Event & Media
Speaking Engagements & Appearances
Join Beth McKnight for an author reading and discussion, including wine, cheese, and pastries. All are welcome.
- Friday, May 23rd, 2025, 7 p.m.
- Inkberry Books (Niwot, Colorado)
Author bio
Beth began her career as a newspaper editor before transitioning to public relations roles at Ball Aerospace, The Nature Conservancy, and ultimately her own firm, McKnight Communications. Her outreach and advocacy work has earned her national attention, including a flight on NASA’s zero-gravity training aircraft and an award for her role in the Japan-U.S. Space Programs partnership. She has also worked closely with at-risk youth, contributed to affordable housing initiatives, and served on the boards of the American Lung Association of Colorado and the Humane Society of Boulder Valley.
Her novel, Lessons from a Barracuda, draws from her real-life experience and deep love of nature. It tells the story of Elizabeth, a woman who survives violence and betrayal, builds a career in public relations, and finds strength in the messages of wildlife around her. The book blends suspense, resilience, and emotional honesty, resonating with readers who have faced adversity in relationships or the workplace.
Beth splits her time between Colorado and Oregon, enjoying life with her husband and their dog. She spends her time kayaking, hiking, paddleboarding, and birding—always watching for red-tailed hawks.
Book synopsis
In a raging storm in the Abaco Islands of the Bahamas, 26-year-old Elizabeth is pushed off a sailboat by her husband, Luke, who wants her out of the way so he can pursue a new life with another woman. During her time above and beneath the wild waves, she comes to grips with her codependency and discovers a powerful will to survive and build something meaningful with her life.
The local coast guard rescues her, but Luke doesn’t learn she has survived until he is served divorce papers back home in Boulder, Colorado. Elizabeth chooses not to have him arrested for attempted murder. Instead, she decides the best punishment will be for him to live with the fear that, at any moment, she could send him to prison. She pours her energy into her work in public relations, transforming the reputations of high-profile companies through creative campaigns that connect them with their communities.
She turns around a major hospital’s negative image by getting them to own their mistakes, and her outstanding work for a space research center earns her a ride on the Vomit Comet, NASA’s jet used to train astronauts in zero gravity. She is later assaulted by two bosses and faces discrimination from a good-old-boy network in Denver, which leads her to sue her employer in federal court. The case becomes a game-changer.
Elizabeth falls for a suburban city manager she meets online, marries him, and moves to Seattle. But the man she thought she knew begins to change, revealing himself to be a sociopath who draws women in only to abuse them. She stays with him longer than she should, even as her friends start to worry. When she finally makes a dramatic escape, red-tailed hawks follow her through the mountains for three straight days. She takes their presence as a sign that she’s moving in the right direction.
Back in Colorado, she builds her own business and strengthens her friendships, including one with a mentor who helps her regain her footing. Then she learns that Luke is now suspected of killing the woman he left her for. Knowing she could testify about what he once did to her, Luke comes after her again. What follows is not only another attempt on her life, but two more. How she defends herself on the deck of her own home surprises the police with its ingenuity.
She eventually marries a man who has stood by her through all of this, and for a while, she is happy. But when the marriage unravels, the lessons she’s learned help her find her way again. This time, she chooses herself and pursues the dream that’s been building all along.
Throughout her challenges, Elizabeth looks to nature to help her make sense of things. Time spent with mountain wildlife offers clarity, comfort, and insight. The strength she gains, inspired by a close encounter with a barracuda in the Sea of Abaco, becomes a source of wisdom for women in unhealthy relationships and a suspenseful, moving story for any reader. It also offers a vivid sense of place for those who have ever visited or lived in Colorado.