Award Winning Author
Lisa Lucas
Lisa started writing for magazines and newspapers. Later, she wrote extensively on issues related to literacy and health that were featured in publications by the Canadian Public Health Association, several literacy organizations, and hospitals across Canada. She is the recipient of the CIBC Children’s Miracle Maker Award for advancing literacy among people with special needs. Several years ago, Lisa partnered with Laurie Stein and began writing for children covering subjects from climate change to refugees. Her belief that “storytellers often sugarcoat real issues and present subjects to kids that are too far from reality in order to protect them. Just tell it the way it is. Kids appreciate authentic stories that are honest and real.” More recently, Lisa has turned her attention to historical fiction, graphic novels, poetry and multimedia and has had the privilege of collaborating with John Kapelos, an actor, Dr. Balaji Swaminath, a musician and dentist, Dr. Susan Wurtzburg, a poet, and Steven Landsberg, an advertising leader. Lisa’s work has been translated into several languages and is widely recognized throughout Canada and the U.S.
John Kapelos
John Kapelos (born March 8, 1956) is a Canadian actor from London, Ontario. He is best known for his portrayals of janitor Carl Reed in The Breakfast Club and Detective Donald Schanke in Forever Knight.
An alumnus of The Second City, Chicago, John Kapelos’s theatrical work spans eight years from Second City’s Touring Company (1978–1982) to six revues as a member of the famed Resident Company (1982–1986), and finally Second City’s critically acclaimed return to off-Broadway in Orwell That Ends Well at the former Village Gate in New York City.
Laurie Stein
Laurie is an award winning artist from Toronto. Since graduating from OCAD, she has been painting on canvases with her work on display in homes throughout North America and Europe. She won the Canadian entry for her painting entitled “DOUBLE TAKE” at the Spanish Miradas International Art Competition 2016, under the pseudonym Laurie Andrews, and again in 2018 for her painting, “AS I SEE IT”, this time entered as Laurie Stein. Her paintings have been featured on various magazine covers, profiled in Toronto’s Rosedale magazine, Canadian Journal of Rural Medicine, and the READ magazine, 2020. Laurie teaches painting workshops online through ArtBarn and the Creative Corner.
Balaji Swaminath
Balaji Swaminath is an acclaimed musician and teacher. He started his music career playing the cello and Yamaha electric organ and more recently has focussed on singing, guitar and studying opera. He has been involved in bands, orchestras and choral groups. His unique ability to arrange compositions and produce music has garnered him several awards. Lisa is thrilled that Balaji composed music for the her chapter book BASIL. Here’s a sample of his work:
April Come She Will
Bohemian Intro
Susan Wurtzburg
Susan Wurtzburg has a Ph.D. in anthropology. She has conducted extensive archaeological fieldwork in the Maya region of Mexico, published in academic books and journals, and co-edited two books. Sue has taught anthropology, sociology, and gender studies at universities in New Zealand and the USA. A decade ago, she settled in Hawaii where she taught at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. She is currently a community poet at Westminster College’s poetry workshop in Salt Lake City.
Steve Landsberg
Steve Landsberg, the co-writer on this project, is a founding partner of H.I. (Human Intelligence), a strategic branding and digital marketing communications firm. Prior to H.I., he was the Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Grok, an integrated advertising agency. He is the recipient of several industry awards. Steve’s first love, however, is history and when Lisa expressed her interest in writing Bounce, he immediately wanted to get involved.
Partners
John Kapelos
Laurie Stein
Balaji Swaminath
Susan Wurtzburg
Steve Landsberg
My Work
Poetry
Inside
By Lisa Lucas
Inside this brown bag is a soapstone,
A small carving,
A grey and white structure,
Shiny and smooth,
Rocks piled on top of another,
An Inukshuk,
A land marker,
A beacon,
For the way home.
Here she goes,
Nana being Nana,
Sounds all wise n’all,
As if I care about a bunch of dumb rocks.
A form that reveals journeys,
When folklore has been used up,
And there are no words left to describe the challenges you’ve faced.
She’s at it again,
That time was hard – my absolute rock bottom,
But this stone isn’t going to do a damn thing to help,
Nana, please drop it.
I know your road has been long,
Barriers obstructed your path,
Deceit took you the long way,
Often winding you round,
Till you dropped from exhaustion.
She just can’t seem to stop herself today,
Weird, she rarely goes on and on like this,
Something’s up.
Hold it,
Really touch it,
‘Cause I know the smooth stone will be there,
For the journeys you’ve already navigated,
And the ones to come.
Okay, okay, I’ll touch it if it pleases you, old lady.
Ya, it is crazy smooth.
A Mac truck couldn’t pull this thing apart.
What’s it called?
An Inuk-a-tuk?
I guess I’ll put it beside my bed.
Nah, in my pocket.
