2020 Foothills Young Authors' Conference Saturday, April 4, 2020

Holy Trinity Academy 338072 - 32 St. E Okotoks AB T1S 1A2

Cover art courtesy of Lorna Bennett

Student Handbook Grade 6 - 9 Table of Contents

Conference Schedule Page 3

Keynote Speaker — Sigmund Brouwer Page 4

Workshop Presenters Page 5

Karon Argue Page 5 Lorna Bennett Page 5 Sigmund Brouwer Page 5 Marty Chan Page 6 Adam Dreece Page 6 James Grasdal Page 6 Jacqueline Guest Page 6 Janet Gurtler Page 7 Tim Huesken Page 7 Dawn Ius Page 7 Troy Kokol Page 7 Amelia Lionheart Page 8 Jan Markley Page 8 Lise Mayne (English presentation) Page 8 Lorna Schultz Nicholson Page 9 Gerry Rasmussen Page 9 Simon Rose Page 10 Crystal Salamon Page 10 Terry Siqueira Page 10 Shirlee Smith Matheson Page 11 Gail Sidonie Sobat Page 11 Jennifer Stables Page 11 Writers' Workshop: Natasha Deen, Suzy Vadori, David Poulsen Page 12 French Immersion Presentation (Lise Mayne) Page 13

Parent Information Page 14

Conference Schedule

Morning 8:30 - 9:00 a.m. Student Check-in (at your school’s registration table) 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. Keynote Speaker Sigmund Brouwer— For All 10:00 - 10:15 a.m. Students’ Break 10:15 - 11:30 a.m. Workshop Session #1 11:30 - 12:15 p.m. Lunch

Afternoon 12:15 - 1:30 p.m. Workshop Session #2 1:30 - 1:45 p.m. Break 1:45 - 3:00 p.m. Workshop Session #3 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. Bookstore Shopping & Presenter Autographs 4:00 p.m. Conference Concludes

Foothills Young Authors’ Conference is made possible by the generous support of Foothills School Division, Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools, Rotary Club of Okotoks, and many other local businesses and community organizations.

Thanks also to the entire volunteer organizing committee for making this opportunity available to budding writers and artists in their schools!

Cover Artwork

Our cover artwork The Great Culloo © Lorna Bennett is from the book Dot to Dot in the Sky, Stories of the Aurora written by Joan Galat and illustrated by Lorna Bennett.

3 Keynote Speaker

Sigmund Brouwer- Author

To be human is to tell story, and to tell story is what makes us human. As the author of over 100 books for all age ranges, Sigmund Brouwer shows where story gets its power, and how you can tap into it, no matter what your writing style or genre, whether you prefer fiction or non-fiction.

Sigmund Brouwer is an Alberta author with over 100 titles published. He loves visiting schools with his Rock and Roll Literacy Show. His recent novel, Thief of Glory, was an Alberta Readers Choice Award winner, and his young adult novel, Dead Man's Switch is an Arthur Ellis winner for best Y/A mystery in Canada. You can visit Sigmund's website at sigmundbrouwer.com

Workshop Presenters

See Things Differently - Karon Argue

Karon will be taking students through the process of creating characters and settings to bring your stories to life. We’ll do it with a twist. You’ll get to see what she sees!

Karon will be bringing visual aids to the session for all students. These aids will simulate (to a degree) what vision Karon still has. We will be collectively creating a few characters in the session and talking about setting the layouts, perspectives and colors for these characters.

Sometimes seeing things a little differently can motivate us to try something new. Karon Argue is a graphic designer and local area Author / Illustrator who lost most of her vision in 2010. With help of the CNIB and technology she continues to pursue her passion for art. Equipped with pencil crayons and ink pens Karon enjoys sharing her process of creating colorful, quirky characters. Her children’s book, The Smooch and paintings can be found at karonargue.com

Let’s Create Characters — Lorna Bennett

Do you love to draw? Then come on out to Lorna's session and practice your creative drawing skills. Draw along with Lorna, learn some illustration pointers, and discover how to create your own new, one-of-a-kind characters!

