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#MGMonday... Middle Grade Settings

 Middle Grade Settings: An Introduction Having photos in front of you can help you write about your settings I’m going to make a confession. Settings are not something I often spend time planning. Perhaps my stories are the poorer for it, but the settings come as I’m writing or editing. The Glass Room, in Taking Wing, is not something I planned before I started writing. Personally, I’m a very visual writer, seeing my characters as though they are a video in my head, and I write what I see. As such, the setting just happens! There are benefits and drawbacks to this. The main benefit is that the writing process is more interesting. Not everything is set, and my story can still give me surprises. The drawback is that, similar to AI, I cannot know that I’m not stealing settings from films and books I’ve seen/read previously. I certainly don’t mean to plagiarise but the concern is a real one! With that in mind, I have started to at least have a vague idea of my settings before I start t...
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World Book Day - Lend a Hand

So, the New Year Resolutions went out the window. But don't they all?

I was in a staff meeting after school today, and it was mentioned that Park Primary had reopened, and needed some interim supplies before they could get their stock up again.

For those of you who didn't see it on the news, Park Primary in Invergordon was burned down after an old laptop caught fire. Amazingly, all the staff and children got out and were not harmed. They reopened last week, but have lost all of their supplies.

My headteacher, a practical-minded individual, was hoping to put together some textbooks that we don't use. My first thought was that it was World Book Day this week, and the school had no library. Surely, if they had lost all their textbooks, they would have lost all their library books too!

Imagine that! No books for the kids to sail away on. No chance for the children to fight or fly with dragons, or meet superheroes and wizards.

With that in mind, I determined to package up my book, Taking Wing, and the two other Crowvus books that were written for children (Rosie Jane and the Swodgerump by Susan Crow, and The Backwater by Judith Crow), and send them to Park Primary to help in some small way.

I would encourage other children's authors to do the same. We all know how important books are to kids - I'm sure we all loved to read when we were little. I know that authors need the income from sales but...

Please consider sending just one of your fantastic books to help Park Primary regain its class libraries. Thursday is World Book Day. Make this year's event memorable for those children and their teachers.

It seems that Park Primary have temporarily relocated to Invergordon Academy, so I would send the book to:

Park Primary
c/o Invergordon Academy
Academy Road
Invergordon
HIGHLAND
IV18 0LD

Their postcode is old!!

Thanks, tremendous people!

More details about the fire are here:

https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/pupils-of-fire-hit-primary-school-to-be-taught-at-academy-site-192214/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-51614060
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