Publications

Visit: http://www.3daynovel.com/2009/02/01/the-convictions-of-leonard-mckinley-by-brendan-mcleod

Brendan has written one novel and one play. The novel is called The Convictions of Leonard McKinley. The play is called The Big Oops. Read below for more details.

***Nominated for the 2008 Re:Lit Award for Fiction***

About the Book

Young Leonard thinks his own moral failures caused his father’s heart attack and triggered an epileptic fit in his dog. As he launches himself through increasingly dangerous ethical trials, his thoughts grow darker and the stakes get higher in his constant struggle to be good.

The winner of the 29th Annual International 3-Day Novel Contest is a coming-of-age gone awry; a funny, suspenseful and touching story of a young prairie boy who can’t reconcile his faith, his offbeat family, and his own teenage impulses. In Leonard McKinley, McLeod has drawn a complicated character—open, charming and heartbreakingly conflicted.

Reviews

“McLeod’s plot works away with quiet efficiency. Leonard comes apart as the book comes together….a very personal addendum to the scariest of biblical prophecies.”—The Globe and Mail

“The newest 3-Day winner is an emotionally powerful book and an intense read… McLeod’s knack for realistic dialogue and for shaping young male characters you might have met at summer camp 20 years ago bring this coming-of-age tale to life.” —Now Magazine

“McLeod…has built a solid reputation as one of the country’s best spoken word performers. It turns out his command of language is just as strong on paper, however, as Leonard McKinley is an equally funny, disturbing and poignant tale of a young man struggling to reconcile his strong Christian faith with his increasingly dark impulses.”
—Monday Magazine

“Brendan McLeod presents us with a protagonist who is at once mesmerizing and ridiculous, charming and offensive.”
—Terence Young, Governor General’s Award Nominee

“…a very funny book about religious extremism…McLeod puts the fun in fundamentalism.”
—Uptown Magazine

“McLeod’s writing is clear, thoughtful and funny… he has produced an entertaining read.”
—Broken Pencil Magazine

“Brendan McLeod employs a wonderous duality — the sort that sows a field of allusive comedy, and then, with full purpose, salts the same ground with tragedy and profundity. The reader is caught out in his own laughter, and is brought into the world of McLeod’s characters with a sudden, intense sympathy. While this novel is a house built from bricks of pop culture and kid idiom, it is also a kind of revelation. The Confessions of Leonard McKinley is about God and the thought of God. It is a knotwork of miniature golf, 7-Eleven, suburban teenland, and epistemology. It is a novel about thought itself.” – Wayde Compton, author of 49th Parallel Psalm

About the Play
An original one woman/ one act play centred on upcoming children’s entertainer Sammi Sam, who lives to please and inspire everyone around her: the children she entertains, her long-term boyfriend Ben, and his affluent parents. When she accidentally becomes pregnant, she and Ben must choose whether or not to have a child during a financially and socially unstable time of their lives. The decision forces them to re-evaluate their life goals and their relationship to both their families and each other. Part naive children’s show, part interpersonal drama,  The Big Oops takes on contemporary social mores with abnormal humour and pathos.

Participant Bios:

Brendan McLeod (writer, music):
Brendan is a former Canadian Slam poetry champion. He is a member of the acclaimed music group, The Fugitives. His first novel, The Convictions of Leonard McKinley, was nominated for the 2008 Re:Lit Award.
www.brendanmcleod.ca

Cara Yeates (performer):
The recent winner of the Joanna Maratta Award for contribution to the Vancouver theatre community, Cara has toured internationally with two previous one woman shows, “Some Reckless Abandon” and “Bye Bye Bombay”, which she wrote.
www.carayeates.com

TJ Dawe (director):
A Jessie and Just for Laughs Comedy Award winner, TJ has performed, written, and/or directed dozens of Canadian theatre productions over the past ten years, including “The Slipknot” , “Totem Figures”, and “The One Man Star Wars Trilogy”.
www.totemfigures.com