English teacher Martin Griffin was deputy head at The Blue Coat School in Oldham till this summer, before deciding to take a year out of teaching to focus on his writing.
He won the prestigious Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition in 2012, figuring out storylines on his 45-minute drive to and from work and writing at least 1,500 words a week during term-time.
His winning novel, The Poison Boy, was published by Chicken House in 2013 under the pseudonym of Fletcher Moss. The book is aimed at 10 to 12-year-olds and tells the story of a lowly food taster who has a lucky escape after drinking laced wine.
Mr Griffin, who has been a teacher for 20 years, then went on to write a novel for teenagers. Lifers, a thriller set in Manchester, was published earlier this year under his real name – MA Griffin.
“It’s been hugely enjoyable and quite energising to have a hinterland away from the day job,” said Mr Griffin, who is now working on his third novel.
His non-fiction book, The A Level Mindset: 40 activities for transforming student commitment, motivation and productivity, co-written with former teaching colleague Steve Oakes, was published by Crown House Publishing in February this year.
Mr Griffin will be visiting 20 schools this term, running creative writing workshops to help students generate ideas and gain in confidence.
He has devised a game called Person, Place, Problem, which encourages youngsters “to put an interesting person or character in an interesting place and give them a problem that is a catalyst for the story”.
One of Mr Griffin’s most recent creative writing workshops took place at Saint Paul’s Catholic High School in Wythenshawe, Manchester.
“His tips for our aspiring writers were clear, direct and inspiring,” said Irena Savova, the school’s librarian.
“He told the students to think through the plot, plan the story and then make sure they finished it. He told them to write fearlessly until the story was finished and then ask someone they trust to give them honest, insightful feedback. It was then important to act on this feedback and change their writing if necessary.”
Headteacher Tony Billings said the author’s session was “fascinating and inspiring”.
“His visit has inspired our students to want to read, write, and learn more about the process of writing,” he added.