When Steve Cole Visited Charters school

Report by Hugo Webster, Year 7

When I first heard there was a new ‘Young Bond’ book being published I thought of the author Charlie Higson and I searched for it online - it said Steve Cole was the author and I thought “who’s he?” I was excited but anxious - was he going to be as good as Charlie Higson….?

I received the book a couple of days before Steve’s visit and was enthralled…

On Monday 10^th of September Steve Cole came to Charters. At second break I queued to get my book signed (I had only got to page 76 and boy it was good!). A group of Bond lovers surrounded Steve and we had our picture taken.

Finally fifth period arrived and the wait was over! I saw streams of people heading for the hall and I managed to get a front row seat - a perfect view to see him. He stepped out and introduced himself, then explained how he had written Astrosaurs and Cows In Action. He’d worked as an editor for a magazine company before he became a full time writer.

He told us about the day that would change his life….. the day, when he’d finished his lunch as he was walking out of the restaurant his assistant phoned him and told him that the Ian Fleming Foundation had picked him to write the new books.

After that he showed us some spy gadgets: he had binoculars where one of the eye pieces was a flask (for when you are spying on someone and you need a drink) - he also had a gun keychain that was a lighter for when you are out in a forest and you need to make a fire.

Following the gadgets that he showed us Steve went on to talk through the first chapter of the book and tell us about the characters; James Bond, the teenage boy, expelled from Eton, never to trust again. Hugo Grande a dwarf that doesn’t like classes but loves skiving. Boudicca (Boody) Pyre a girl that will take machines apart to her heart’s content and Dan Solomon, a boy who found a film reel, the reel that someone is willing to kill for. These friends all went to Dartington Hall.

Steve highlighted that as it was the anniversary of Ian Fleming’s first film when he was picked to write the stories that it would be a good idea for the group of friends to visit Hollywood as part of the plot. First, as always, he had to run it past Ian Fleming’s remaining family. Then he told us about their mode of transport, the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin. A key part of the story, it was a German-built and operated airship which actually operated commercially from 1928 to 1937. The airship was named after the German pioneer of airships, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who was a count (Graf) in the German nobility.

Even though I had read it, hearing him inject so much life and passion into the story I wanted to read the rest there and then.

To conclude he played a game. He had a target and two Nerf guns, he picked two contestants by telling us a riddle and whoever got the riddle right played against each other, he used the lipstick to mark the darts. The first person to fire hit the third ring out from the center of the target and when the second person fired she hit near the middle of the ‘O’ in BOND at the top of the card board target. When Steve had his turn he pulled out a bigger Nerf gun and blew the target away.

  

Information On Steve Cole

Steve was born in 1971 and was brought up in rural Bedfordshire. One of the reasons he loves being an author is because he can lounge around wearing pyjamas all day but when he starts to write something he can’t stop.

Wonder of Words Young People's Literary Festival 2014

Update: Tickets will be available to buy on the door.

Update 2: Not been to a book festival before? If you are in any doubt about the effect such an event can have on a child, one of our parents said of last year’s event and the impact it had on her reluctant reader son:

Finding books to turn my son on to reading, and more importantly to keep him reading, has been a challenge. Horrid Henry came and went; Beast Quest became a favourite; and then of course there’s Harry Potter. But what next…?
We came to last year’s WoW Festival and Hugo was captivated. Listening to the authors talk about themselves, how they wrote and where their inspiration came from, opened up a whole new world. They made characters come alive, settings more real and ignited a new passion… he’s nearly finished Metawars and cannot wait for this Saturday.

On Saturday 5 July Charters School will be holding its second young people's literary festival. Read on to find out more about the event, the authors who will be appearing and how you can get tickets. Alternatively, you can download the festival programme by clicking here. The programme also contains a handy ticket order form for you to use.

Last year we held Wonder of Words, our first young people's literary festival. It was a great success and so we decided we would repeat it this year, again in conjunction with the school's annual summer fair, with all the great stalls, games, live music and food that people have come to expect from a Charters School summer event,  but with a slight difference. That difference is WOW!

For our second Wonder of Words Young People's Literary Festival we have again managed to provide a brilliant line-up of author events, featuring some of the hottest authors currently writing for children and young adults. We are very excited to be hosting Jane Elson, Jim Smith and Jeff Norton and we believe we have a programme which has a little something for everyone.

