YOUNG ADULT AUTHOR AND CREATIVE WRITING COACH
School visits
for grades 6-12
I'm an experienced young adult novelist and presenter, and I'd love to visit you and your school to talk about my books, or about creative writing and publishing. I adjust my presentations to suit the interests and curriculum needs of students in middle school and high school.
My Books
WAIT FOR ME
Harper Teen
ISBN: 978-0062459886
Texas Library Association:
2019 Spirit of Texas High School Reading Program
Can their love survive a war?
It’s 1945, and Lorna Anderson’s life on her father’s farm in Scotland consists of endless chores and rationing, knitting Red Cross scarves, and praying for an Allied victory. So when Paul Vogel, a German prisoner of war, is assigned as the new farmhand, Lorna is appalled. How can she possibly work alongside the enemy when her own brothers are risking their lives for their country?
But as Lorna reluctantly spends time with Paul, she feels herself changing. The more she learns about him—from his time in the war to his life back home in Germany—the more she sees the boy behind the soldier. Soon Lorna is battling her own warring heart. Loving Paul could mean losing her family and the life she’s always known. With tensions rising all around them, Lorna must decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice before the end of the war determines their fate.
IN ANOTHER TIME
Harper Teen
ISBN: 978-0062459916
Junior Library Guild Selection - Fall 2018
Texas Library Association: 2019 Spirit of Texas High School Reading Program
Love is worth the fight.
It’s 1942, and Maisie McCall is in the Scottish Highlands doing her bit for the war effort as a lumberjill in the Women’s Timber Corps. Maisie relishes her newfound independence and her growing friendships—especially with the enigmatic John Lindsay.
As Maisie and John work side-by-side felling trees, Maisie can’t help but feel like their friendship has the spark of something more to it. And yet every time she gets close to him, John pulls away. It’s not until Maisie rescues John from a terrible logging accident that he begins to open up to her about the truth of his past, and the pain he’s been hiding.
Suddenly everything is more complicated than Maisie expected. And as she helps John untangle his shattered history, she must decide if she’s willing to risk her heart to help heal his. But in a world devastated by war, love might be the only thing left that can begin to heal what’s broken.
My school workshops and presentations:
NOTE: Teachers Workshops
As well as presenting to your students, I also have a number of professional development presentations for teachers
- just ask me about them!
In-class Workshops:
- Where to find ideas for great stories.
- First drafts are only the beginning - how to revise your stories
- Building new or old worlds - writing history or fantasy stories
- Characterization – finding the true voice of your story
- Bring your writing alive with figurative and sensory language
Large-group presentations:
- Storyball - Let's write a story together
- From the lightbulb to the page - a novel’s journey
- Research and Writing - how to use reality to create fiction
- Publishing careers - who does what to get a book onto a bookshelf
My books:
As well as creative writing and publishing topics, I also base school workshops and presentations around my own books, WAIT FOR ME and IN ANOTHER TIME. Both are set in Scotland during World War Two, and are suitable for readers from 6th grade up.
Click here to request my WAIT FOR ME Educator's Guide.
Meet Caroline.
Caroline is a Scottish/Texan novelist, ghostwriter, podcaster and coach, and has been writing professionally for over three decades.
Her young adult novels, WAIT FOR ME and IN ANOTHER TIME, are published by HarperCollins. Both set in Scotland during World War Two, they have been recognized with awards such as Junior Library Guild Pick and the TXLA Spirit of Texas High School reading program.
A former Press & PR consultant, Caroline now also coaches authors and illustrators to present themselves and their books in public with confidence and professionalism. She presents a podcast, Authors & Audiences, to help authors identify and implement the best ways to present themselves and their books to the wide variety of audiences they will face and she shows them how to have fun while they do it.
Here's what other schools are saying:
Caroline Leech visited my classroom of 8th graders and they were captivated by the Q & A on the writing process and revising to improve a piece of writing! Caroline walked them through a writing activity on the concept of "world building" and how to draft and plan so that a character fits and matches the setting for a story. Caroline's session with my students truly helped for many were in a slump in the drafting of their own short stories and afterwards were excited about picking up their pens and continuing their stories or even starting over in their writers' notebooks!
Matthew Martinez, Baylor College of Medicine Academy at Ryan Middle School, Houston
Just to say thank you for your generosity in giving time to the girls in my classes. We all absolutely loved your sessions. I will be setting them the writing task and will aim to send you some of the best pieces. We can’t wait for your next book!
Lizzie Smith, The Mary Erskine School, Edinburgh
TEACHER WORKSHOPS
I met you at the Rice Writers in the Arts program, and I was blown away with the time we were able to spend with you. Since then, I have utilized working more with images and allowing students to write about the setting and emotion, and I have had some of the best writing samples from some of my more reluctant writers. I teach Creative Writing to students in grades 6-8 and have about 42 advanced writers.
Elizabeth Tekulve, Teacher, Pershing Middle School, Houston
Would you like me to visit your school?
Online or in-person, I'd love to talk to you about coming to visit you and your students. Click the box below to send me an email so we can have a chat...
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