Rampage is a well written, convincing story that delivers pace, atmosphere and suspense. An impressive climax brings The Beast trilogy to a satisfying close. A real page turner.


Sandra Shannon, freelance writer - Rampage
This book is a real thriller, it seizes you when you open it and doesn't let go until the end... Anyone who likes stories with mystery and suspense should read The Beast.


James aged 9 - The Beast
A very exciting and captivating read.




Calun aged 14 - The Beast
Once you start reading this story you will just want to carry on and not put it down till you have finished it.



Kirstie aged 14 - The Beast
Good spooky stuff... which also has a firm grip on the real world.




Adele Geras, TES Teacher and Author - The Beast
My favourite character was Rab Stewart because he’s funny and mysterious. At first you don’t know much about him. Grant was funny and I liked the way Amanda could sense things. It was exciting because I kept wondering what The Beast was. The most exciting part was when Grant and Amanda were running from Karbel. Very good mystery. I really enjoyed The Beast.
Daniel aged 11 - The Beast
I liked Grant because he’s funny and sarcastic and I also liked Rab Stewart because he’s as nutty as a fruitcake. I thought it was good the way you knew what Karbel was thinking. I thought it was exciting when Grant goes into the cave and when he comes out Amanda notices his t-shirt is all ripped. I liked what the Beast turned out to be. I thought The Beast was a very exciting book.
Karl aged 11 - The Beast
THE BEAST is a fantastic book about the Laird family, a family of four that go on a holiday to the Scottish highlands of Endrith Valley, nicknamed “The Valley of Shadows”. From day one, Amanda sees what looks like a reflection from the sun. In actual fact, it is the ghost of a Sabre-toothed tiger called Karbel.
After a few days, she begins to make out the shape of an animal. Unfortunately, her family do not believe her and say that it is just her imagination. continued....
I read your book 'Beast' last night - I adored every page! I just wanted to say an enormous thanks to you, for making reading the book such an enthralling experience. I've read a lot of books in my 12 years, but I must say; This is without a doubt one of the best books I've ever read, and I'd place it within my top 3 favourite books! I can't wait to get my nose into your other books! I particularly enjoyed the way you built up the evidence towards Karbel's continued....
This is the first Ann Evans book that I have read. Written as a childrens' novel for children from the ages of 10 and upwards, the book is beautifully written and exciting for both children and adults alike. Both my ten year old daughter and I have read this book. It is one of my daughters favourite stories. Set in the Highlands of Scotland, the adventure story tells of a family camping holiday in a remote valley with a dark past. Of stone age man and battles of long continued....
Good horror isn’t about cheap thrills, as The Beast demonstrates with style and substance. Evans’s writing is evocative and full of atmosphere, her plotting compelling and convincing.


The Guardian - The Beast
Mysterious and terrifying monsters rise up from the deep past when a road building project uncovers some ancient bones. Jack, son of the palaeontologist called to the site, and his friend, Cameron, manage to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and have to run for their lives. Ann Evans knows her stuff. Using an absorbing plot and the evidence of research into sabre-toothed tigers and mammoths (the monster in question) make this an extra-engaging continued....
It was about a family who go into Scotland at this camping site. Then the parents tell their kids that they could have a wander round the campsite. They went into a cave and suddenly find the beast. I thought the book was very interesting, gripping and really good.

Zoe aged 14 - The Beast
This is an excellent book to read, especially if you are an action and adventure lover. The Beast is a book that I couldn't put down, it absorbed me - I felt as if I was Grant when the Beast stuck it's head into the tent, or when they were battling alongside Rab Stewart. This is truly a book to read.

Salmaan aged 9 - The Beast
I liked The Beast especially when the girl thinks she sees the beast at the top of the mountain. My favourite part was when I heard the boy kill the saber toothed tiger.


