Wendy McLeod MacKnight

Background

Wendy grew up in St. Stephen, New Brunswick and wrote her first novel at age nine. Prior to becoming a full-time author, Wendy worked for the Government of New Brunswick for twenty-five years, ending her career as Deputy Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, when the siren call of writing became too strong to ignore.

Her first middle grade novel, set in St. Stephen, called It’s a Mystery, Pig Face!was published by New York City publisher Sky Pony Press (now a subsidiary of Simon and Schuster) in 2017. Her second novel, The Frame-Up, a fantasy set at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, was sold at auction to Harper Collins’ Greenwillow Books in a two-book deal and was published in 2018. The paperback and Taiwanese versions were published in 2019. Her next novel, The Copycat, set in Saint John, was released March 10, 2020. Wendy is represented by the LKG Agency in New York City.

Wendy was awarded the Atlantic Booksellers’ Emerging Author award in 2017. She has been interviewed by Q, The Next Chapter, various CBC radio and television stations, was featured as One to Watch by Quill and Quire magazine, has received favorable reviews by the Wall Street Journal and other newspapers and The Frame-Up was named one of the best books of 2018 by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre. Recently, she was chosen to participate in TD Canadian Children’s Book Week and spent one week in Saskatchewan visiting schools and libraries. Wendy has participated in WordFest, Foglit Literary Festival, Canadian Writer’s Summit, Frye Literary Festival, and NErDCamp Northern New England. She was the inaugural author of St. Stephen’s StoryFest. The Copycat is a finalist in this year’s Rocky Mountain Book Awards.

Publications

It’s a Mystery, Pig Face! Sky Pony Press 2017
ISBN-13: 978-1-5107-2280-4
The Frame-Up, 2018, 2019 (PB)
ISBN-13: 978-0062668301
The CopyCat, March 2020
ISBN-13: 978-0062668332

What I Offer

I will present to grades 4 – 7, with the following options.

– Presentations on writing and revising and author life
– Presentations on finding your voice
– Presentation on the journey of an idea to a book
– Book Readings
– Presentations on Bringing Art Alive
– I am also open to combining a presentation with a tour of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery here in Fredericton