Public speaking

Workshops and talks

Narrelle M Harris delivers both writing workshops and general talks for readers.

Workshops:

• Fantasy Writing Building Blocks (one day course)
• Writing about Sex and Intimacy (two hour workshop)
• Killer opening sentences (one hour workshop)

Talks:

• Growing Up Reading
• Where Do You Get Your Ideas?
• Building Believable Fantasy Worlds
• The Vampire Metaphor

Find out more about the talks and workshops at my website.

Do you need a speaker for your library, school, club or organisation?

• NEW – “Narrelle gave an engaging talk here at Coburg Library about her experiences of growing up reading.  She expertly drew out members of the group  to also share their experiences of reading when they were growing up. Everyone really enjoyed it.” – Michael Marsh, Coburg Library.
• “If you need a well spoken author who captivates the audience, I highly recommend Narrelle.” –Josie Mitzi, Craigieburn Library.
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• “Narrelle’s talk about her book The Opposite of Life was great – she was a vibrant and interesting speaker who takes an obvious delight in her work and has a lot of fun with it. There was a lot of interaction with the audience, with many great questions being asked. A very worthwhile event.” – Christine Hornby, Community Programs Librarian, Brunswick Library
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• “Narrelle is an inspirational speaker/author who threaded a wonderful tale of discovering a way to develop believable fantasies. Her knowledge of developing her story through geography, her travels and experiences kept the audience totally captivated for over an hour with lots of interesting questions and answers at the end of the session. Definitely worthwhile for those who love writing.” – Judy Cousins, Emerald Library.

• “Narrelle Harris conducted a lively and engaging workshop at Ballarat in October 2012. Narrelle showed us how our created worlds should have consistency, internal logic and credibility. She emphasised that our worlds need texture and depth through using all the senses. A writing exercise after lunch considered the opening paragraph as we all worked on a new one or shared an existing piece. Narrelle handled this session positively and with great encouragement. A great day that saw us all leaving inspired to continue our writing.” – Marian Chivers, Secretary, Ballarat Writers Inc.
  
• “We were very privileged to have Narrelle visit our SciFi/ Fantasy writing group recently and share her expertise with a Sex and Intimacy workshop. The theme is something that we, as writers, have all stumbled across quite often and we recognised a definite need to make sure we get it right.
  Narrelle was fantastic. The workshop was fun, full of conversation and we were also able to analyse and share our thoughts on some of her work within this genre, learning all the way. Narrelle’s enthusiasm and humour shone through and she shared invaluable tips and ideas for navigating different levels of intimacy between characters, as well as writing effective sex and erotica scenes.
  Altogether, the workshop was excellent and we all left feeling more confident and inspired in our ability to tackle these scenes. Very highly recommended, thank you Narrelle!      – Hayley Barry-Smith, Alternate Worlds, Melbourne
  

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Narrelle M Harris writes both fiction and non-fiction. She also writes erotica under the name NM Harris.

Her first novel, crime/thriller, Fly By Night (2004), was nominated for a Ned Kelly Award. Her other novels are Witch Honour (2005), Witch Faith (2007), The Opposite of Life (2008), Walking Shadows (2012) and her short story collection Showtime (2012). Other short works have been published in Outside the Law #3 and Best Zombie Tales Volume 2. Doubled Edged, the first story in her erotica series, Secret Agents Secret Lives, was published in 2013. The second story, Expendable, is due for release in May 2013.

Narrelle’s smartphone app, Melbourne Literary, was released in 2010 and a second app, Melbourne Peculiar, came out in 2012.

Narrelle has a background in theatre and public speaking. She speaks at libraries, bookstores and other events. In 2009, Narrelle was a regular guest on radio show The Outland Institute on Joy 94.9FM, as the show’s book expert. That same year, she was Guest of Honour at Melbourne science fiction convention, Continuum 5. She has been a guest speaker for the MEAA and the ASA about e-readers and apps, and has spoken on panels at the Emerging Writers Festival, Sisters in Crime, the World Science Fiction Convention and the Bayside Literary Festival.

Read more about Narrelle and her other library talks at http://www.narrellemharris.com/speaking/