While public speaking might instil fear into many hearts for me it has always been a pleasure and delight and is an essential part of being an author

Perhaps it stems from my childhood days of singing and dancing when performing on stage was a regular occasion. It might also link back to my school days when I represented my school two years running in the Rotary Public Speaking Competition, coming second both times. Or perhaps it's because I'm a big show off!  Of course that's always a possibility, but I like to think it's because I really enjoy entertaining people, whether that is making them smile or laugh, or imparting some useful nugget/s of information that will help them.

For years I ran training courses and workshops to the corporate and public sector on topics such as marketing, selling, building a media profile, assertiveness, being positive and staying positive, communicating with more confidence and understanding and relating to different personalities - all of which I turned into successful books.

More recently, since becoming a published crime writer, and now having seven crime thriller novels under my belt and another due out in 2011, I have been entertaining audiences with tales of how I write my marine mystery crime novels, and my life as an author. These audiences range from charities to retirement associations, libraries, reading groups, clubs, the corporate sector and, well, really anyone who wants to hear me talk.

Giving talks is part of being an author for me, although not every author does it or wants to. Now, with the growth in the number of writing and literary festivals and workshops, all of which I partake in with pleasure, there are even more opportunities to be a speaker. 

Talking about writing is not the only aspect of what I do though, because an essential qualification for being a fiction writer is creativity, and business organisations, the public sector and charities all need to be creative in order to succeed. This is where I come in.  My unique background in marketing, both on and off line, my PR skills, training experience and fiction writing success all mean I can give talks and run workshops on boosting and stimulating creativity for businesses and show them how to use it to get results.

Increasingly I am asked to speak to audiences of all sizes and from all walks of life and sectors, so not only can people find information about my speaking engagements and background here, on my blog, but also on my official web site, as well as a new dedicated website which has just been set up called http://www.bookanauthor.blogspot.com/

Meanwhile, if you would like a speaker for your event or know of anyone who might be interested please either leave a comment here, or on my speaking website or contact me through my official website and I'll get back to you.