Author Bio

I was born in Derbyshire, England in 1961. I grew up near the Peak District National Park and the town of Chesterfield, famous for its medieval church with the crooked spire.

I graduated from university with a degree in history in 1982 and moved to Canada in 1990. I am also a graduate of the Institute of Children's Literature and have been a prolific writer of children's fiction for many years. 

My first novel for middle grade readers, The Alchemist’s Portrait, was published in 2003 followed by The Sorcerer’s Letterbox in 2004, The Clone Conspiracy in 2005, The Emerald Curse in 2006, The Heretic’s Tomb in 2007 and The Doomsday Mask in 2009. A seventh novel for middle grades, The Time Camera, will be published in 2011, along with The Insistence of Memory, a novel for young adults.  I'm also a contributing author to The Complete Guide to Writing Science Fiction Volume One, have written several non-fiction books for younger readers with Weigl Educational Publishers, and work as a writer for Dark Roasted Blend online magazine.

I offer a wide variety of presentations, workshops and author in residence programs for schools and libraries, covering such topics as the writing process, editing and revision, where ideas come from and how writers turn them into stories, character development, historical fiction and historical research, story structure, the publishing world and more. I also offer virtual author visits by video using Skype. I work as a creative writing instructor for home school students throughout the year and at summer camps each July and August, am an instructor for adults with Chinook Learning Services, University of Calgary, and offer a variety of online workshops for both children and adults.

I am 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. I am the founder of Children's Authors and Illustrators on Facebook, the Assistant Regional Advisor for SCBWI Western Canada and organize the Calgary Children’s Book Fair and Conference, held in conjunction with the Children's Fiction Writing Award, each November. 

I offer a number of services for writers, including manuscript evaluation, editing, writing workshops and coaching, plus copywriting services for the business community. You can also visit my blog, my channel on YouTube, follow me on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

An avid fan of soccer, I have been a lifelong follower of Manchester United. Soccernet has all the soccer news from England, Europe and around the world.

CONTACT DETAILS 
info@simon-rose.com