As part of the ongoing ‘Meet the Author’ series, Isleworth & Syon invited Marcus Alexander to speak to all of Year 7, as well as selected Year 8 students. Marcus, writer of the ‘Keeper of the Realms’ series of young adult fantasy/adventure novels, was certainly a fascinating character, and the assembled audience was suitably captivated by him. He spoke a lot about his interests, including his extensive travelling across the world, as well as his adrenaline-fuelled hobbies such as Thai kick-boxing and free running.
Marcus exuded confidence as he emphatically urged the students to embrace life and make the most of every opportunity afforded to them. His talk was very inspiring as he put forward the view that anybody could become an author if they wanted to. He placed a great emphasis on the importance of reading and ‘thinking outside the box’ with your writing, before explaining how his protagonist in ‘Keeper of the Realms’ was a female, and that she was specifically created to challenge and break gender stereotypes.
Everyone involved had a fantastic time during the talk, and the boys were given the opportunity to ask questions and take part in a book signing. Marcus then took some select students for a creative writing workshop, where he discussed the minutiae of breaking down a story into the ‘start’, ‘continuation’ and ‘conclusion’.
Many thanks to Marcus for giving his time to our students, to Ms Squires in the library for her organisation of the event, and to all the students for their passion and enthusiasm throughout.
Tags: 2013-14, Book signing, Library, Marcus Alexander, Meet the Author, Q&A
