I’m pleased today to feature Simon Rose, Canadian young readers author, who was born and raised in Derbyshire, England, and now resides in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. As well as being an author, Simon is an advocate for literacy and the deaf child, helping to raise awareness in association with Deaf & Hard of Hearing Services in Calgary. He also offers a variety of services for writers as well copywriting for the business community and is an instructor with the National Writing for Children Center.

With six books already to his credit, this spring Tradewind Books will release The Doomsday Mask, another young reader’s novel. In this novel the legendary crystal ceremonial mask of Kulkaan, high priest of Atlantis, was believed to have been endowed with incredible powers. In the ancient civilization’s destruction, the mask was thought to have been shattered and irretrievably lost, eventually being forgotten. Long considered to be a myth, the artefact’s fragments have now been found and the mask of Kulkaan reassembled. In a desperate race against time, Josh and Erica must prevent the mask from falling intact into the hands of the shadowy Crystalline Order to save the world from catastrophe.

That kind of imagination and captivating story-telling is what has kept Simon Rose’s books favourites among young people.

Curious about where Simon finds his remarkable ideas, I asked that question. “To be honest,” he says, “anywhere and everywhere really… out walking the dog, driving in the car, something overheard in a conversation, a newspaper story, a billboard, an item on the evening news, other books, historical events, other people’s stories, movies, or even something out of the blue. Some may never be used, but I try to record as many as I can. I never know when they might fit in with a story I’m writing. Even ideas that don’t seem to work right away may have a use in the future.”

Why science fiction and fantasy? Simon’s response to that is: “One of the best things about writing for kids is that I can write about the kinds of things that fascinated me when I was young. Stories can be very imaginative if they are for children, which makes writing them so much fun. And, of course, in science fiction or fantasy, more or less anything you can imagine is possible, as you craft stories involving ancient mysteries, the unexplained, the paranormal, science fiction, time travel, parallel universes, alternate realities, weird and wonderful characters and a multitude of what if scenarios.”

As a kid, Rose read science fiction, fantasy and ghost stories, and it is from these that his love of writing for young readers hails.

“I also read a tremendous number of comic books,” he added, “in which the stories took me across the universe, into strange dimensions, into the land of the Norse gods or had me swinging from the New York rooftops. At high school, I studied a lot of history and have retained my interest in the subject up to the present day. I also read voraciously on ancient civilizations, mysteries, the supernatural, and the unexplained.”

Simon Rose’s books are available from booksellers worldwide, as well as signed directly from the author.

His latest, The Doomsday Mask, is now available for pre-order through major booksellers.

The Doomsday Mask
ISBN 9781896580197
Trade Paperback
132 Pages, 5 x 7.5 x 0.38 in
$9.95CDN
Release date: June 15, 2009

To read more about Simon Rose you can follow him through the following:
Website: http://www.simon-rose.com/index.html
Blog: http://simon-rose.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=650480273
MySpace:http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfmfuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=212280318
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/199952.Simon_Rose