Author Diane Calkins
Diane’s experiences as an animal shelter volunteer, a rescuer, and a spay/neuter advocate have profoundly affected her personally and as a writer. When she and her husband Chris began their life together, they assumed animals would be part of their family. But neither could have imagined the sheer numbers of critters they would foster or adopt.
Over the years, the Calkins family has shared their home with abandoned dogs, cats, bunnies, birds, guinea pigs, rats, a parakeet named Pokey, and a chicken named Zoe. Their stories have provided fodder for her children’s books and a memoir called “An Ark of Sorts.”
Zoe stars in Diane’s first picture book “One Happy Chicken. “A Very Naughty Beagle Named Bonnie” and “What to Do With a Ginormous Puppy” made their debut in 2022.
Currently, Diane is working on a memoir called “An Ark of Sorts” as well as two children’s books. One tells the story of Jose Cuervo, a filthy, flea-ridden kitten with a broken pelvis, the other the story of Bob the duck who lived with the Calkins family until he flew off with his friends.
Many more stories wait to be told—the story of Mouse the cat with no eyes; the story of Otis who became a long-distance trucker cat; the story of Chauncey the black Lab abandoned at a dog beach, to name but a few.