Brenda Chapman grew up in Terrace Bay, Ontario. An avid reader with a love for writing, she left home at age eighteen to study English at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts, she moved to Kingston, Ontario, to attend teacher's college at Queen's University. Upon completion, she moved to Ottawa, where she became a special education teacher. Brenda taught reading and language arts to children, teenagers and adults for nearly fifteen years. Brenda wrote her first novel, Running Scared, for her two daughters as she made an about-turn in her professional life.

In 1997, Brenda left teaching to begin working for Health Canada as a writer/editor. Subsequently, she worked in communications for the Department of Justice and as a program manager in the Canadian Transportation Agency. After taking full-time French language training, Brenda worked for the Firearms Centre in Ottawa and is now a communications advisor in the Health Policy Branch in Health Canada. In 2001, Brenda's article "True North" appeared in Canadian Living magazine (August 2001). She has written four Jennifer Bannon novels for young adults for Napoleon: Running Scared (2004), Hiding in Hawk's Creek (2006), Where Trouble Leads (2007) and Trail of Secrets (2009). Her first adult crime novel, In Winter's Grip, will be published by RendezVous Crime in the fall of 2010.

Links: brendachapman.ca