bullying – Authors' Booking Service

Kawooya, Eddie (Toronto, Ontario)

Writer’s Union Member, CANSCAIP Member. Middle-grade & High School. $400 plus HST for one session, $800 for two, for three or full day session (to be discussed). Virtual visits fees – $300 plus HST, per session. Plus travel fee of 0.50/Km, if outside Toronto.

EDDIE KAWOOYA was born in Uganda and raised on three different continents before settling in Canada. His love for writing was inspired by his grandmother’s oral stories and the folklore of Uganda’s ancestral past. As an immigrant to Canada, he is passionate about issues related to race, inclusion and diversity. He has spent years honing his craft in the field of public policy, corporate governance, and strategic communications. He published his first novel, Ace and the Misfits, in 2024. The sequel novel Ace and the Misfits vs. the Soccer Knights was published in 2025. He lives in Toronto.

Examples of Workshops:

Grades 5 – 8 (Imagining the Possible Workshops)

Students explore how imagination can open doors to new worlds, ideas and possibilities. Through guided exercises, discussions and story building activities, author Eddie Kawooya encourages students to harness their own voices, stretch their creativity and see how writing can be both powerful and fun.

Grades 5 – 8 (Thematic & Interactive Workshops)

Using themes from the Ace & the Misfit series, these workshops invite students to reflect on real-life challenges of fitting in, standing up to bullying, and building inclusive communities. Through story-telling and conversation, Eddie Kawooya helps students see how sport, friendship and resilience can inspire us to create spaces where everyone belongs

All venues, including library. Equipment required: microphone, screen and projector, soccer ball, parchment paper and markers. Lunch for full day sessions.

Contact Eddie to book a visit:

Baird Warren, Jane (Ayer’s Cliff, Quebec)

Writers’ Union Member. Also SCBWI, CANSCAIP, TWUC, CAA, QWF.

Rates: $150 for one classroom session (grades 4-8), $350 for half-day workshop (grades 9-12, CEGEP). Plus a travel fee of $0.50/km. For Ontario, $0.50/km if outside Toronto. Book Club visit fee $150

Travel from Toronto (though author lives in Quebec). All activities can be offered online.

Located in Quebec, Jane is a former teacher, personal trainer and coach with BPE, BEd and an MFA in Creative Writing. She’s published short fiction and poetry and has been featured on CBC radio. Her debut children’s novel HOW TO BE A GOLDFISH deals with themes of family, relationships and bullying can expand to offer a gentle introduction to discussions about alternative families, homosexuality, feminism, forced adoptions and social justice. (Grades 4-7)

How to be a goldfish by Jane Baird Warren

Writing workshops

Grades 4-8

No Shaggy Dogs Here! A fun, hands-on workshop where students learn that a good story is not just a collection of events; characters matter! Working together we will develop a collective story outline. Students choose and develop their own protagonist then, armed with our story roadmap, they are free to navigate as their imaginations allow. Suitable for a class.

Grades 9-12 (and CEGEP)

Workshops are geared to the writer wanting to hone their craft and who may be considering continuing in the field of creative writing either at university or independently. These half-day workshops focus on the student’s own writing and work best when limited in size (10-15 participants).

Book Club: Grades 4-7

Jane is available for student book clubs/ classrooms wanting to discuss HOW TO BE A GOLDFISH. Discussions can follow the Study Guide (Scholastic Canada) or can be adapted as needed.

Contact Jane for a visit:

Younge-Ullman, Danielle (Toronto, ON)

Writers Union Member. White Pine Award Winner and two-time nominee, also nominated for Governor General’s award, Amy Mathers Teen Book award, Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz award, among others—a total of 18 nominations and Best-of lists. YA Author of HE MUST LIKE YOU, EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL IS NOT RUINED, and LOLA CARLYE’S 12 STEP ROMANCE.

Danielle’s virtual visit fee is $200 per 50-60 minute session. In person visits are $300 for 1 hour presentation; $550 for 2, $800 for 3, plus travel for locations outside Toronto.

Danielle is a confident and dynamic presenter who loves talking about books with people of all ages. She attained a BA from McGill, worked for years as an actor before turning to writing, and has had a wild variety of jobs—everything from acting, to dubbing English voices for Japanese TV, to temping, to teaching Pilates, to freelance writing. Danielle lives Toronto with her husband and two daughters.

Presentations: Because of her background in theatre, Danielle is very comfortable in front of an audience and loves engaging with readers. Though she writes teen fiction, she can also adjust her presentations for groups as young as grade 5 and 6. Presentations can be geared toward each group, and can be done with more of a workshop emphasis if required. All presentations include time for questions!

