Educational Services

Our authors provide writing workshops, author visits to schools, libraries and other venues, and speaking engagements. Below are some of the workshops and programs that we offer. Please contact us for pricing and scheduling information.

Programs include:
From Idea to Print - The Making of "The Ghost of Hampton Court"
E-Books: Bringing a Story to Life - Writing, Creating & Presenting An Interactive E-book

Other programs are available at www.marthahannah.com

Author/Illustrator Visits - Martha Hannah & Larry Dowell

A Unique Opportunity to Meet Both
Renowned Performer & Author Martha Hannah
and Award-Winning Illustrator Larry Dowell

From Idea to Print
The Making of "The Ghost of Hampton Court"


Renowned performer and author Martha Hannah and award-winning illustrator Larry Dowell present this educational multimedia workshop that covers the development, from idea to print, of a children’s picture book. In addition, as owners of CicadaSun Publishing, Martha and Larry will discuss the actual production, printing and distribution of the picture book.

This educational multimedia presentation includes Martha's performance
as Maid Martha, Medieval Teller of Tales, of her sensational new book,

The Ghost of Hampton Court - by Martha Hannah “The Ghost of Hampton Court”
 which recounts Henry VIII’s marriage to the teenaged Catharine Howard, her arrest, trial, execution and her tormented haunting of Hampton Court. This chilling love story is a lavishly illustrated juvenile historical fiction picture book that ends in a rather ghostly surprise!

Martha & Larry will also discuss:
How personal point of view and gossip can become an historic tale
The process of story writing
How stories can become history
The development, from idea to print, of the picture book
Basic illustration principles
How a student, using digital technology and simple programs
     such as PowerPoint and Word, can create a book

Program includes:
Multimedia presentation
Handouts
Book-signing session

Please contact us for pricing and scheduling information.

E-Books: Bringing a Story to Life

Writing, Creating & Presenting An Interactive E-book

The innovative workshop- E-Books: Bringing a Story to Life In this exciting hands-on workshop Martha Hannah & Larry Dowell lead the students through fun theatre games, storytelling, music and movement to encourage them to visualize and write their stories for interactive e-books.

They then learn how to storyboard, design and create an e-book incorporating text, images, sound effects and music and adding movement to text and images.

The students participate in activities that encourage creativity and teamwork and build public speaking skills, presentation skills and confidence in order to present their own e-books at a workshop showcase.

Ideal for students with basic writing and computer skills or for educators to teach to their students. This workshop can be either a one hour introductory overview presentation, a one day intensive workshop or a workshop spread across 3 or 4 days with a showcase for participants to present their finished work. The finished e-books can also be published by the school or library to an Internet or Intranet web site.

Martha & Larry will teach the students:
What is an interactive e-book?
Visualizing and writing the story
Storyboarding the book
Creating a ‘style’ for the book
Adding & animating pictures and words
Adding music & sounds
Creating the author’s bio
Rehearsing & presenting the e-book at a showcase

Please contact us for pricing and scheduling information.