After a more than 35-year career as a journalist/foreign correspondent in Europe, the Middle East and the United States, I moved to Costa Rica in mid-2020. While I'm no longer a full-time journalist, I work regularly as an editorial consultant for several private and public clients (mainly United Nations institutions and think tanks). This keeps me busy, but they still leave plenty of time for me to continue working on my "Toby" series for middle-grade children (which I envision as three books, perhaps four).
Toby's Tale has more than 200 reviews on Amazon and a 4.7-star rating out of 5. It is a great “read together” book that has important messages for children (and adults) about hardships, struggles and successes, as well as resourcefulness and resilience. It teaches young readers about compassion, care, inner strength and the importance of friendship and tenacity.
I’ve told the story through the eyes of Toby, a Schnauzer puppy who makes the difficult decision to leave his mother and sister and head off on his own to find his forever home. Along the way he befriends a cast of interesting characters, both two-legged and four-legged, from a Confucius-spouting Pekingese and a lovable old beagle to a homeless man who gives him care and shelter…until he can’t. But as there is always a nemesis in any good book, Toby also must deal with a cruel animal control officer who almost breaks his spirit.
I’m working on the sequel, Toby’s Travels. Its main theme is diversity: learning love and compassion for others, even if they are different, overcoming biases (in Toby’s case, toward cats!), and learning to stand up to bullies and for what is right. My rhyming picture book, Ashley’s Rescue: A Miracle Breakdown, will be published in 2024.
I have been interviewed by about a dozen online publications and was featured on the Aug. 28, 2022, Reading With Your Kids podcast.
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How far would you go to find a new home?
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