Lorna Bennett was born in Edmonton, AB and attended MacEwan College (now University) and the University of Alberta, studying the Arts and Fine Arts. She has been a ski instructor, writer, fine artist, animator, designer and illustrator. Currently, Lorna mainly illustrates picture books, book covers, greeting cards and educational materials. She also works as a staff artist on the wards at the University of Alberta Hospital two days per week, bringing art to the bedside of adult patients. Visit Lorna’s website at www.lornabennett.net

It Rocks To Be A Story Ninja - Sigmund Brouwer

Learn about the pyramid approach to writing. There are 7 key components to Story, to Writing and to Revising. You'll leave the class as a true Story Ninja.

Sigmund Brouwer is an Alberta author with over 100 titles published. He loves visiting schools with his Rock and Roll Literacy Show. His recent novel, Thief of Glory, was an Alberta Readers’ Choice Award winner, and his young adult novel, Dead Man's Switch is an Arthur Ellis winner for best Y/A mystery in Canada. You can visit Sigmund's website at sigmundbrouwer.com

Thrill Your Readers — Marty Chan

Keep your readers on the edge of their seats. Learn how to come up with a story designed to scare your friends. Marty will share his secret of writing a thriller.

Marty Chan writes books for kids and plays for adults. His latest book is Kung Fu Master. You can visit Marty at his website www.martychan.com

Making Science Fiction and Space Fantastic and Your Own – Adam Dreece

Does every story in space or on another world feel the same? Adam wants to share how to make the future, the past, and outer space ridiculous and cool.

Amazing machines and fantastic worlds live in Adam's imagination, and only some of them have been able to come alive in his 12 books so far. Currently he's working on an all new space adventure series. Visit Adam at adamdreece.com

Cartoons and Comics as a Writing Strategy - James Grasdal

James introduces students to several cartooning and writing strategies in a fast paced session. Where do we find our ideas? How can we develop those ideas through character design, pacing and humour? A session full of doodling, story telling and games, all leading to further developing student's abilities as story tellers.

James has been drawing cartoons in one form or another as a full-time cartoonist for over 25 years. His editorial cartoons and illustrations have appeared in major daily newspapers and magazines across North America and Europe. He has illustrated everything from t-shirts, caricatures and children’s books to animation and comic strips. James also illustrated a 16 book series for the Alberta Canola Producers Commission (written by Dawn Ius). He has worked closely with educators to create picture prompts and many other resources for the classroom. Visit his website www.jamesgrasdal.com

Three Best Secrets to Writing it Right - Jacqueline Guest

Whether you want to write novels or just a great paragraph, this session will show you how. Jacqueline's easy to remember secrets will take your writing to the next level. Learn how to avoid common mistakes, create characters to cheer for and write stories that a teacher will score high. Prepare for the writing career you've always dreamed of. Join Jacqueline for the secrets to writing it right!

Jacqueline Guest is a local writer from Turner Valley with twenty published books. Her first paid work was when she was in grade five and her older brother paid her twenty- five cents to write his Language Arts essay. While on the job as a writer, Jacqueline has stood on an iceberg, flown a kite in a hurricane and had a run in with hungry lions! She believes reading rocks! Visit her at www.JacquelineGuest.com 6

Making Stuff Up -Janet Gurtler

Join author, Janet Gurtler, to talk about writing and even better to develop a character of your choice. You’ll do lots of writing exercises and you just might be amazed by the power of your own imagination. This workshop can help you get to know a story or character you’re already working on, or you can build something from scratch. Bring a pencil and paper, because you’re going to make lots of stuff up!

Janet Gurtler is the author of over twenty books, including a series about mermaids called Mermaid Kingdom. Janet lives in Okotoks with her husband, son, a cranky old Chihuahua named Bruce and a Golden Retriever puppy named Betty White. Check out Janet’s books on her webpage at www.janet-gurtler.com

Cartoons & Illustrations — Tim Huesken

Learn some tips and drawing techniques to improve your character designs and story illustrations.

