celebration of local dialects, the vernacular and regional language.
Output: A Community Publication
Part 1: Preparation & Sign-Up (Weeks 1 to 3).
Part 2: Delivery of 6 on-site classes. Inspiration to be drawn from natural surroundings, history, the people and the literary heritage of place (Weeks 4-10).
Part 3: Collating, editing & production of fiction, poems, memoir and other materials to produce a book celebrating the tangled speech of the particular place (Weeks 11-12).
Part 3: Printing & Launch of Publication (Week 14).
This programme was successfully delivered to Mid & East Antrim Council in 2020 as 'Shaped by the Sea'. Costs include preparation time, marketing, venue hire, facilitation, editing, print publication & launch event.
Available across counties Antrim, Down, Armagh, Monaghan, Cavan, Fermanagh, Derry/Londonderry & Donegal.
Cost: On Request.
School Programmes
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Author Visits: Secondary School
Readings and Q & A For the girls at Belfast Model School for Girls, the chat was all about dreams and aspirations! Suggested Pupil Pricing Model: Based on a minimum year group of 80, the cost is £3.00 per pupil. I will stay on the school premises for the school day delivering the session to up to three classes. If your year group is smaller, you are welcome to combine two year groups. Email: [email protected], or call: 07880239743. |
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Year 9 Programme - Your Dialect
Warning: This programme may result in laughter! At St. Pius X School in Magherafelt, we took one of Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes and translated it into the local dialect. The pupils worked in groups and then stood up alone or in pairs to read their adapted poem. This programme is delivered to a whole year group split into three large classes across a full school day. e.g. 9.20 am - 11.00 am, Class T & H, 11.20 am - 1.00 pm, Class D & Q, 1.50 pm - 3.20 pm, Class L & R Suggested Pupil Pricing Model: Based on a minimum group of 80, the cost is £4.00 per pupil. I will stay on the school premises for the school day and deliver the programme in either two or three sessions. I can work with your chosen text or I can select something of my own. Email: [email protected], or call: 07880239743 |
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GCSE Creative Writing Workshops
I enjoy working with reluctant poets and writers to tease out what is on their mind, but there were no reluctant poets among this group at Dunclug College in Ballymena, who won the Seamus Heaney Award for Achievement in the Community Arts Partnership Poetry in Motion competition.
If you are not already part of a programme and your school is in County Antrim, I would be happy to design a creative writing programme to suit your needs.
The cost of a three-week programme based on one double period or two separate GCSE classes back-to-back is £500.00. This includes preparation, delivery and the compilation of a PDF journal of poems, memoir and short stories, which can be made ready for print-on-demand.
Email: [email protected], or call: 07880239743
I enjoy working with reluctant poets and writers to tease out what is on their mind, but there were no reluctant poets among this group at Dunclug College in Ballymena, who won the Seamus Heaney Award for Achievement in the Community Arts Partnership Poetry in Motion competition.
If you are not already part of a programme and your school is in County Antrim, I would be happy to design a creative writing programme to suit your needs.
The cost of a three-week programme based on one double period or two separate GCSE classes back-to-back is £500.00. This includes preparation, delivery and the compilation of a PDF journal of poems, memoir and short stories, which can be made ready for print-on-demand.
Email: [email protected], or call: 07880239743
A Level Flash Essay Writing Programme
A new programme based on my new novel The Secret Diary of Stephanie Agnew. It is delivered across two after-school sessions - one hour per session. Pupils will have the chance to explore language and identity. The first worksop will be a mix of reading and discussion. In the second session, I will end by asking the pupils to write a Flash Essay of around 500 words, drawing on the topics we have discussed. There will be a certificate for the best essay.
The cost of this programme is £14 per pupil and includes a copy of The Secret Diary of Stephanie Agnew. You are welcome to invite a neighbouring school to join in.
Email: [email protected], or call: 07880239743
A new programme based on my new novel The Secret Diary of Stephanie Agnew. It is delivered across two after-school sessions - one hour per session. Pupils will have the chance to explore language and identity. The first worksop will be a mix of reading and discussion. In the second session, I will end by asking the pupils to write a Flash Essay of around 500 words, drawing on the topics we have discussed. There will be a certificate for the best essay.
The cost of this programme is £14 per pupil and includes a copy of The Secret Diary of Stephanie Agnew. You are welcome to invite a neighbouring school to join in.
Email: [email protected], or call: 07880239743
