New Brunswick Author Portal

New Brunswick Author Portal


Wendy McLeod  MacKnight
Categories: Female Authors - Anglophone Authors - Authors of Juvenile Fiction; - Saint John River Valley

photo of author
Source: Author / auteure



Biography

Wendy McLeod MacKnight grew up in St. Stephen and wrote her first novel at age nine. She worked for the Government of New Brunswick for twenty-five years, ending her career as the Deputy Minister of Education when the siren call of writing became impossible to ignore. Wendy is represented by Lauren Galit of the LKG Agency in New York City. Her debut middle grade novel, It's a Mystery, Pig Face! was published by Sky Pony Press in 2017. Her second book, 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 will be published June 5th, 2018.

Wendy graduated from Fredericton High School, although she also attended Miramichi Valley High School after living in St. Stephen.



How has New Brunswick influenced your work?

New Brunswick is my work. Each of my books is specifically set in New Brunswick, and unabashedly so. As far as I am concerned, the stories of New Brunswickers are as compelling as any stories set anywhere in the world, I always make sure to talk about this during school visits. New Brunswick is magical, and wonderful, and inspiring, and most of all, it is home.

What is your favourite New Brunswick book, and why?

Oddly enough, I write children's books, but my favourite New Brunswick book is The Last Tasmanian by Herb Curtis. It is beautifully written and I sobbed for a good hour at the end. Which reminds me: it's time to re-read it!

What do you consider to be the highlight of your career so far?

Having my latest book go to auction and be picked up by Harper Collins in New York City. A real pinch-me moment. It was like being Jo March!


Featured Publication

The Frame-Up
(2018)
Excerpt:

The residents of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery live by a very specific set of rules:

  1. Under no circumstances are residents to interact with humans or move about when there are humans in the building.
  2. Do not get caught outside your painting.
  3. Do not go into someone else's painting without his or her permission.
  4. Issues requiring attention are to be directed to the Portrait of Lord Beaverbrook.
  5. Paintings wishing to travel between the main floor and the basement must pass through Santiago El Grande.
  6. Failure to abide by these rules will result in punishment and possible banishment.
  7. Rules subject to change without notice, as per the will of Lord Beaverbrook.

Thirteen-year-old Mona Dunn is about to break the first two. But she's been trapped in the same place for more than a hundred years. So, really, who can blame her?

Twelve-year-old Sargent Singer believes in his own set of rules:

  1. Dad abandoned you so don't trust him.
  2. This summer is going to be a disaster. Just get through it.
  3. You don't need friends.

Meanwhile, magic and mischief is brewing at the Beaverbrook. And when Sargent catches a glimpse of something unexpected and forbidden, his rules go out the window too, and that mischief snowballs into a friendship story, a mystery, and a crime caper like no other. Exactly who is framing who?

Find this author in the New Brunswick public libraries catalogue.


Source(s): Author.