Look and Listen

Biography

Cindy Kenney is an award-winning author, editor, international speaker and seminar leader. Having studied to be a teacher, Cindy began her career as a Christian Ed Director, writing curriculum products for the church and training materials for teachers. She has gone on to publish more than 50 books, 8 curriculum programs, and numerous articles and other materials. She worked as the senior managing editor and writer for Big Idea Productions and the publishing director for Exclaim Entertainment for the last ten years before leaving to fulfill her dream of being a full-time freelance writer and editor. Cindy received the 2005 Editor of the Year award presented by the Christian Writers Association. She received a 2004 Gold Medallion award for developing the VeggieTales series, "The Mess Detectives" and received a Silver Medallion for "God Loves You Very Much." Her "VeggieTales Story Bible" was selected as one of the top five of all 2006 children’s books at the Christian Booksellers in 2007. Cindy resides in the Chicago area with her husband and two growing boys. Today she freelances as a writer, editor and speaker and primarily focuses her attention on both fiction and non-fiction projects for children, families, churches and women. Her life’s goal is to reach readers with fresh, new and compelling materials that help to educate, inform, or entertain. Visit Cindy’s web site at www.KenneyCreative.com.

Inspiration

Cindy knew she wanted to be a writer at the age of 5 and her mother still has the story she "wrote" at that age when she proclaimed her career! Her journey to reach that goal, however, was not an easy one as she struggled each step of the way. After plowing through a difficult childhood and a troublesome twenties experience, Cindy turned her focus on faith as she became a wife and mother. After years of striving to become a novelist, she landed a job as a Christian Education Director and began writing her own materials for the church. This rewarding career allowed her to share her talents with others as she began to speak at local events and organizations. After realizing that God may not have planned for her to become a published writer, Cindy stopped sending in queries and felt thankful for the chance to share her talents with her church and local teachers and directors. Just a few weeks later, she received a call from her first publisher who flew her to Minnesota to write a curriculum project. After that project, things took off! Cindy began to publish a variety of curriculum, training materials, non-fiction books and articles. From there, she moved onto fiction and wrote stories for both children and adults. Several years later, Cindy landed a position with Big Idea Productions as their Senior Managing Editor and Writer. They needed her to develop their entire book and curriculum department from the ground - up! This eight year challenging experience was excellent training ground and Cindy learned a vast amount of knowledge about the publishing industry. Cindy went on to publish over 50 of her own books, 8 curriculum projects and numerous scripts, articles and other materials. Today, Cindy works as a freelance writer and editor. She has worked for over 20 different publishers in this capacity. More than anything else, Cindy strives to produce fresh, new and compelling materials that educate, inform and entertain her readers. Some of Cindy's current work can be purchased on her website at www.KenneyCreative.com.