Tim Huesken studied drawing and sculpture at the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary. His long-time interests in games and animation has been the foundation to why he began drawing in the first place: inventing Monsters and Robots!

Imaginative creatures and strange worlds are a common theme within his work. Some examples include gig posters, digital media, mobile phone games and board games. Tim now lives in Victoria, BC where he currently works as an Art Director for a Mobile Game company. You can view some of his work at www.timhuesken.com

Molding Creativity - Dawn Ius

In this session, we explore using modelling clay to illustrate essential story elements such as character development, setting, and plot. After a brief introduction about one of these basic story elements, participants use modelling clay to create a character or illustrate a setting, using a worksheet to help guide / explain decision-making. At the end, we review student work and discuss how to create stories from their creations.

Dawn Ius is the author of three young adult novels published by Simon & Schuster— ANNE & HENRY, OVERDRIVE, and LIZZIE—as well as 16 educational comics for the Alberta Canola Producers' Commission. She is a contributing writer to the animated Nickolodeon-produced TV show, RAINBOW RANGERS. Dawn lives in St. Albert, AB with her husband and two giant breed dogs. Visit her on the web at www.dawnius.com and on social @dawnmius

Digging Deep - Troy Kokol

How to find buried treasure in your writing.

Troy Kokol is a Canadian singer, producer, video director and award-winning songwriter with over 200 cuts to his name in a variety of music genres, TV and film. Troy is a recipient of the SOCAN Award for Country Music and a 2-time CCMA Songwriter of the Year nominee. Visit Troy's website www.troykokol.com

So YOU Want to Write – That’s Exciting! — Amelia Lionheart

Why do you want to write? Which is your preferred genre? What type of an author do you want to be? What kind of heritage will you bring to your writing? Join this interactive session about the ideas behind our writing, as well as the process of writing, editing, polishing, themes, etc. Create a story outline. Come with lots of questions – preferably written down so that everyone has an opportunity to participate. And if you can forward them in advance to [email protected] that will give everyone enough time.

Amelia Lionheart, a Canadian children's author with a diploma in writing from the Institute of Children's Literature, Connecticut, USA, is the author of five books in the JEACs Series. She is the creator and founder of the REAL JEACs groups and has had signings in Australia, Dubai, Sri Lanka and Canada! The books are fun adventure stories in which the facts about the animals are accurate, while the rest of the story is fictional. Visit her website at: www.jeacs.com

Well, That's Mysterious! - Jan Markley

Do you love a good whodunit? We'll uncover the secrets to writing a mystery story, and use our new skills to craft a head scratching tale of puzzlement. Bring your sleuthing abilities, curiosity, and ideas!

Jan Markley is a writer living in Calgary. Dead Frog on the Porch (Gumboot Books 2009) is her debut novel for middle grade readers. It is a comedic mystery adventure and the first in the Megabyte Mystery Series. Dead Bird through the Cat Door is the second in the series (Gumboot Books 2010). Growing up she was a voracious reader of Nancy Drew mysteries and enjoyed visiting the library where she would stretch her library card to the limit. Check out her website at: www.janmarkley.com

In Search of...The Golden Ball - Lise Mayne

There is a fairy tale about a girl who drops her golden ball down a well. She sends a frog down to retrieve it. Did you know we all have a golden ball, and we all lose it, at one time or another. How do we find it again? Through the power of journaling. Your journal is your friend for life. When the ball drops, you might have a long drop to the bottom. But if you keep writing, you will find it again, and the journey back will make you strong than ever. Come learn how your journal will become your Frog Prince.

