We had a special visitor in school on Thursday 12th January, a real-life author, called Julia Edwards. She told us all about her newest book, called Unlucky for Some. It is a collection of short nasty stories, sometimes scary stories, which Julia wrote in Lockdown, mainly to entertain herself as she wrote them! She has published it as she thought children would enjoy stories where nasty characters get punished! The book is great for children who aren’t so keen on long books, a collection of short stories you can dip in and out of.
Julia then went on to talk about her most famous series of books, seven books in total, called The Scar Gatherer series. The main character, Joe travels in time in each book, to a different era in history over the last two thousand years, and always meets Lucy, the other main character! Julia said the Slaves of Isabella is the book she wishes every 10/11year old child in this country would read, as it is about the slave trade and has some important lessons for us all. Julia’s own favourite period of history is the Tudors, and she would love to travel back to that time, as Joe did in the book The Falconer’s Quarry. The children also contributed many facts to the discussion about the Great Fire of London, which is where the book The Demon in the Embers is set.
Finally, Julia answered many questions from the children about actually being an author. She said her favourite part about being a writer is doing the research before beginning to write a book, and she said she usually spend about three months researching! Julia finds the editing part the hardest, and she showed us an A4 page of typing from one of her previous books, which was covered in writing – sentences she was changing and improving. Julia told us she may write a sentence over and over and over, before she is happy with it. One child asked a question about how the front covers of her books are created, and Julia explained she uses a talented illustrator. She tells him about the story of the book and gives him her ideas, and he creates some pictures. Julia said her favourite cover is the Slaves of Isabella, as she loves the eyes in the background.
The children gained a fantastic insight into the life of an author, and later in the day, Julia carried out some workshops in some classes.