Author HEATHER CONN
Gracie’s Got a Secret is the first children’s book for author Heather Conn, who co-wrote Vancouver’s Glory Years with Henry Ewert (Whitecap Books 2003) and wrote Vancouver’s Trolley Buses 1948-1998 (BC Transit 1998). She has written for 50+ magazines, books, and newspapers across North America, including The Globe and Mail, Vancouver Sun, Edmonton Journal, Canadian Geographic, and Sierra.
Heather has also co-written two short films for Bravo! TV and segments for the former Vancouver CBC-TV children’s show Hopscotch; on the show, she demonstrated the yoga “Tree” pose to the two child hosts. She wrote a puppet teleplay on “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” for Take Part Productions in North Vancouver. Heather co-founded a nature appreciation program, Oneness in The Wilderness, targeted at seven to nine-year-olds, and prepared related curriculum and facilitated workshops in the Vancouver, BC, Canada region.
An engaging speaker, Heather has inspired classes and audiences of all ages in a variety of areas, from creative nonfiction and stream-of-consciousness writing to collage and travel writing. She has taught writing full-time, besides offering writing workshops at diverse venues from Simon Fraser University at Harbour Centre and Capilano University to the Vancouver School Board and Selkirk College. For more information, see heatherconn.com
When she’s not writing, Heather coaches writers, edits, and consults. She is also a Trained SoulCollage® Facilitator, who hosts a variety of creative workshops. See Sunshine Coast SoulCollage® for more information.
Illustrator LILLIAN LAI
Gracie’s Got a Secret is the first children’s book for talented illustrator Lillian Lai. For her day job, Lillian is an artist on social mobile games for Harmony Arcade and has worked in the animation industry on shows such as Rated A for Awesome. She has worked as a graphic artist and as a producer of short animation. Lillian has a certificate in 3D digital animation and a diploma in 2D commercial animation from Capilano University in North Vancouver. Click here to see some of her sketches and animation.
Publisher MW BOOKS PUBLISHING
MW Books Publishing is a small publishing house, based in Garden Bay, BC, which operates completely off the grid. It produces books in many genres from fiction and poetry to science and technology. It reinforces the fine traditions of age-old book publishing; some of its titles include several limited edition series, hand-bound in leather, gold-stamped, and individually numbered.