Ami McKay is a celebrated novelist, playwright, and journalist. Born in 1968, she has carved a niche for herself in the literary world with her unique storytelling. Her first kiss was in the reference section of a Carnegie Public Library in rural Indiana, a place that sparked her lifelong obsession with books. Influenced by literary giants such as Emily Dickinson, Jane Austen, and Edgar Allan Poe, McKay's passion for stories only grew.

Before becoming a writer, she pursued music history and theory in university, playing Strauss and Mozart on the French Horn and singing jazz standards. This diverse creative background informs her writing today, where she often explores the collision of the past and present through the lens of strong, remarkable women.

McKay is the author of three bestselling novels—The Birth House, The Virgin Cure, and The Witches of New York—alongside the novella Half Spent Was the Night. Her memoir, Daughter of Family G, was named a CBC Best Book of 2019. Additionally, she is an accomplished playwright, composer, and essayist. Although originally from the Midwest, she now resides in Nova Scotia, where she continues to write and gather stories.

McKay's works are often fairy tales of one sort or another, focusing on strong women doing remarkable things. As she says, "I write the stories I want to read. I write what I wish to be."