About Us
Simon Rose
Simon Rose is a science fiction and fantasy author of novels for children, based in Calgary. His first novel, The Alchemist’s Portrait, was published in 2003 followed by The Sorcerer’s Letterbox, The Clone Conspiracy, The Emerald Curse, The Heretic’s Tomb, The Doomsday Mask and The Time Camera. The Insistence of Memory, a novel for young adults, will be published in 2012.
Simon is also a contributing author to The Complete Guide to Writing Science Fiction Volume One, has written several books for younger readers with Weigl Educational Publishers, and works as a writer for Dark Roasted Blend online magazine.
Simon offers a wide variety of presentations, workshops and author in residence programs for schools and libraries, and also conducts virtual author visits by video using Skype. He works as a creative writing instructor for home school students throughout the year and at summer camps each July and August, plus is an instructor for adults with Chinook Learning Services and the University of Calgary.
Simon is a regular presenter at conferences and festivals, and served as a juror for the Governor General's Literary Awards for Children's Literature, the Saskatchewan Book Awards, the Parsec Awards and the Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic. He is the founder of Children's Authors and Illustrators on Facebook and served as the Assistant Regional Advisor for SCBWI Western Canada. Simon offers a number of services for writers, including manuscript evaluation, editing, online writing workshops and coaching, plus copywriting services for the business community, including copywriting for websites and blogs. Full details can be found at his website www.simon-rose.com. You may also visit his blog at simon-rose.blogspot.com, his channel on YouTube, follow him on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.
Nicholas Burman
Nicholas is a graphic designer living in Calgary, Alberta. With formal education in fine art (Alberta College of Art, Painting) and Multimedia Design and Communication (Applied Multimedia Training Centre), he is skilled in a wide variety of traditional and digital media.
Nick's "fast, professional and diligent" work ethic coupled with a high level of customer service, make him "a pleasure to work with" and his no-template policy ensures all his clients receive custom solutions for businesses and personal applications.
Creative, flexible and dependable, with a dry sense of humour, Nick is "quick to tackle any challenge" - web design, print design, illustration, branding and multimedia.
Website: nburmandesign.com Blog: Life Imitating Design
Val Lawton
When Val Lawton was a kid, her favourite books always had great pictures – like Winnie The Pooh by A.A. Milne, or The Twits by Roald Dahl. She loved the books with simple scratchy drawings that let her imagination run wild. So when it came to drawing her own pictures, she followed in the footsteps of illustrators like Ernest Shepard and Quentin Blake. It turns out Val was pretty good at it, too, because she has now written and/or illustrated 16 books for both kids and grown-ups.
Val also works in schools around Calgary as an artist-educator, which means she helps kids learn by creating their own art. You can even see her this October at Calgary’s Creative Kids Museum, where she will be the artist-in-residence. She will have some neat old-fashioned projects to work on, like thaumatropes and zoetropes. Those are long words for different kinds of animation.
Val’s latest book is “Where Does Your Dog Sleep?” She did the pictures for the story written by Jean Freeman, the actress who plays Fitzie’s Grandma on CTV’s Corner Gas.
Visit Val's illustration portfolio and blog.
Valerie Walker
Calgarian Valerie Walker began writing when her first grandchild was born in 1991. Her books have "grown up" with her grandchildren. Her first five books, The Adventures of Hedley the Hedgehog, Hedley’s Celtic Adventure, Hedley’s Magical Adventure, The Hedgehog who Loved Ducks, and Hedley Visits the North Pole, are for children between the ages of six and ten. These books are set in England, where Valerie grew up. The sixth, Mystery in the Attic, is a time-travel adventure set in Calgary and is for juveniles ten to fourteen.
Her latest book, The Quest for Kananaskis, is the second in the time-travel series and is aimed at twelve to fifteen year-olds, or anyone who enjoys mystery, myth and magic.
As well as being an author, Valerie gives presentations on writing at elementary and junior high schools. These presentations deal with the first thing young writers want to know: how to get started.
Find out more about Valerie's work at HedleytheHedgehog.com
Pat Kozak
Pat Kozak is a Calgary-based editor who works with novice, intermediate, and established authors. She enjoyed being part of the Calgary Children’s Book Fair and Conference last year and is looking forward to working with young writers again.
During her ten years as a professional editor, Pat has worked as an in-house editor for a publishing company and contracted her services to the University of Calgary, various corporations, and the media. As a freelancer, Pat has edited children’s and adult fiction, biographies, memoirs, guide books, cook books, and all sorts of interesting bits and pieces.
More information on Pat’s writing and editing services can be found at the Editor’s Association of Canada website: www.editors.ca and on the Calgary Association of Freelance Editors website: www.calgaryeditors.com.
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