Let’s connect and learn about books and publishing.
Book me for an in-person or a virtual author event, book chat, workshop or Q&A. (Live or pre-recorded (sample below), Zoom or Skype, Facebook Live or Insta Live.)
I’m also now back on the road and doing in-person library events.
Below is a sample/coyrighted pre-recorded lesson on Narrative Structure.
Author talks and workshops can take place anywhere and anytime: in a library, a garden, at a long table lunch, over a glass of wine, a morning tea or online.
Author talks: Book clubs, social/community/fundraising groups, U3A, Men’s Sheds, etc from within your region can invite Jenn to talk to gain insights into the book biz, the process of writing, and engage in a Q&A.
Workshops: Hands-on sessions including tips on how to get started on a writing project.
WA. Busselton Dymocks:Book chat: October 12, 2018 at 4.30 pm
WA. Rockingham: Stories on Stage: Q&A at Koorliny Arts Centre: 31 October, 6.30pm
WA. Reader event:West Coast Fiction Festival: November 3, 2018 The Rendezvous Hotel, West Coast Highway, Scarborough, Perth Tickets on sale November 2017
South Australia: DONE AND DELIGHTFUL!
SA. Cummins School Community Library: August 21, 2018 at 2.00pm
SA. Port Lincoln High School, year 11 English: August 22, 9 am
SA. Port Lincoln Library: August 22, 2018 at 2.30pm
Misc travels/events:
NSW. Casino Library, 11 am, July 31, 2018
NSW. Kempsey Library, 10.30am, July 25, 2018
NSW. Kempsey Big W w/ Annie Seaton, July 25, from 1 pm
NSW. Coffs Harbour Book Warehouse, May 28, 2018
NSW. Woolgoolga Probus Club – May 23, 2018
QUEENSLAND – February – August 2018 (DONE! Perfect one day – every bookish day!)
QLD. The Granite Belt region libraries -Warwick 10.30 am and Stanthorpe 2.30 pm June 28
QLD. Yeppoon Library – June 9, 2018
QLD. Book Launch – A Place to Remember: Henderson Park Farm Retreat 18 April, 2018
VICTORIA (& and a bit of Sth Aust) 2017 – DONE & FUN!
VIC. Rosedale – An intimate chat at Cafe 3847 & Co, Rosedale, with Morwell author, Lea Darragh. Tickets limited. Thur 16 Feb, 7 – 9pm with Readers Emporium
VIC. Rutherglen Library – Thursday July 27, 2017 10.30am
VIC. Yakandandah – Tuesday August 1, 2017 – 10.30am – with Beechworth Books
VIC. Yarrawonga Library – Monday August 14, 2017 2.00pm
NSW. VIC. Albury /Wodonga – Workshop:Write On The Murray Literary Festival. 13 – 17 September, 2017. I’ll be holding a workshop and taking part on a Q&A panel.
NSW 2016 – DONE & DUSTY! (But I had a ball during the Western NSW Tour)
NSW. Tamworth Library – 23rd July, 2016 @ 2pm NBN News come on board the gypsy writer caravan! CLICK to view news report
NSW. Dubbo – The Book Connection – Saturday 6 August @ 10.30am The Book Connection
NSW. Dubbo – Red Earth Winery – Sunday 7 August @ 3pm
An event to complement Red Earth’s usual wine tasting offering, readers, aspiring authors, fiction and wine lovers can also enjoy an intimate chat as Jenn talks about books and publishing and the writing of her latest release – The Other Side of the Season. http://redearthestate.com.au
NSW. Mudgee Readers Festival: August, 2016 (two sessions) Wine and wordplay: Saturday and Sunday 13th and 14th of August, 2016 Click here for Mudgee 2016 event details
A sample of PREVIOUS AUTHOR EVENTS
Australian Voices in Print Tour: NSW, June, 2015
Eleven towns/events in eleven days with authors: Karen M. Davis and Tricia Stringer.
Cardiff Library – Author Chat: May 27, 2014
In conversation with Helene Young and Wendy James
Romance Writers of Australian National Conference: Sydney August 2014
Workshop: The Secret to Small Town Twists & Secrets
NSW Writers’ Centre: September 21, 2013
Symposium: Selling your book in the digital age.
Panel Chair – ‘Can Author Promotion Be A Creative Act?’ More info and bookings.
Bellingen Readers & Writers Festival: 2013
Speaker: Small Town Secrets.
