mail	450 Simcoe Street Suite 1111 Victoria, BC V8V1L4
ph	250-361-3938
e	julielawson@shaw.ca
web	http://www.canscaip.org/bios/lawsonj.html

Biography

Born in Victoria at 5:20 a.m. on a rainy November Sunday and have been an early riser ever since. Went to school and university in Victoria. Wrote stories in my spare time and dreamed of becoming an author, but became an elementary teacher instead. No time to write stories, but kept on dreaming. Reached a certain age and decided to stop dreaming, write a story and try to get it published. It worked! So I left teaching and wrote another. Fifteen years and twenty-seven books later, I'm still writing books for children of all ages.
And in my spare time? I speak at libraries, schools and conferences across the country, spend time with friends, hike and walk and listen to Chopin, watch DVDs, cook up a storm, read mysteries, novels and historical fiction. And I travel the world with my husband, notebook in hand, collecting ideas for new stories.

Book types: picture books, juvenile fiction, YA fiction

Guest speaker/presentation information

The Riveting World of Writing: from the spark of an idea, through the hot topics of research, revising and refining, to the role of the editor, illustrator and publisher, and on to the final book. Examples are shown from every stage, including hands-on objects, and short passages are read from a variety of published works. Talks can be tailor-made to specific topics or novel studies. Lively, informative and interactive!
Writing workshops for grades 4 and up are also available.
Fee: $250 (plus GST) per session, plus expenses (meals, accommodation, transportation if necessary)
Group size: 60 to a maximum of 75; for writing workshops the maximum is 20 (negotiable)

Presentation geographic range: Vancouver, Coast, Lower Mainland, Gulf and Vancouver Islands, Thompson Okanagan, Northern British Columbia, Cariboo Chilcotin Coast, Kootenay Rockies, The Territories, Canada - beyond BC, USA

Presentation audience age groups: primary school, grades K-3, grades 4-6, grades 7-8, college/university/adult

Published work

Selected titles:
A Ribbon of Shining Steel and No Safe Harbour (for Scholastic's Dear Canada series), Emily (parts 1 to 4 for Penguin's Our Canadian Girl series), White Jade Tiger, Cougar Cove, Destination Gold! Goldstone, The Ghost of Avalanche Mountain, The Dragon's Pearl, Kate's Castle, The Klondike Cat, Bear on the Train, Arizona Charlie and the Klondike Kid.

Awards & recognition

Winner: Sheila A. Egoff Award, CLA Fiction Notable, US National Parenting Award, IRA Top Choice, CNIB's Tiny Torgi Award, Runner-up and regional Winner of Silver Birch Award (3 titles)

Nominations: Red Cedar, Rocky Mountain, Manitoba Young Readers, Hackmatack, Christie Harris, Ruth Schwartz, I.O.D.E.