Saskatchewan Children's Writers' Round Robin Anniversary

Join award-winning children’s authors as they share their best tips for writing characters, settings, history, time travel, poetry, short stories, and more. Meet the authors and share some cake!

You have the option to participate in this program either in person at the George Bothwell Library or online through Zoom.

The in-person program is drop-in; no registration is required. To register to attend online through Zoom, click here.

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87329989922

Join award-winning children’s authors from the Saskatchewan Children’s Writers’ Round Robin writing group as they share their best tips for eleven different aspects of writing, including developing dynamic characters and believable fantasy settings, writing poetry for the youngest audience to the oldest and then perfecting it, delving into history, prehistory, and your own childhood memories, writing compelling short stories, and jump-starting your creativity with existing creations in the public domain. Talk with the authors, look at (and purchase) their books, and share some 40th anniversary cake! 

As part of their 40th anniversary celebrations, the Robins will be holding a reading contest for Kindergarten to Grade 12 students across the province. It will run from September 14 to November 1, and prizes will include books for two students in each of four age categories  plus free author readings for the winners’ classrooms, local libraries, or home-schooling groups. Find out more at books4kids.ca/40th-anniversary/contest/.

List of the Talks:

1. Linda Aksomitis: Writing from the Public Domain: Educator, award-winning author, blogger, and photographer, Linda Aksomitis, talks about ways to use public domain books and images to enhance or jump-start your creative work. She’ll share a quick-start guide on copyright and the public domain, providing resources you can use in your classroom, library, or creative works.
2. Sandra Davis: The Singing Teacher: Writing Ditties for Little Learners: Primary School Teacher/Early Childhood Specialist, Sandra Davis, will share a selection of learning songs that help children to learn concepts, aid in transitions, and remind them of safety rules and mindfulness. She will give hints for composing these selections and discuss the benefit of using them in Early Childhood and Elementary School settings.
3. Myrna Guymer: Writing Childhood Memories: Writing childhood memories might seem impossible to the very young, or busy middle-agers, or the elderly … Well, that’s where Myrna Guymer can help. She is an award-winning author, former freelance writer, reporter, photographer, and mother. Her natural curiosity led her to captivating stories of people and places. She will share some of her suggestions for gathering memories and how to apply them.
4. Alison Lohans: Developing Dynamic Characters: How do we create convincing characters (both the “good guys” and the “bad guys”) who live the story events in ways that resonate with readers? While reading fiction, we escape into other worlds by vicariously stepping into the lives of our characters. Award-winning author of over 30 books and former teacher Alison Lohans will share some of her methods for developing dynamic characters.
5. Pat Miller-Shroeder: Writing Prehistoric Fiction: There’s contemporary fiction, and historical, and early historical, but what if you want to write about things that happened long before humans knew how to write or record anything about themselves? Award-winning author Pat Miller-Schroeder will take us on a deep dive into pre-history and tell us how she researched what it was like to live in that time period and how she brought the characters to life.
6. Anne Patton: Researching Historical Fiction: If Google doesn’t know, how can you find out? Writing historical fiction requires weaving in specific details that make your character’s world come alive. Often such details are obscure trivia until suddenly you need them as you develop a scene. Award-winning author, Anne Patton, will share the diverse resources she has explored to create the Barr Colony trilogy and her work-in-progress about the Scottish Highland clearances. 
7. Sharon Plumb: Creating Believable Fantasy Settings: By definition, speculative fiction stories take place in worlds unlike our own. How do you make them strange enough to support your story and yet familiar enough that readers can relate to them and understand what is going on? Award-winning author of three speculative fiction novels, Sharon Plumb, talks about what to change and what to keep the same, and how to make the changes believable.
8. Paula Jane Remlinger: Improving Your Poetry: Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been writing for a long time, there are simple things you can do to self-edit your poetry.  Paula Jane Remlinger, award-winning poet, will offer practical tips and techniques to help improve your work.
9. Gillian Richardson: Short Stories: Do you like to write tight, well-structured fiction? Or do you have ideas for short stories based on facts? Narrative nonfiction (aka Creative Nonfiction or Literary Nonfiction) marries these two concepts into entertaining and descriptive stories using techniques from fiction with text that is factual and informative. Award-winning multi-genre writer Gillian Richardson will talk about what’s needed to create a true but engaging story.
10. Judith Silverthorne: Time Travel: Creating realistic time-travel provides a fun challenge in keeping your story logical with no plot holes. Which time-travel modes, methods and mechanics work best to keep a story flowing? Award-winning time-shift novelist Judith Silverthorne shares tips on ways to seamlessly merge time periods to suspend disbelief and engage readers.
11. Dianne Young: Rhyming and Timing: Rhyming and Timing: Which is more important when writing poetry for children: perfect rhyming or perfect timing? Award-winning author Dianne Young will explain and provide other useful tips for those interested in writing in rhyme. Don’t be late! It’ll be great!

