Simon Rose's Blog, page 26

“An imaginary friend, a mystery, and time travel? How could I resist?”

“An imaginary friend, a mystery, and time travel? How could I resist?”

“Flashback is a fascinating Young Adult book that pushes the boundaries of imagination: the Grail for every science fiction and fantasy reader.”

“Right from the very first sentence I was engaged, and I could not wait to find out what happened next. The book was thrilling and it kept me on the edge of my seat.”

“Flashback is an action-packed adventure perfect for middle grade readers.  Young readers will enjoy the plot-driven story rife with the supernatural, bad guys, evil experimentation, and time slip.”

“Seems I’ll be picking up a few of your other books quite soon! Thanks for the ride!”

“Flashback was a great book. Max and Deanna were very well developed, they made me feel like I knew them. I read this book five times, I liked it so much.”

Check out more reviews of Flashback here on my website

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Copywriting for Business

I offer a number of writer services for business. The way in which you communicate with your customers is a vital component of your business and well written content can be the difference between success and failure.

I have extensive experience in writing for a wide range of industries and market segments. I offer a variety of copywriting services including website content, blogs and newsletters, social media including Facebook and X, brochures, direct mail, sales letters, press releases, newspaper and magazine advertising and more.

Learn more about my range of writing services here.

The post Copywriting for Business appeared first on Simon Rose.

The Stone of Zalgor with Cassa Musical Arts

I’ve been involved with Cassa Musical Arts for a number of years now and this year I’m writing the script and working with the composer for the Musical Theatre Camp. This year’s musical is an epic fantasy tale entitled The Stone of Zalgor.

Centuries ago, the Stone of Zalgor, a magical gemstone with incredible powers, served as a symbol of unity for the numerous kingdoms of a fantasy universe before a period of civil war that seemed as if it would never end. Now the marriage of Prince Tobias of Karonoda and Princess Altina of Tokora, with the blessing of the stone, will unify all the kingdoms and usher in a period of lasting peace.

However, when the wizard Kolkan steals the stone, he has plans to use its power to take over the newly unified kingdom for himself. Tobias and Altina must embark on a dangerous quest to recapture the stone and defeat Kolkan. Their magical journey features pirates, dragons, amazon warriors and more, culminating in a dramatic battle with Kolkan and his minions, with the fate of the world in the balance.

Registration is available at https://www.cassamusicalarts.com/cassa-musical

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What’s it all about? An excerpt from The Time Traveler’s Guide

“The Time Traveler’s Guide is a great resource for any writer wanting to improve their craft.”

 

Chapter One: What is time travel?

Time travel is defined as taking place when there is movement between specific points in time. This is achieved in the same way that objects and living things move through space. In fiction, this kind of travel is made possible by the use of a time machine, device, or method. While nothing is carved in stone, I tend to think that time travel involving machinery or some kind of technology should be defined as science fiction while time travel that makes use of magic or similar methods is probably best classified as fantasy. However, these genres frequently overlap, particularly with time travel stories.

Over the years, novels, movies, and TV shows featuring time travel have included methods involving highly sophisticated machinery, scientific laboratories, various items of jewelry, wearable technology, vehicles, ancient artifacts, books, portals and doorways, dreaming, food and drink, and so many more. Time travel stories have featured journeys to the past, the future, and to alternative timelines created when previous events were changed so that they occurred differently, thus affecting what happened next in various different ways. Time travel has long been a theme in books, short stories, TV shows, and movies and shows no signs of declining in popularity anytime soon, although of course only time will tell.

A common theme in time travel tales involves someone being sent into the past by accident. When they arrive at an earlier point in history, the device or machine is somehow broken, fails to operate properly, runs out of power, is misplaced, or is stolen by the story’s villain. The reader is thus left in suspense, wondering if the heroes will be able to return safely to their own time. Of course, the reader most likely believes that the heroes will eventually escape from danger. However, the plot still has to imply that the lead characters might be marooned in the past permanently or that their lives are in jeopardy. In my time travel novels, the main characters always face serious challenges from the moment that they appear to be trapped in a dangerous historical era.

Some time travel stories simply feature an adventure in a different period in order for the characters to experience what life was like. Perhaps the character discovers an old piece of jewelry that sends them back in time when they wear it or adjust it some way. The characters then witness historical events or meet famous people. Many time travel stories concern the consequences of traveling either backward or forward through time. The idea of changing the past, either intentionally or by accident, is a common theme in science fiction and fantasy. When events that have already taken place are altered in some way, what the time traveler knew as the present day has changed when they return home. This might lead to a further adventure to restore things to what’s perceived as normal, depending on the nature of the alterations to the timeline. As you’re probably thinking already, time travel can sometimes be very complicated but the creators of these kinds of stories are aware of the potential issues at the outset and work hard to make their story entertaining, plausible, and realistic. Some stories in the genre concentrate on the paradoxes involved in time travel, such as the well-known grandfather paradox. This is when the time traveler is responsible for the death of his or her own grandfather, meaning that the traveler was never born. If this is the case then how could they have gone back in time to cause their grandfather’s death in the first place? Time travel has lots of issues like this, some of which I examine in Chapter Nine.

