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 and The Doomsday Mask. He is also a contributing author to The Complete Guide to Writing Science Fiction Volume One.
He 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 and the Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic. He offers a variety of services for writers, including manuscript evaluation, editing, writing workshops and coaching, plus writing services for the business community.
Simon offers a wide variety of presentations, workshops and author-in-residence programs for schools and libraries, plus services for writers, including editing and online workshops, and writing services for business, full details of which can be found at his website www.simon-rose.com. You may also visit his blog at simon-rose.blogspot.com
Nick Burman
Nick runs NBurman Design, a graphic and web design company based in Calgary AB. 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 and a Blackberry that doesn't sleep, Nick is "quick to tackle any challenge" - web design, print design, illustration, branding and multimedia.
More information on NBurman Design can be found here. Nick's blog is 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. The Calgary Children’s Book Fair and Conference writing competition will be her first chance to work with young writers, and she is looking forward to the experience. Good luck to all competitors!
During her nine 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.
