Children’s author Karen Autio will be the guest instructor at the seminar Keys to Creating Books Kids Want to Read, Saturday, January 31, 11am-3pm. Part of the winter-spring classes put on by Kelowna’s Curious Beyond Words writing school, this special class takes place in the small meeting room on the second floor of the downtown Kelowna library on Ellis Street. The cost is $55, which can be brought to class.

Writing a book that will appeal to children is not as easy as people think. It involves research and writing skill. This session, headed exclusively by Karen Autio, will take a general look at writing for children and then cover specifics about writing historical fiction for young readers. Karen will also present some short writing exercises and a booksigning.

Karen Autio of Kelowna is the author of three bestselling historical novels for young readers: Second Watch, Saara’s Passage, and Sabotage, published by Sono Nis Press. Karen writes about events in Canada’s history that haven’t had much attention, such as the sinking of the Empress of Ireland and spies, sabotage, and internment during the First World War. Winner of two awards, Karen’s forthcoming books include a west coast sea otter adventure chapter book called Kah-Lan and a picture book called Growing Up in Wild Horse Canyon, illustrated by Loraine Kemp, that explores Okanagan history.

For more information and to register for this course, call 778-214-6318 or email donasturmanis@yahoo.com. Want to take more writing courses? Visit curiousbeyondwords.com