Luke age 9 - The Beast
My favourite character was Grant. I liked him because he was brave and wasn't scared of anything. My favourite part was when Grant was battling the saber toothed tiger! I liked the suspense to it - it was tense.


Alex aged 10 - The Beast
There's terror in the Scottish mountains. A vicious sabre-toothed tiger – or, rather, the ghost of one – stalks the Scottish mountain of Endrith and the Valley of Shadows below. Karbel – the Beast of this trilogy – is on the prowl and woe betide anyone who challenges his kingdom.
But change is on the way, as humans excavate the ground to build a new bypass. There’s great excitement when the bones of a woolly mammoth continued....
Nightmare by Ann Evans. I really enjoyed this book, it was really mysterious when Todd finds out Elspeth has powers that can make you have nightmares and really scary visions!!!!!! It's really interesting and everyone should read it and the story tells us not to bully or tease anyone because it will be in their or even your mind forever. Review by Abiya Joshy, Year 7, Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College, Worcester.
Celeste by Ann Evans. This is my best book ever read as it includes humour tragedy and adventure. The bit I like the best is when she has her flashbacks into the past and finds out about her past life. It was interesting when she finds out her name was Celeste and the bit when she finds out her new best friend Freya is her sister Ruth. When you get to the library do not forget to read this!!!!! 10 out of 10 Review by Abiya Joshy, Year 7, Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College, Worcester.

A visit from an author can be a real inspiration to youngsters. It is a rare opportunity for children to meet a real, live author and ask all the questions they have often wondered about. An author visit can encourage children to read more and write their own stories and articles with enthusiasm, excitement and skill.

As a writer of fiction and non fiction, I love visiting schools to give talks or run workshops with young people, and if required, these sessions can be geared to suit the individual class/year to support the particular topic pupils are working on.

Fee for a full day in school is pounds 300.00. Other sessions negotiable.

Travel expenses are appreciated if beyond the Warwickshire area.

If you would like an Author Visit to your school, library or organisation, please email me for an informal chat about what you might like to do.




Just for Teachers

ANN EVANS CHILDREN'S AUTHOR AND FEATURE WRITER

I am a full time writer. Sharing my time between writing books and feature writing. I write for most ages from 8 years to adults, including reluctant readers. My most recent hi-lo books are: Viral, Message Alert and the award winning A Little Secret. I have 15 reluctant reader titles available, published by Badger Learning. Watch out for more news on my YA books Celeste and The Uninvited.



I worked as a feature writer for the Coventry Telegraph for many years which was great fun, and I still am a freelance feature writer. (Member of The Society of Women Writers and Journalists)



I run creative writing classes for adults including on-line tutoring. Contact me if you are interested.


Plus, I do school visits.
AUTHOR VISITS AND WORKSHOPS.

Four sessions per day of 45 mins to one hour duration.

TALKS and WORKSHOPS can be focused on the author aspect of my work, or the journalist/freelance feature writing side of my working life.

AS A CHILDREN'S AUTHOR

AN AUTHOR TALK covers the type of books I have written, how they came to be written and how I started writing. The children get to see the different stages of a book i.e. a typed manuscript with editor suggestions, a manuscript at the proof stages, book covers, finished books and books that have been translated into different languages. All this with lots of interaction and discussion. I read a selected passage from one of my books. Followed by Q & A sessions.



WORKSHOP this will have been discussed beforehand as to the topic or theme in line with teacher's requests.

Examples of workshop themes:

* IMPROVING YOUR STORIES ie developing ideas, plotting, characterisation, pace, dialogue, atmosphere etc.

* POLISHING YOUR WORK looking at how rewriting and editing work improves it.

* HOW TO BE AN AUTHOR so you love writing and your stories are fantastic. But how do you get them into print? How do you present them? Where do you send them? What do you do about rejection? Tips and advice on all aspects of working towards being an author.

* BEING A JOURNALIST/FREELANCE WRITER - A TALK AND WORKSHOP COMBINED (For older pupils with more time allocated e.g. a complete morning/afternoon). This session covers how you can get into this kind of work; considering why you want to be a journalist; expectations and disappointments; reality; life in a newsroom; working as a freelance writer; coping with rejection; the fun you can have! This would include examples of some of my features, each has a story behind it.

Workshop: (1): It is your first day on the local newspaper. No you will not be expected to make the tea, you will be expected to write a story or two for the paper! Help! Where do you start! Talk and tips, followed by some interviewing practice, getting the facts, perils and pitfalls, putting it all together.

Workshop (2):So you want to be a Freelance Writer? How do you make a start? Which magazines could you write for? Actually the world is your oyster - talk and tips. How to approach magazine editors; how to know what they are looking for. Getting published.

My fee for a schools visit is pounds 300 for a full day in school plus travel expenses and overnight accommodation if the school is more than 30 miles from Warwickshire.



FURTHER INFORMATION:

My books:

Published by Badger Learning
Viral ISBN 978-1-78837-527-6 < /> Message Alert ISBN 978-1-78837-442-2
The Prize ISBN 978-1788372619
A Little Secret ISBN 978-1788372213
Promise Me ISBN 978-1788372121
Keeper ISBN 978-1784647087
Living the Lie ISBN 978-1784646233
Blank ISBN 978-1784646219
Kicked into Touch ISBN 978-1784644390
How to Spend Like a Celebrity ISBN 978-1784643713
By My Side ISBN 978-1784643218
Nightmare ISBN 978-1781479728
Red Handed ISBN (to come)
Straw Men ISBN (to come)

Published by Puffin Books
The Trunk ISBN 9 780143 306986 2013

Published by Astrae Press
Celeste ISBN 978-1500982492
The Uninvited ASIN: B00O2I9084

Published by Scholastic Childrens Books:
Cry Danger ISBN 0 590 13163 X Published 1995
Disaster Bay ISBN 0 590 19249 3 Published 1997
Deadly Hunter ISBN 0 590 19716 9 Published 1998
Fishing For Clues ISBN 0 439 01148 5 Published 2000
Stealing The Show ISBN 0 439 01208 2 Published 2000
Pushing His Luck ISBN 0 439 01149 3 Published 2000
Self published:Pointing the Finger ISBN 9781980675877

Published by Usborne Publishing: Contact me for signed copies.
The Beast ISBN 0 7460 60343 Published 2004
The Reawakening ISBN 0 746 07882X Published 2007
Rampage ISBN 978 0 7460 7892 1 Published 2008

For writers! Become a Writer A Step by Step Guide (revised edition 2020) ISBN 978 1652910985.

Published by Hometown World. Contact me for signed copies.
Children's History of Coventry ISBN 978 1 84993 116 8

Look out also for A Touch of Death (Short story) in 13 Murder Mysteries (Scholastic). ISBN 0 590 13419 1996
British Customs (Teach Yourself) Brown Publishing. ISBN 1 873803 14 1 1993
Britain and the British General Topics. Brown Publishing ISBN 1 873803 03 6 1992

CONTACT ME: email: ann-evans@btconnect.com

Comments from schools:

From Elaine Hall, Literacy co-ordinator, Painsley Catholic College, Cheadle.
Today our school was delighted to welcome Ann Evans to talk to all year 7 and 8 students about her journey to become a published author. What a fantastic day was had by all! She was truly inspirational whilst being honest about the hard work involved. Students had the opportunity to see a manuscript with editorial comments, have some writing experience under her tutelage and ask questions about writing for magazines and newspapers as well as fiction and non-fiction books. It was also great for teachers accompanying students to have some understanding of the possible career paths for someone who enjoys writing. Thank you Ann; we look forward to seeing you again soon.

From Gavin Coxhead and Sarah Collins, Hearsall School. Dear Ann, Your time with us was really appreciated and you really inspired the children. Several said afterwards that they want to be authors themselves. It was lovely to hear. To have someone come in to show them that books are written by real people was a great lesson for them. The way you answered questions helped the children believe they could come up with good ideas of their own as well.

