Simon Rose's Blog, page 32

Canyon Meadows Christmas Craft Fair

Looking for the perfect gift?

This Saturday from 10 am to 3 pm I’ll be signing copies of all my books at the Canyon Meadows Christmas Craft Fair. The event is being held at Canyon Meadows Community Association, 844-848 Cantabrian Drive SW in Calgary.

Learn all about my many novels, including the new Stone of the Seer series, as well as about my coaching and editing services for writers and authors.

Hope to see you there.

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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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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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“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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How to Write Great Stories for Children and Young Adults

The Writing for Children and Young Adults course focuses on writing for children aged 8 to 14 years. However some of the material also covers older and younger age groups.

Learn how to write effective, authentic, and appealing fiction for children and young adults and how to turn your ideas into compelling stories. 

The course explores the writing process from initial concept to finished work including story structure, developing plausible characters and dialogue, the creation of outlines and the importance of research, editing and revision.

Further details, course content, and registration information can be found here.

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Learn how to write effective and compelling historical fiction

Historical fiction combines the events of the past with characters and stories from the writer’s imagination.This course examines the art of writing historical fiction and the need to fully immerse yourself in a particular time period to make your storytelling more believable. Learn how to write effective, authentic and appealing historical fiction and how to turn your ideas into compelling stories. Understand what defines historical fiction and different historical time periods, create believable settings and plausible characters and learn how research plays a crucial role in the creation of your novel.The course involves assignments and writing exercises, and also deals with aspects of the writing process. The course also examines ways to research publishing houses where you can submit your work, cover letters, synopses and sample chapters.Learn more here on my website.

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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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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.

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“This is another great book written by Simon Rose.”

“This is another great book written by Simon Rose.”

“This is an excellent book for teenagers and will appeal to both boys and girls.”

“This is another great book written by Simon Rose, one of Professor Owl’s favourite authors. We have been honoured to review several of his books which we have always found to be an entertaining read. This was certainly another great read.”

“I used to find books that involved time travel confusing and too farfetched. The Flashback series is the exception.”

“Simon Rose manages to keep it simple enough that the reader doesn’t need to get caught up in the details. They simply get to enjoy a good story.”

You can read more reviews of Parallel Destiny here on my website.

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“Twisted Fate is a great read.”

“Twisted Fate kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Time-travel, secrets, visions, paranormal activity, psychics; there isn’t anything this book doesn’t explore. I would highly recommend going on this adventure. The book is not only well written, it provides many twists that you won’t see coming!”

“Twisted Fate is a tale full of time shifts, paranormal and nonstop adventure.”

“I would highly recommend going on the adventure in Twisted Fate with many twists and turns. Time-travel, visions of paranormal activity, secrets and psychics; a book that explores everything.  Once I picked the book up I could not stop reading until I finished it.”

“A fine continuation for this series. Simon has the genre down pat.”

You can read more reviews of Twisted Fate here on my website.

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