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In 1999 I began doing talks for kids about being a writer and about various non-fiction subjects. These are the ones I've done so far:
| March 1999 | Craigmillar Book Festival, Edinburgh |
| Medieval Knights (7-8-year-olds) | |
| How do Bees Make Honey? (5-6-year-olds) | |
| Writing about Ghosts (8-9-year-olds) | |
| August 1999 | Edinburgh Book Festival |
| Myths and Monsters (7-11-year-olds) | |
| April 2001 | Wood Green School Book Week |
| Talks on Shakespeare and on being a writer (11-year-olds) | |
| Becoming a writer (16-18-year-olds) | |
| September 2002 and December 2003 | Inveralmond Community High School |
| Ghosts (11-12-year-olds) |
In my limited experience, ghosts and monsters go down very well, and kids love the question-and-answer session where they can ask about what being a writer is like. An hour-long booking is best divided into a shortish talk/reading and a long Q&A (I noticed this was also what JK Rowling did when I went to see her, so maybe this is the accepted wisdom). If you'd like to discuss arranging a talk, contact me.
I have done a small amount of feature-type stuff for The List (central Scotland's listings magazine) and the Scotsman. I also did theatre reviewing for a student paper when I lived in Canada. I like reviewing and would be interested if anyone wants me to do it. I'd be happy to opine on anything, but especially children's books.
What tech do I use? As you'll be able to glean from elsewhere on the site, I use Quark, PageMaker and Word on a Windows PC - mainly Quark 5, which is compatible with both Quark 6 and Quark 4 (though NB Quark 4 is not compatible with Quark 6). For web authoring, I just use HTML.
Mac compatibility Everything I use is Mac-compatible, except fonts: if I'm working on a designed spread, I need PC versions of the fonts that are being used. For sending things to and fro on floppies or zip disks, they need to be PC/IBM formatted, which Macs should be able to handle.
Fonts I have Adobe TypeOnCall which means I can get any Adobe font that's needed in a matter of minutes. I have a lot of fonts already.
Drives Floppy drive, CD drive, zip drive, and DVD on the laptop.
Email I often use email attachments to send and receive files, as it's the quickest way for most things. Since the advent of unlimited surf time, I'm usually online all day so I get emails quite quickly.
Roving tech I have a laptop, and can access emails when I'm away.
Even more tech I now have 24-hour broadband Internet access, so it's OK to send enormous email attachments. But I don't have a fax machine.
The tech's just getting silly Wireless home LAN! This means I can work on the sofa but still have constant internet access. Not relevant, just showing off.
My training at Usborne Publishing included visualising spreads, type and repro, picture research, commissioning artwork, and layout using both PageMaker and Quark Xpress. I now use Quark for just about everything, and usually I write onto 2-page spread layouts instead of into a continuous text editor (although I do have Word as well). So I'm happy to supply text in Quark, and I can also cut and fit text and add captions in Quark after a spread has been designed and pics put in place.
Here's a bit of the stuff I and Dr Double-Wah have designed for our (now defunct) band The Ugly Groove Movement and the band's club night, Fat Vibration.
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I played trombone with Edinburgh funk band The Ugly Groove Movement until its untimely demise. The first album, Ultra-Grooved, is in the bargain section in Edinburgh's Virgin Superstore (or alternatively available from me). The second, Keep it Ugly, is recorded but still waiting to be produced and packaged, when Captain Funk gets a break from his DIY and being in seven other bands. We're also hoping to get a Peoplesound/MP3 thing together, but when? Click here to see Si's Ugly Groove Movement page, featuring Dr. Double-Wah and the lovely Ms Lips on stage - and a rough mix of our valedictory number, "Same Song".
If you're starved of funk and Ugly action, former members of UGM can be found playing in Gecko, Irbis, Organogel and Cuddlesuit, and running monthy singer-songwriter extravaganza Acoustic Edinburgh.
Yes, I really did take part in a Peel Session in Feb 2002, as a hanger-on with top Scottish indie band Ballboy. I played the trombone part in their song "All the Records on the Radio are Shite", 100% live on Radio 1, and standing right next to John Peel. I was very nervous indeed. The session was availble on John Peel's website, but it's now been replaced by newer things - though you may still be able to hear some of it at the second of the two fan sites listed on Ballboy's website. Go there anyway, they're a great band.
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