Wednesday February 10th
saw me leaving Leicestershire and heading back in to Nottinghamshire
for the 2016 Brilliant Books. Apparently Nottingham and Leicester
aren't the best of friends at the moment (something to do with some
game called “football”. I believe our American friends call it
“soccer”.). But I was willing to take that risk because this is
one of my favourite times of the year.
Brilliant Books is an
initiative that encourages reluctant readers in schools to get
involved with reading and creative writing. The team bring in people
who they find to be an inspiration and have them talk about their
favourite books. At the end of the eight weeks, the students stories
are compiled into a single volume that anyone can buy.
Last year, we did War
of the Worlds. This year, to keep with the Victorian theme, I picked
another HG Wells classic in The Time Machine.
The Time Machine has
been placed on film a number of times but the book, with its
wonderfully winding imagery, is still a joy to read. We went over
chapter two which looks at the protagonist's initial journey into the
future.
From The Time Machine
we jumped to War of the Worlds, including the infamous Orson Welles
radio broadcast. Explaining how it caused panic back when it was
first broadcast was fun and interesting. It also gives an idea of
just how quickly technology has developed in the past century.
We spoke about how the
Victorian era is being translated by modern authors via Steampunk.
World building and detailing were also issues we talked about,
including how to get an image across to a reader, especially if the
subject matter is unfamiliar to many people. Along the way, we
touched on copyright (one book I had with me was Alan Moore's The
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
By that point, the characters he used would have been out of
copyright).
I did prepare another
spooky story but we were did so much talking that it wasn't needed!
(Last year, we talked about Skinwalker Ranch in Utah. This time I was
going to tell the story of Rendlesham Forest in Suffolk. The incident
that took place there is sometimes referred to as the UK's Roswell).
One part of the day
that I thoroughly enjoyed was reading over some of the students
stories. These guys are talented and are already running rings around
some writers! Their ideas are clever and well executed and I'm
looking forward to seeing the finished stories.
Going and speaking to
the students of Nottingham's Free school was an honour. Being given
the chance to pass on a love of reading, writing and creating was a
privilege. To spend time with them is also an inspiration to myself
and I always find myself coming home with new and exciting ideas.
Brilliant Books is a fantastic project to bring young people together
and get them creating. It's an initiative that I'm hoping will be
going for many years to come.
~~~
A number of well known indie authors are included in a book that it is helping to keep Brilliant Books going. I was very blessed to be included alongside some well known names from the indie circles including Brenda Perlin, Georgia Rose, Mark Barry and Lynne Morley. You can find out here how I crammed God, the Devil, a chess match, Dave Grohl, Lemmy, Metallica, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, U2 and the Birds of Satan into less than 1100 words:
