Jill Lamede is not just a writer, she is also The Tintagel Storyeller based in the fabled birthplace of King Arthur in Cornwall, UK.
Some of her tales can be heard on the audiobook cd, Stories from The Tintagel Storyteller - but there are more than 12 hours of stories in her storybasket. As it is up to the audience to choose the next story from the basket, she never knows what tales she will be telling. The stories are suitable for all ages from 5 to 95 years. There is a video clip on this page of a brief extract from a famous ancient tale... if you want to know how it ends, contact Jill via www.lamede.com.
Her first book, 'it'... a wife's journey through..., was written because of a promise made to her husband as he was dying. And that promise transformed her life, turning her into a writer and a storyteller.
Then came Tales of the Tintagel Dragon - a children's book about real places, real events and the Arthurian legends. The plane crash in the first chapter was never satisfactorily explained. The RAF said someone must have put the wrong sort of grease on the joystick! But the pilot, who has read the book, has written to say he is delighted to understand at last what really happened and that he knew perfectly well that there were dragons in the area.
The illustrations (apart from the cover) were done by a thirteen year old girl, Kaylie, who was discovered sitting in a pub, drawing dragons on paper napkins. She said she wanted to be an illustrator but that her school was not encouraging her to take art for her exams. Jill set her a challenge - to draw an invisible dragon - which Kaylie managed with ease. So Jill gave her the commission to create all the pictures for the book. It proved to be a fruitful partnership... the book is now in the school library, and Kaylie was allowed to study art.
Jill has always been a performer, and many years ago she acted with a company called T.O.O.T. (The Other Oxfordshire Theatre). One of their most successful productions was Orpheus - a retelling for children of the famous Orpheus in the Underworld myth. It was a daring choice as this myth is a tragedy with no happy ending.But somehow the company managed to create a moving comedy that had some surprises and shocks, but felt safe enough for even very young children to watch.
Teachers were very pleased with the result. The children enjoyed the show and teachers were able to use it to tackle the difficult subjects of loss and death which hit many children but which are rarely discussed openly.
There were many requests for a copy of the script, but that was just not possible then. Now, at long last, Jill has produced a book, TOOT's Orpheus, on Kindle which tells the story of Orpheus within the framework of a small travelling theatre company performing the play in a school.
The story is accompanied by the complete acting script, production notes and music. A downloadable version of the script can be obtained from Jill - there is a contact link on her website www.lamede.com.