Lise Mayne was an educator and administrator for thirty-two years, in Red Deer and Calgary, in French Immersion, English and Francophone schools. She retired to High River with her husband, Jeremy, in 2012, with Venice, the dog and Thomas, the cat. In 2013, the flood meant a helicopter rescue for Jeremy, Venice and Thomas. Displaced to Nanton, they made new friends while maintaining connections in High River and Okotoks. Lise published her first novel in 2013, Becoming Sand, about a family's journey from France to Alberta, spanning four centuries. She will soon launch a second novel of historical fiction entitled Time Enough, recounting a family's emigration from the Isle of Man to Manitoulin Island, Ontario. Her passions are writing, history, and art. She still loves teaching after all these years and looks forward to meeting the young writers!

Play a Game: Write a Story - Lorna Schultz Nicholson

Writing fiction is about characters and setting! Plus, every good fiction story has gripping conflict. In this workshop you will play a trade game to put people and places together to solve a problem. This workshop is fun, and guaranteed, your words will flow onto the page.

Lorna Schultz Nicholson has published over forty books, including her One-2- One series, and her middle grade novels Just Three and Superhero Ninja Wrestling Star. Her novels are about kids and their friendships and school and family life and emotions and feelings and… well, the ups and downs of life. Lorna also writes non-fiction and has written books on Oilers superstar Connor McDavid, Canadian Olympian Hayley Wickenheiser and funny-guy PK Subban. Lorna lives in Edmonton with her hubbie and two dogs, a whiny bichon shih tzu, and a sort-of- naughty puppy she rescued from Mexico. You can visit her website at www.lornaschultznicholson.com

Cartooning! — Gerry Rasmussen

In this drawing workshop Gerry will help you to design your own cartoon characters and make them come to life in their own cartoon worlds. Bring a pencil and paper and we'll have some fun drawing.

Gerry Rasmussen is an internationally syndicated cartoonist who draws the comic strip "Betty" which appears daily in newspapers and magazines around the world. Besides drawing Betty, Gerry also illustrates children's books including Crazy About Soccer!, Crazy About Basketball! and Crazy About Hockey! published by Annick Press. Check out Gerry’s website at: www.gerryrasmussen.ca

Inspiration, Imagination, and Invention -Simon Rose

What if you received a letter telling you you’d been accepted into a school for wizards? Or discovered a door into another universe at the back of your bedroom closet? What if you met someone who’d been imprisoned inside a painting for over three hundred years? If you could travel back in time, where would you go? Discover where ideas come from and how writers turn them into stories.

Simon Rose is 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, and the Shadowzone series. He is also the author of The Children’s Writer’s Guide, The Time Traveler’s Guide, and has written many non-fiction books for younger readers. Simon offers presentations, workshops and author in residence programs for schools, as well as services for writers, such as editing, coaching and online workshops. You can read more at: www.simon-rose.com

An Adventure in Colouring Book Creation — Crystal Salamon

Do you dream of making a colouring book? Join wildly creative illustrator and publisher, Crystal Salamon, on a mini book-building adventure. Create a colouring book to take home as you explore how Crystal's best selling book came to life. Discover new colouring tips and tricks and prepare to be inspired!

Turner Valley's Crystal Salamon loves to excite and inspire creativity! In 2015 she dove into the world of self-publishing on a quest to make art more accessible. She poured her heart and soul into her first book, Awakening: Artful Colouring, which has taken the world by storm. Over 6,000 copies of Awakening sold worldwide and her 2nd book, Ignite, is close behind. Her whirlwind journey has been covered by dozens of news outlets across Canada including CTV News, Canadian Press and Huffington Post and her passion for the art of colouring is wonderfully contagious. www.artwithcrystal.com

Stitching Rock and Roll Numbers— Terry Siqueira

What do Rock Stars have in common? They all paint by numbers… Come and see if you can write and perform your own brand of rock simply by following some basic principles of how song writing works. This is an interactive workshop where you will experience the nature of “who we are”!

