Blog
“Congratulations on a great read for kids.”
The Alchemist’s Portrait A school trip to the art gallery at the city museum leads Matthew into an eerie meeting with Peter Glimmer, imprisoned inside his own portrait by his villainous uncle in 1666. Entrusted by Peter with recovering the one object that can save the world, Matthew is sent hurtling over 300 years into the past. Encountering magic, mayhem and murder, Matthew also has to contend with Peter’s uncle, the ruthless and seemingly immortal Nicolaas van der Leyden, at every turn, in a desperate race through time to save...
read moreHow to Write Great Stories for Children and Young Adults
The Writing for Children and Young Adults course focuses on writing for children aged 8 to 14 years. However some of the material also covers older and younger age groups. Learn how to write effective, authentic, and appealing fiction for children and young adults and how to turn your ideas into compelling stories. The course explores the writing process from initial concept to finished work including story structure, developing plausible characters and dialogue, the creation of outlines and the importance of research, editing and...
read moreLearn how to write effective and compelling historical fiction.
Historical fiction combines the events of the past with characters and stories from the writer’s imagination. This course examines the art of writing historical fiction and the need to fully immerse yourself in a particular time period to make your storytelling more believable. Learn how to write effective, authentic and appealing historical fiction and how to turn your ideas into compelling stories. Understand what defines historical fiction and different historical time periods, create believable settings and plausible characters and learn...
read more“The Emerald Curse is a very well written and appealing adventure book. Highly recommended.”
The Emerald Curse 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. “I bought your book The Emerald Curse and it is brilliant and I can’t wait for your next...
read morePeople Plotting and Finding Characters
I’m honoured to now be a Contributing Editor at Write By The Sea, where you’ll find all sorts of helpful resources for writers with new materials added to the library regularly. My latest post entitled People Plotting and Finding Characters is an excerpt from my book, The Children’s Writer’s Guide 2, which you can learn more about...
read moreThe Sphere of Septimus
“Fast paced with vivid descriptions, creative creatures and a suspense filled plot, it’s impossible to put this book down. It is a great read for children who enjoy fantasy and science fiction books. I highly recommend it for both boys and girls. It’s a must read!” Eric isn’t too happy when he has to spend the summer with his eccentric father, Septimus Trinket, in the backwater village of Middle Wogglehole, deep in the heart of rural Derbyshire. In the isolated village, however, things are not quite what they seem. Eric meets...
read moreChristmas at the Nation 2024
Looking for the perfect gift? This Sunday from 11 am to 4 pm I’ll be signing copies of all my books at the Christmas at the Nation 2024 holiday market at the 7 Chiefs Sportsplex & Chief Jim Starlight Centre. The event takes place at 19 Bullhead Road, Tsuut’ina Nation, AB T3T 0A6 Learn all about my many novels, including the new novel, An Untimely Death, as well as about my coaching and editing services for writers and authors. Hope to see you...
read moreChristmas at the Nation 2024
Looking for the perfect gift? This Saturday from 11 am to 7 pm I’ll be signing copies of all my books at the Christmas at the Nation 2024 holiday market at the 7 Chiefs Sportsplex & Chief Jim Starlight Centre. The event takes place at 19 Bullhead Road, Tsuut’ina Nation, AB T3T 0A6 Learn all about my many novels, including the new novel, An Untimely Death, as well as about my coaching and editing services for writers and authors. Hope to see you...
read moreChristmas at the Nation 2024
Looking for the perfect gift? This Friday from 11 am to 7 pm I’ll be signing copies of all my books at the Christmas at the Nation 2024 holiday market at the 7 Chiefs Sportsplex & Chief Jim Starlight Centre. The event takes place at 19 Bullhead Road, Tsuut’ina Nation, AB T3T 0A6 Learn all about my many novels, including the new novel, An Untimely Death, as well as about my coaching and editing services for writers and authors. Hope to see you...
read moreWhat’s it all about? An excerpt from The Time Traveler’s Guide
“The Time Traveler’s Guide is a great resource for any writer wanting to improve their craft.” Chapter One: What is time travel? Time travel is defined as taking place when there is movement between specific points in time. This is achieved in the same way that objects and living things move through space. In fiction, this kind of travel is made possible by the use of a time machine, device, or method. While nothing is carved in stone, I tend to think that time travel involving machinery or some kind of technology should be...
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