Time travel stories involving journeys into the past overlap with the genre of historical fiction. This kind of fiction involves stories that are set in the past. There are no firm rules, but the setting is usually at least fifty years earlier than when the story is written. The setting is a particular period in history and often includes real historical personalities. The story’s main characters are usually fictional, although the social and other conditions of the time are presented accurately. Historical fiction stories usually take place during a significant period in history. In some stories the characters are part of the events taking place but in others the events merely serve as the background to the story. In The Sorcerer’s Letterbox, the story takes place in 1483 and features the aftermath of the Wars of the Roses and the mystery of Edward V and Richard, Duke of York, known as the Princes in the Tower. The princes appear in the story, as does their uncle, King Richard III, along with some other historical characters. In The Heretic’s Tomb, the story takes place during the period of the Black Death in England in the mid fourteenth century. The novel features imaginary characters but also refers to the effects of the Black Death on society, medieval medicine, and living conditions, and to some of the personalities and events of the era. In The Alchemist’s Portrait, Matthew’s time travel adventures take him to Amsterdam in 1666, the French Revolution in 1792, the American Civil War in 1865, and the Russian Revolution in 1917, all of which needed to be portrayed accurately. The Doomsday Mask has scenes that take place in Berlin in May 1945 and the characters needed to fit into that world. In Flashback, Max finds himself in the mid 1990s, not too long ago perhaps, but he still needed to inhabit an environment that’s correctly portrayed. Next, we’ll look at some of the many time travel stories that have appeared in printed form and on screen over the years.

The Time Traveler’s Guide is available as an ebook and as a paperback on Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Smashwords and many other locations.

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No Ending to “Robin’s Last Song”: An Interview with Nina Munteanu

I recently interviewed novelist and short story author Nina Munteanu after her short story Robin’s Last Song was featured by the NYC Climate Writers Collective as part of an exhibition in the Climate imaginarium on Governors Island.

 

Simon: Congratulations on being featured with the Climate Imaginarium on Governor’s Island. Can you tell us a little about the story and why they are featuring it?

Nina: Sure. Essentially, the story is about a world thrown into unbalance then its struggle to heal again. It features Robin, a blind elder whose digital app failed to warn the world of the sudden global loss of birds with disastrous ecological consequences. After years of living in self-exile and getting around poorly on sight-enhancing technology, a discovery gives her new hope in rekindling her talents in the field of soundscape ecology to help heal the world. The story resonates with elements of how we relate to the climate crisis and our resilience in dealing with change. Despite the story being about disaster, it is essentially optimistic with a focus on our resilience and our hope, two qualities necessary for us during a changing climate.

Simon: Can you tell us a little bit about the exhibition on Governors Island this summer?

Nina: I’m told that the Climate Imaginarium exhibition this summer will include climate storytelling and poetry by Climate Café, the Sixth Festival and the Climate Writer’s Collective. There will be shows and art exhibits and even a virtual reality exhibit. Climate Imaginarium serves as a community centre for climate and culture. It has galleries and spaces for exhibitions, performances, film screenings, and events that respond to the climate crisis with solutions and visions for hope and justice. The Climate Imaginarium house opened officially on May 18th of this year and will continue throughout the summer.

Simon: Why do you think stories are important in climate action?

Nina: Our capacity and need to tell stories is as old as our ancient beginnings. From the Paleolithic cave paintings of Lascaux to our blogs on the internet, humanity has always shared story. Story is powerful in how it helps us define who we are, what’s important to us, and where we are going. Stories compel with intrigue, stir our emotions, connect with our souls through symbols, archetypes and metaphor. And stories can inspire action. Surveys have proven that fiction can be deeply persuasive through character journey that convinces at a deeper more emotional and visceral level (as opposed to a litany of facts that appeals only at an intellectual, less engaged, level).

For too long, our stories have promoted a dominant worldview of separation, exploitation and capitalism. We’ve been telling the patriarchal story of “othering” for too long; we need a new voice and a new worldview to replace our old stories of conquering and taming a “savage land” and “savage people.” When we change our stories, we change our lives and we change the world along with it. We are all on a journey, and story plays a role in that journey. 