Terry Siqueira has taught music, band and Elementary/Jr. High Grades for 33 years in the Foothills region. He holds a Bachelor of Music Degree (1985) and a Bachelor of Education Degree (1987) from the University of Calgary. He is also a past Provincial Classical Guitar Recipient in the Alberta Musical Festival. Terry has recorded Pop/ Rock singles also from the 90's to present. He has written five school songs and also a Terry Fox Tribute song which continues to be used yearly. Currently Terry teaches grade 3 at St. Mary's School in Okotoks. Working on Effective Reading Behaviors, Student Engagement and Comprehension Strategies for the Emerging and Advanced Reader through music is a key focus of Terry’s at the present. He is also excited to be working on a book featuring a reading Super Hero.

Pitching your Product! — Shirlee Smith Matheson

Come prepared to write, discuss and share adventurous ideas, from your favorite movie or comic book (heroes/villains) or real-life characters. Start with that “wow” line (a hook) that draws a reader into your story; learn how to write a “pitch” to sell your idea; the importance of dialogue and action, setting and style to propel the narrative to a spellbinding conclusion. And, most importantly, ensure that you use your unique personality, knowledge, interests and flair to full advantage to create and promote your work.

True tales are related in Shirlee's nonfiction books - Amazing Flights & Flyers; and Lost! Unsolved Mysteries of Canadian Aviation. Young adult novels include Flying Ghosts; The Gambler’s Daughter; Fastback Beach; Jailbird Kid and Prairie/City Pictures. Shirlee regularly presents readings and writing workshops, and enjoys tours featuring exciting tales from these books as well as her new release, This Was Our Valley. Visit her website at www.ssmatheson.ca

Fantastic Voyages - Gail Sidonie Sobat

New words! New worlds! New wonders! Explore the genre of fantasy with its mirror worlds and supernatural characters/creatures. Dive into another time and place. Dip into the unknown or the underworld or the otherworld. All with words: the magic keys to the entrance. Create your own brave new world!

Gail Sidonie Sobat is the author of 11 books and the creator/coordinator of YouthWrite®, a camp for kids who love to write…just about anything!© She’s been writer in residence with Edmonton Public Library and has presented in Doha, Qatar; Hanoi, Vietnam; Bern, Switzerland; Helsinki, Finland; Istanbul, Turkey; and the US. Gail is a Global News Woman of Vision and a City of Edmonton Arts and Culture Citation Award recipient. She’s moved 32 times in her life from Badlands to Siksika Nation Reserve to hideous suburbs to Istanbul to the Sunshine Coast to her writer’s garret in a century-old temperamental house. Her website is www.gailsidoniesobat.com

Characters with Spark! - Jennifer Stables

Illustrate a character that is full of spark! Author and illustrator, Jennifer Stables, will guide participants as they create their own character with accessories. Learn how to use body language and facial expression to bring your characters to life, whether it's a person, animal or object! Jennifer Stables is an author and artist living in Okotoks, Alberta, and the owner and artist of Jenny Dale Designs. She has written and/or illustrated nine published books including Greenie the Wheat King, Robots, Rubber Boots and Red Balloons, and To the Moon and Back. Her most recent book is Bolts, which will be released this spring. Visit her website www.jennydaledesigns.com

Grade 7 - 9 Writers' Workshop (Sessions 2 & 3)

This session is only open to grade 7, 8, 9 students who want to work with an author on writing they have in progress. Students MUST bring writing with them to discuss. This session is a double session and students must register in it for both sessions 2 & 3.

From Once Upon a Time to Happily Ever After (Or Not!): Practical story-telling tips for writers

Bring your stories, bring your questions, and spend an afternoon writing with Suzy Vadori, David Poulsen, and Natasha Deen. Get one-on-one input on your story ideas and learn practical tips and tricks to creating characters and plots, working through edits, and writing stories that leave readers wanting more!

