Monday 19 December 2022

Author Visits: Welton St Mary's

 I'd like to say a very big THANK YOU to Paul Gibson-Barton and all the amazing students and staff at Welton St Mary's Academy for the wonderful welcome they gave me when I visited them last week!










It was a total pleasure to talk to Years 4, 5 and 6 about reading and books.  This is a school where they've been reading my books for a long time now, so it was wonderful to see that a lot of them had already read Varjak Paw, or Phoenix, or even Tyger!














There were lots of fantastic questions, although we didn't quite have enough time to answer all of them!  So if anyone from WSM would like to ask me another question, or to say anything about the visit or my books, just leave me a comment below!



It was also wonderful to do a workshop with Year 4, who'd just been reading Varjak Paw, and to see some of the work they'd been doing with it.  They had created these amazing story maps, and were able to tell the story themselves by using them!

















And finally, it was a total pleasure to sign books for everyone who'd ordered a book.  HAPPY READING to everyone at WSM – and thank you again for a fantastic visit!


36 comments:

Austin said...

Can you make a sequel to The outlaw varjack paw

Austin said...

I love your books

George said...

My favourite part in Varjak Paw was when Varjak saved the vanishing cats at the end. I love reading your books SFSAID😀

Anonymous said...

Dear sf said. How do you get a book published? I have written a book myself. Also what happened to Elder Paw after the black cats attacked him in the garden?Thank you from Joshua

Anonymous said...

Where did you get the idea for the character of Holly?

Anonymous said...

How did you get the idea of the two black cats😀

Anonymous said...

How did you get the idea of Jasmine by Imogen?

Anonymous said...

Who is your favourite character from varjak paw. How did you get the inspiration to be a author. What is you favourite book so far.

Anonymous said...

What is your next book going to be about. Hugo

Anonymous said...

Hi Sf Said thank you for coming to our school I really enjoyed it. My favourite character from varjak paw is cludge the dog.
From Mia

SF Said said...

Thank you all so much for your wonderful comments and questions! It was a total pleasure visiting your school - I really enjoyed meeting you all. I'll do my best to answer some of your questions here...

Can you make a sequel to The outlaw varjak paw?

Thank you! I am planning to write a third book about Varjak one day - you can read a bit about my idea for it by clicking the link to this blog post. In the meantime, if you would like to read a sequel to The Outlaw Varjak Paw, I would be absolutely honoured and delighted if you wrote one yourself!

How old were you when you wrote your first book?

I was 30 when I started writing Varjak Paw, and 35 when I finished it. But I was always writing stories, even when I was at school. I don't think you need to be any age to be a writer - you can do it right now! And here are some writing tips that you might find helpful: http://www.sfsaid.com/2017/01/three-steps-to-writing.html

How do you get a book published?

First of all, have a look at the writing tips I linked to above. Then write the story YOU most want to read yourself, and do everything you can to make it as good as book you'd paid money to read! Then start showing it to other people, and seeing what they say - their reactions can help you to make it even better. Finally, when it's as good as you can make it, you could start sending it to some publishers - though you should be prepared to be patient, as in my case, I did get a LOT of rejections before I finally got my first book published!

Where did you get the idea for the character of Holly?
How did you get the idea of the two black cats?
How did you get the idea of Jasmine?


I don't think any of those characters were in the first draft of Varjak Paw! They developed as I worked on the book, draft after draft, trying to make the book better and more interesting each time. The black cats actually came right at the end, in the fifth and final year of writing! You can see some of my drafts in this resource I made for the British Library.

Who is your favourite character from varjak paw. How did you get the inspiration to be a author. What is you favourite book so far?
I like all the characters in Varjak Paw! The books I loved when I was young inspired me to write my own books - I loved them so much, I wanted to write something that was even half as good one day. And finally my favourite book so far is TYGER - I'm pretty sure it's the best thing I've written yet.

What is your next book going to be about?
I've only been working on it for a year so far, so it's still early days! TYGER took me 9 years in the end. I hope this one won't take as long as that - but it takes as long as it takes to make a book as good as you can make it, and it's always worth it in the end!

Thanks again for your wonderful messages! Happy reading, and happy writing!
SF Said

Joseph😎 said...

If you could choose one of your books to be a movie,which one would it be?(: 🤔🤔🤔

Anderson said...

Thank you for coming to the school. Will you make a movie of Varjak Paw?

Rhys said...

Why dint the contessa ever come out of her room and also can you make another book call varjack and ram and Holly

Anonymous said...

What inspired to write books ?
From Chi

Anonymous said...

Hello where do you write your books? I love reading them. Harvey

Hunter said...

Are you working on a book at the momont

Anonymous said...

What's your fave thing about being an author? What is your fave thing in Varjak Paw? Tilly

Anonymous said...

I think that you’re an inspiring and amazing author.
Where did your ideas for the book Tyger come from?
Grace B

Kaiden said...

My favourite book is outlaw Varjak paw

Anonymous said...

What is your favourite book

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed reading your book, who is your favourite character in varjak paw, from ruby

Anonymous said...

How long did it take for you to write your first book?

Anonymous said...

Thank you for coming to our school! From Edith

Anonymous said...

What's your fave thing about Varjak Paw? What is your fave thing about being an author? Tilly😄

Unknown said...

One of the good things is that you cant stop reading!

Anonymous said...

Could you make a book where pancakes try to take over the world but a boy called Ollie try’s to stop them with his friends Alfie and Leighton and Olivia go in the pancake world and stop them

Anonymous said...

Hi it’s Alfie I think the saddest part was when Varjak had to leave elder paw to fight the black cats

Anonymous said...

The pancake book idea was from Ollie
Sup

Anonymous said...

How old were you when you made and finished the outlaw Varjak paw

Albie said...

Thank you for telling us about your journey to becoming an author. How did you get the idea of Jalal and his seven way?

Anonymous said...

Where did you get your book ideas from?
Lucas

Archie said...

How old were you when you read your first ever book and what was it called?

George N said...

Dear SF Said,

Me and my family are reading your amazing book Varjak Paw every night. We all take it in turns to read and everyone loves the book so far. I have also read the book at school with my class.

I would love to know who is you're favourite character in Varjak Paw. :):)

Thank you

George N

Martin said...

how did you get the inspiration to write the book called tyger

Leighton said...

What is your next book going to be called