Nicola Morgan
Email:
asknicolamorgan@aol.comWebsite:
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 and then founded Magic Readers, followed by the The Child Literacy Centre, which I still run. All this time, I was practising to be a writer. I had my first novel published after 21 years of failure. As well as my full-time writing, I am Chair of the Society of Authors in Scotland, and regularly speak at festivals, conferences and school events. I live in Edinburgh with her husband, two daughters and spoilt Labrador.
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 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 workshops or lectures about how your brains work.About writer's events and projects:
Some examples of events - but feel free to ask for something different, adapted to suit your audience:
• A Grow Your Brain Day - see my website for details
• Talk to teenagers about Blame My Brain and teenage behaviour. They love to hear the reasons behind their actions and feelings. I do a strong anti-binge-drinking message. This talk works for any age from 11/12 upwards and I adapt according to age. Inspiring, enlightening and reassuring.
• Talk about my teenage novels and being a writer - gruesome and shocking stuff, especially with Fleshmarket. People have fainted …. But I guarantee they will be talking about it afterwards. Ideal for any senior school pupils
• Talk to any year from age 10 upwards about how their brains work - based on Know Your Brain, from Nov 07
• Talk to parents/staff/anyone working with teenagers about Blame My Brain and teenage brain / behaviour
• A talk to upper primary (age 10-11) about my novels, adapted to suit the age group. Focusing on the Highwayman books and adventure, with some talk about Fleshmarket if I am allowed!
• Talk to 8-10 year-olds mainly about Chicken Friend. No possibility of anyone fainting because of this! I would mention the Highwayman books a bit, but would avoid Fleshmarket and other older novels.
• Talk at a conference - for teachers, librarians or those working with young people. I can speak about teenagers, getting teenagers reading, the brain, literacy, being a writer, why I write what I do ...
• Speak at a festival. I have done a large number of these, and I do several events every year at the Edinburgh Book Festival.
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.
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.
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".
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?
