TSJ’s Creative Writing Workshop at Central SS in Pictures |

TSJ’s Creative Writing Workshop at Central SS in Pictures

In this recent session at Central SS in the Thames Valley District School Board, I used specific genres to illustrate how telling a compelling story changes over time. You see, stories often reflect society and technology at the time the story is written. Here are a few pictures from the event.

I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to the creative writing students and to Ms. Abraham for inviting me in, and also to the school’s administration.

In discussing creative writing, I often use movie trailers and clips to describe literary devices and story. Movies are a common form of storytelling that most students identify with and have seen. This has been my strategy when leading writing workshops. If you are an English or writing teacher in the Southern Ontario region, and would like to have me come in to speak with a club or group or class(es), then consider reaching out to arrange a time.

We discussed these three franchises and why they appealed to audiences at the time.

We discussed some very popular movie franchises — each having multiple films in series — and why they were so successful while others are not.

We reviewed the evolution of films (regardless of genre) inspired by technology. In this instance, the effects of the Atomic Age on suspense or action narratives.

Godzilla could be the most famous example of the Atomic Age’s impact on film.

We reviewed many iterations of horror, from the “Found Footage” stories of the 1990s to a new genre, known as “Screenlife:”

We used what we learned in a workshop session to create a story that might capture an audience, but based on current society. We shared the results as a class, and some of the stories were incredible!

We also looked at the business of being a writer and in this case, branding. See picture:

Please reach out if you’d like me to come speak with your creative writing students. I lead a variety of sessions, from Inspirations to First Lines to The Business of Writing and Branding and Creating Compelling Stories and so much more.

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A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston and from Fitzhenry & Whiteside, LTD. is the recipient of the 2024 GLOBAL Thriller Award GRAND PRIZE and the 2024 CYGNUS Award First in Category.

— Timothy S. Johnston, 2 June 2026

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Praise for Timothy S. Johnston’s A Blanket of Steel

“Fans of Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files will be delighted with Timothy S. Johnston’s undersea novels. Truman McClusky and Dirk Pitt are cut from the same adventurer’s cloth.” — Nick Cutter, author of The Deep and The Troop

“Action that ranges from close range combat to torpedo-fueled attacks. The result is a thriller that keeps moving from confrontation to confrontation … with constant danger and the vast depths of the ocean as a setting, there is always reason to keep reading.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Read the book and prepare to be blown away by one of the best writers I have ever had the pleasure to read. Timothy S. Johnston is simply amazing.” — FIVE Stars from Readers’ Favorite

“A Blanket of Steel is not simply a ‘daring do’ thriller … It’s prescient.” — Amazing Stories

“A priority selection. An action-packed story that is hard to put down. A Blanket of Steel is outstanding.” — D. Donovan, Sr. Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

“Innovative technology, Mac taking risks no one else would dare and thinking his way through to brilliant solutions … But the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before. This is it. The countdown to the final battle … Johnston does an excellent job of keeping the tension taut as he plays with the reader’s perceptions of characters we thought we knew and trusted …” — SFcrowsnest

“Expect to be left breathless. Trust me here. Please. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.” — Michael Libling, author of The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife and Hollywood North: A Novel in Six Reels

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A BLANKET OF STEEL is out now!

WATCH THE GRIPPING BOOK TRAILER HERE.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

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A Blanket of Steel from Timothy S. Johnston and Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ltd.

Book Cover & Jacket Copy:

AN UNSTOPPABLE THREAT!

A mysterious assassin has murdered Cliff Sim, Chief Security Officer of the underwater colony, Trieste. Cliff was a mountain of a man, highly trained, and impossible to defeat in combat. And yet …

Someone brutally beat him and left his broken body in a secret Chinese facility at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

And included a calling card for Truman McClusky, Mayor of Trieste.

Taunting him.

Mac has led the underwater colonies in their fight against the world’s superpowers. Climate change has devastated the surface; nations suffer famine, drought, rebellion, rising waters, and apocalyptic coastal flooding. But now, as Mac leads the underwater colonies to freedom and independence, he’s faced with the gravest threat of his life: a Russian assassin, hellbent on killing Mac and everyone he cares for. Now Mac must uncover the identity of the killer, face him in combat, and at the same time lead people in battle against the largest underwater force ever assembled. It’s Mac’s final test, and to win the war, he must use every tool at his disposal, including the most surprising and devastating underwater weapons ever invented.

If Mac fails, all hope is lost for the future of human colonization on the ocean floors.

But the assassin could be anyone …

Watch your back, Mac.

A Blanket of Steel is the most gripping thriller yet in The Rise of Oceania.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

The other books in The Rise of Oceania series by Timothy S Johnston:

The War Beneath 9781771484718
The Savage Deeps 9781771485067
Fatal Depth 9781554555574
An Island of Light 9781554555819
The Shadow of War 9781554556007