michaels
Maddison
AWARD-WINNING author
WRITING coach
PODCAST HOST
WRITING COACH - AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR - PODCAST HOST
practical talks for writers & readers
practical talks for writers & readers
Book Maddison
Whether you run a writers' group, Readers Group, library program, writing conference, or professional writing organisation, Maddison offers practical, deeply personal talks that your members will be talking about long after they leave the room.
Every session is available either in person across Northern NSW and South East Queensland, or online via Zoom for groups anywhere in Australia.
Talks that are practical, personal & truly memorable!
These are the talks your community has been waiting for...
There's a reason some writers thrive with detailed outlines while others can't begin until they sit down and let the story unfold. There's a reason some writers need deep silence and others need noise. There's a reason you might know exactly what needs to happen in your story, and still can't seem to get the words onto the page.
It's not about talent. It's not about discipline. It's about understanding how you're naturally wired to write.
In this talk, Maddison walks your members through the DOPE Bird Writing Personality Framework, a powerful tool at the heart of her coaching practice. Your members will discover their own writing personality type, understand why they've been experiencing the creative blocks they have, and leave with practical, personalised strategies they can apply immediately, the very next time they sit down to write.
Whether your members are working on their first novel or their tenth, this talk will offer them something they've likely never had before: a genuine self-awareness about how their mind works when they write, and how to work with it rather than against it.
It's not about talent. It's not about discipline. It's about understanding how you're naturally wired to write.
In this talk, Maddison walks your members through the DOPE Bird Writing Personality Framework, a powerful tool at the heart of her coaching practice. Your members will discover their own writing personality type, understand why they've been experiencing the creative blocks they have, and leave with practical, personalised strategies they can apply immediately, the very next time they sit down to write.
Whether your members are working on their first novel or their tenth, this talk will offer them something they've likely never had before: a genuine self-awareness about how their mind works when they write, and how to work with it rather than against it.
Signature talk
Discover Your Writing Personality:
How You're Wired to Write
The DOPE Bird Writing Personality Framework for Writers
- Which of the four writing personality types they most align with, and what that means for their writing process
- Why some aspects of writing have felt effortless while others have felt like pushing against concrete
- Whether they've been writing against their natural strengths, and what to do differently
- Practical, personalised strategies grounded in NLP methodology and neuroscience to use in their very next writing session
YOUR MEMBERS WILL LEAVE KNOWING:
- 1 hour + Optional Q & A
- In person or Online via Zoom
- Writers at any stage
- Interactive and Practical
Every writer processes the world, and their story, through a dominant sensory lens. Visual writers see their scenes like films playing in their mind. Auditory writers hear their characters speak before they ever reach for the page. Kinaesthetic writers feel the emotion first and let it guide the words. Auditory Digital writers think in language, structure, and internal dialogue.
Most writers have never been told which lens they work through, let alone how to use it. In this talk, Maddison introduces the four NLP modalities as they apply specifically to creative writers, helping your members understand how they naturally experience their story world, and how to write from that strength rather than against it.
The result is a more fluid, authentic, and instinctive writing process that feels less like forcing words onto the page and more like letting the story come through.
Most writers have never been told which lens they work through, let alone how to use it. In this talk, Maddison introduces the four NLP modalities as they apply specifically to creative writers, helping your members understand how they naturally experience their story world, and how to write from that strength rather than against it.
The result is a more fluid, authentic, and instinctive writing process that feels less like forcing words onto the page and more like letting the story come through.
writing groups & conferences
How Your Mind Writes:
Discovering Your NLP Writer's Modality
The four NLP learning modalities applied to the creative writing process
- Their dominant NLP writing modality and what it means for how they naturally access and experience story
- Why their writing process looks different from other writers, and why that's a strength rather than a flaw
- Practical techniques for writing into their natural modality to access more creative flow
- How to use their modality to break through blocks and reconnect with their story when they're stuck
YOUR MEMBERS WILL LEAVE KNOWING:
- 1 hour + Optional Q & A
- In person or Online via Zoom
- All genres and experience levels
Suspense isn't just a genre device. It's an emotional state you create in your reader, and if you understand how real tension actually works, you'll know how to put it on the page.
