Hi! I'm Tom Vaughan and I write funny middle-grade books full of lots of heart and humour. As well as bags of surreal-ness, loads of silliness and often a good smattering of supervillains, my books cover important topics that are close to my heart. My debut book Bin Boy was published by Scholastic in 2021 and is about navigating the change that step-parents and blended families can bring. My second book, A Gangster Stole My Trunks (which will be published by Scholastic in July 2022) touches on both divorce and dementia, as well as being a cracking whodunnit.
I regularly visit Primary Schools and love delivering funny, inspiring workshops for KS2 children. As well as exploring how to write funny stories, my author visits incorporate conversations about these subjects and how funny books can help us relate to issues in the world around us.
I am available throughout London and South East England to deliver everything from virtual workshop sessions to full-day visits.
A 30-minute sessions of my workshop called HOW TO BE SUPER FUNNY, which explores how I create funny, fictional characters such as silly supervillains, and touches upon some important elements of story-telling - all in a fun, accessible presentation with lots of popular-culture touch-points to help engage the children, followed by a Q&A.
Price: £60 for a 30-minute virtual workshop
Nothing beats getting out there and talking to school kids in person!
I'm available for half-day and full-day visits.
These include an interactive assembly with a reading, a talk about how I come up with ideas for my books, a story about my journey to publication and what it takes to be an author, followed by a Q&A. This is suitable for whole-school assemblies.
This can then be followed by interactive sessions of my HOW TO BE SUPER FUNNY workshop with individual classes, where work together to come up with our own funny characters and build a story around them. Suitable for KS2 classes of up to 30 children and runs for roughly one hour.
Alternatively, I love running STORY workshops for older KS2 pupils, looking at what a story is, what makes it work, and the important elements every story needs to grip its readers.
All of this can end with a book signing, working with a local bookshop so pupils have a copy to take home.
Prices:
£200+VAT for a half-day visit including an assembly up to two sessions, plus travel charged at 45p a mile.
£300+VAT for a full day visit including an assembly and/or multiple sessions, plus travel charged at 45p a mile.