Presentations and Workshops

I offer a variety of presentations and workshops at schools, covering such topics as where ideas come from, story structure, editing and revision, character development, time travel stories, history and research, plus many other aspects of writing and publishing. I have some suggestions for presentations and workshops, but am always pleased to work with teachers and librarians to build sessions best suited to your students. Each of my novels also provide ideas for classroom projects and you may find some suggestions on the Study Guides page on my website. 

Contact me for details of fees and availability for school presentations and workshops.

New Non-fiction Titles - U.S. Armed Forces: Air Force

The Air Force is the aviation and aerial warfare branch of the United States armed forces. The U.S. AIr Force is the largest air force in the world. This is an AV2 media enhanced book. A unique book code printed on page 2 unlocks multimedia content. This book comes alive with video, audio, weblinks, slide shows, activities, hands-on experiments, and much more. Published by Weigl Publishers in July, 2012.

You can learn more about U.S. Armed Forces: Air Force, as well as my many other non-fiction titles, on my website.

New Tectonic Plate in the Indian Ocean? - Check out Future Plate Tectonics at Dark Roasted Blend

In the news today, the possible formation of a new tectonic plate in the Indian Ocean. 

You can read more about these kinds of potential developments in my earth shattering article at Dark Roasted Blend entitled Future Plate Tectonics. 

Two recent massive earthquakes near Sumatra in Indonesia and the resultant aftershocks may mean a new plate boundary is being formed on the ocean floor in this already volatile region. Check out the fascinating article in Cosmos entitled Record-breaking earthquakes push new boundaries

New Non-fiction Titles - U.S. Armed Forces: Navy

The U.S. Navy is the branch of the military responsible for operations at sea. The Navy also uses aircraft in its operations, and they often work together with the Marine Corps. This is an AV2 media enhanced book. A unique book code printed on page 2 unlocks multimedia content. This book comes alive with video, audio, weblinks, slide shows, activities, hands-on experiments, and much more. Published by Weigl Publishers in July, 2012


You can learn more about U.S. Armed Forces: Navy, as well as my many other non-fiction titles, on my website.

Author in Residence

For my Author in Residence program, I can be at your school for a week or longer. This allows me to cover topics in much more depth than would be possible during a regular author visit. All bookings of a full day or longer will also receive a complimentary set of my seven novels for the school library. This special offer is valid until May 31, 2013.

Each of my novels provide ideas for classroom projects and you may find some suggestions on the Study Guides page on my website. 

I have some suggestions for presentations and workshops, but am always pleased to work with teachers and librarians to build sessions best suited to your students. 

Contact me for details of fees and availability for my Author in Residence program.

The Brain of a Children's Author - The Interview

I was recently interview by my fellow children's author Amberly Kristen Clowe. Check out this great interview, entitled The Brain of a Children's Author. 

Learn about all my published work, upcoming projects, sources of inspiration, reflections on the writing life, thoughts on the children's book scene, advice for aspiring writers and more. 

You can learn more about Amberly and her books on her website and also connect with her on Facebook

Awesome Vintage Calculators at Dark Roasted Blend

Check out the latest article at Dark Roasted Blend, entitled Awesome Vintage Calculators. 

These days it seems like there’s another new gadget every other week, whether it’s a phone, handheld device, tablet computer, laptop or some other hi-tech innovation. We’ve certainly come a long way from the days when everyone was getting the latest pocket calculator, marveling at the technology of these machines when they came into the mainstream back in the seventies. This time Dark Roasted Blend takes a look at some calculators from years gone by. 

Dark Roasted Blend is among the finest locations online to find the weird, the wonderful and the fantastic, crammed with great articles, stunning photography, plus fabulous new content appears daily.

School Programs - Free Books for School Libraries

I offer a variety of presentations, author in residence programs and conduct workshops for children at schools. All bookings of a full day or longer will receive a complimentary set of my seven novels for the school library. This special offer is valid until May 31, 2013.

I offer a variety of presentations for grades three to eight, but can work with grades one and two as well. I cover such topics as where ideas come from, story structure, editing and revision, character development, time travel stories, history and research, plus many other aspects of writing and publishing.

I will present to around one hundred students at a time, although we can also look at workshops with smaller groups or individual classes.

Each of my novels provide ideas for classroom projects and you may find some suggestions on the Study Guides page on my website. 

Contact me for details of fees and availability for school presentations.

School Programs - Virtual Author Visits

Children are almost always inspired when they meet a real life author or illustrator, but it may not always possible to have an author visit your school. However, why not put technology to work for you, with a virtual author visit via video using Skype? These can be conducted with large groups or individual classes.

You can get an idea of what a virtual visit looks like from my videos Virtual Author Visits, Simon Rose – Author, The Time Camera and The Sorcerer’s Letterbox or on YouTube, in which I talk about my books, my workshops for adults and schools, plus my various services for writers.

Contact me directly for details about virtual author visits.

Writing and Publishing Your Children's Novel, University of Calgary, Saturday October 13

Each year, the Continuing Education department at the University of Calgary serves over 20,000 lifelong learners and offers thousands of courses taught by more than 1,000 instructors – all experts in their fields.

Writing and Publishing Your Children's Novel - Saturday, October 13

This workshop deals with getting started as a writer for young readers and the subsequent path to publication. You will examine the writing process from initial concept through to the finished manuscript, including how to turn ideas into stories, story structure, developing characters, the creation of outlines and the importance of editing and revision. You will also examine ways to research publishing houses where you can submit your work, cover letters, synopses and sample chapters.

Learn more about the Writing and Publishing Your Children's Novel workshop and how to register here

Copywriting for Web Content and Social Media

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 and offer a variety of copywriting services including website content, blogs and newsletters, social media including Facebook and Twitter, brochures, direct mail, sales letters, press releases, newspaper and magazine advertising and more. 

Contact me for details regarding copywriting services and my portfolio of completed projects.

Online Workshops for Children and Young Adults

With my Online Workshops for Children and Young Adults, through a series of e mail assignments, details of which are available here, we explore where ideas come from and how to turn them into stories, basic story structure, plot development, creating characters, developing dialogue and more to help develop writing ability. A set of workshops can be started at any time. Following registration, all assignments are sent by e mail and are completed at your own pace, to be sent to me by return e mail. There is no time limit and participants may take as long as they wish to complete their full set of workshops.

Check out Online Workshops for Children and Young Adults today.

What's it all about? - The background to The Emerald Curse

The Emerald Curse - "Page turning tension with a resourceful and intrepid hero ... and sure to please any child who likes fantasy, science fiction and comics."

'Charles Kelly was the world's greatest comic book artist, until he disappeared without a trace. Two years later, his grandson Sam discovers a mysterious pen in Kelly's attic studio. Sam is soon propelled into a bizarre dimension, where super villains are all powerful and disturbingly real, and finds himself in a deadly confrontation with an evil entity, imprisoned inside a mystical gemstone since the dawn of time.'

On my website, you can learn more about the superhero comics that served as an inspiration for The Emerald Curse at Comics and Superheroes page. The Emerald Curse is available at most online bookstores which you can link to here. Autographed copies are also always available directly from the author.  

New Non-fiction Titles - U.S. Armed Forces: Army

The Army is main ground force of the United States armed forces. The U.S. Army is the largest of all five branches of the military. This is an AV2 media enhanced book. A unique book code printed on page 2 unlocks multimedia content. This book comes alive with video, audio, weblinks, slide shows, activities, hands-on experiments, and much more. Published by Weigl Publishers in July, 2012

You can learn more about U.S. Armed Forces: Army, as well as my many other non-fiction titles, on my website.