Panelist : The role of editing and mentoring (with Belinda Castles, Jessie Cole, Melissa Lucashenko)
What librarians say about my Paddock To Print Talk & Behind the Book Cover Tour:
Jenny & Diane Campaspe Shire Library
Jenny Mustey, Campaspe Shire, Vic:“. . . a warm and engaging presentation that pleased the many readers that came along, many mentioning to us afterwards how highly they rated Jenn’s talk because it featured such a wonderful slide show to accompany her talk. Having the opportunity to bring a popular Australian writer to a rural setting is always great and when one can entertain and inform the audience like Jenn can it’s fabulous!”
Louise Mrdjen, Port Lincoln Library, SA: “Jenn generously shared her passion for writing, the process she follows and her experiences in bringing her words to life and all from 26 letters! Thank you Jenn for giving us an insight into your life as a writer and seeing through your eyes, the transformation of landscapes and people into places and characters in such an authentic voice.”
Cummins Library: Jeannie May and team
Jeannie May, Cummins Library SA:“Our patrons and staff thoroughly enjoyed Jenn’s professional presentation, and personal insights into her inspirations, travels and ‘stories behind the stories’. Jenn’s warm and friendly nature endeared her to all, combined with her passion for writing and her dedication to authenticity, it made for a truly wonderful and insightful afternoon.”
Jenn J McLeod hit bestseller status when she was 53 with her debut novel, House for all Seasons. In addition to her novels, Jenn is published in short form and in industry magazines, maintains her own blog, and was a contributing author to the Australian Literature Review’s ‘Novel Writing in Australia’ monthly blog education series. When not writing life-affirming novels of small town life and country roots that run deep, talking about writing, or travelling the country in her fifth wheeler caravan, this very ordinary (slightly older) author is a LinkedIn, blogging, tweeting, Facebooking fifty-something-year-old who has turned her passion for writing into a career at an age when, she says, “a book like ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ makes me think of my hair colour, rather than my love life!”
Jenn’s author talks blend amusing anecdotes and facts as she discusses both the inspiration for her stories and the process of getting a book from her head and onto the shelves, including how she turned a rock into a book. Whether you are an avid reader or an aspiring author, you will walk away from Jenn’s author talk with a greater appreciation of the book’s journey.
Author Talk/Festival Presenter/workshops
It Doesn’t Have To Be Fiction – Writers…Making Your Passion Your Profession.
Sample Workshop Topics
Dual – Not Duel
My first attempt at a dual time period piece almost drove me to drink! There is no better teacher than experience (and re-writing your manuscript a dozen times!) So I am very happy to share what I learned from my fourth novel, The Other Side of the Season, which spreads the storytelling load over two winters—1979 and 2015. I could have set the story in current day and worked in lots of flashbacks to transport the reader to events thirty-five years earlier, but the negatives to using the flashback method have been well documented by others. They include:
Reader confusion.
A tendency to information dump.
A stalling narrative rather than a page-turning plot that constantly moves the story forward and carries readers along with it.
So I fought my way through, added grey hairs (but that’s okay because I am a grey nomad these days) and now I can share my 14 point dual time period plan with writers.
Preparing for Publication
They say luck happens when opportunity and preparedness meet. Being an author in today’s world can be as much about what you do when not writing to prepare for that lucky break. Right now you’re learning the craft (the writers’ tools of the trade), but what about the rest? What are the non-writing tools of the trade and what can an aspiring author do (besides writing that novel) to prepare for publication and increase the chance of a publisher (but more than that—the marketing dept) saying those magic words… “You’re the one that I want.”?
Develop an author’s perspective of what it means to be “the business behind the book” and to better understand how today’s authors can benefit from a strong marketing plan and online presence.
Devise a plan to increase their reach, visibility, authenticity.
Identify branding opportunities, including blogs vs. websites.
Small Town Twists & Secrets
Stories about small towns and secrets are like wine and crackers – they go down so well! Learn the secret to a good secret, the ways to use secrets in fiction, and what a writer can do to put their own twist on a tried and true plot. (NOTE: ‘Small town’ doesn’t necessarily mean remote and dusty. This session will be just as relevant for any fictional group dynamic (eg the small community on the coast, the sleepy out of the way town that sits quietly on a lazy river, a city suburb, a crammed cul-de-sac—think Wisteria Lane!)
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