PlayWriting Camp this July with the Calgary Arts Summer School Association

PlayWriting Camp will once again will take place this summer from July 22 to 26 with the Calgary Arts Summer School Association. 

This is a half-day camp (either morning or afternoon) for students ages 7 to 12. In a dramatic and fun-filled week, children will learn how to write, rehearse and perform their own unique play in just five days. Children will create the plot, craft the script, write dialogue and hone their acting skills for their very own dramatic production, which will then be performed at the end of the week. 

Further details and registration information for PlayWriting Camp can be found here.

Summer Camps in Calgary

This July and August, I am once again available for presentations and workshops at summer camps, delivering interactive, lively and fun filled sessions for children in Calgary and the surrounding area. 

In recent years I have appeared at many community camps as a visiting author and presenter, in addition to my work with the Calgary Arts Summer School Association, SAIT, EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts, the City of Calgary and many other organizations. 

Contact me directly at www.simon-rose.com for rates and availability for summer camps this July and August.

Tips for Writers Part Ten - Create Something from Nothing

If you drive to work, you probably don’t normally notice the same old things you pass each day, such as company names and logos, advertising billboards, road signs and so on. And yet these things too can provide a starting point for your writing. As an exercise, choose a selection of things that you see one morning, completely at random, then write them down once you get to work. From there, your task is to create a short story, even if it’s only one page, involving all of those items. 

You could also perhaps choose ten words that you encounter on the way to work and write a short piece using all of those words at least once. And if your day wasn’t that interesting, turn that into a writing challenge too. Recall the most mind-numbing aspect of your day and write a short poem about it. It might not win any awards for content or style, but creating that poem about such a bland topic might be just what you need to get moving with your writing.

On my website, you can find details of my coaching programs, creative writing workshops, online writing workshops, editing services, ghost writing and copywriting for business.

Tips for Writers Part Nine - Inspiration from Daily Life

Activities unrelated to writing can often unlock your inspiration, whether it’s doing laundry, walking the dog, tidying the house, mowing the lawn or doing the dishes. It’s surprising how even the most mundane situations can launch you on the road to your next story. Consider airports, for example, where there is usually little to do while you are waiting for at least an hour for your flight to leave. 

However, you are surrounded by many different kinds of people, as they eat snacks, drink coffee, read books, newspapers or magazines, listen to music or perhaps chat to the person beside them. You don’t know these people at all, but to the writer, such a situation can provide a wealth of material, as you can pass the time idly speculating about the lives, jobs, families, even the hopes and dreams, of your fellow travelers. Similarly, if you undertake a regular journey to work on a bus or a train each morning with hundreds of other people, the possibilities for inspiration are almost endless.

On my website, you can find details of my coaching programs, creative writing workshops, online writing workshops, editing services, ghost writing and copywriting for business.

Summer Camps in Calgary

This July and August, I am once again available for presentations and workshops at summer camps, delivering interactive, lively and fun filled sessions for children in Calgary and the surrounding area. 

In recent years I have appeared at many community camps as a visiting author and presenter, in addition to my work with the Calgary Arts Summer School Association, SAIT, EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts, the City of Calgary and many other organizations. 

Contact me directly at www.simon-rose.com for rates and availability for summer camps this July and August.

Business Writing for Manuals, Plans and Reports

I have extensive experience in many different types of writing and offer a variety of services for large and small businesses, government, corporations and associations. 

Articles for Businesses or Associations	Business/Grant Proposals
Business Plans	Reports
Company Handbooks	Rules and Regulations
Company Histories	Scripts
Educational Materials	Speeches
Manuals	Technical Writing
Marketing Plans	Training Materials

I offer both hourly rates and flat fees for this kind of business writing, based on the requirements of the project. Please contact me directly for rates and fees for any of the above projects.

