Author Visits

Meeting readers in real life is one of the best parts of being an author. At school or festival visits, I’m happy to talk about any aspect of my own writing process and the inspiration for my books.

Below, please find a list of suggested talks and workshops for readers and writers.

ALL TALKS ARE AVAILABLE AS VIRTUAL VISITS.

Meet the author of INTO THE FAERIE HILL talk for year 4-6 students (30-45 minutes, including Q&A):

H. S. Norup will talk about her inspiration for writing INTO THE FAERIE HILL, from her love of nature to going on walks in the woods while imagining fantastical faerie creatures, hiding just out of sight. She will show photos from her favourite forests and dripstone caverns around the world and share how she used them and sketched maps to create the faerie hill world.

Meet the author of THE HUNGRY GHOST talk for year 4-6 students (30-45 minutes, including Q&A):

H. S. Norup will talk about her inspiration for writing THE HUNGRY GHOST, from her own scouting background to her experiences in Singapore. She will discuss her research for the historical elements of the book and how she draws inspirations from her surroundings to write descriptions that will immerse readers in her stories. 

Meet the author of THE MISSING BARBEGAZI talk for year 4-6 students (30-45 minutes, including Q&A):

H. S. Norup will talk about her inspiration for writing THE MISSING BARBEGAZI, from her love of books and skiing to imagined encounters with fantastical creatures. She will discuss point of view in relation to her two protagonists—eleven-year-old Tessa and 154 year-old Gawion (a young barbegazi who has never had contact with humans)—and how their perspectives impacted descriptions and resulted in two distinct voices. In an interactive session, student will help her come up with descriptions for ordinary objects from a barbegazi perspective.

Writing Suspense Workshop for year 4-6 students (45-60 minutes):

Both The Hungry Ghost and The Missing Barbegazi are gripping adventure stories with mysteries at their hearts. H. S. Norup will talk about how she writes her suspenseful novels and discuss elements of creating suspense and building tension. Students will begin a piece of writing, using her tips and tools.

Fantastical Creature Workshop for year 4-6 students (45-60 minutes):

H. S. Norup will talk about how she came to write from the perspective of a barbegazi and how the voice of the barbegazi developed from their backstory. Students will invent their own fantastical creatures, develop their creature’s voice and write a piece from the creature’s perspective. 

Immersive Settings Workshop for year 4-6 students (45-60 minutes):

The atmospheric settings play a huge role in all H. S. Norup’s novels—from the snowy and unpredictable wild mountains in THE MISSING BARBEGAZI to the eerie tropical graveyard in THE HUNGRY GHOST and the verdant living forest in INTO THE FAERIE HILL. In this workshop, she will talk about how she writes with all her senses and go beyond descriptions to immerse readers in her worlds. Students will write about a place, using her tips and tools.

Self-editing workshop for year 5-12 students (45-60 minutes).

Talk will be tailored to age group, with max two year groups in a session:

H. S. Norup will talk about how many drafts it takes before a manuscript becomes a finished book, and give examples from her own creative process. She will share her self-editing methods, from editing the overall story and scenes to editing paragraphs and sentences.

Career talk for year 9-12 students (30-45 minutes):

H. S. Norup has a Master’s degree in Economics and Business Administration and sixteen years’ experience in corporate marketing strategy and communications. In 2012 she left this career to pursue her dream of becoming an author. In this talk, she will go through key choices in her career, and discuss opportunities, keeping options open and how and when it might be possible to pursue a dream..

Book Q&A (Free 20 minute virtual visit):

I’m happy to Skype with a class or library group (min. 10 students) that has read one of my books. After a quick introduction, I will answer questions from the students. Please note: Virtual sessions are subject to my availability and cannot be recorded without my permission.

The workshops: Self-editing, Writing Suspense, Immersive Settings and Fantastical Creatures can be adapted for older students and also used in writing workshops for writers of children’s fiction.

For more information and to book a visit, please contact me at hsnorup@hsnorup.com or via the contact form.

I charge in line with the Society of Authors (UK) rates.