Nicola Morgan
Email:
n@nicolamorgan.co.ukWebsite:
www.nicolamorgan.co.ukBRAW network:
yesLL funded:
yesBiography:
I was born and educated in a boys’ boarding school and was taught by my parents. I then went to a girls’ boarding school, where no one was at all impressed by my tree-climbing and weapon-making skills. I went to Cambridge University and studied Classics and Philosophy, before becoming a teacher, later specialising in teaching children with dyslexia. I taught for 16 years but all that time, I was practising to be a writer. I had my first novel published after 21 years of failure but I have now written around 90 books. As well as my full-time writing, I regularly speak at festivals, conferences and school events. I help adults who are trying to be published - with my blog (Help! I Need a Publisher!), my Write to be Published seminars and the book of that name, and my writers' consultancy, (Pen2Publication). About writer's work:
I have now had around 90 books published, including Thomas the Tank Engine and home learning books, many of which are still UK best-sellers. But I am better known for my publishing blog and for writing full length books for older children and teenagers, and have won two Scottish Arts Council Awards for my teenage fiction, including The Scottish Children’s Book of the Year for Sleepwalking. I have a long-standing fascination with the human brain, and my examination of the teenage brain, Blame My Brain, published in 2005, was short-listed for the prestigious Aventis Prize. I love public speaking though I do now have to say no more than yes (but try me!) and am equally happy when talking about the gory background to my novels or giving talks and seminars for writers, published and unpublished. About writer's events and projects:
I talk in schools and at conferences and festivals, to audiences of all ages from 9/10 upwards, including adults. I talk about the following topics, adapted to the audience:
•my fiction and being a writer - always a gripping talk for any audience, incorporating Wasted, Fleshmarket and Deathwatch
•adolescence - for teenagers, parents, teachers
•how to get published / how publishing works / how to make a publisher say yes and why they often say no
•books and teenagers - why and what teenagers read
•anything to do with being a writer
Here are some things that I don’t do:
• Teach an English lesson. Been there … And it was a long time ago when teaching was different and you were allowed to throw blackboard rubbers at kids. The fact that I use the term ’blackboard rubber’ should alert you to how long ago it was.
• Things that we have not agreed in advance. The casual, ’Oh, and while we pass this classroom and you’ve got a spare half hour, let’s just go in and you can talk to THIS group as well.’
Please look at my website and read the page called Inviting Me To Speak.
Links to other websites:
www.nicolamorgan.co.uk
www.helpineedapublisher.blogspot.com
www.writetobepublished.co.uk
www.pen2publication.co.uk
Language:
EnglishAge groups:
9-12, TeensBooks written
Contrary to popular (parental) opinion, teenagers are not the lazy, unpleasant - frankly, spotty - louts they occasionally appear to be. During the teenage years the brain is undergoing its most ...
"You wouldn't want a family like mine - they're straight out of Crazyville." Becca is feeling sorry for herself. Ever since her family moved to the country, she's missed London and her best ...
Do you believe in curses? From Tutankhamum's tomb to the Curse of Superman, Nicola Morgan offers a fascinating and light-hearted look at how curses work and why people believe in them.
Someone is watching Cat McPherson. Is it a young schizophrenic, a retired scientist, or Cat's ex-boyfriend? Or it could be someone else entirely. An obsession with insects seems to link them all. And ...
It is Edinburgh, 1822, and young Robbie is eight years old when he witnesses his mother's pain and subsequent death from an operation
Nicola Morgan explains how the brain functions and how to make it work in the best possible way. With sections on intelligence and genius, dyslexia and autism, and keeping the brain fit and healthy, ...
"Mondays are red. Sadness has an empty blue smell. And music can taste of anything from banana puree to bat's pee".
On the Money is a book of four stories by Theresa Breslin, Jonathan Meres, Nicola Morgan and Alison Prince, exploring issues of financial responsibility for children.
The first in a new series of "OneCity" books (crime and London to follow in 2009), this is a cracking collection of specially commissioned stories for upper primary school children, by nine ...
From its secret underground streets to the top of Arthur's Seat, the city of Edinburgh has been the inspiration for many children's books and writers. This unique guide will help children and adults ...
The Citizens of this future world drift contentedly, their every emotion regulated. There is no pain, no suffering, no evil. And no freedom. Just safety and drug-induced happiness. But a small group, ...
On the run from the redcoats, the two young highwaymen, Will and Bess, find themselves in Galloway, Scotland, blamed for a murder they did not commit. Here they are captured by smugglers and become ...
Young William de Lacey is high born, the son of a gentleman. But he's on the run, having stolen money and a horse, and has taken up with a highwayman. It's enough to hang him three times over. ...
The ultimate guide to first-time home-leavers - don't leave home without it! Everybody has at least one horror story about leaving home for the first time - when the pipes burst, the cooker caught ...
This a chilling story about free will and weakness. Will Matilda escape the clutches of the sinister religious cult or will she give herself up to their seductive powers?
"Jack worships luck and decides his actions by the flip of a coin. No risk is too great if the coin demands it. Luck brings him Jess, a beautiful singer who will change his life. But Jack’s luck is ...