Tips for Writers Part Eight - The Alternate History Genre

The genre of alternate history is a fascinating one, imagining history unfolding in a radically different way, resulting in utterly different timelines, landmark events and notable personalities. What if England had fallen to the Spanish Armada in 1588? Perhaps Napoleon wasn’t defeated at Waterloo? What if the Confederacy had won the civil war? What would the world have been like if the Russian Revolution had never happened? 

Whatever road you decide to follow, attempting to rewrite the ending to a familiar story or present an alternative scenario could take you in all sorts of interesting directions. A radically different take on familiar characters and situations, while they may not be marketable in themselves, will help to get your creative juices flowing and perhaps serve as inspiration for your own piece of work. 

On my website, you can find details of my coaching programs, creative writing workshops, online writing workshops, editing services, ghost writing and copywriting for business.

Hear Here - Listen to Author Readings at simon-rose.com

People are always interested in hearing an author read from their own work. Children in particular, especially those who have read and enjoyed the novels, are usually captivated when an author reads from their own book during a personal appearance at a school, library, literary festival or other event.

Here on my website, you can listen to interviews and readings from The Alchemist's Portrait, The Clone Conspiracy, The Emerald Curse and The Heretic's Tomb, recorded on Calgary's CKUA radio network, plus a reading from The Sorcerer's Letterbox, recorded during my appearance at the Winnipeg International Writers Festival.

PlayWriting Camp this July with the Calgary Arts Summer School Association

PlayWriting Camp will once again will take place this summer from July 22 to 26 with the Calgary Arts Summer School Association. 

This is a half-day camp (either morning or afternoon) for students ages 7 to 12. In a dramatic and fun-filled week, children will learn how to write, rehearse and perform their own unique play in just five days. Children will create the plot, craft the script, write dialogue and hone their acting skills for their very own dramatic production, which will then be performed at the end of the week. 

Further details and registration information for PlayWriting Camp can be found here.

Tips for Writers Part Seven - No Happily Ever After

If you don’t feel as if you can create your own story from scratch, why not use someone else’s? This is not an endorsement of plagiarism, but rather a suggestion to rewrite the ending to a story you are very familiar with. This could be a fairy tale, a real incident from history, myths or legends, a movie or TV series, whatever you like really. 

Perhaps the prince never reached the castle to bestow a kiss on Sleeping Beauty and wake her from her spellbound slumber? Maybe Goldilocks met three tigers in the jungle instead of three bears in the woods? Perhaps the slipper didn’t fit Cinderella when she tried it on after all? What if Dorothy decided to stay in Oz instead of returning home to Kansas?

On my website, you can find details of my coaching programs, creative writing workshops, online writing workshops, editing services, ghost writing and copywriting for business.

Coaching for Writers

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

Just a few examples of topics we can cover during the coaching period are point of view, creating characters, developing dialogue, story structure, editing and revision, marketing and promotion and submissions to publishers. However, I am very flexible and happy to discuss your own unique requirements and areas where you feel that you may need the most help. 

In addition to coaching, on my website you can learn more about my other services for writers, such as online workshops for adults, manuscript evaluation and online workshops for children and young adults.

Business Writing Services

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 composing content for a wide range of industries and market segments and offer a variety of writing services.

• Brochures 
• Direct Mail
• Sales Letters
• Newsletters
• Press Releases
• Newspaper and Magazine Advertising 

I offer both hourly rates and flat fees for business writing, based on the requirements of the project. Please contact me for details.

Too Good to be True - The World's Greatest Scams and Swindles

Check out the latest online article entitled Too Good to be True - The World's Greatest Scams and Swindles.

Want to get an insight into the mind of an evil genius, by reading the Fuhrer's own personal diaries? Maybe you're interested in buying the Eiffel Tower or even the Brooklyn Bridge? Perhaps you'd like to invest all your money in a country that doesn't even exist?

This article takes a look at just a few of the world's most outrageous scams and swindles, perpetrated by some of the craftiest men and women in history.