Publisher
Published October 2022
Old Mirror
By Lisa Lucas
Her eyes sparkle
just before she nails her jokes
her words
clever
funny
mostly dry.
Listen
really listen
‘cause one might whiz by whooooooshhhhhhhhh like a gust of wind
and the smiles
the laughter
lost.
Lately her eyes
dart back and forth
an old mirror warps her words sTill cleVer
sTill fuNNy
sTill drY.
But now reflects the residue
of disappointments.
Publisher
Published February 2023
Publisher
Published February 2023
Old Mirror
By Lisa Lucas
Her eyes sparkle
just before she nails her jokes
her words
clever
funny
mostly dry.
Listen
really listen
‘cause one might whiz by whooooooshhhhhhhhh like a gust of wind
and the smiles
the laughter
lost.
Lately her eyes
dart back and forth
an old mirror warps her words sTill cleVer
sTill fuNNy
sTill drY.
But now reflects the residue
of disappointments.
Books
Children’s Books
By Lisa & Laurie
Spectacularly Beautiful
Spectacularly Beautiful tells the story of Shahad, a refugee who has moved to a new country and started at a new school with her new teacher, Ms. Truong. Shahad comes to school every day with perfectly braided hair tied in ribbons. But her hair can’t hide the scars on her face and leg that are painful reminders of the country she fled, making her feel less than beautiful, and different from her peers.
By Lisa & Laurie
When the Earth Shook
A Picture Book
Alya and Atik twinkled in the night sky over Earth for billions of years. Plants stretched over them. Animals and then humans gazed up at them. Then humans built factories and cars, and smog poured into the atmosphere, and it became harder and harder for Alya and Atik to do their jobs – until, finally, the stars yelled at Earth, and Earth felt sick and began to shake. Things looked very bad until a little girl named Axiom told humans how to make Earth feel better. When The Earth Shook offers a new way of thinking about climate change.
By Lisa & Laurie
When the Earth Shook
A Picture Book
Alya and Atik twinkled in the night sky over Earth for billions of years. Plants stretched over them. Animals and then humans gazed up at them. Then humans built factories and cars, and smog poured into the atmosphere, and it became harder and harder for Alya and Atik to do their jobs – until, finally, the stars yelled at Earth, and Earth felt sick and began to shake. Things looked very bad until a little girl named Axiom told humans how to make Earth feel better. When The Earth Shook offers a new way of thinking about climate change.
Coming Soon
Coming Soon
BASIL Reporting To You Live
Barked by Lisa Lucas
Woofed by Laurie Stein
BASIL Reporting To You Live… is a graphic novel based on the life of Basil, a journalist who is an unlikely hero. Basil just wants to be the best news reporter he can be but, every story he reports on seems to go terribly wrong.
It is the first book of a planned middle grade graphic novel series, in which an intrepid dog named Basil bumbles his way through local Rocktown’s news stories. It’s a hilarious romp with a cast of sassy and spunky animal characters.
Coming Soon
Books
By Lisa Lucas & Steve Landsberg
Bounce
Bounce is historical fiction intended for Young Adults. It’s based on the game of Ping Pong and how it was used as a conduit to open up relations between China and the U.S. in the 1970’s. At the time, most people thought the game was simply fun – all you needed was a paddle, a ball and table and anyone could play. The worst that could happen was a ball to the eye or a paddle chop.
By Lisa Lucas & Susan Wurtzburg
Ravenous Words
A Collection of Poems
Ravenous Words is a book of poetry by Lisa and Sue Wurtzburg. The theses are based loosely on the behaviour of ravens: their social structure, memories, complex emotions, play, parenting and preservations.
Coming Soon
Children’s Books
By Lisa & Laurie
The Terrible Feeling
A Picture Book
Meeka and Marlie were friends. Every day they played, and every day they grew a little stronger. Then, Meeka uncle Poe came to town. And Meeka had a feeling. And the feeling felt terrible. Until… Meeka grew stronger than the terrible feeling could ever be.
By Lisa & Laurie
He/She She/He
A Picture Book
SHE and HE is based on two protagonists who are given gender specific presents they can’t stand. Their worlds collide when SHE decides to set her mother straight and conjure up a little magic.
By Lisa & Laurie
The Locked Gate
A Picture Book
“Whether you suffer an unjust system… whether you have been in a prison of anther’s making or in a cage of your own construction… there is… the dance without words before the twice-locked gates.”
– Before The Twice-Locked Gates, by Mark Nepo
When I read this, I thought about how humans have been building walls to keep others out for over 12,000 years. At the time, walls were built to secure people against wild animals and other dangers. But over time the walls evolved to keep people out. And that simply has not worked. The Locked Gate is about how the power of a child’s imagination can get through any wall, open any gate and undo any lock.
Reviews
