List Of Writers

JAMES, GILL

Email: gill.james@btinternet.com
Website: http://www.gilljames.co.uk/

Gill James is a writer of children’s and Young Adult fiction, educational material, usually do with language learning and prose poetry. She has an MA in Writing for Children (Winchester 2000) and is currently working on Creative Writing Ph D at the University of Wales, Bangor, where she is also teaching Creative Writing. She was born in the Midlands and has lived in Brittany, France (where she learnt Breton and found that Welsh–speaking people could understand it), Germany, Holland and Southampton. She has taught languages for over twenty years and is now working hard on her Welsh. Gill has over 30 books in print, and is published with Frances Lincoln, Letts, CGP, Bridge House, Britannica, ClassRoom resources and Zig Zag Education. She has also had a paper entitled ’Creative Writing in Other Languages’ published in New Writing: The International Journal for the Theory and Practice of Creative Writing  (Vol 2, Number 1; Multilingual Matters Ltd).  

Gill is a member of the Society of Authors, the Writers’ Guild, the National Association of Writers in Education (NAWE) and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), and was a founder member of WC2 – Winchester Children’s Writers’ Group, made up of students and graduates of the MA in Writing for Children course as well as other serious children’s’ writers.    

Gill’s favourite of her own works so far is her Young Adult novel, Nick’s Gallery (PublishAmerica, 2004), which tells the story of how a young man comes to terms with his grief when his young friend dies. She is a Member of Academi.      

Reviews:
With regards Nick’s Gallery (PublishAmerica, 2004):

”…First let me say this is a wonderful story and model of how we can all deal with tragic and unpleasant things in our lives…”
Mike Burks, ICDRI Staff, ICDRI Newsletter

“…a rollercoaster storm of powerful emotion without being in any way sentimental, and the ending is immensely satisfying…”
Anne Brook, Goldenford Press
 
“…This is a refreshing story that tackles death head on, leaving the reader feeling lifted and positive. Well worth reading..!”
Sarah Merrett, School Librarian

"...Amazingly, despite the sadness, this book rejoices in life rather than wallows in death. I found it a compelling, thought–provoking read..."
Elizabeth Arnold, Children’s Writer

With regards The Complete Guide to Learning a Language:

"...James injects the learning process with a mega-dose of fun, giving us this book filled with tips and tactics to pluck up the courage and get us mingling with the natives in no time at all..."
The Good Book Guide


Selected Publications:
Fiction: 
Jason’s Crystal (Summersdale, 1997)
Nick’s Gallery (PublishAmerica, 2004)  
The Lombardy Grotto (Butterfly, 2007)
Scum Bag (Butterfly, 2007)
Kiters (Butterfly, 2008)

Non-fiction:
The Complete Guide to Learning a Language (How to Books Ltd, 2003)
The World of French (Letts, 2005)
Writing Creatively in Another Language (http://www.tefl.net/esl-articles/creative-writing.htm, 2006)

Contributed to:
Lines in the Sand (contributor) (Frances Lincoln, 2003) 
Writing at University, Writing in Education (contributor) (NAWE, 2004) 



Lines in the Sand  (contributor) (Frances Lincoln, 2003) 

Gill’s story in this is The Gift Child, interestingly, written on the day she relocated to North Wales. It actually tells a very similar story in a thousand words to the one which forms part of her Ph D thesis and is 100,000 words long.

Lines in the Sand is a collection of poems, short stories and illustrations by children’s writers who were horrified by our involvement in the war in Iraq. All profits and royalties form the book go to the UNICEF special fund for the children in Iraq.

To purchase this title from amazon.co.uk, please click on its front cover




Nick’s Gallery (PublishAmerica, 2004)  

Nick is dying. Barney spends much of his time keeping him company. Barney finds it hard watching his friend getting weaker and weaker.  And then there are the other problems -   his first real girlfriend, schoolwork, swimming for the county.

Everything seems to be working out - just -  when what he has most been dreading happens. All the other things which could also go wrong do so spectacularly.

Then there is a strange shaped room, some ham and mustard sandwiches and a few conversations with a wise old sailor.

To purchase this title from amazon.co.uk, please click on its front cover.

The Complete Guide to Learning a Language (How to Books Ltd, 2003)

A quirky but practical look at language learning, with plenty of interesting anecdotes and practical suggestions. It is based on over twenty years of language teaching mainly in British comprehensives, but also to all ages from five to ninety-five and in other countries. Gill is currently applying her own good advice to learning Welsh.          



To purchase this title from amazon.co.uk, please click on its front cover