Alchemy, Faustian pacts and other elements of the school curriculum by Griselda Heppel

These are a few of my Favourite Things

Two weeks ago, I did one of my favourite things as a writer: visited a school. On the hottest and longest day of the year, I stood in a cool (aahhh, relief) assembly hall and spoke to two lots of 9 - 12 year-old boys, around 150 in all. Together we covered important topics that would be part of any national curriculum I had a hand in - alchemy, magical instruments, demons, Faustian pacts, corruption and abuse of power.

Yup, that should equip them for dealing with whatever the world can throw at them in later life. Oh, and the crucial ingredients for what makes a good story: strong, believable characters, powerful motivation and a tight plot structure. I involved my audience as much as possible, asking questions ranging from easy to more demanding, not because I expected them to know all the answers but because it's extraordinary how often children can surprise themselves - and their teachers - with knowledge they didn't know they had.

   
This is why I love school visits. Yes, I always hope a good number of my audience will be inspired hearing about my book (The Tragickall History of Henry Fowst, in this case, as you probably guessed) to queue up afterwards for a signed copy. 
   

But sharing with children the things that excite me about books, how they can not only entertain but enrich your imagination and experience with themes and images that link straight to the great classics, gives me the biggest thrill of all. You can enjoy the world of Narnia, for instance, with no idea that fauns, centaurs, dryads and naiads are all rooted in Greek mythology; ditto with the fabulous creatures and themes - hippogriffs, dragons, unicorns, the basilisk and phoenix, alchemy and shape shifting, all well-known tropes of mediaeval literature - in the Harry Potter stories. But if, having read these when young, you later on pick up a copy of Ovid or Vergil or Dante or Milton, it will feel - at least in part - like coming home.

   Because my books are aimed at Years 5 - 8 (straddling the primary/secondary divide) I visit all kinds of schools, alternating between speaking to the oldest and youngest Year groups. Every school has a different - but, in my experience, always positive - atmosphere, from the most comfortable private school to the most cash-strapped state primary. I am full of admiration for the teachers who organise my visits; with all the pressures they are under already, it can't be easy to free up several classes across a school day to attend my talk. Yet I see from their faces - as well as the pupils' - at the end that it's been worth while. The experience of meeting a real, live author who takes the children on a journey they wouldn't normally go on, can be truly exhilarating, inspiring them to take their own reading and creative writing to new levels. And that can only be good.

Why, then, do I find it so difficult to charge a visit fee?

Initially, I reasoned I was new to this game, the main thing was to spread the word about my books while enthusing my audience with the glories of reading, and with luck, to sell a good number of copies afterwards. A few visits which didn't quite work out like that soon toughened me up. In some schools I'd sell 60 or 70 books; in others, after talking to 120 children, only a handful. I gained in confidence that what I offer is worth having, therefore charging a fee is perfectly reasonable (I know!). But what really swung it for me was an observation by a fellow author that if we, as speakers, don't put a value on ourselves, neither will schools. My 'generosity' (ok, cowardice) in waiving a fee makes it much harder for another author to charge one, and time spent away from writing needs to pay its way, or how can a writer make a living?

   Thus chastened, I now make a charge for visits, plus expenses. It's the piece of information I dread giving, even though the modest sum named is well below the rates recommended by the Society of Authors. Thankfully, most schools are fine with it, though I still can't get over the brazenness of one private school in the wealthiest part of London informing me that on principle, they never pay fees or expenses to outside speakers. Needless to say, plans for my visit stopped right there and I was left hoping that the same principle didn't extend to the school's own teachers, administrative and catering staff.

So if you know of any school who'd like their Years 5, 6, 7, 8 inspired by an author talk ranging from Greek mythology to the First World War (Ante's Inferno), or from alchemy to demons and Elizabethan magic (The Tragickall History of Henry Fowst), taking in the art of creating convincing characters, dialogue and story structure on the way, put them in touch with me here:

www.griseldaheppel.com 

Alchemy - part of the school curriculum?

I promise their students will go away with a good working knowledge of such useful concepts as the Seven Deadly Sins and what exactly constitutes a Faustian pact. 

   Knowledge like that... well, you can't put a price on it, can you? 

Find out more about Griselda Heppel here:

www.griseldaheppel.com 

https://griseldaheppel.wordpress.com/

and her children's books:

Ante's Inferno 

 and

The Tragickall History of Henry Fowst