Presenters' Information:

1. Linda Aksomitis is an award-winning author, travel blogger, photographer, and online curriculum developer. Her writing is inspired by the 25 countries she’s visited and the many different jobs she’s held. (https://aksomitis.com/)
2. Sandra Lynn Davis’s job as a pre-kindergarten teacher gives her a natural audience for her quirky rhymes and ditties that keep everyone moving and on track. She also writes poetry and educational short stories for kids, and her full-length musical play, Ho-Ho-Ho Helping Santa, complete with eight original songs, was performed by children in over 30 schools. She is a passionate advocate for literacy and has organized and hosted many author tours in her school district.
3. Myrna Guymer is the author of The Canadian Shield Alphabet (Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing, 2008), which won the 2008 Science in Society Journalism award in the Children’s Category. A former reporter/photographer and freelance writer, her work has been published in three Canadian anthologies, and many newspapers and periodicals. Her Mexico publications include The Pacific Pearl (2007) and Mazatlán Writers Review (2013). She has been a member of Children’s Writers’ Round Robins for 35 years. She resides north of the 54th in the Canadian Shield.
4. Award-winning author Alison Lohans has published over 30 books with Canadian and international presses. Much of her work is for young people. Alison has given over 1,000 readings of her work in schools and libraries across Canada. She has taught writing, given many workshops, and served as Writer-in-Residence at Regina Public Library in 2002–03, as well as serving on the boards of many arts organizations. (https://alisonlohans.wordpress.com/)
5. Patricia Miller-Schroeder is the author of 17 children’s non-fiction books on science, natural history, and the environment, three of which have been nominated for awards in Canada. She wrote and researched the animal biography television series “Wild Lives” (Discovery, SCN) as well as several other educational films. Her prehistoric novel Sisters of the Wolf won a 2023 Saskatchewan Book Award. (https://patriciamiller-schroeder.com/)
6. Anne Patton has written three 3-book series for young children. The Tyler series was published by Scholastic Education. The Barr Colony Adventure series was published by Coteau Books, and her Fiddle Dancer series, co-authored with Wilfred Burton, was published by The Gabriel Dumont Institute. She is working on a third series about Scottish immigrants to Canada. (https://barrcolonyadventures.wordpress.com/)
7. Sharon Plumb has published a picture book with Scholastic Education and three speculative fiction novels for young people. Her middle grade novel, The Mystery of the Giant Kohlrabi, won a 2022 Moonbeam Award and was a finalist in the High Plains Book Awards. She has written and directed children’s plays and one full-length musical. From 2010 to 2019, she was the president of the Saskatchewan chapter of CANSCAIP (Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers). (https://sharonplumb.ca/)
8. Paula Jane Remlinger’s first book of poetry, This Hole Called January (Thistledown, 2019), won the Saskatchewan Book Award for Poetry in 2020.  She writes and edits work for both adults and children from her home in Beaver Creek, SK.
9. Gillian Richardson is a multi-genre author of 22 books, and over 40 short stories and articles in children’s magazines. Her nonfiction book, Kaboom! Explosions of All Kinds (Annick, 2009), won the American Institute of Physics 2010 Science Writing Award, and was shortlisted for 3 provincial readers’ choice awards. 10 Plants That Shook the World (Annick, 2013) won several US children’s writing awards. She writes reviews for CM Magazine, and is a Reader for CANSCAIP’s Writing for Children Competition. Now living in BC, she is a founding member of the Children’s Writers Round Robin of Saskatchewan. (https://gmrichardson.wordpress.com/)
10. Judith Silverthorne is an international award-winning author of several children’s and YA novels, plus an all-ages nonfiction picture book published in several languages, and two adult non-fiction books. She has presented hundreds of readings and writing workshops at libraries, schools, conferences, literary festivals and book fairs in North America and Europe. She is a former Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild, and the 2018-2019 Writer-in-Residence at the Regina Public Library. She is also a freelance writer, editor, writing instructor and producer of documentaries for television. (https://judithsilverthorne.ca/)
11. Dianne Young of Martensville has written picture books (both fiction and nonfiction), an early chapter book, and a series of early readers. Her early chapter book, Honey Trouble, was a finalist for the 2002 Shining Willow Award, and her picture book, Dear Flyary, won the 2014 Sask. Book Award for Children’s Literature. Her most recent picture book was a collaboration with Brian Crane, the creator of the comic strip Pickles. She has also edited two books on grief for adults, and has written a humorous memoir of the sixty new things she did in one year to celebrate turning 60. (https://dianneyoung.ca)

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