Simon Rose's Blog, page 246

Picture Book Projects for Younger Readers with Calgary Illustrator Val Lawton

Calgary illustrator Val Lawton and I have teamed up to do some work creative work on spec.
When I'm not busy writing my next novel, and Val's not working on illustrations for her next children's picture book, we've been transforming my manuscripts for younger readers into book dummies -- or miniature picture books -- that we can then approach potential publishers with.

Our first foray was with a manuscript about a renaissance dragon -- a dragon who likes the finer things in life. We broke the...

Writing Badges for Brownies, Guides and Pathfinders in Calgary and area.

I am please to be working locally in Calgary with Girl Guides of Canada, and am available for lively, interactive and fun-filled creative writing sessions to help your brownies, guides or pathfinders attain their writing badges.

Topics covered can include where writers get ideas from, the writing process, story structure, time travel stories, character development, editing and revision, dramatic beginnings and cliffhanger endings, the importance of research and more. However, I am very...

Writing in the Holiday Season - This month's teleclass at the Children's Writers' Coaching Club

[image error] Join me on December 10 at 7 pm, Mountain Standard Time
at the Children's Writers' Coaching Club at the National Writing for Children Center. In this month's class, entitled Writing in the Holiday Season, we look at writing in the holiday season and ways to maximize your writing output when surrounded by so many sources of inspiration, at one of the busiest times of the year.
Copies of archived teleclasses can be purchased here. Check out the Children's Writers' Coaching Club today.

Creative Writing Classes for Home Schoolers @ South Fish Creek Recreation Centre, Calgary - January & February 2010.

Join me for classes in creative writing especially for home school children at South Fish Creek Recreation Centre in SW Calgary. The next set of classes take place every Tuesday, from January 5 to February 23, 2010. Registration details are available here.
Junior Adventures in Creative Writing Ages - 6 and 7Spectacular Story Starters - What if you received a letter telling you you'd been accepted into a school for wizards? Or discovered a door into another universe at the back of your bedroom...

Review of The Doomsday Mask by Resource Links, October 2009

Fifteen-year-old Paul Jaeger and his friend, Jonas, frantically attempt to escape the war-torn city of Berlin. The date is 1945. Stumbling on an abandoned mine just outside the city, they climb down the shaft into an enormous cavern. Here they are astonished to find a huge stash of paintings, statues and boxes filled with jewels and other treasures, including a large blue crystal stone. But before they have time to look around, Paul trips over a wire. Booby trap! They run for the entrance as...

Book signing at Chapters in Calgary, Friday December 4

[image error] Today I will be signing copies of The Doomsday Mask at Chapters in SW Calgary at 9631 MacLeod Trail SW. I will also be signing copies of The Heretic's Tomb, The Emerald Curse, The Clone Conspiracy, The Sorcerer's Letterbox and The Alchemist's Portrait. Hope to see you there.

Creative Writing for Home Schoolers at Cardel Place, North Central Calgary - January to April, 2010

Join me for classes in creative writing, especially for home school children from the northern part of the city of Calgary and in the surrounding area, at Cardel Place, for community sports and recreation. The next set of classes take place every Thursday, from January 14 to April 1, 2010.
January 14 - February 18 Time Travel Tales – In these sessions, children create their own time travel stories, complete with a time machine, method or device. We will discuss their time travel methods, the...

An Interview with Beverly Stowe McClure

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Beverly Stowe McClure is a former teacher who once hated to read and write. Now she does both and loves every minute of it. Her published novels for children and teens are Listen to the Ghost, Secrets I Have Kept, Rebel in Blue Jeans, and Just Breeze. Her doggie story is in Chicken Soup for the Soul: What I Learned from the Dog, and her article on animal babies and their daddies is in a PreK-K Scot-Foresman anthology. Her "Breakthrough" article appeared in the June 2007 issue of The Writer span

Ideal for Christmas Gifts - Autographed Books, Direct from the Author

In addition to bookstores across Canada and around the world, you can also obtain signed copies of all my books, The Doomsday Mask, The Heretic's Tomb, The Emerald Curse, The Clone Conspiracy, The Sorcerer's Letterbox and The Alchemist's Portrait directly from me. I am always happy to sign books for my readers and to inscribe a special message. Descriptions of all the books can be found on my website here.

You can order books through the order form on my website here or simply contact me...

Wanted: A Place for a Novel Without a Home

In addition to my already published novels and upcoming projects for children ages eight to twelve, I have another completed novel on a paranormal theme which I am seeking a home for, if there are any interested editors and publishers reading this. The exciting and fast paced plot involves such themes as reincarnation, past life regression, psychics, clandestine government conspiracies, official cover-ups and unsolved mysteries stretching back decades.
Examples of previous work and my six...