From Kirsty Hill, Chief Librarian, King Henry VIII School, Coventry:
Ann Evans visited school to give a talk to some of our students. They were delighted to meet a local author. The talk about her range of children's books was both informative and engaging. Students were taken through the process of becoming an author from the initial inspiration of ideas to publication. Throughout her entertaining interactive talk Ann involved the students and they listened attentively when she read an excerpt from one of her stories. She carried out a question and answer session then completed her visit by signing a selection of her books which students were eager to buy. So successful was Ann's first talk at our school that she was invited to return to school to share with us her most recent publication.


Ann Evans. She is not just a great author. I know this because I have read nearly all of her books and they are amazing, truly indulging, like a disease that you do not want to get rid of!
But she is not just a great author. Ann is also a great person. I am striving to be a young author and Ann is just helping me do that. Two years ago I met Ann when she came into our school to promote and sign her book – The Beast. I, at that time, was planning to write a book and I was not sure how to start; so I took the chance to talk to her since she was an author I thought she might give me a few tips to get started. However she gave me more than that.
Before long I was writing and sending parts of my book to her through email. Every time in the email I write ‘please give me a few tips on what to improve!’ and every time she writes a critique which, even though I did not ask for, I am very grateful for. Through this I learned so much about writing: proper dialogue, proper indenting, right novel length….
Of course Ann is still an author not an editor and she is probably working very hard on her books, so I decided that I should stop troubling her with my mistake crammed work so she can keep producing her brilliant work!
Now, I keep writing and working and maybe one day I will be a bit like Ann!
I also want to use this opportunity to thank her for all the help she has given me! It has really, really, absolutely given me a great welcome to writing. Thank you so much, Ann. I hope you will carry on having a brilliant career!
With Many Thanks Yuhang Xie. King Henry VIII School, Coventry.

A few older reviews...
From Dawn Beaumont Head of Coventry Libraries:

Author Ann Evans took part in Coventry Libraries Big Book Bonanza, Children's Book Week in February 2009.
Ann hosted two highly successful sessions for us at the Central Library. In the first session Ann talked to a group of local school children about her writing and read extracts from her books. The children where completely captivated by Ann's talk which was inspirational and inclusive. Ann ensured that all the children felt involved and everyone had the chance to ask questions and have them answered in an honest and interesting manner. Feedback from both teaching staff and pupils was very positive.
The second session was open to the general public and involved a range of ages including adults. Ann entertained and held the attention of the audience throughout the session, easily adapting her material to cater for a varied age group. We look forward to having Ann visit again in the near future.

Students had the opportunity to meet children's author Ann Evans in George Salter School's newly refurbished library on World Book Day 2008. The lucky students took part in various activities and even had chance to do some creative writing of their own. Other students plied Ann with questions about where she gets her inspiration from, how to get published, and what it's like being an author.
A Year 8 student commented: I really enjoyed the experience. I thought Ann's book Cry Danger had a really good story. Meeting Ann was great, she was really friendly.

Thank you for visiting St Hugh's School on Thursday 5th of March 2009. I really enjoy reading your books and I am halfway through Fishing for Clues. It is amazing. I learned a lot from you and I wish to be an author when I am older. Thank you."

Year 5 pupil, St Hugh's School, Ware, Hertfordshire.

Thank you for such a fantastic morning which surpassed all our expectations. Your talk was really inspirational and has given the girls a real zest for writing. I also found your Q&A session really interesting and felt it showed how engaged the girls had been. The writing workshop was such fun and worked really well. I have had loads of girls (and staff ) coming up to me telling me how much they enjoyed themselves and thanking me for arranging for you to come so all in all a really successful day mainly thanks to you.
Mrs Birte Milne, Wychwood School, Oxford.