Des Hunt's visit

Yesterday, we were lucky to at last meet the author whose books we have been enjoying over the past six weeks. He used his background as a Science teacher to model how he goes about planning and writing his books.  

He kept everyone captivated throughout the workshop and hopefully has inspired some to use some of his tips when planning to share an idea with an audience.
We learnt that it was his frustration at seeing so few New Zealand based books available that prompted him to write stories set in places that are familiar to us all.

In both of these photos, he is using magnets to demonstrate how a reader is drawn in first by an effective hook -in, then again towards carefully constructed conflicts that keep the reader engaged in the text.