Tom Schwarzkopf

Readings

Tom will talk a bit about the process of writing and editing, how these books came to be and then illustrates this with an excerpt or chapter from each of his three adventures: The Ghost at Mahone Bay, Danger at Mason's Island, and Trouble Twins Save Christmas. He uses some visual aids to illustrate the origins of the stories, the locale and also shows the editing and re-writing parts of being an author. Tom then invites students to ask questions on writing, on the books, and on other adventures and books to come.

Special Equipment:

n/a

Book Sales:

Copies of books can be brought to be sold and autographed.

Workshops

The best authors write about what they know best. In this two-hour workshop we will look at what you know best, and how to write a story based on it. We will look at the elements of a story: Setting, Character, Conflict and Change, as well as some mechanics of writing like Point of View, Description and Dialogue.

Hands-on writing exercises will help you apply your experiences to design a work of fiction, and you will come away with the framework for a good short story or an outline for a novel. Handouts will help you remember what we played with.

Special Equipment:

n/a

Book Sales:

Copies of books can be brought to be sold and autographed, if requested in advance.

Biography

Tom Schwarzkopf is a teacher, writer and father, not necessarily in that order. He has taught writing in a number of settings, and has had short stories, non-fiction articles and books published, and now writes children’s and youth fiction between teaching part time at Algonquin College in Ottawa. His series of children’s books – The Angela and Emmie Adventures – has been well received by 8-12 year olds, and is now into the 3rd adventure with several more to come.