I was always in my "happy" place growing up in England. I'd design plays and grab any neighbourhood kid I could to join. I moved to Canada at the age of 10 and noticed many changes.
I am a Storyteller first and usually get a group of kids together and improvise a new story. Most of the time they will yell out words and I work them into a story. Other times I will just observe the way people interact or listen to what people say. I can usually design a story around an expression or if I think a lesson could be learned. I don't know where those flashes of inspiration come from that create my stories, I have many flashes of inspiration happen everyday. I think my teachers thought I had an attention problem, but that's how I'm built.
My favourite venue is storytelling, using crazy expressions and I'm very loud sometimes, but that's how you get, direct and keep a child's attention. They can also learn very well in that type of environment.
I love to write poem stories, short stories for younger kids and 8,000 - 10,000 words stories for older children. I get my storytelling form my Mom and the structure and insight from my father.
I go into schools and talk about my job year round as The North American Contact for Santa Claus Naughty/Nice List Division. I also have designed at Santa's request the Official Elfin Language of the North Pole called "Mandalic Elfineese." This language consists of over 1,000 characters in a 7 colour palette so kid's get full enjoyment from it.
Warmly,
Mark Leonard Robinson
The North American Contact for Santa Claus
Naughty/Nice List Division
Elfin Language Interpreter/Co-ordinator
English Division
Cultural Attache for Elfin Affairs
Northern Hemisphere