With spooky new graphics, a new downloads section and more updates planned (Scream Street bookplates, anyone?), there’s a creepy new corner of the web to explore!  Check out the new-look site here: http://www.screamstreet.co.uk

Tommy

The ads are the work of my brilliant US publishers, Candlewick Press, and they link directly to the US Scream Street site – www.screamstreet.com

So, watch out for Doug the zombie (that’s his ugly mug on the banners) and you could click through for some fiendish fun, courtesy of Scream Street!

]]> http://www.tommydonbavand.com/2010/04/01/april-cool/feed/ 0 http://www.tommydonbavand.com/2010/03/26/we-have-a-winner/ http://www.tommydonbavand.com/2010/03/26/we-have-a-winner/#comments Fri, 26 Mar 2010 12:19:46 +0000 Tommy http://www.tommydonbavand.com/?p=1900 The entries are in, and stories have been read, and I’m delighted to announce that the winner of the fifth Renaissance Learning Quest is…

10 year old Favel from Reading!

Favel wrote a wonderful story about what might happen if she woke up to discover she was a vampire – and her prize is that she will become a brand new character in the Scream Street series from book 11 onwards!

Congratulations!

Please?

Tommy

You can see the entire list here:

http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/assets/0000/1676/Booklist_2010_9_-_12_yrs.pdf

Some of my own favourite authors are also on the list including Charlie Higson, Andy Stanton, Mark Walden, Dav Pilkey and Roald Dahl!

Suffice to say, I’m very excited!

Tommy

Both wallpapers are available in three different sizes, so you’re sure to find something that’ll suit your screen and your nerves!

Click here to download the latest Scream Street desktop wallpapers!

You can also see how the link-up looked from the other end (although this picture was taken on a different day to mine, hence the change of t-shirt!)

Instead of driving from my home in Lancashire to Kent and back to run my creative writing classes, I’ve been linking up with year 8 pupils at Holmesdale Technology College over the Internet each day.

Using Skype (a free Internet telephony and video conference program), I’ve been teaching pupils at the opposite end of the country how to come up with unique story ideas, develop three-dimensional characters and plan a three-act plot.  And I haven’t had to charge a penny in travel expenses!

As you can see in the image below, grabbed from screen during today’s session, I get to see the class in front of me and – at their end – I’m projected on a screen on the wall (very Big Brother!)  This is the view I get – the pupils filling the window and me in a box in the corner.  They, of course, see the opposite.

The whole thing is still a learning process and, as with any new endeavour, there are pros and cons:

On the plus side…

• I get to work from home, so I can get some writing done instead of driving to and from the school

• The school only pays for my time and not travel and/or accommodation expenses

• I’m working on ways to show screen elements, such as graphs, illustrations and writing examples

On the minus side…

• There are occasional technical glitches – but nothing, so far, that’s stopped us from linking up

• I can’t point to individual members of the class to ask questions

• I have to make my own cups of tea!

It is, however, HUGELY EXCITING, and I intend to set up many more of these sessions.  If any other schools are interested in linking up with me in this way – from wherever you are in the world – please drop me a line.

There’s no end to where we could go with this kind of event – in fact, the Skype’s the limit!

Tommy