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

Jane Warren

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:

      Hohn, Nadia (Toronto)

      The Writers Union member. Picture book. All ages. $350 for 1 session (60 min) $ 600 for 2 sessions of 60 minutes (1/2 day)$ 400 for 2 x 30 minute sessions (great for JK to 1). Full day (4 sessions) $ 1000. + kilometrage. Can present in English and French.

      Malaika’s Costume (2016) and Malaika’s Winter Carnival (2017).

      Continue reading “Hohn, Nadia (Toronto)”

      Sherrard, Valerie (Miramichi NB)

      Valerie Sherrard

      GG nominated, award-winning author.

      Virtual Visit: $225.00 for a 60 minute presentation.

      In school visits: $300 for a single presentation or $550 for two at one location. Full day workshop 700.00.  Expenses are included in all fees. For in-school visit dates — please contact Valerie and she will let you know when she plans to be in Ontario.

      Valerie is an experienced presenter (in-person and virtual visits) who uses humour and an interactive style to engage her audience. Feedback from her school and library visits has been enthusiastic.

      Birdspell Corbin Hayes is used to being alone. His mom’s illness means lost jobs, constant moves, new schools and friendships that never get to grow. So, when a classmate offers Corbin the talking bird she can no longer keep, he sees a chance to fill the gap in his life. But when things begin to spiral out of control, Corbin can no longer cope. At his lowest moment, he’s forced to do the one thing he fears the most. Young Adult.

      Finding Avalon  Avalon Monday doesn’t mind telling schoolmates that her mother ran off with a guy she met on the internet. After all, that’s way less embarrassing than the truth. But when the past collides with the present, exposing her secret and threatening to leave her new life in ruins, Avalon discovers there are some things you can never truly leave behind.

      Cooper Clark and the Dragon Lady  (Chapter Book) Desperate measures are called for when a boy is secretly afraid of dragons, but his new babysitter is rumoured to have a dragon in her basement!

      Presentations: I will present to grades 1 – 9. A signed bookmark or postcard will be provided for each student at all in-person presentations.

      Grades 1 – 3: There’s a COW Under My Bed! or Down Here! Fun and interactive talk about expressions and language, and students’ own creative abilities. Reading with audience participation. I end with a short Q & A. For these grades you may book two half hour presentations in the place of a single 60 minute session if you prefer.

      Middle Grades: Engaging interactive presentation on literacy, with or without issue-based segments depending on the book being presented. I end with a short reading and about 10 minutes for Q & A.

      Young Adult: Engaging and interactive presentation on literacy, believing in oneself and a variety of writing or issue related topics, depending on the requested focus. I end with a short reading and about 10 minutes for Q & A.

      Workshop for grades 6 and up: A Story’s Voice. This full day workshop is designed to help young people develop distinctive voices in their writing by examining the way character, setting, perspective, dialogue, tense etc. impact in telling a story. Writing exercises will demonstrate how each of these support a story in different ways, and help them to recognize which components will work best for their stories. Limited to 15 participants. Available virtually – contact to discuss a suitable arrangement.

      I am flexible on audience size but in my experience, smaller in-person groups result in the greatest benefit to students. I am comfortable in all settings, including classroom, library, auditorium or gymnasium.

      A sound system may be necessary depending on audience size, acoustics and the number of presentations booked.

      Contact Valerie:

        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)

        Karen Krossing June 2019

        Writers’ Union Member. YA and MG fiction. Picture books (nonfiction and fiction). K to 12. Karen’s rate is $250 plus HST for one session, $450 for two, $675 for three, $900 for a full day (4 sessions). Mileage within Toronto may be waived. A virtual visit is $150 plus HST.

        Karen Krossing is the author of many books for kids and teens, including picture books One Tiny Bubble and Sour Cakes, and novels Monster vs. Boy, Punch Like a Girl, Bog, and Cut the Lights.  She won the SCBWI Crystal Kite Award for Canada in 2015 and 2023 and has been a finalist for the Ontario Library Association White Pine Award and the Joan F. Kaywell Books Save Lives Award, among other honors. Karen has been conducting book talks and workshops since 2002, and she has an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She loves meeting readers and writers of all ages.

        Continue reading “Krossing, Karen (Toronto, ON)”

        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: