Author: Canadian writer, Valerie Francis, is a bestselling author of fiction for women and children. She’s so obsessed with the craft of storytelling that she’s started an online book club featuring stories by, for and about women. You can join the book club by
clicking here.
Originally published under the pseudonym, Robin St. Croix,
Masquerade is a love story designed for busy women on the go. At a dinner party one night, Valerie’s friends (all avid readers and busy women) confessed that due to their hectic schedules, they didn’t read as much as they used to. So, Valerie designed a book in 12 parts that could easily be read on a cell phone while they waited in dentists’ offices or stood on the sidelines of soccer fields. Each part is about the length of a glass of wine or a commute home. Guilt-free moments of escape for readers in their otherwise chaotic days!
Nature Knights is a fantasy adventure for kids ages 9 and up. The idea came to her after seeing a photo of a turtle that had died because of plastic garbage it had ingested. She wondered what would happen if nature could fight back and that evening, she began to write the story.
Although Valerie writes across genre, there is a common thread in her work and that is, strong female characters. Women and girls of all ages have a particular perspective on the world and it’s this point of view she’s keen to explore.
Certified Story Grid Editor: As a writer, Valerie understands what it feels like to struggle with a manuscript that doesn’t work and has spent many late nights rewriting drafts in frustration. That all changed in January 2015, when she discovered
The Story Grid: What Good Editors Know (then in blog form). Since then, she has been studying and applying Shawn Coyne’s methodology and knows from experience how well his technique works. In fact, that’s why she became a Certified Story Grid Editor — to help her fellow authors, in all genres, learn to apply these editing principles and ultimately become better storytellers.
Podcaster: Valerie co-hosts two podcasts for writers. The first, The Story Grid Editor Roundtable, is focused on the craft of writing. Each week Valerie, along with four fellow Certified Story Grid Editors, analyze a film according to the editing method developed by Shawn Coyne. The second is focused entirely on book marketing. On The Book Launch Show, Valerie learns how to develop a relationship with her readers from book marketing expert, Tim Grahl.