APPLY TO HOST MARTY CHAN (VIRTUALLY)
BIOGRAPHY
Marty Chan writes books for kids, stage plays for adults, and social media posts for fun. He's best known for his bestselling YA thriller Haunted Hospital. In 2025, his middle-grade fantasy, Dragon on the Loose, picked up an Honour Book for the Silver Birch Express and won an OWL Award. He works and lives in Edmonton with his wife and their two cats, Hugo and Minnie.
Home Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Creator Type: Author
Genres: Early chapter books, Middle grade fiction, Hi-lo books for reluctant readers
Website: martychan.com
Tour Region: Virtually across Canada
Target Audience: Grades 3 - 8
Cost: For one 60-minute presentation: $300 plus tax (5% GST in BC, AB, SK, MB, QC; 13% in ON; 14% in NS; 15% in NL, NB, and PEI)
NOTE: The fee of $300 (plus tax) will be paid to The Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC) upon receipt of an invoice from the CCBC. After Book Week, the CCBC will pay the author their presentation fee of $250 (plus taxes, if applicable).
PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONS
Thrill Your Readers: How to Write Suspense
Target Audience: Grades 4 – 8
Preferred group size: 2 – 3 classroom logins
Maximum group size: 8 classroom logins
Using his thriller Curse of Heartwood Academy, Marty shares the three common writing elements of every great suspense story. In this virtual session, he’ll teach kids how to use descriptive details to enhance the story’s atmosphere and how to create a backstory to hook the reader. With practical exercises, movie examples, and storytelling, Marty will demonstrate to students how to capture a reader’s attention and maintain it until the exciting climax. This interactive session will inspire kids to craft their own creepy tales and give teachers a primer on how to write suspense.
Required equipment: Zoom, Google Meet or MS Teams for virtual platform.
Required materials: Handout (I’ll send a pdf) and pencils.
It’s a Mystery: Plotting Mystery Stories
Target Audience: Grades 4 – 8
Preferred group size: 2 – 3 classroom logins
Maximum group size: 8 classroom logins
Izzy Wong’s Drama Disaster demonstrates the six classic elements of any compelling mystery. In this dynamic virtual workshop, Marty describes the six elements and breaks down how to use them. Students will learn how to structure a mystery tale worthy of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Students will plan the crime and the setting. They’ll create the criminal character and build up the motive, method and opportunity to commit the crime. Marty will then walk the students through how to inject twists into the story to keep the reader from guessing the answer too soon. Kids will walk away with a better understanding of what goes into a story, and teachers will gain a primer on how to teach mystery writing.
Required equipment: Zoom, Google Meet or MS Teams for virtual platform.
Required materials: Handout (I’ll send a pdf) and pencils.
Secret Vault: A STEAM session that focusses on math
Target Audience: Grades 3 - 6
Preferred group size: 2 – 3 classroom logins
Maximum group size: 8 classroom logins
In this interactive virtual STEAM session, students pretend to be the heroes of Marty’s work-in-progress, The Secret Vault. As amateur explorers, the kids unravel riddles and solve math problems in this escape-room-styled treasure hunt for a hidden vault somewhere in the world. The math problems are geared to each particular grade level, and the kids will work in teams to crack the codes. Along the way, the kids will learn more about different types of secret codes and their connection to math. This session demonstrates how math and creative writing can be combined and introduces students to the concept of beta-testing manuscripts.
Required equipment: Zoom, Google Meet or MS Teams for virtual platform.
Required materials: Handout (I’ll send a pdf) and pencils.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Curse of Heartwood Academy, Orca Book, 2026
Izzy Wong's Drama Disaster, Orca Book, 2026
“In a Flash,” Today I Am Anthology, Scholastic, 2024.
Dragon on the Loose, Orca Book, 2024.
Izzy Wong’s Nose for News, Orca Book, 2024.
Cosplay Crime, Orca Book, 2024.
The Antiracist Kitchen, Orca Book, 2023
Willpower, Orca Book, 2022.
Final Cut, Orca Book, 2022.
Kylie the Magnificent, Orca Book, 2021.
Haunted Hospital, Orca Book, 2020.
Kung Fu Master, Orca Book, 2019.
The Ehrich Weisz Chronicles: Metamorphosis, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2019.
Keepers of the Vault: Shadow and Spell, Clockwise Press, 2017.
Keepers of the Vault: Melody and Myth, Clockwise Press, 2016.
The Ehrich Weisz Chronicles: Infinity Coil, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2015.
Sink or Swim, Pearson Canada, 2015.
Villainous, Pearson Canada, 2015.
Keepers of the Vault: Fire and Glass, Clockwise Press, 2015.
The Ehrich Weisz Chronicles: Demon Gate, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2013.
Barnabas Bigfoot: The Bone Eater, Thistledown Press, 2013.
Barnabas Bigfoot: A Hairy Tangle, Thistledown Press, 2013.
Barnabas Bigfoot: A Close Shave, Thistledown Press, 2012.
The Forbidden Phoenix, Playwrights Canada Press, 2011.
The Mystery of the Cyber Bully, Thistledown Press, 2010.
True Story, Ink Jockey Books, 2009.
The Mystery of the Mad Science Teacher, Thistledown Press, 2008.
The Mystery of the Graffiti Ghoul, Thistledown Press, 2006.
The Mystery of the Frozen Brains, Thistledown Press, 2004.