TALKS AND WORKSHOPS 

Carla is an experienced speaker and presenter who confidently delivers writing workshops and presentations for students, teachers, parents and emerging authors. She shares practical strategies and writing tips that help participants draw from their personal experience, expand ideas through research and trust their creative instincts to craft meaningful stories.

Whether at festivals, conferences or in schools, Carla loves tailoring sessions to suit the needs of her audience. Her goal is always to ignite excitement and to entertain – while also delivering practical, memorable takeaways participants can return to long after the session ends. 

TALKS

1. CRIME without consequences (Tailored for Years 5-12)

You don’t need a jail record to love a crime story. In fact, you might never have even had detention! To write a great whodunit mystery, you just need to have a formula that takes you behind the crime scene tape. 

In this session, Carla brings her CRIME formula to life with autobiographical anecdotes - like the time she was a 14-year-old journalist intern and went undercover to get the scoop… in a police station! She’ll share clips from her own research, writing and editing processes, with practical methods transferring from writing novels to short story narratives. Carla will help participants understand how to:

C – Clash elements for impact

R – Reach into real life

I – Invest in the characters

M – Mine news stories

E – Elevate with feedback

2. Owning your story (Years 9-12)

It’s not easy marketing a product you’ve created. Your personal brand as an author must support the books you write. In an age of digital technology and social media, there has never been a more crucial time for students to nurture and protect their public image – to be in charge of their own story - and they need to start now. 

With a career spanning more than two decades across public relations and marketing, tertiary scholarship recruitment, pastoral leadership in schools, teaching, and storytelling as an author, Carla is in a unique position to offer her expertise in personal brand management. She’ll share how her own marketing background helped her path to publication and discuss the skills all students can develop to enhance their ability to network, present applications for scholarships, manage their online identity and communicate more effectively by integrating stories.

3. We Saw What You Started (Years 5-12)

This deep dive into Carla’s debut novel unpacks the book’s key themes, characters and plot beats. Carla will share how her original 20k coming-of-age story with a single point of view… was transformed into a 70k mystery thriller for young teens with alternating dual points of view… in just 18 months. Find out how Carla developed her protagonists, Milly and Otto, so their individual perspectives offer authentic teen voices. Filled with anecdotes about Carla’s country coastal childhood that inspired the book – including that time her cousin snuck out of the surf club dorms for a night swim – this talk is both entertaining and educational. 

4. Stuck in the middle with… our students? (Teachers and librarians)

There’s something inherently uncomfortable about being ‘in the middle’. No-one willingly chooses the dreaded middle seat on a solo flight, wedged between strangers with no armrest, window, or aisle to lean into. It’s the same unease we see in middle years of schooling. The Year 7-9 stretch where students crave independence, yet still desperately need reassurance (often in the same sentence). 

In this insightful presentation with a side-serving of humorous anecdotes, Carla explores how teaching strategies can meet students where they are – teetering somewhere between childhood and adulthood – and guide them towards purposeful, playful and powerful storytelling. Drawing on her experience as a teacher and author, Carla reflects on the joy of teaching in this space, where laptop chargers go missing but curiosity and creativity can be sparked. Expect to takeaway renewed energy, practical methods and confirmation that the work we do ‘in the middle’ really matters. 

WORKSHOPS

1. Write winning short stories (Tailored for Years 5-12)

Want to learn how to write short stories that meet task sheet requirements… without feeling like you’re just ticking off a list? A great short story must have structure – there’s a specific formula that helps your reader engage and feel satisfied – but within those constraints, there is SO much room to play! This session can be tailored from 1 – 5 hours, taking students from ideation to edition with game-based, interactive learning strategies. Carla shares the ‘bigger picture’ and shows how she utilises short story skills in her novels and in other elements of her work – like author talks! Participants will leave with specific writing skills and thinking processes that can be applied immediately in their classrooms or at home. 

2. Write it Right (Tailored for Years 5-12)

From ideation to editing, each stage of the writing process contains different skills and ways of thinking. Carla will share examples from her own writing practice to demonstrate the real-world application with anecdotes and personal stories

Select one of these stages to focus on with hands-on visible learning strategies with outcomes that participants can measure immediately. Focus stages include:

1. Concept mapping
2. Characterisation
3. World building and place
4. Descriptive language that ‘shows’, rather than ‘tells’  
5. Improving clarity and precision in sentence structures
6. Editing strategies (participants to bring a 400–700-word short story already written)

7. In the middle of everything – engaging young teen writers and readers (Teachers and Librarians)

The middle years of schooling can be a challenging landscape – not just for students, but for the teachers guiding them. Between early adolescence and emerging independence, students in Years 7-9 are navigating major developmental, emotional and academic shifts. In our classrooms, we ask them to decode complex texts, craft original writing, analyse ideas deeply… and hopefully remember their laptop charger.

Carla will share how she’s merged strategies as a teacher and an author to enhance engagement for young readers and writers in her classroom. This workshop balances practical application with space for reflection and discussion. Expect to leave with refreshed strategies, renewed confidence and a few laughs – because teaching the middle years might be messy, but it’s also full of magic. 

Focus areas include:

• Strengthening student voice and agency in reading and writing tasks
• Embedding playfulness and purpose in activities
• Building connections beyond the classroom with parents and carers
• Enabling choice for reluctant readers
• Reinforcing the power of storytelling as a tool for identity, empathy and critical thinking