by Amy Newmark
Tim Martin is the author of Fast Pitch, Rez Rock, Somewhere Down the Line: The Legend of Boomer Jack, There’s Nothing Funny about Running, Summer with Dad, and Wimps Like Me. Tim has completed nine screenplays and is a contributor to twenty-four Chicken Soup for the Soul books.
Evelyn Shamay Mayfield, seventy-seven, took her high school education and information from libraries and worked her way from bookkeeping to freelance writing to technical writing. Evelyn self-published The Busy Person’s Prayer Book. These days, she focuses on inspirational, uplifting works, and enjoys crafts, cats, and volunteer work.
Keturah Mazo, a current college Communication instructor and former English teacher, holds a Master of Science in Computer Education from Florida Institute of Technology. She shares two children, two dogs, and one grand cat with her husband, Richard. She likes to garden, read, and swim as well as writing essays.
Candis Y. McDow graduated from the University of West Georgia in 2012 with a Bachelor’s of Science degree. She majored in Mass Communications and minored in Creative Writing. She is twenty-eight years old and lives in Atlanta, GA. Candis enjoys writing and is currently finishing her memoir.
Angela M. Meek is a single mom, Christian, and freelance writer. She has a Bachelor’s in Psychology and an interdisciplinary Master’s in Writing/English/Psychology. She is the editor of Edify Fiction magazine and is currently working on her first contemporary Christian romance novel, Finding Ruth, due out later this year.
Shawndra Miller lives in Indianapolis and writes about community resilience and personal transformation for publications like Farm Indiana, Acres USA, and Confrontation magazine, as well as at shawndramiller.com.
Michelle Close Mills’ poetry and short stories have appeared in magazines, anthologies and several volumes of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Michelle resides in Florida with her husband and is owned by two cockatiels and two rescue kitties. Michelle’s work can be found at authorsden.com/michelleclosemills.
Terilynn Mitchell is a licensed veterinary nurse who has cared for animals for thirty-two years. She has an uncanny knack for finding animals in need of help or redemption, focusing on those with special needs. In 2018 Terilynn will publish a collection of short stories about the ups and downs of her animal rescue work.
Sam Moorman earned a BA in Journalism and MA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. Following a career in construction, in retirement he now writes and is on the board of SouthWest Writers.
Jessica L. Moran has a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from Monmouth College in History, and a minor in Anthropology. She currently lives in central Illinois with her husband, her Mini-Schnauzer and a cat. Jessica enjoys writing fantasy/romance and creating complex characters.
Diane P. Morey is now retired and lives in Rhinelander, WI, as a caregiver for her mother. She has a BS degree in Dental Hygiene from the University of Louisville and an MS degree in Education. She now has a beautiful gray cat with long, soft fur named Shadow. Diane also plays flute in the Rhinelander Area Community Band.
Connie Biddle Morrison grew up near the Eastern Shore of Delaware, delighting in the smells of the salty marshes. She attended the University of Delaware and, with her husband and two children, moved to north central Florida in 1978. She has been published in e-zines, print magazines, and is working on a memoir of her younger years.
Megan Nelson is an avid reader and writer. Two English degrees, a well-used library card, and a book-buying habit back up this claim. She is married to her high school sweetheart and is the proud mom of two wonderful boys. A cat and a fish complete the household.
Connie Nice is a wife, mother, and grandmother from Washington State. Writing for thirty-plus years, she loves creating children’s stories and has one adult novel currently in the final editing stage. She shares her passion for history, nature, travel, family, and faith through the written word. Read her blog at connienice.com.
Sharon F. Norton is a retired teacher. She has a Master’s degree in Reading and a BA degree in Elementary Education. She lives in colorful Colorado. Sharon enjoys traveling, reading, and writing.
Connie Kaseweter Pullen lives in rural Sandy, OR, near her five children and several grandchildren. She earned her BA degree at the University of Portland in 2006, with a double major in Psychology and Sociology. Connie enjoys writing, photography, and exploring nature. E-mail her at [email protected].
