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Mel Taylor-Bessent

Mel talks about how to make writing fun, how to inject humour into stories, and how to spread festive cheer all year

About The Author:

Founder of Authorfy and Little Star Writing, Mel Taylor-Bessent has made her career connecting readers to their favourite authors and encouraging children to write for pleasure. After gaining a Creative Writing degree, Mel launched her first business at the age of 22 and ran creative writing workshops for thousands of children aged 6-12. As a result, she also arranged hundreds of author events and witnessed first-hand the positive impact these interactions had on her students. In 2017, she decided to replicate this via online ‘Author Masterclasses’ on a website she created called Authorfy.com. Since then, Authorfy has gone on to win numerous awards, partner with the likes of World Book Day and BookTrust, and is used in classrooms all over the world. Now Mel is bringing her own writing to readers with The Christmas Carrolls, her debut fiction series.

 

 

About The Book:

Wish it could be Christmas every day? Well, for nine-year-old Holly Carroll and her family, it is! Living her merriest life in a house with year-round fairy lights and Christmas trees, a carol-singing toilet and a diva donkey who thinks he’s a reindeer, home-schooled Holly tries to spread cheer wherever she goes. But when she goes to a new school with a singing Santa backpack and first day Christmas cards (during a heatwave in September!), she realises not everyone shares her enthusiasm for spreading cheer. In fact, when the neighbours try to remove the Carrolls from the street and Holly discovers a group of children that may not get a Christmas at all, her snowglobe world begins to crack. Is the world’s most Christmassy girl about to lose her Christmas spirit?

 

 

 

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An Introduction to 'The Christmas Carrolls'

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The Inspiration behind 'The Christmas Carrolls'

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A Reading from 'The Christmas Carrolls'

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Mel's Creative Writing Challenge

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What can you tell us about Holly?

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Do you have any activity ideas to make writing fun?

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Do you have any advice when it comes to writing funny scenes?

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What are some of the themes in 'The Christmas Carrolls'?

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What was your favourite chapter to write?

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How long did it take to get 'The Christmas Carrolls' published?

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What can you tell us about the illustrations?

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Resource Download: 'The Christmas Carrolls' Extract

Resource Download: 'The Christmas Competition' Extract