Featured Interview With Simon Rose
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I’m the author of The Alchemist’s Portrait, The Sorcerer’s Letterbox, The Clone Conspiracy, The Emerald Curse, The Heretic’s Tomb, The Doomsday Mask, The Time Camera, The Sphere of Septimus, Flashback, Future Imperfect, Twisted Fate, Parallel Destiny, the Shadowzone series, and the Stone of the Seer series. I’m also the author of The Children’s Writer’s Guide, The Time Traveler’s Guide, The Working Writer’s Guide, The Social Media Writer’s Guide, a contributor to The Complete Guide to Writing Science Fiction and have written many non-fiction books with Crabtree Publishing, Beech Street Books, Weigl Publishers, and Capstone.
I offer a number of services for writers, including editing, coaching, mentoring, consulting, manuscript evaluation, and writing workshops. I’ve provided substantive and copy editing services for many other writers over the years. This has been for novels, short stories, fiction, nonfiction, biographies, inspirational books, and many other genres. I also offer copywriting services for business, including website and social media content. Full details can be found on my website at simon-rose.com. I’m the founder of Children’s Authors and Illustrators on Facebook, served as the Writer-in Residence with the Canadian Authors Association, am a member of the Calgary Association of Freelance Editors, and served as the Assistant Regional Advisor for SCBWI Western Canada.
I offer a wide variety of presentations, workshops, and author in residence programs for schools, along with virtual author visits. I’m an instructor for adults with the University of Calgary and offer a variety of workshops and writing courses for both children and adults.
I’m originally from the UK, but have lived in Western Canada since 1990. I’ve always had pets and currently have a dog and a cat, who always seem to keep me busy.
You may follow me on Twitter or Instagram, or connect on Facebook and elsewhere on social media.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I probably had a fascination with stories at an early age, whether picture books, novels, or comic books. However, I didn’t take writing seriously until I was an adult, as I mention in my next answer, when my children were quite small. I began to submit stories to publishers more than twenty years ago, with my first novel for young adults being published in 2003.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
It’s probably easier to tell a story of how I first became interested in being an author. When my children were small, I started reading children’s books again for the first time in many years. Some of the books were wonderful and I wished that I could write something similar. However, some of the books were very poor and I was surprised that they’d ever been published. This made me wonder if I could write stories of my own. I started thinking that I should write fairy tales and picture books for younger children, but after reading the first three Harry Potter novels, I realized that I wanted to write for the age group that those books are aimed at. I wasn’t interested in writing about the same things, such as magic, wizards, and imaginary creatures, and instead focused on themes that I was interested in, such as science fiction, fantasy, time travel, history, comic books, ancient mysteries and civilizations, superheroes, other dimensions, and the paranormal. The novels that have been subsequently published have mostly been in these genres.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
The Stone of the Seer is an exciting historical fantasy series of adventure novels for young adults, primarily set in the turbulent period of the English Civil War.
The Stone of the Seer, book one in the series, features the Vikings, Leonardo da Vinci, and the political turmoil of the 1640s. At Habingdon House, Lady Elizabeth Usborne, Kate, and Tom encounter a magical black stone, mysterious ancient manuscripts, and the incredible time viewing device known as the tempus inpectoris, all while under constant threat from the murderous witchfinder, Daniel Tombes.
The other novels in the series are Royal Blood and Revenge of the Witchfinder, which will be published in the coming months.
Connect with the Author on their Websites and Social media profiles