Natasha Deen

Guyanese-Canadian author NATASHA DEEN loves stories: exciting ones, scary ones and, especially, funny ones. When she’s not writing, she visits schools and libraries to help people find and tell the stories inside of them. Natasha also spends a lot of time trying to convince her pets that she’s the boss of the house! Her novels include In the Key of Nira Ghani, an OLA Red Maple Award nominee, and Thicker Than Water, a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. She is also the author of the Lark Ba series. Visit her at www.natashadeen.com

David A. Poulsen

David A. Poulsen has been a broadcaster, teacher, stage and film actor and—most of all — writer. His writing career began in earnest when his story The Welcomin’ won the 1984 Alberta Culture Short Story Competition. Now the author of more than 25 books, David’s young adult novel Numbers received the Sakura Medal (awarded by English- speaking high school students in Japan for their favourite novel of the year). David toured International Schools in Japan and Korea in the fall of 2011. His most recent book for younger readers, And Then the Sky Exploded’ was a finalist for the Red Maple Award in Ontario. Visit his website at: www.davidpoulsen.com

Suzy Vadori

Suzy is the Calgary Bestselling Author of The Fountain, and The West Woods, Books 1 and 2 of The Fountain Series, published by Evil Alter Ego Press. This fantastical Young Adult Series has received two Aurora Nominations for Best Young Adult Novel, as well as Five Stars from both Readers’ Favorite and San Francisco Review of Books. Suzy lives in Calgary, Canada with her husband and three children and is an involved member in the writing community. Currently, she is the Program Manager, Young Adult/Children’s Programming for When Words Collide (WWC), a literary festival held in Calgary each August. Suzy is also the founder of WriteIt! creative writing programs in schools, building young writers. You can view her website at www.suzyvadori.wordpress.com

French Immersion Presentation - ALL French Immersion students must register for this session

Je Collectionne - Lise Mayne

Les gens adorent collectionner, pleine de choses: des coquillages, des roches, des bijoux, même des autos! Qu'est-ce que tu collectionnes? Ta collection peut servir d'inspiration pourl'écriture: de fiction, de poésie, et de non-fiction. Apportes des exemples de tes objets précieux ou de ce que tu aimerais collectionner. On partagera nos passions!

13 Parent Information Dear Parents/Guardians:

Your child is invited to attend the 31st Annual Foothills Young Authors’ Conference on Saturday April 4, 2020 at Holy Trinity Academy, 338072 32 Street E, Okotoks AB T1S 1A2. We are looking forward to hosting over 600 students this year! The day will begin with a keynote presentation at 9:00 am by author Sigmund Brouwer for ALL students.

Following Sigmund Brouwer's presentation, students will attend three self-selected workshops, choosing from among the many presenters and sessions outlined in this handbook. The registration fee is $30.00, cash or cheque accepted. Please make cheques payable to your child’s school unless you are a home schooler in which case they should be made out to The Foothills Young Authors' Conference Society. No post-dated cheques please. Registration fees are due along with the submission of your child’s registration information. Please Note: We are unable to refund the registration fee to students who cancel after March 27, 2020.

The registration fee includes lunch — choice of a 6 inch Quizno's sub plus a cookie and juice box. If you do not wish your child to partake in the lunch provided, please provide them with a bagged lunch (conference fees remain the same). Should your child require a snack, please send an easy-to-eat, dry option to help avoid messes in the workshop classrooms. Drinking fountains are located throughout the school, however, you may wish to pack a water bottle for your child.

Students will have the opportunity to shop in the Conference Bookstore, featuring works by participating presenters at discounted prices. The bookstore will be open over the lunch hour and between 3:00 - 4:00 pm. Payment can be made by cash or debit card (no credit cards please). Students will also have the opportunity to obtain autographs from their favourite presenters during the autograph session from 3:00 - 4:00 pm.

Please indicate your child’s lunch selection on the Conference Selection Sheet and assist them in selecting their top 3 choices for each session. Please return the Conference Selection sheet — with the registration fee — to your school’s Conference Coordinator by Friday March 13. Conference Coordinators will register students for sessions beginning on Monday, March 16 at 4:00 pm so late submissions may affect your child’s opportunity to attend the workshops of their choice.

Thank you, The 2020 Foothills Young Authors' Conference Organizing Committee