When hard work pays off,
good news comes!

The last few months have been very exciting for local children’s author Anne Renaud

By Mona Andrei

It all started in early September when Anne arrived home and was greeted by a patiently awaiting voicemail on her answering machine. Unsuspecting, she noticed that it was from Arlene Perly Rae. Anne’s first thought? “Why is Bob Rae’s wife calling me?”

Anne Renaud

Before we continue, a little name-dropping may be required to put Anne’s surprise into context. Bob Rae, former Member of Parliament, was the leader of the Liberal Party from 2011 to 2013. So yes, as you can imagine Anne had a few questions about why Mrs. Rae’s voice was on her answering machine. As it turns out, the news was good. Anne’s book, Fania’s Heart, had won the Canadian Jewish Literary Award for the children and youth category. Good news indeed!

“I hadn’t even heard of this award,” Anne admits. “I was thrilled!”

Then, just a few weeks later at the end of September, Anne had another message on her voicemail machine. This time it was from Lori Schubert, Executive Director of the Quebec Writers’ Federation (QWF). The message was short: “Please call me.”

Lori was calling to share more good news. Anne’s book, Mr. Crum’s Potato Predicament, was short-listed for the 2018 QWF Literary Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature. This exciting news came with a catch. Anne was only allowed to tell one person since the news wasn’t going to be announced until October 15th.

So far we have one month, two voicemails, and recognition for two of Anne’s books. In case you’re thinking that that’s not enough good news, there is more!

Anne recently learned that the French rights for her book, The Extraordinary Life of Anna Swan, have been purchased by Editions Scholastic. The true story of a woman born in 1846 that was coined the “Nova Scotia Giant Girl” is now available in French with the title, Anna Swan: La Vraie Histoire d’une Géante.

There’s an expression: Things happen in threes. In Anne’s case, things have been happening very quickly and the magic number is FIVE.

After many years of following her passion, writing her stories, and intermittently seeking a literary agent, Anne can now boast representation by Hilary McMahon of Westwood Creative Artists. Representation for an author is a big deal. A bigger deal is when your agent calls you up to tell you that she has just sold one of your manuscripts. Getting an agent with one of Canada’s largest literary agencies is “thing number four” for Anne.

There’s an expression: Things happen in threes. In Anne’s case, things have been happening very quickly and the magic number is FIVE.

Thing number five happened when her agent, Ms. McMahon, called to let her know that she had just sold one of her manuscripts to Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. (More news on the release of Anne’s latest book to follow.)

Working without an agent never stopped Anne from writing her books. With close to 20 published books to date, Anne is the personification of, “do what you love”. Her passion for telling the stories of real people, through picture book biographies, is a gift she shares with the world. A gift for readers, and a gift for the people whose lives she forever imprints into our appreciation for a great story.

Since receiving the news in October, that Mr. Crumb’s Potato Predicament was short-listed for the 2018 QWF Literary Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature, the book went on to win!

Without a doubt, this has been a great time for Anne and her books!

Images: courtesy of Anne RenaudRead also: From fun and light-hearted to the darker days of history
More articles by Mona Andrei HERE

Mona Andrei is a digital copywriter, writer, and social media strategist with over 20 years of experience, both on the advertising agency and corporate sides of the communication spectrum. When she’s not working on client projects, she likes to write irreverent posts for her personal blog, Moxie-Dude, where she writes about life updates gone wrong. Or right. She’s undecided. You can connect with Mona on Twitter or email her at Mona@MonaAndrei.com