Karen Reeves is an aspiring writer who plans to do a series of children’s books on misadventures with animals. She is the mother of two grown girls and currently writes inspiring horse stories on her blog at horsetalesnstuff.com. Karen is self-employed, doing administrative work for various clients.
Sandy A. Reid continues to live in St. Louis, MO, where she and her husband share their home with two rescued dogs and another “Mama Kitty,” one who decided to stay this time and who is now spayed.
Melissa Richeson mothers four loud and lovable boys on the coast of Florida. She is a freelance writer with credits in The Washington Post, Florida Today, and Thriving Family, among others. For leisure, she enjoys paddle boarding, going to Disney World, and playing soccer with her kids.
Rosemarie Riley was born in Australia. In 1990 she moved to the U.S. with her American born husband and two sons. She is a member of SCBWI and The National Writers Association and has been published in anthologies and magazines. She enjoys photography, reading, and traveling. E-mail her at [email protected].
Marti Robards resides in scenic Colorado. Her first published story, “The Loneliest Number”, appears in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Random Acts of Kindness. Marti’s passions include church, family, reading, writing, crafts, and gardening. She and her daughter, Mary, are co-owners of an Etsy Shop: ReverieCraftsLLC.
Sue Ross, it is rumored, so enjoyed uttering her first word that she said it twice; “Author! Author!” Finding stories in everything she does, Sue revels in language that lifts and inspires. With a BA degree in English, she is completing her first novel, Polanski’s Treasures. E-mail her at [email protected].
Stormy Corrin Russell, at twenty-five years old, is a three-time novelist. She currently lives in Pennsylvania, hard at work writing books and teaching middle-schoolers. Her award-winning novels are available from any major retailer. E-mail her at [email protected]. She loves hearing from readers!
Melanie Saxton is a writer who has raised a daughter and several adopted cats and dogs in the Lone Star State. She is contributing editor for five Houston-based magazines and edits books for emerging authors. In her spare time Melanie is slowly, but surely, pursuing a Master’s degree in mass communication.
A retired Marine officer, Dirk B. Sayers published his first novel, West of Tomorrow, in 2015. His next project, Through the Windshield, Drive-by Encounters with Life, will be available in paperback and ebook formats in November 2017. Read Dirk’s unredacted comments on 21st Century life at dirksayers.com.
Troy Seate has written everything from humor to the macabre, and is especially keen on stories that transcend genre pigeonholing. His short stories and memoirs appear in numerous magazines, anthologies, and webzines. Troy lives in Golden, CO, with the dream of enjoying the rest of his life writing and traveling.
April Serock earned an MA degree in writing from Seton Hill University. She lives with her husband and son where she can see the sun rise over the Appalachians each morning. She’s published romantic short stories with Woman’s World magazine and writes nonfiction articles for money-saving websites.
Brittany L. Stalsburg lives on the Connecticut shoreline with her husband and their starter child, Candy the cat. In addition to writing, Brittany is also a public opinion researcher and strategist and the owner of the firm BLS Research & Consulting. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Rutgers University.
Laurel Standley is a scientist and author of self-help nonfiction and dystopian and historical fiction. Laurel received her Ph.D. in Chemical Oceanography from Oregon State University and
her Master’s in Urban Affairs and Public Policy from the University of Delaware. She lives in Portland, OR, with her beloved cat Ellen.
Diane Stark is a wife, mother of five, and freelance writer. She is a frequent contributor to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. She loves to write about the important things in life: her family and her faith. E-mail her at [email protected].
L.A. Strucke received her BA degree from Rowan University. She’s a frequent contributor to the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, Guideposts magazine and other publications. Her hobbies are painting, piano, and songwriting. She dedicates Boo’s story to Hermione, Jadzia and Geneviëve. Follow her at lastrucke.com.
B.J. Taylor says Red was one of those soulful, head-butting, tug-at-your-heartstrings cats. B.J. is an award-winning author whose work has appeared in Guideposts, many Chicken Soup for the Soul books, and numerous magazines. Reach B.J. through her website: bjtaylor. com and check out her dog blog: bjtaylor.com/blog.
Stephen Taylor is a writer and graphic artist living in the San Francisco Bay area. He volunteers as a cat care partner with a local animal shelter, and he rents himself out as a cat-sitter to a small but loyal stable of clients. He has contributed stories to three Chicken Soup for the Soul books.
Miriam Van Scott is an author and photographer whose wide-ranging credits include children’s books, magazine articles, television productions, website content and adult nonfiction works. Her latest series, Shakespeare Goes Pop!, offers a modern take on the Bard’s classic works. Learn more at miriamvanscott.com.
Ann Vitale lives on 150 acres in northeast Pennsylvania. Her degree in Microbiology from the University of Michigan made her a fan of Big 10 football. Living in a farmhouse in Michigan after graduation gave her stress relief from her work and furthered her love of all animals, except woodchucks. E-mail her at [email protected].
Mary T. Wagner is a former journalist who changed careers at forty by going to law school. A mother of four and a grandmother, Wagner lives in southeastern Wisconsin, where she draws creative inspiration from nearby Lake Michigan and from her pets. A family kitten inspired her new children’s book, Finnigan the Circus Cat.
Pat Wahler is an award-winning writer and proud contributor to thirteen Chicken Soup for the Soul books. She draws inspiration from family, friends, and the critters who tirelessly supervise each moment she spends at the keyboard. Discover more about Pat’s new projects at PatWahler.com.
Anita Weisheit is a writer, reader, librarian, and dreamer of new worlds. Books, animals, and dancing are her favorite things. She lives in Wyoming with her three obnoxious cats and neurotic German Shepherd, whose antics star in her weekly blog.
Sheri Zeck enjoys writing nonfiction stories that encourage, inspire, and entertain others. Her freelance works include stories for Guideposts, Angels on Earth, and numerous Chicken Soup for the Soul books. Sheri writes about her faith, family, and adventures of raising three girls at sherizeck.com.
Meet Amy Newmark
Amy Newmark is the bestselling author, editor-in-chief, and publisher of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series. Since 2008, she has published 140 new books, most of them national bestsellers in the U.S. and Canada, more than doubling the number of Chicken Soup for the Soul titles in print today. She is also the author of Simply Happy, a crash course in Chicken Soup for the Soul advice and wisdom that is filled with easy-to-implement, practical tips for having a better life.
Amy is credited with revitalizing the Chicken Soup for the Soul brand, which has been a publishing industry phenomenon since the first book came out in 1993. By compiling inspirational and aspirational true stories curated from ordinary people who have had extraordinary experiences, Amy has kept the twenty-four-year-old Chicken Soup for the Soul brand fresh and relevant.
Amy graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University where she majored in Portuguese and minored in French. She then embarked on a three-decade career as a Wall Street analyst, a hedge fund manager, and a corporate executive in the technology field. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Her return to literary pursuits was inevitable, as her honors thesis in college involved traveling throughout Brazil’s impoverished northeast region, collecting stories from regular people. She is delighted to have come full circle in her writing career — from collecting stories “from the people” in Brazil as a twenty-year-old to, three decades later, collecting stories “from the people” for Chicken Soup for the Soul.
When Amy and her husband Bill, the CEO of Chicken Soup for the Soul, are not working, they are visiting their four grown children.
Follow Amy on Twitter @amynewmark. Listen to her free daily podcast, The Chicken Soup for the Soul Podcast, at www.chickensoup.podbean.com, or find it on iTunes, the Podcasts app on iPhone, or on your favorite podcast app on other devices.
About Robin Ganzert and American Humane
Robin Ganzert, Ph.D. is a bestselling author, radio host, television producer, animal lover and CEO of American Humane. American Humane is the country’s first national humane organization committed to ensuring the safety, welfare, and wellbeing of all animals. For more than 140 years, American Humane has been first in promoting the welfare and safety of animals and strengthening the bond between animals and people. American Humane’s cutting-edge initiatives are always first to serve, whenever and wherever animals are in need of rescue, shelter, protection, or security.
Under Dr. Ganzert’s leadership, American Humane has been named a “Top-Rated Charity” by CharityWatch and achieved the prestigious “Gold Level” charity designation from GuideStar. Dr. Ganzert was recently awarded the Global CEO Excellence Award as the top CEO of an animal welfare organization, and she was recognized by Brava as a top female CEO in Washington, DC.
A familiar face to millions of Americans from her frequent TV appearances and the highly watched Hallmark Channel’s American Humane Hero Dog Awards, she also hosts a new podcast, Chicken Soup for the Soul Presents Loving Animals, which mixes practical expert pet advice with guest appearances by some of America’s best-known pet lovers from the movies, music and sports. She is also the author of Animal Stars: Behind the Scenes with Your Favorite Animal Actors, and has two new books coming out soon. Robin has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, ABC World News Tonight, Fox & Friends, On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, and other local and national television programs.
American Humane is first to serve animals around the world, ensuring their safety, welfare and humane treatment—from rescuing animals in crisis to ensuring that animals are humanely treated. The best known program is the “No Animals Were Harmed®” animals-in-entertainment certification, which appears during the end credits of films and TV shows, and today monitors more than 1,000 productions yearly with over 3,400 production days with an outstanding safety record. American Humane’s farm animal welfare program ensures the humane treatment of over a billion farm animals, the largest animal welfare program of its kind. And recently, American Humane launched Humane Conservation, an innovative initiative ensuring the humane treatment of animals around the globe in zoos and aquariums.
Continuing its longstanding efforts on strengthening the healing power of the human-animal bond, American Humane spearheaded a groundbreaking clinical trial that provides scientific substantiation for animal-assisted therapy (AAT) in the treatment of children with cancer and their families.
To learn more about American Humane, visit americanhumane. org and follow it on Facebook and Twitter. To subscribe to the weekly podcast, Chicken Soup Presents Loving Animals with Robin Ganzert, visit iTunes and Google Play to have a new episode automatically downloaded every week.
Thank You
We owe huge thanks to all of our contributors and fans, and to their fascinating felines. We loved your stories about your cats and how they enrich your lives. We could only publish a small percentage of the stories that were submitted, but we read every single one and even the ones that do not appear in the book had an influence on what wen
t into the final manuscript.
We owe special thanks to Jennifer Quasha, who read the thousands of stories submitted for this book and helped us narrow them down to a few hundred finalists. Susan Heim did a masterful job editing the first manuscript.
Associate Publisher D’ette Corona continued to be Amy’s right-hand woman in creating the final manuscript and working with all our wonderful writers. Barbara LoMonaco and Kristiana Pastir, along with Elaine Kimbler, jumped in at the end to proof, proof, proof. And yes, there will always be typos anyway, so feel free to let us know about them at [email protected] and we will correct them in future printings.
The whole publishing team deserves a hand, including Maureen Peltier, Victor Cataldo, Mary Fisher, Ronelle Frankel and Daniel Zaccari, who turned our manuscript into this beautiful book.
Sharing Happiness, Inspiration, and Hope
Real people sharing real stories, every day, all over the world. In 2007, USA Today named Chicken Soup for the Soul one of the five most memorable books in the last quarter-century. With over 100 million books sold to date in the U.S. and Canada alone, more than 250 titles in print, and translations into nearly fifty languages, “chicken soup for the soul®” is one of the world’s best-known phrases.
Today, twenty-four years after we first began sharing happiness, inspiration and hope through our books, we continue to delight our readers with new titles, but have also evolved beyond the bookstore with super premium pet food, television shows, podcasts, positive journalism from aplus.com, and licensed products, all revolving around true stories, as we continue “changing the world one story at a time®.” Thanks for reading!