Drawing on eighteen years as a police officer alongside her career as a multi-published author of mystery and historical suspense, Maddison brings a genuinely unique perspective to the craft of suspense writing. This talk explores how real-world high-stakes situations create tension, how that translates to narrative structure and scene craft, and how writers of any genre can use those principles to create the kind of stories readers simply can't put down.
Particularly well-suited to crime, mystery, thriller, and historical fiction writers, this talk is equally valuable for any writer looking to raise the emotional stakes in their story and keep readers turning pages.
Drawing on eighteen years as a police officer alongside her career as a multi-published author of mystery and historical suspense, Maddison brings a genuinely unique perspective to the craft of suspense writing. This talk explores how real-world high-stakes situations create tension, how that translates to narrative structure and scene craft, and how writers of any genre can use those principles to create the kind of stories readers simply can't put down.
Particularly well-suited to crime, mystery, thriller, and historical fiction writers, this talk is equally valuable for any writer looking to raise the emotional stakes in their story and keep readers turning pages.
mystery, crime & thriller writers
The Anatomy of Suspense:
What 18 Years in Policing Taught Me About Keeping Readers Hooked
A craft talk on building authentic tension, pacing, and reader investment
- How real-world tension functions psychologically, and how to replicate that experience in a reader
- Craft techniques that create authentic, sustained suspense across a full manuscript
- How to write high-stakes scenes with emotional truth, not just external drama
- Practical pacing strategies drawn from real investigative and crisis experience
YOUR MEMBERS WILL LEAVE KNOWING:
- 1 hour + Optional Q & A
- In person or Online via Zoom
- Crime, mystery and thriller focus
Set in the gaslit world of 1890s London, the Victorian mystery series Magic, Murder and Mayhem blends historical authenticity with the stagecraft of illusion and the cold mechanics of murder. Writing it required deep research into Victorian stage magic, spiritualism, and the social undercurrents of Victorian England.
In this engaging behind-the-book talk, Maddison shares the research journey behind the series: the historical details that shaped the world, the choices that had to be made between accuracy and narrative momentum, and the unexpected discoveries that changed the story entirely.
This is a talk for readers who love historical fiction, for writers fascinated by the craft of research, and for anyone drawn to the strange, theatrical, and often darker corners of nineteenth-century life. Ideal for reader groups, library events, and writing groups with an interest in historical fiction and research methodology.
In this engaging behind-the-book talk, Maddison shares the research journey behind the series: the historical details that shaped the world, the choices that had to be made between accuracy and narrative momentum, and the unexpected discoveries that changed the story entirely.
This is a talk for readers who love historical fiction, for writers fascinated by the craft of research, and for anyone drawn to the strange, theatrical, and often darker corners of nineteenth-century life. Ideal for reader groups, library events, and writing groups with an interest in historical fiction and research methodology.
reader groups & libraries
Magic, Murder, and Victorian London:
The Research Behind the Fiction
A behind-the-book talk on historical research, Victorian stage magic, and the mystery series The Jack of Hearts
- 45min + Q & A
- In person or Online via Zoom
- Readers and Writers Welcome
About Maddison
- Real-world publishing experience
- A structured 12-step framework
- Personality-based strategy
- NLP tools and mindset integration
- And practical story development guidance
Maddison Michaels is a multi-published, award-winning Australian author, certified Life Coach, NLP Practitioner, and Hypnotherapist. She spent eighteen years as a police officer before turning her full attention to writing, coaching, and building a methodology that helps writers at every stage finish the books they're working on.
She's the host of the Write The Darn Book podcast and the creator of the neuroscience and mindset-informed Write The Darn Book™ Method, which weaves NLP, neuroscience, and the DOPE Bird Writing Personality Framework into a complete coaching system designed specifically for writers. Her published fiction includes the historical romance novel The Elusive Earl and the Victorian mystery series Magic, Murder and Mayhem.
Maddison is based in the Northern Rivers region of NSW and is available to speak in person across regional NSW and South East Queensland, or online via Zoom for groups anywhere in Australia.
MADDISON COMBINES:
Qualifications
Thanks for your interest! I will get back to you within 2 business days!
Thank you!
All talks are offered to writing groups, reader groups. libraries, and writing organisations. Maddison is flexible on format, date, and timing, and is very happy to tailor the session to suit your community.
To start a conversation about bringing one of these talks to your group, reach out via email below.
