Elsie McKenney

Elsie (Yoder) McKenney is the gold medal recipient of the 2023 Readers' Favorite International Book Award and the silver medal recipient of the 2024 Global Book Award for her YA Thriller, Eve's Covering. Elsie was born in Idaho where her family attended a little Mennonite church in the country. It was here she learned to love Jesus – along with Yellowstone, horses, and the smell of sagebrush. When her family moved to northern Michigan, they became entangled in a cult. She rebelled but was finally persuaded to leave her friends, family, and everything she held dear to join. When strange, supernatural things started to happen, she realized her mistake and ran for her life. She was homeless in a foreign country for a time before finding her way back home – only to find it gone. Through these experiences, Elsie was inspired to write Eve’s Covering, her debut novel. Faith and family are the most important things in her life. She is the mother to two adult children and Mimi to three awesome grandchildren. She plans on adding more arrows to her Mimi quiver. Elsie studied creative writing at Ferris State University where she earned the Excellence in Language and Literature award. She went on to teach literature and composition at an academy while living in Ukraine as a missionary. Elsie is also a world traveler and artist, and has a penchant for all things purple. She does her best writing at four in the morning by firelight. When she isn’t working on a novel, she can be found hiking through the woods or reading in a quiet nook. She resides in northern Michigan with her husband and soulmate, David, and their cheeky cavalier spaniel, Mr. Bingley. You can find her here: elsie mckenney [d o t] c o m and here: t i k t o k elsie mckenney [ u n d e r s c o r e ] author