ENGAGING AUTHOR TALKS - INSPIRATIONAL WRITING WORKSHOPS -
​BOOKS WITH EDUCATIONAL ELEMENTS.

Elaine has a Master of Letters in Creative Writing. She teaches writing to adults, organises literary festivals, presents workshops for students, and gives talks to writing groups and at libraries. She has several published books and more are being released each year. Select the covers to read more about the books.

Elaine is available for author talks about her books and the animals, or for writing workshops for adults or children. Her sessions are interactive, educational and engaging. She is  experienced at talking to groups and modifies her talk to suit the various age groups and needs of the school, library or writers' group. More details below.

 
HER BOOKS:
Her latest book, Fearless Friends - Graffiti Fighters, has a theme of  'do unto others what you would have done to you', this book teaches the importance of respecting other people's property.

The first book in her series, Barben's Magic Quest, has a theme of saving the forests of the world. More books in this series will follow. This book teaches the reader the importance of saving the forests to save the animals who live in them and save the environment.

The Mystery of Nida Valley, a fantasy/adventure series, is an engaging, entertaining story for children from nine to young teens.  Firmly based in Queensland, the story has the added appeal of an educational element as the reader learns about the Australian dinosaurs and the megafauna that roamed Australia before and just after human settlement. Extensive research was undertaken to ensure the accuracy of her information on the animals and dinosaurs.

Two books in the series have been released and Elaine is working on the third.  Reviews by Michael Gerard Bauer, Michael Pryor, Karen Brooks and many more are on the book's website http://themysteryofnidavalley.com

Meet the Megafauna is a non-fiction picture book with illustrations and information on 15 of Australia’s most unusual megafauna. This will be followed by a series of picture books with an entertaining story featuring two of these animals and showing how they lived and interacted with their natural enemies.  

​Dippy The Dancing Diprotodon, the first of the megafauna picture books, has now been released. The story of the marsupial lion and the diprotodon tells the reader how they would have lived in the wild. 

Bush Tails: A new series called Bush Tails now has two books; The Bunyip in the Billabong and A Close Call. These books are for early readers and tell stories from the Australian country. 

Lost in a Strange Land, is a chapter book for early readers and is an animal adventure story that shows the reader the differences and similarities between four of Australia’s native animals and their closest counterparts in Britain.

AUTHOR TALKS:
The books:
Lost in a Strange Land -  A talk on writing the story and on the animals of Britain who live in a similar manner to our Australian animals.
 
The books: The Mystery of Nida Valley series – How and why I wrote the series and the research needed and information on the megafauna and dinosaurs features in the books.  

For younger children - a reading of Dippy The Dancing Diprotodon.
The story of the marsupial lion and the diprotodon tells the reader how they would have lived in the wild. It will be accompanied by a slide show and talk on the megafauna animals.

Barben's Magic Quest. How and why I wrote the series and the importance to the environment of saving the forests of the world. 
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The Megafauna of Australia.

Becoming an author.
WORKSHOPS:
- Turning an idea into a story        
- Waking your imagination
- Plotting a story                             
- Creating suspense
- Creating a wondrous world         
- Keeping the reader hooked
- Writing believable dialogue        
- Creating exciting believable characters
These talks and workshops can be adjusted to suit any age group and time frame.
​More information on the workshops can be obtained on the workshop page. ​
No booking fee is required. No travel or accommodation is charged if the distance is under 100 kilometres.

Costs: $3.50 per student for local schools for one 1 hour workshop for under 50 students.

Three 1 hour workshops with up to 100 students can be held over the course of a school day for a fixed fee for local schools. Contact Elaine for a price. 
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​A 20% commission in books or cash for sales of the authors’ books will be donated to the Library Fund or to the P&C. A collection envelope for prior or later sales, will be supplied before the event. A book stall with other author's books can be provided and 20% of the total sales for the day will be donated to the Library Fund or the P&C. This donation can be taken in books from the stall for the library or in cash. 
More workshops and more details on these subjects are available on the Gondor Writers' Centre website: www.gondorwriterscentre.com

Elaine’s books are available from the BOOK AND BAGS STORE or from the following places:
Your local or online bookstore. If they are not in stock ask the store to order them.
Morris Publishing Australia: - http//www.morrispublishingaustralia.com
Peter Pal Library Supplier - http://www.peterpal.com.au
James Bennett Library supplies - http://www.bennett.com.au

Teachers’ notes are available for The Mystery of Nida Valley series. They may be downloaded from the book’s website http://themysteryofnidavalley.com  ​or ordered by contacting Elaine. [email protected] or phone 0417 351 717.