Introduction: About You

3 Little Known or Interesting Things About You

1. My favourite movie is the Wizard of Oz
2. I could eat spaghetti every day for the rest of my life
3. I feed birds, squirrels, raccoons, groundhogs, moles, and chipmunks. 

Hogwarts House and Camp Halfblood Cabin

Ravenclaw all the way! I was surprised (somewhat sheepish) to discover I will be staying in the Apollo cabin!

What is your writing Kryptonite?

Easy – I have to write two to three drafts before I really have a clue what my story is about!

What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?

I have lots of writers friends in the sweet sixteen and swanky seventeens debut author groups!

Specifically, Janet Sumner Johnson has been a source of advice along the way, along with Melissa Roske, Kristin L. Gray, Jonathan Rosen, Sally Pla, Dana Middleton, Kathleen Burkinshaw, Kathleen Peacock, Matt Landis, Ali Standish, and too many more to mention. We support each other and share what we’ve learned. And most importantly, they make me laugh!

What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?

I feel like Gareth Wronki’s Holly Farb and the Princess of the Galaxy should be a bestseller. I just loved it so much!

How do you balance making demands on the reader with taking care of the reader?

I always assume my readers are bright and imaginative, so I try and write in such a way so as not to insult their intelligence! That said, my readers are mostly kids with big hearts and hopes and dreams, so I do my best to leave them with hope.

As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot or avatar?

I love this question! My mascot would be a raccoon. I love them so much and read recently that they can remember how to solve a problem for three years!  I could use that kind of savvy when I get to copy edits!

About Your Books

Tell us about your book(s)-length of time it took to write, journey, publishing, release dates, etc.

I wrote my first book, It’s a Mystery, Pig-Face! decades ago and stuck it in a drawer. From the time I dug it out, rewrote it, and my agent found a publisher, it was about two years. It was published by SkyPony Press in 2017.

The Frame-Up was much faster – I wrote and revised it in four months and my agent sold it two months later. It was published in 2018 by Greenwillow Books.

My next book, The Copycat, took about 8 months to write and revise, and will be published by Greenwillow Books on March 10, 2020.

Favorite line or quote from one of your books.

The history of this planet is people rushing to say and do things, when a day’s reflection would make all the difference.” The Copycat

Describe the character that is most like you. 

For sure Tracy in It’s a Mystery, Pig Face! She’s nosy, loyal, funny, and makes a lot of mistakes!

Advice

Do you have any suggestions to help me become a better writer? If so, what are they?

Two things: 

1. Know where your story is going from the start. That really does help!
2. Revise, revise, revise, until you can’t make your story any better!

Leave us with some wise words. What advice would you give the readers of this interview?

The central theme in all of my books is this: be true to yourself. Don’t compare yourself to others or try to impress other people. And do the thing that makes you happy, because when you’re happy, you’ll spread happiness to everyone you meet.

Leave some links for us to follow you and buy your books:

Hop over to wendymcleodmacknight.com for links for purchasing my books or follow me on twitter @wendymacknight or on instagram @wendymcleodmacknight.

You can find my books at Indiebound: https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=wendy+McLeod+macknight

Or at Amazon.com: 

Or any other major bookseller!