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FutureWord Presents: SERVAL SON—SPOTS & STRIPES FOREVER
While scanning Facebook, I noticed that Kristine M. Smith was asking for people to read and endorse her new book. SERVAL SON—SPOTS & STRIPES FOREVER is a true story about an African Serval cat Kris raised from kitten-hood to his death at 17 years old. Since I’m an animal lover, I wanted to read it. As I was looking it over, I thought how much the book is needed for animal markets: zoos, wildlife parks, school and county libraries. Kristine's book voices the cry for people to never try to own the pet. Instead, people should be owned by the pet. They should do everything they can for its natural care and welfare. The book is not just educational; it is packed with familiar flashbacks to the emotional relationships that we all have with our own pets.
I sent Kris an email telling I could show her millions of reasons why she should publish with us. The book is sensational for animal lovers, not just educational, and it is a true story. So SERVAL SON—SPOTS & STRIPES FOREVER will be FutureWord's first non-fiction book.
I was flabbergasted when Kris agreed to let FutureWord publish her work. We will definitely have an asset to our publishing business. It took my breath away to get the favorable response. I read her blog and was humbled by her ecstatic reaction to join with a group of authors who are diverse in age. I held my breath and could not believe my eyes when she agreed. From her bio:
Kristine M Smith (Kris) comes by the nicknames “Mom-Cat,” “Mom-Dog,” “Mom-Goat” “Mom-Fill-in-the-Blank” naturally. From toddler-hood on, she has been a ‘critter-whisperer.’
From a very early age, butterflies and birds landed on Kris. And from the moment she was taught to string words into sentences, she has been writing.
Kris has raised and nurtured nearly every kind of animal native to the Pacific Northwest and most species of domestic and farm animals. But it was raising Deaken—an African serval cat—from the age of five days old until his death at 17, which she considers the epitome of her animal-enriched life."
"'I wouldn’t have missed it for the world—and I would never do it again. It was, at once, the most heartwarming and the most traumatic 17 years of my existence. Raising a wild one isn’t an undertaking for half-hearted impulse buyers. Raising a happy, healthy wild cat—keeping it safe from people and people safe from it—requires complete attention, nerves of steel, and an insane amount of good luck. We are responsible for all we tame (or try to tame).Most who attempt fail miserably and end up abandoning the animals they pledged to love and care for at the outset. Animal sanctuaries are overburdened with the sad results: abandoned cast-offs, looking for owners they'll never see again.'"
"Kristine M. Smith does not advocate the keeping of wild pets, especially wild cats, wild dogs and simians. To the contrary, for the many reasons she explains and has endured, she is opposed to wild animal ownership for most people. The commitment is brutal, the risks enormous, the memories indelible—good and bad."
Kristine M Smith is an animal behaviorist and advocate with decades of combined experience as a wildlife rehabilitator, captive animal caretaker, and humane educator.
I have read DeForest Kelley: A Harvest of Memories, Kris’s first book, and recommend that everyone else read it, too. Kris comes by her Kelley “fanaticism” honestly enough: Kelley—the Star Trek actor who played Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy on the original series—launched her writing career in 1969! Kris was Mr. Kelley’s personal assistant and caregiver at the end of his life and offered a brief-but-moving tribute to her mentor at Paramount Studios upon his passing in 1999. She is also a well-regarded copywriter, coming in (presently) at #5 (out of 17K copywriters) in the Copywriting category and in the Top 15 in the sales copywriting category.
Kris is the author of three other soft cover books (available to Authorhouse.com, Amazon, and other online bookstores): Floating Around Hollywood and Other Totally-True Tales of Triumph; Let No Day Dawn that the Animals Cannot Share, Purposeful Christianity, and an e-book (available at Payloadz.com), The Enduring Legacy of DeForest Kelley: Actor, Healer, Friend. So SERVAL SON—SPOTS & STRIPES FOREVER will be her sixth book.
The book is going to be 6 by 9 perfect print bound and will be available on all on-line bookstores and hopefully in as many zoos, parks, gift shops, libraries and to whoever will hear our voice on the care of exotic or any animals for that matter. There are just over 21,000 words in the book and anyone and everyone from 5th grade up should be able to understand and enjoy it. I laughed and identified with many of the situations that Kris faced while taking care of a wild animal. Coming from a background of animal lovers and naturalists, I first went for the book because the serval kitten on the cover was too appealing to pass up. The words inside sealed the deal. I was hooked.
We have not determined a price for the book yet. We hope to have the book ready for publication on September 1st. Kindle will become available soon after the launching.