Programme

Jane Elson 12-1.00pm

After performing as an actress and comedy improviser for many years, Jane fell into writing stories and plays. A Room Full Of Chocolate is her debut novel for readers of 8 +  and she is currently working on her second novel, Jump, for readers of 9+.

When she is not writing Jane spends her time running creative writing and comedy improvisation workshops for children with special educational needs. She is also a guest practitioner at Soho Theatre’s Writer’s Lab.

Whilst writing A Room Full Of Chocolate Jane ate a lot of chocolate in the name of research and spent most of her time trying to peer round her one eyed, raggedy eared cat Larry, whom she adopted from the Celia Hammond Trust  and who insists on standing in front of the computer screen.

Jim Smith 1.30-2.30pm

The I Am (Not) A Loser series is fast becoming a humour classic. Barry Loser has never minded his name…not until horrible Darren Darrenofski joins the school. Now he’s completely ruining Barry’s life and Barry is determined to prove that he’s absolutely not a loser! These brilliant books from top talent Jim Smith are packed full of silly humour, quirky plots and doodles.

Barry Loser writes: 'Jim Smith is the keelest kids' book comma putter and page numberer in the whole wide world amen. He graduated with first class honours (the best you can get) and went on to create the branding for a sweet little chain of coffee shops. He also designs cards and gifts under the name Waldo Pancake.' 

I Am Still Not a Loser was awarded the Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2013 for ages 7-14.

Jeff Norton 3.00-4.00pm


Jeff Norton is an author and producer. He creates compelling characters, amazing stories, and immersive worlds for all ages, in all media. He is the author of the high-tech thriller MetaWars series from Orchard Books and the upcoming humour series Memoirs Of A Neurotic Zombie from Faber Children’s. Through his production company, AWESOME, Jeff is also currently producing a pre-school television show, developing his first feature film as writer-director, and co-writing books with other talented authors.

Tickets

There is no charge for entry to the Summer Fair, but we are making a small charge for each of the author events. Tickets for each author event are only £4 for adults and £2 for under 18s. All children under the age of 11 must be accompanied by a ticket buying adult.

Tickets can be purchased by post by sending a cheque for the correct amount made payable to Charters School. Please ensure you state clearly the event(s) you wish to purchase tickets for. Your tickets will be posted to you free of charge or, should you prefer, your tickets will be held at the school for collection on the day of the festival.

All cheques should be sent to:

WOW Festival, Charters School, Charters Road, Sunningdale, Berkshire. SL5 9QY

Books and Signings

We will be selling books after each event and there will be an opportunity to meet each author and get your books signed. Unfortunately we will not have credit card facilities on the day and we will only be accepting cash or cheques for book purchases. You are welcome to bring books you already own for signing.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to email chartersbooks@gmail.com or call the school on 01344 624826


The Summer Fair

As mentioned above, the summer fair part of the day is completely free to enter, and there will be plenty going on for all of the family to keep you occupied between the author events, including:

Barbecue
Indian food stall
Tea and cakes

Silent auction
Amazon voucher raffle
Chocolate tombola

Bouncy castle
Sumo suits
Games, games and more games

Second hand book stall
All kinds of other stalls 

Live music

WOW 2014 - Wonder of Words Young People's Literary Festival

More details coming very soon.

Interview with Michael Scott

My interview with Michael Scott

By Rory Hawkins

On the 9^th of May, Charters school was lucky enough to welcome fantasy author Michael Scott, only a week after being visited by another author, Michael Grant. Mr Scott visited to promote his 106^th book and the last in a six book long series: The Enchantress, which, as he stated in his presentation to the year 8s, took him a year to write. I was lucky enough to be asked on the school’s behalf to interview Mr Scott, or, as I was allowed to call him, Michael.

   I found Michael to be a very agreeable person, I enjoyed talking to him and he answered the questions the Book Club and I concocted with both enthusiasm and detail. I got the sense that he enjoyed the interview as much as I did.

