Virtual meeting - speaker

Rotarian John Clarke’s eldest son Edward is a children’s  author having published four books  aimed at the 5 to 11 year old reader/listener and on Monday evening via zoom he talked about how he became an author  and the creative process involved in writing and publishing a book. Edward, a  1st Class honours graduate in European Studies from Bath University, trained as a Film Producer   and his day job is creating TV series as well as films. His book writing  came about when he developed an idea for a film and the industry  told him he should first write the book ;so he did ..   He acquired an Agent  and his first two books  featured a family of fairies in the London Parks. This is  the Rowan Oakwing series  published in paperback by Hachette at £6.99  .  But it was the Vale of Glamorgan  Heritage coast, which he loves and visits regularly, which inspired his next two books   : “The Secret Dragon” and “Summer of the Dragons” published by Puffin at £6.99 each.

They  feature a young girl who discovers   a real life dragon whilst fossil hunting on the Vale’s Jurassic coast. They are set in and around St Donats and Marcross with an all Welsh cast of characters .and they were largely written  between 5am and 7am before  his young children   woke up and the regular working day started. Edward said  that unless you are JK Rowling or David Walliams you will never become rich as a children’s  author and you need other strings to your bow. He has produced a film starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Clare Foy which will be released next year  and  is about to start filming a TV series for Channel 4.