Age range: grades 5 and up, but ideally grades 7-12. Danielle also loves presenting to and working with adult groups, and meeting with book clubs.

Topics:

Pantsters, Plotters & Making Soup: A discussion of the essential elements of fiction, and explanations of some of the different techniques used by writers to craft story and write fiction.

Turning Real Life Into Fiction: The process of using your own stories as inspiration for fiction is deeper, more layered, and much more detailed than it looks. In this session, Danielle will take you through the process of distilling the essence of your experiences, and using the most compelling themes and elements to create a work of fiction, using He Must Like You and Everything Beautiful Is Not Ruined as examples.

How to Pursue a Career as a Novelist: A presentation that explains the process of becoming a professional writer, from beginning writing through searching for an agent, to going through the process of being published. This presentation is great for students who are interested in the arts, and in the process of making decisions about their futures.

How to Revise the Crap Out of Your Manuscript: Danielle is an in-depth and joyfully ruthless reviser. In this session she will go through the steps she takes to revise her manuscripts in a way that can also be applied to shorter works. Subjects will include character consistency, POV, tone, tightening and/or expanding, layering in new characters and plot lines, analyzing structure, and general troubleshooting of things that aren’t working.

Equipment: podium or desk, microphone for groups larger than 40. Maximum group size: 40-60 for optimum interaction, but Danielle is also comfortable in front of larger groups. 25 or fewer for workshops.

Contact Danielle Younge-Ullman:

McKay, Sharon (Burlington ON)

Writers’ Union Member. Sharon travels across Canada several times a year. Sharon E. McKay (Mick-EYE) writes fact-based fiction for young adults. Multi-awards, all ages.

Flat fee of $900 for a full day, four sessions and includes a free (optional) brown-bag lunch for anyone interested in writing. Flat fee of $600 for an afternoon. Parents and media are welcome in all sessions.

Virtual Visits: $150, 60 minutes, Skype. Continue reading “McKay, Sharon (Burlington ON)”

Krossing, Karen (Toronto, ON)

Writers’ Union Member. YA and MG fiction. Picture books (nonfiction and fiction). K to 12. Karen’s rate is $300 plus HST for one session, $500 for two, $750 for three, $1000 for a full day (4 sessions). Mileage within Toronto may be waived. A virtual visit is $175 plus HST.

Karen Krossing is the author of many books for kids and teens, including picture books The Cloud That Stuck, One Cosmic Rock, and My Street Remembers, and novels Forever Fries, Monster vs. Boy, and Punch Like a Girl. Her books have been a finalist for the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book, have won the SCBWI Crystal Kite Award for Canada, and have been a finalist for the Ontario Library Association White Pine Award, among other honors. Karen has an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and she teaches writing at Whale Rock Workshops and the Humber School for Writers. She loves meeting readers and writers of all ages.

2025 Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award Nominee for My Street Remembers

Schmidt, René (Trenton, ON)

René Schmidt is the author of four books by Scholastic Canada on Canadian Disasters series, and received the Red Maple Honour Book award for Leaving Fletchville.

$275 for one session, $375 for two, $525 for three and for $750 for four sessions. No travel charge will be asked within 100 km of Trenton Ontario. Skype sessions are available for $150 per session.

FACT vs. FICTION. Where do you get your information from? As well as his regular presentations, René Schmidt is presenting on teaching students to separate known fact from rumours and fiction.

Do you teach any students that don’t have a clue

about fiction or non-fiction what’s opinion, what’s true?

Because in our world of media confusion

many students can’t tell between real and illusion.

They research something and come up with actual

opinions or hearsay but nothing proven factual.

Did they read it on Facebook or other media social

(because we all can be fooled by arguments emotional).

So I tell what I found researching Canadian Disasters,

including many times when rumors spread faster than truth…

My rule is: don’t trust any source that can’t be fired

for lying or misleading the public or whoever hired – them

Be it books or newspapers, TV or Internet media;

a lot of real facts can be found in Google or Wikipedia.

But trust only sources with something valuable to lose,

like a job, or tenure, or a reputation; they should have no excuse…

for lying.

To your students I’ll bring funny stories of misinformation

and tragic ones too, that fooled our nation.

Because the falsehoods we sift through are no real mystery

bogus stories are endemic through Canada’s history.

So invite me to your school if your principal has a budget

and you and I will teach research and how to judge it.

Q & A sessions follow all presentations.

As a member of the Writer’s Union of Canada, René’s presentations qualify for the Ontario Writer’s In The Schools grants (WITS) program.

Contact Rene to book a visit: