Meg Welch Dendler is an award-winning American author and a former teacher with a Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education. She lives with her family (including four rescue cats and her dog Max) at 1,400 feet in the Ozark mountains on what they call Serenity Mountain, just outside of Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
While over a decade as a freelance writer with over 100 articles in print gave her the chance to interview individuals as diverse as the Archbishop of Cape Town and Sylvester Stallone, in 2010 Meg set her focus on publishing several books that she had been working on for years.
In the first book of the Cats in the Mirror series, "Why Kimba Saved The World", feisty house cat Kimba learns that she is really part of an alien race and has to pick sides between her loyal human family and her feline destiny. The second book, "Vacation Hiro," came out in November of 2013.
Both of the books in the Cats in the Mirror series have been honored with Silver Mom's Choice Awards. Book 3, "Miss Fatty Cat's Revenge," is scheduled for release in September of 2014. An adult book, "At the Corner of Magnetic and Main," is also set for a 2014 release.
While over a decade as a freelance writer with over 100 articles in print gave her the chance to interview individuals as diverse as the Archbishop of Cape Town and Sylvester Stallone, in 2010 Meg set her focus on publishing several books that she had been working on for years.
In the first book of the Cats in the Mirror series, "Why Kimba Saved The World", feisty house cat Kimba learns that she is really part of an alien race and has to pick sides between her loyal human family and her feline destiny. The second book, "Vacation Hiro," came out in November of 2013.
Both of the books in the Cats in the Mirror series have been honored with Silver Mom's Choice Awards. Book 3, "Miss Fatty Cat's Revenge," is scheduled for release in September of 2014. An adult book, "At the Corner of Magnetic and Main," is also set for a 2014 release.
"Why Kimba Saved The World" won a Bronze Moonbeam Children's Book Award as "Best First Book."
Kimba lives the care-free life of a much loved house cat, but what she really wants is freedom and the wild life for which she was born. Then she learns a secret that changes everything, including her destiny. Will she join this mysterious cat conspiracy? Kimba must choose between the freedom she craves and the human family she loves.
I asked Meg what inspired the story.
"When I was growing up, my mom was a huge science fiction fan (way back in the '60s before it was cool)," she said. "I remember her telling me about a story where cats on Earth communicate with cats in outer space through mirrors. She doesn't remember telling me this, and I have searched but not found the story, so maybe I just made it up.
"I wrote stories even when I was young, so it's very possible. Anyhow, I grew up always wondering about my own cats and if they were aliens who could communicate through mirrors. I had been a freelance writer for over 10 years when my family found two kittens abandoned in a box. They couldn't have been more than a day or two old and wouldn't have made it much longer on their own. We hand-raised them and named them Kimba and Hiro. I had no idea what a journey that would start.
"Kimba is the kookiest cat I have ever met. She is defiantly independent and is always up to something. It didn't take me long to start wondering if she was some crazy alien cat. The fact that she loved to be up on my sink in the bathroom and would look at me in the mirror (you know, not turning around but looking at me through the reflection in the mirror) got my imagination going back to that story from when I was little.
"A very short story about "Kimba and the Mirror" was where it started. I was hoping to keep it more at the very early reader level, but that is kind of boring to read and write. When I kicked it up to a middle grade level, it was easier to add characters and plot and really develop the story. In the end I had "Why Kimba Saved The World" and notes for several more stories in the series.
"I shopped it around to a couple of places and got nice feedback, but self-publishing has gotten so easy that my husband and I decided to take it that direction. I had some connections from my freelance days to help with formatting and editing. It was absolutely the right move for us because a big publishing house would never have let me do the things I wanted to with the series--like using real photos of the cats and our family on the cover and within the books.
"The series has been so well received and Kimba's fans are increasing. "Why Kimba Saved The World" has been honored with a Silver Mom's Choice Award and won a Bronze Moonbeam Children's Book Award in the "Best First Book" category in 2013. Who knew that this would be the future of that little white kitten so near death in a box in Houston, Texas."
You can visit Meg at: www.megdendler.com for more information about upcoming books and events.
Click here to buy "Why KimbaSaved The World"
Kimba lives the care-free life of a much loved house cat, but what she really wants is freedom and the wild life for which she was born. Then she learns a secret that changes everything, including her destiny. Will she join this mysterious cat conspiracy? Kimba must choose between the freedom she craves and the human family she loves.
I asked Meg what inspired the story.
"When I was growing up, my mom was a huge science fiction fan (way back in the '60s before it was cool)," she said. "I remember her telling me about a story where cats on Earth communicate with cats in outer space through mirrors. She doesn't remember telling me this, and I have searched but not found the story, so maybe I just made it up.
"I wrote stories even when I was young, so it's very possible. Anyhow, I grew up always wondering about my own cats and if they were aliens who could communicate through mirrors. I had been a freelance writer for over 10 years when my family found two kittens abandoned in a box. They couldn't have been more than a day or two old and wouldn't have made it much longer on their own. We hand-raised them and named them Kimba and Hiro. I had no idea what a journey that would start.
"Kimba is the kookiest cat I have ever met. She is defiantly independent and is always up to something. It didn't take me long to start wondering if she was some crazy alien cat. The fact that she loved to be up on my sink in the bathroom and would look at me in the mirror (you know, not turning around but looking at me through the reflection in the mirror) got my imagination going back to that story from when I was little.
"A very short story about "Kimba and the Mirror" was where it started. I was hoping to keep it more at the very early reader level, but that is kind of boring to read and write. When I kicked it up to a middle grade level, it was easier to add characters and plot and really develop the story. In the end I had "Why Kimba Saved The World" and notes for several more stories in the series.
"I shopped it around to a couple of places and got nice feedback, but self-publishing has gotten so easy that my husband and I decided to take it that direction. I had some connections from my freelance days to help with formatting and editing. It was absolutely the right move for us because a big publishing house would never have let me do the things I wanted to with the series--like using real photos of the cats and our family on the cover and within the books.
"The series has been so well received and Kimba's fans are increasing. "Why Kimba Saved The World" has been honored with a Silver Mom's Choice Award and won a Bronze Moonbeam Children's Book Award in the "Best First Book" category in 2013. Who knew that this would be the future of that little white kitten so near death in a box in Houston, Texas."
You can visit Meg at: www.megdendler.com for more information about upcoming books and events.
Click here to buy "Why KimbaSaved The World"
Bye for now. But wherever you are on your Earth Walk, always try to Reach For The Stars.
You'll be surprised just what you can achieve!
You'll be surprised just what you can achieve!
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