Brenda K. Thompson is the Grand Prize-winning author of Alice Anyway, Ivaleena, and A Feedsack Dress for Sadie—emotionally immersive Appalachian novels exploring resilience, belonging, identity, and transformation.
Her debut novel, Alice Anyway, was named the First Place Grand Prize Winner for Fiction in the 2026 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, where it also won First Novel (70,000–90,000 words) and was named a finalist in Female Empowerment. The novel became a #1 Amazon Bestseller in Women’s Historical Fiction, Historical Literary Fiction, and Women’s Literary Fiction.
Readers call Brenda “a gifted writer with an insight that is seldom expressed so eloquently” and praise her “lyrical writing that made me reread whole paragraphs in appreciation.” Her fiction invites readers into emotionally resonant worlds where quiet voices rise, ordinary lives reveal extraordinary depth, and stories linger long after the final page.
Long before she began writing fiction, Brenda was listening for voices in the walls of old houses, the hum of time in weathered wood, and the hush of secrets waiting to be told.
After many years on Wall Street, she returned to her Southern roots in the mountains of North Carolina, where she founded Special “Finds…”, a marketing agency devoted to telling the stories of unique and historic homes. Through that work, she discovered how deeply narrative and place can shape the way people see the world—a sensibility that now defines her novels.
Today, Brenda lives with her husband, Jim, on the North Carolina coast. She writes overlooking a wide river, drawing inspiration from foxes, owls, herons, and the persistence of wild things.