    When I asked why he became a writer, Michael answered: “I’m a writer because I’m a reader. I believe you can only really be a good writer if you’re a reader. I remember picking up a book, reading and thinking: ‘Wait- I can write better rubbish than this’.” I nodded to this; if you’re someone who’s into creative writing you’ll come across this at one point or another. Michael went on to say this was when you were ready yourself to write. “But,” Michael continued, “you’ve also got think if there’s space for you, what makes your writing different.” When I continued the question to: ‘Why did you decide to write for young adults?’ Michael answered eagerly; “They’re a very interesting audience and, in my opinion, this is the golden age for YA writing; when you’ve written a book, it’s pure story for teenagers. An adult will come up to you and say your book was rubbish. A teenager will come up to you and point out all the bits they liked, from chapter three or four and so on. But that’s also one of the hardest parts. With this genre you have to create your own logic and you need to keep to that or-”

   “Or they’ll point that out and scrutinise you for that,” I said.

   “Exactly.”

   “Have you actually based any characters on people you know?” I asked.

   “No,” Michael replied bluntly, “my golden rule in writing is to not base characters on people you know, not just because you may point out a not too endearing thing about them. People look for themselves in book characters, most people want to find something that they share with a character. In fact, the only characters I made up in the Flamel series are the twins themselves. As you already know, I brought together mythological figures from all across the world. I simply gave them personalities from how they were portrayed in their myths.”

   After what Michael had said about not basing characters on people, I hardly thought that we wouldn’t be straying from the questions I had written down previous; ‘Which character do you think you are most like?’ was next. Michael agreed with me on this. After quickly concluding that he was like none, we went on to the topic of which he proffered.

   “Most people would think that Nicholas Flamel was my favourite. Really? No. I like my villains: Dr Dee and Machiavelli especially. Dee, actually, used to the hero, in a few of my other books.”

   “But in the Enchantress, things change for Dee.”

   “Of course; I had flip with the Enchantress, circumstances change for Dee and, in the end really, he becomes good.”

   I got Michael to reveal some of his writing ‘top-tips’ when I asked the next question: “Did you always know how the series would end?”

   “Yes,” Michael began, “I wrote the ending first. It’s like setting yourself a target; you want to get from here... to there. The fact that there are six books is only because when I wrote the whole series out in note form I saw six synopses which let me divide it into six books.”

   “So you wrote all of the books out in note form beforehand?” I asked.

   “Not completely, I left some room for the characters to surprise me. The Flamel series was very interesting to write, one of my best and favourite series, I have to say.”

   For anything I had missed asking Michael, the year 8s certainly picked up in the Q and A part of Michael’s presentation. He told them that ‘At the heart of every legend there is a grain of truth’ and ‘As you collect stories across the world you find similarities’ among other things. When asked why he was a fantasy author, Michael replied: “Fantasy is the best genre. You can do anything you like; you can make your own world with your set of rules.”

   “Which do you prefer: reading or writing?” asked one pupil.

   “I spend as much time reading as I do writing. And I have to say, writing is the best job in the world. Being a writer lets me travel all around the world. I often ask my publisher if I can sell a book in, let’s say, Australia, or promote it or something, just so I can go there.”

   Michael went on to say that in terms of publishing one’s work, this was the golden age for young people, websites like Wattpad allowing publishers to snap up up-and-coming young authors.  His tips to year8s wanting to go into a career involving creative writing were ‘Never put out second rate work’ and ‘Try and set yourself a writing goal; I aim to write four A4 pages a day, much to my editor’s delight.’

   One cheeky year8 couldn’t hold back the question of: “Do you like vampires?” (clearly meaning the stereotypical cliché of modern-day bloodsuckers becoming charismatic yet moody models).

   “Well actually I have one vampire as a main character, Scathach. In Flamel, I went back to original vampires. You see, original vampires drained energy, which later was confused with blood, and some didn’t even look remotely like people. One,” Michael said with a wry smile, “is literally a floating skull with fangs and a spinal cord trailing behind it,” much to the girl’s displeasure.

   When asked about the book ‘The Enchantress’ itself, Michael said: ‘If you’re not surprised by the ending there’s something wrong with you.’

If you’ve already read the Flamel series, then you’ve got the joy and annoyance to look forward to ‘The Alchemyst’ movie in 2014. As Michael told me, with a budget of $120m, parts are being filmed in the same CGI studios as ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit.’ And if that’s not enough for you, the first book in ‘The Earthlords’ trilogy is to be launched next year with the aptly named title of: ‘The Earthlords Rising.’ Michael told me of its simpler to follow storyline; “One main backdrop and all major characters introduced in the first book.”

   But if you haven’t already completed ‘The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel’ then you’ve got some catching up to do.

I would like to express thanks on the behalf of all the Year 8s and staff at Charters School who really enjoyed Michael's talk.