Tips for Writers Part Six - People Plotting

Some writers get at least part of their inspiration from pictures, paintings or photographs. Photographs of people are easy enough find online and another good writing exercise is to take two people and imagine a situation were they might meet. They could be stuck in an elevator for ten minutes and have to strike up a conversation or a have minor car accident on a deserted road, then have to exchange insurance information. It could be anything, entirely based on whatever you think the characters might be like, from the impression you get from the photographs. 

Then to make it particularly interesting, you can have the two people discover that they have an unexpected connection, in which they learn they are long lost siblings, have the same type of dog, are both looking for the same treasure or whatever idea you come up with. If you handed the same pictures to two different writers, they would doubtless invent widely differing personalities for their imaginary person, but whatever you come up with will be unique to yourself.

Another idea is to set up an imaginary dinner party at your house. The guests could be celebrities, movie and TV actors, characters from books, comics, cartoons or movies. These could be characters you like, admire, find irritating, or even detest, it’s really up to you. What would they have in common, what might they talk about, agree on or argue about? You choose the guests based on the dynamics that might occur from having them all in the same place, at a truly fascinating imaginary party.

On my website, you can find details of my coaching programs, creative writing workshops, online writing workshops, editing services, ghost writing and copywriting for business.

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

The Navy SEALS are part of the U.S. Navy, one of the five main branches of the U.S. 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, 2013.

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

Writing Services for Social Media

To ensure that you stay in the public eye, in addition to promoting your own website, you need to pay attention to social media on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and many others. Since you need to focus on the business, why not hire an expert to take care of your social media accounts?

I offer both hourly rates and flat fees for writing for blogs and social media, based on the requirements of the project. Please contact me directly for rates and fees for copywriting for blogs and social media.

New Non-fiction Titles - U.S. Armed Forces: Marine Corps Special Operations

Marine Corps Special Operations is part of the U.S. Marine Corps, one of the five branches of the U.S. 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, 2013.

You can learn more about Marine Corps Special Operations, as well as my many other non-fiction titles, on my website.

Tips for Writers Part Five - Kick-start Your Creativity

Another great way to get started is to consider an overheard conversation and where it might lead. How about “I’ll never forgive him for as long as I live”, or “I didn’t mean to set the laboratory on fire, it just kind of happened” or “after that incident last year, her family will never be the same again”. Any of these could be overheard in the aisle of the supermarket, at a store checkout or on a long bus or train journey. 

You could even find a mysterious note or find a cell phone with either a text or a voice message with tantalizingly vague details, from someone who may be in serious danger. Or maybe you receive a letter and immediately recognize the name above the return address as belonging to someone you thought was dead. All of these are great story starters, but can also help you develop your own idea or take it on a completely different path altogether.

On my website, you can find details of my coaching programs, creative writing workshops, online writing workshops, editing services, ghost writing and copywriting for business.

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

Delta Force performs mostly secret operations and is part of the U.S. Army, the largest of the five branches of the U.S. 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, 2013.

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

Signs of Success - The World's Top Brands

Check out the latest online article, entitled Signs of Success - The World's Top Brands

We encounter lots of familiar company logos in our daily lives and buy a lot of products from instantly recognizable companies. If you’ve ever wondered which of the world’s purveyors of products are the most successful, this article takes a look at the planet’s most valuable brands, as of late 2012. 

PlayWriting Camp this July with the Calgary Arts Summer School Association

PlayWriting Camp will once again will take place this summer from July 22 to 26 with the Calgary Arts Summer School Association. 

This is a half-day camp (either morning or afternoon) for students ages 7 to 12. In a dramatic and fun-filled week, children will learn how to write, rehearse and perform their own unique play in just five days. Children will create the plot, craft the script, write dialogue and hone their acting skills for their very own dramatic production, which will then be performed at the end of the week. 

Further details and registration information for PlayWriting Camp can be found here.

New Non-fiction Titles - U.S. Armed Forces: Green Berets

The Green Berets are part of the U.S. Army, the largest of the five branches of the U.S. 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, 2013.

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