AUTHOR and journalist Maria McCarthy will run five week course on Writing Novels and Stories in Tipton St John from next week.

AUTHOR and journalist Maria McCarthy will run five week course on Writing Novels and Stories in Tipton St John from next week.

Classes will run on Thursday mornings from Thursday (March 5) in Tipton's village hall between 10am and 12noon.

The Devon Adult and Community Learning course covers creating characters, dialogue and plots and students at all levels are welcome.

Maria, who lives in the Primley area of Sidmouth, was an information officer for various charities and an aid worker in Romania. She said: "I really enjoy teaching

and in my classes I use techniques to help students free up their imagination alongside ones to hone their writing skills, and hopefully have fun too." Also a lecturer at Bristol University, she is the author of The Girls' Guide to Losing Your L

Plates and will publish a car handbook for girls this summer.

The five-week course costs �30. For more details contact Maria on (01395) 577463 or check out.