Crystal Quest

David, thank you so much for your visit to our school in October as part of our book week. The children greatly enjoyed working with you and you managed to inspire them to develop their own ideas into wonderful stories. They wrote up their stories and produced them into fabulous books of which they are very proud. Thank you once again and we look forward to having you visit our school again soon. Victoria May, 09/12/2010

What struck me about this book was the author obviously enjoys blending real historic events with fantasy. Quite a bit of thought has gone into researching the legends of Atlantis, the origins of Stonehenge, Battle of Waterloo and time travel etc. Not to mention a lot about the zodiac, star signs and crystals! Yet the author has managed to blend facts and legend into a roller-coaster children's adventure packed with action and humour. My only complaint is that the story could have been longer. I hope that part 2 is as good (but longer!) I also know that some schools in England are now using this book as a part of their literacy programme (key stage 2) and that it is going down very well with children there! If both the teachers and the children like it then it must be a recommended read. Amazon, 2007

From libraries

I just wanted to say another big THANK YOU for Saturday: it was brilliant! Final figures were that we had just over 2,000 people through the doors. We would love to book you again for next year if that's okay. It would be great if David could do a writing workshop. David is an enthusiastic speaker who's keen to inspire children in science fiction and fantasy. The whole day was an enormous success and the feedback from the public was extremely positive. Thanks again! Anish Harrison, Librarian, Swindon Central Library, 19 November 2010

David ran a series of very successful creative writing workshops in five libraries in Wiltshire during the summer holidays. The format was well thought out and the content very informative and appropriate for the age range of the children taking part. The children were fascinated to learn the process of publishing a book from the initial ideas to the finished product and David made this very real by talking about his own experience as an author and showing them his actual manuscripts, work in progress and published books. They picked up lots of practical tips for writing their own stories. Given time to create some story ideas of their own, the children enjoyed sharing these with the group and were encouraged greatly by David’s constructive comments. David has a very relaxed and easy manner with the children and had no difficulty in maintaining their interest for over one and half hours. Indeed, one of the children commented on our evaluation form that he really enjoyed the workshop: the only trouble was that it was too short! Penny England, Community Librarian, Bradford on Avon Library, October 2009

Alien Invasion - Wootton Bassett Library 08/05/10. Jessica Phillips community Librarian, Comments from the day include: "Inspiring author talk from David Johnson, he really gave the kids an insight into writing and how easy it could be for them to write their own stories. It was nice to have a male perspective". Over 900 people attended.

Alien attack- Warminster Library 30 Oct 2010. Richard Violet, Community Librarian, 21/11/2010. David, very many thanks again to you and your colleagues for providing a great day. We normally have about five to six hundred visitors on a Saturday, but on that Saturday we had over 1,250! So we must have had approx 600 people attending the event throughout the day: a super result. With thanks and best wishes,

From shop owners

Book sales have been very good and had plenty of customers asking me WHEN the next one is. Parents also coming in very fast after buying book one (of Crystal Quest) and purchasing all the remaining books as their child was enthralled with the book. 13 Jan 2011, Matt Brooker. Owner, Automattic Comics & toys bookshop

From Sci-Fi event organisers

David Johnson has worked very closely with Charity Daleks over the last 3 years. He has assisted the group in becoming a sought after educational commodity for Libraries and Schools and providing extra entertainment for people at charity events and Sci-Fi conventions. He has made Sci-Fi events come alive with interactive stories for children of all ages and an interesting learning tool for young writers and students with his talks on creative writing. His writing skills and ability to empower and inspire children is an asset to our group that is truly appreciated by all our members. Ady Davies, Organiser Charity Daleks. 18/01/2011

David, thanks once again for coming to the show and many thanks for adding that bit extra to the Stars of Time show with your 2 brilliant sessions during the day - I'm sure you've inspired some budding authors for the future! David Burrows (Organiser, Stars of Time 2010) 16 Nov 2010