e	sageshipley@gmail.com
web	www.jocelynshipley.com

Biography

Jocelyn has published four YA novels and her teen stories have appeared in anthologies. She's also co-editor of Cleavage: Breakaway Fiction for Real Girls. In 2004 she toured northern Saskatchewan for TD Children's Book Week. Born in London, Ontario, she now lives on Vancouver Island and in Toronto. For more information, please visit her website.

Book types: YA fiction

Guest speaker/presentation information

How to Write a Book (Grades 8 – 12)

Using the journey of her YA novel, How to Tend a Grave, Jocelyn will take students through the publishing process, from the initial idea to first draft to finished book. Topics covered include how to get started, develop characters and build a plot, create effective dialogue and scenes. The focus is on the importance of editing, revising and rewriting. Jocelyn will read from her work, share her writing process and answer questions. She will also discuss the rapidly changing world of traditional publishing, and other options such as indie publishing and ebooks.

Writing and Editing Short Fiction (Grades 8 – 12)
Jocelyn writes for adults as well as teens, and her award-winning stories have been published in anthologies, newspapers and magazines. This presentation is geared towards those who want to work toward submitting their work for publication. Jocelyn will talk about the elements that make up a good story: beginnings and endings, point of view, voice, character, dialogue and setting. Using her experience as co-editor of the story collection Cleavage: Breakaway Fiction for Real Girls, as a writing contest judge, and her own success in winning or being shortlisted in over fifteen story contests, Jocelyn will discuss how to edit and strengthen short fiction, how to get stories published, where teens can submit their work, and what grabs an editor’s attention.

Presentation geographic range: Vancouver, Coast, Lower Mainland, Gulf and Vancouver Islands, Canada - beyond BC

Presentation audience age groups: high school, college/university/adult

Published work

How to Tend a Grave, Great Plains Teen Fiction, April 2012

Cleavage: Breakaway Fiction for Real Girls (co-edited with Deb Loughead), Sumach Press, 2008

Seraphina's Circle, Sumach Press, 2005

Cross My Heart, Sumach Press, 2004

Getting a Life, Sumach Press, 2002

Awards & recognition

Winner of the 2011 Surrey International Writers' Conference Writing for Young People Award

Cleavage: Breakaway Fiction for Real Girls
Highly Recommended – CM Magazine
Resource Links Best of 2008 for Grades 7 – 12
Canadian Children’s Book Centre’s Best Books for Kids & Teens 2009
ALA’s 2010 Amelia Bloomer List: ? ?The Amelia Bloomer Project is part of the Feminist Task Force of the American Library Association’s Social Responsibility Round Table



Seraphina's Circle is the October 2008 selection for Anne's Book Club: www.anneofgreengables.com/bookclub/

Seraphina's Circle nominated for the 2007/2008 Stellar Award

Seraphina's Circle listed in Resource Links Best of 2006,
Fiction for grades 7 - 12

Cross My Heart was a Canadian Children's Book Centre "Our Choice" selection in 2005

Getting a Life was a Canadian Children's Book Centre "Our Choice" selection in 2003