Simon: In a previous interview you did with Apex Magazine, your interviewer Rebecca E. Treasure opened by describing the story as one that explored “extinction, human fallibility, friendship, and the conflict between technology and nature.” She then challenged with whether you thought we’re heading toward the kind of dystopia shown in the story. How did you respond? And do you still feel that way?

 

Nina: The story’s narrative was deeply grounded in current realities that involve the kind of dissonance between technology and natural processes—more specifically our myopic use of technological “fixes” to make nature more efficient for our use, whether it’s to mine water from the air (disrupting the water cycle) or gene-hack monocrops to increase yield (compromising the crop’s resilience and long-term productivity). It isn’t so much the technology, but the thought process that drives its use that is undermining the environment we live in. Our unwillingness to think of ourselves as part of the very environment we’re manipulating for shortsighted purposes could certainly bring about some version of this dystopian story. In our journey with Nature, there is so much that we still don’t know about the natural world; so even when it looks utterly bleak and nothing seems left—as I portrayed in “Robin’s Last Song”—Nature can surprise us with hidden gifts and pockets of resilience.

Simon: It almost seems like “Robin’s Last Song” is on its own journey. I understand that the short story has actually been published several times already. In fact I interviewed you before about its publication in Apex Magazine, both the magazine and its anthology. Can you tell us a little about the other publications and how they came to be?

Nina: Oh, that’s going to be a long answer, Simon! Because it really begins with a different story altogether. Shall I continue?

Simon: By all means. I’m intrigued.

Nina: Ok. Well, it started in 2019 with an invite by Oliver Hockenhull, guest editor of subTerrain Magazine to write a piece on technology and the environment. I really wanted to write something about bird population decline—I’d just run across an alarming article in Science Magazine in which researchers estimated that three billion birds of various species had disappeared in Canada and the United States since 1970. That’s a third of the entire bird population lost in five decades. I’d also run across an article about an emerging bioacoustics tool called soundscape ecology that measures biodiversity and the health of an ecosystem through the sound of birds that accurately represent ecosystem health. I wanted to make this story a realizable work of diction in which science and technology play both instigator of disaster and purveyor of salvation. So, I created a premise that involved sudden bird loss, added in this new technology and some irony and submitted my short story entitled “Out of the Silence,” which focused on the technical aspects of the premise and solution. The story received some edits and was published in Issue #85 of subTerrain Magazine in 2020.

Then in 2021, Francesco Verso, guest editor for Issue #128 of Apex Magazine, invited me to submit a story and I submitted “Out of the Silence.” He really liked it but wanted me to rewrite it with a stronger human focus, particularly on the blind elder and her journey. I admit that I toiled with it, but I did finally achieve a rewrite that included a stronger focus on Robin’s personal journey, her connection with birds and the catastrophe, how she coped with Asperger’s syndrome, and how she came to work on the project in the first place. The story was quite different and with the obvious focus on the protagonist, I decided to call it “Robin’s Last Song.”

Simon: A metaphoric title, then, with several meanings.

Nina: Yes! Exactly. Francesco really challenged me and I think this iteration of the same general story and premise is so much better because of his patient and insightful prodding. It almost feels like “Out of the Silence” was an egg still in a nest and “Robin’s last Song” is a fledgling’s first flight, which went on to be published several times more. First in Apex Magazine’s anthology and then in Metastellar Magazine in January 2024. That was followed by the announcement in May by the NYC Climate Writers Collective that Robin’s Last Song would be in an exhibition in the Climate Imaginarium on Governors Island over the summer of 2024, starting May 18th.  Now, with its inclusion in the Climate Imaginarium exhibition, it has morphed yet again into an auditory work. Who knows where this ‘bird’ will fly to next…

Simon: Well, it sounds like “Robin’s Last Song” is still in flight. We’ll keep an eye out. Congratulations and good luck with this story and its journey, Nina.

 

You can learn more about Nina by visiting her coaching/writing website www.ninamunteanu.me for articles and tips on writing, publishing and marketing & promotion. Readers can also keep up to date on her writing at www.ninamunteanu.ca. Much of her work is eco-fiction involving her background as a limnologist and ecologist. Her site www.TheMeaningOfWater.com provides articles on interesting aspects of the environment, Nina’s own research, all often with a focus on water. You can also find her on Linked In, X, Goodreads, and Wikipedia.

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Writing Workshops and Study Guides

Writing Workshops and Study Guides 

My writing guide entitled Where Do Ideas Come From? examines how my novels The Alchemist’s Portrait, The Sorcerer’s Letterbox, The Clone Conspiracy, The Emerald Curse, The Heretic’s Tomb, The Doomsday Mask, The Time Camera, and The Sphere of Septimus can be used to create workshops and creative writing exercises for the classroom.

These include writing time travel stories, creating superheroes and comic books, inventing imaginary worlds and fantasy kingdoms, exploring fascinating historical eras, imagining future technological developments, and examining ancient mysteries and civilizations.

