Renny deGroot is a first-generation Canadian of Dutch parents. Her novels have been shortlisted for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize, a Whistler Independent Book Award and a Toby Award (for self-published Canadian mystery authors ). They have received several readers’ awards from the U.K., Canada, and the U.S. She has published mystery, historical fiction, short stories and non-fiction.
Renny holds a BA in English Literature from Trent University and studied creative writing at Ryerson University. She is a member of Crime Writers of Canada, The Writers’ Union of Canada, The Writers’ Community of Durham Region, and the Sudbury Writers’ Guild. She lives in rural Ontario with her spouse and Great Pyrenees, and she loves writing at her vacation home in Nova Scotia.
Choice of:
1. WW1 high level background, deeper dive into human perspective centered in France - using my novel After Paris as focal point (Dutch nurse in Paris);
2. WW2 focus on Netherlands conditions, human cost - using my novel Family Business (shortlisted for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize) as focal point for discussion and examples; or
3. The Irish Rising (1916) and years following during the Civil War. High level look at the groups and goals of the opposing sides, using the human element as the lens - focal point is my novel Torn Asunder.
Choice of:
1. WW1 high level background, deeper dive into human perspective centered in France - using my novel After Paris as focal point (Dutch nurse in Paris);
2. WW2 focus on Netherlands conditions, human cost - using my novel Family Business (shortlisted for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize) as focal point for discussion and examples; or
3. The Irish Rising (1916) and years following during the Civil War. High level look at the groups and goals of the opposing sides, using the human element as the lens - focal point is my novel Torn Asunder.


