I have really enjoyed her stories. To have the chance to meet her in person, here her read some extracts from the book and get some top writing tips was amazing
Amy - Year 6
The day was made extra special as we had guests from Bancrofts Independent School and Broadford Primary. Their pupils all came clutching copies of Frances's stories, eager to have them signed.
First Frances delivered an assembly to these Year 5&6 pupils, telling them about her career development as an author. Apparently her interest in crime and mystery started at a young age.
I had set up a childhood detective agency. We would try to solve crimes using talcum powder and sellotape to detect finger prints. We didn't catch many criminals but we did make plenty of mess!
Our pupils also got to ask Frances some questions about her books and career:
Q. Where do you get your ideas from?
A. For each of my stories I have to complete a vast amount of research. Some of this is not exciting: finding out about costumes, key dates and place names. However some research is very exciting. For my story Gullstruck Island I got to climb down into real volcanoes and investigate underground caves so that my descriptions were accurate.
Q. What is the best fact you gave found out?
A. Without a doubt the best fact I discovered was to do with the Victorian period. Photos were very expensive at that time and sometimes people died before they had their one family photograph. It meant that the dead would be dressed up and placed into the family portrait so they still had a memory of the dead relative!
Q. Is it hard work to get a book published?
A. Getting a book published takes a very long time. Overall I will complete about 4 drafts. It takes up to a year for the first one to be completed. After each is done, it is sent to my editor. It is marked a bit like your work, but it can take months to complete the re write.
Q. Do you do the drawings on the cover of the book?
A. I don't... I wish I could. I don't even get to meet the artist for the cover art work. However I have always been pleased with the finished product.
Frances went on to tell the children how she was encouraged to write by her mother and father. They had read to all their children when they were growing up. She had also been inspired by her Grandfather who left school at 14. Despite this, he got hold of books and educated himself, becoming a teacher and writer (getting 10 books published)!
The pupils then went onto to have a writers workshop with Frances, where she gave them some top tips on how to write a great horror/suspense story
- Try to set the tale in familiar locations so that the reader is able to imagine themselves their
- Use ordinary objects but make them seem threatening
- Play on people's most common fears
