Local author and artist Kat Heckenbach of Valrico is one of the authors of a personal experience essay in a new book called Chicken Soup for the Soul: Lessons Learned from My Dog. The book contains 101 stories chosen from thousands of submissions.
Heckenbach’s essay is titled “A Promise Kept.” Heckenbach’s essay is all about keeping a promise, made long ago under different circumstances, to care for a neighbor’s dog, Sheba. While Heckenbach could not personally keep her, she facilitated a way for Sheba to find her forever home.
Heckenbach said, “For me, it was about being willing to step forward and do some action toward keeping the promise. Sometimes you find yourself a part of something you did not expect. This situation felt more right than just keeping her. If not for me stepping up, she would not have gotten to the family.”
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Lessons Learned from My Dog will have dog lovers laughing, tearing up and nodding their heads in recognition as they read the 101 touching, inspiring and sometimes mind-boggling stories about all the ways in which dogs enrich our lives, become part of our families and make us better people.
Chicken Soup for the Soul is donating royalties from the book to American Humane, along with the royalties from its other new book, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Lessons Learned from My Cat. This is the seventh pair of books about cats and dogs that Chicken Soup for the Soul has published with royalties earmarked for American Humane. This effort is part of the company’s widespread support for animal shelters and pet adoption, including the donation of Chicken Soup for the Soul pet food and books to shelters across the country.
Heckenbach began writing in 2008. She explained, “It was a spur of the moment. I always wanted to write but I never gave myself a chance. It kept building inside and I needed to give it a chance, so I just sat down and started to write. What I wrote became the first chapter of my first book.”
Since then, Heckenbach has published several short stories and essays. Heckenbach is also an artist. You can find out more about her at www.katheckenbach.com and www.jumpingrails.etsy.com.
