I'm Daniel Blythe, writer of many things - including several novels in the official Doctor Who book series, Shadow Runners and Emerald Greene and the Witch Stones for younger readers, novels for adults, non-fiction, short stories and lots of other stuff! I also do school visits in primary and secondary schools up and down the country, where I present illustrated talks, do book-signings, lead creative writing workshops and run a Doctor Who quiz. So far I've been to over 350 schools.
This occasional blog will be dedicated to my role in 2014-15 as Patron of Reading at Danum Academy in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. I can't explain what a Patron does any better than the site does itself, so if you don't know, please follow the link and pop over and have a look!... The great thing about being a Patron of Reading is that there aren't any rules - you arrange a partnership with the school which will work in as meaningful a way as possible for you both. The first ever Patron of Reading was Helena Pielichaty just a few years ago. The scheme has grown from there, with schools across the country finding Patrons and promoting the joys of books.
In my case it could not have happened without the enthusiasm of Danum's librarian Ms Coppendale, who is a big Doctor Who fan and who has asked me into school a few times for one-off events. (Although I am based in Sheffield, I seem to have this affinity with Doncaster, as I've worked with a number of local schools there including Armthorpe, Hexthorpe and Toll Bar, and I was also delighted to help promote the most recent Doncaster Book Award at its launch day alongside fellow writer and Tarzan re-imaginer, the dynamic Andy Briggs.)
Joining Ms Coppendale in promoting the Patron scheme is Miss Moverley from the English department, who, among other things, will be co-ordinating the Q&A sessions I'll be featuring on this blog throughout the year.
On Wednesday 10th September we had the official Patron of Reading launch at Danum. I was first lucky enough to meet some very enthusiastic Year 7s over lunch, who asked me lots of questions about writing and Doctor Who stuff, and earned their Respect points! Then I did a talk to the whole of Y7 introducing what I will be doing as Patron of Reading.
In the meantime, if you want to find out more about me, here are all the places to do so:
Onwards...
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