Where Do Ideas Come From? is available as a paperback and as an ebook and provides suggestions and recommendations for teachers developing classroom projects based on the books.

Please contact me directly if you have any questions or require further information.

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The Stone of the Seer – Where Magic and Historical Fiction Collide

The Stone of the Seer is an exciting historical fantasy series of adventure novels for young adults, primarily set in the turbulent era of the English Civil War.

“Magic and Historical Fiction Collide – This book combines historical fiction with a world of magic. It is set in the period of the English Civil War and incorporates magic, mystery and witch hunting. This book engages the reader with action and interesting characters. It is the first in a series and will leave the reader looking for book 2.”

“Royal Blood: Book two in the Stone of the Seer is even more exciting than the first story. This historical fantasy book has adventure, action and suspense. Lady Elizabeth Usborne, Kate and Tom are now in London during King Charles trial in 1649. They are still being hunted down by Daniel Tombes, the witch hunter. Their adventures continue with glimpses of the future to guide them. The reader will be left wanting more as each part of the action unfolds. I look forward to the third book, and more magical action.”

“The best finish – The final instalment in the trilogy is the best. New characters, or are they old characters? Time will tell. This story has all the elements of the previous historical fiction novels, but a new timeline. It is still loaded with mystery and intrigue. Action, adventure and mystery all rolled into one. Make sure you read these books in order and finish here with the ultimate revenge.”

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The Benefits of a Writing Coach

A professional writing coach is someone with whom you can consult, ask questions and receive constructive feedback. They act as a guide as you build your career as a professional writer. A coach can help you conquer a stumbling block, regain momentum or make a start on a new project.

My program helps you progress as a writer. You decide what you want to work on during a personalized, one on one relationship. I can be your coach and mentor for just one month or we can establish a month-to-month arrangement, depending on your schedule and expectations.

I’m very flexible regarding your own unique requirements in areas where you feel that you need the most help, but examples of topics that can be covered include character development, dialogue and format, editing and revision, story structure and plot, pacing your story, realistic settings, dramatic beginnings,  and cliffhanger endings. We can also examine submitting work, the publishing world,  and marketing and promotion.

You can also learn more about the writing and publishing process, including where ideas come from and how writers turn them into stories, choosing names for characters, the importance of historical research if your novel is set in a different era, the role of editing and revision, marketing and promotion, and more, in The Children’s Writer’s Guide, The Working Writer’s Guide, The Children’s Writer’s Guide 2, and School & Library Visits for Authors & Illustrators.

The writing of time travel stories and historical fiction is covered in The Time Traveler’s Guide, and fantasy and magic in Exploring the Fantasy Realm. The study guides for my novels are featured in Where do Ideas Come From?

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Shadowzone – “a great read … Highly recommend this series!”

“Time travel, alternate worlds, and societal sub-cultures are blended into a great plot, and a gripping and relevant read. The environmental stewardship aspect of this story echoes our current day challenges, as do the almost prescient references to a dangerous virus. Characters were well drawn and the reader is cheering for their success. The three books in the series flow smoothly together. A great read for middle school ages and up, to both engage interest and build vocabulary. Highly recommend this series!”

While watching intense flashes of lightning during a violent storm, Ben experiences mysterious and disturbing visions of another world, one very different from his own. In the chain of events that follow, Ben encounters Charlie, a girl from a dark version of Earth, a planet doomed by the effects of environmental catastrophe, where the leaders will stop at nothing to complete their deadly mission.

Shadowzone, along with the other novels in the series, Into The Web and Black Dawn, is available as a paperback and ebook. Learn more here on my website.

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The Stone of Zalgor with Cassa Musical Arts

I’ve been involved with Cassa Musical Arts for a number of years now and this year I’m writing the script and working with the composer for the Musical Theatre Camp. This year’s musical is an epic fantasy tale entitled The Stone of Zalgor.

Centuries ago, the Stone of Zalgor, a magical gemstone with incredible powers, served as a symbol of unity for the numerous kingdoms of a fantasy universe before a period of civil war that seemed as if it would never end. Now the marriage of Prince Tobias of Karonoda and Princess Altina of Tokora, with the blessing of the stone, will unify all the kingdoms and usher in a period of lasting peace.

However, when the wizard Kolkan steals the stone, he has plans to use its power to take over the newly unified kingdom for himself. Tobias and Altina must embark on a dangerous quest to recapture the stone and defeat Kolkan. Their magical journey features pirates, dragons, amazon warriors and more, culminating in a dramatic battle with Kolkan and his minions, with the fate of the world in the balance.

Registration is available at https://www.cassamusicalarts.com/cassa-musical

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