Now that kids are back at school and hopefully settled in nicely after the summer holidays, I've started doing online virtual events again. In these, I chat about myself a bit, read an extract from one of my books, then answer questions from the audiences. While they're not entirely the same experience as an in-person visit, they're usually a lot of fun, and teachers and librarians regularly report back to me to say how much the children have enjoyed it, and how they're reading more than before, on the back of the buzz of the event.

The first two photos were taken in St Paul's school in Newry earlier this week, when I did my first event of the current school term. I'm in fine form on the monitor in the first picture, and you can see how the students were arranged in the second.

The third was taken before the summer break, when I did an event with the students of Astrea Academy in Sheffield. We encountered some technical difficulties, and although the children could hear me and chat with me, they weren't able to actually see me. I was worried that might spoil it for them, but their teacher told me that they enjoyed it a lot regardless -- proof that no matter what happens in a live event, we can always find a way to work around the technology!

If YOU are a teacher or librarian, interested in chatting with me about the possibility of setting up an event for YOUR students, you can drop me a line at: post @ darrenshan dot com (I'm sure it goes without saying, but just in case... delete the spaces betwen those words, and replace the word "dot" with an actual dot.)

The events run about 30 to 40 minutes. I don't charge a fee. And while I can't say yes to EVERY proposed event, I do agree to a lot of them -- it helps if you can offer the involvement of LOTS of children, as it's a case of the more the merrier as far as I'm concerned! :-)