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Alyson is the editor of Portugal Letter magazine, and a feature writer for the Algarve’s Tomorrow magazine. She is the author of the award-winning and popular Algarve Blog, and is also a keynote speaker at the annual ‘Live and Invest in Portugal’ international conference.
She is the author of Kat the Dog - The remarkable tale of a rescued Spanish water dog, and the Algarve Dream series of travel memoirs. Alyson is also the author/curator of the Travel Stories series of anthologies.
She lives in the Algarve, Portugal with her husband, Dave, a professional photographer, and Kat the Dog.
Alyson is donating 15% of the profit from the sale of her book, Kat the Dog, to local animal rescue charities. She says that, "this is the book I was always meant to write, the story of our darling rescued Spanish water dog."
Find out more about her new release Kat the Dog on Alyson's website:
www.alysonsheldrake.com/kat-the-dog/
View the Press Pack for Kat the Dog here:
www.alysonsheldrake.com/press/
Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite
“That dark, dank barn, with water dripping down the walls and in through the roof. The concrete floor of my kennel, and the farmer beating me with the broom handle...” That was the beginning of Kat’s life, only she was called Luna back then. When she escaped, she roamed the streets, seeking attention, care, food, and water wherever she could get it until one day, someone offered her a loving forever home. It’s incredible to imagine what Kat endured and how loving she could be after such abuse and neglect.
Alyson Sheldrake’s Kat the Dog is a sweet, heart-wrenching, compassionate story of one dog’s journey from an abusive home to a loving forever home. Based on the true story of the author’s own beloved rescued dog, the author has woven a fantastical story of what might have happened. She chose to write Kat’s story in the first-person narrative, allowing the precious furbaby to speak for herself. I love the way the author used this point of view to make an engaging and heartwarming story so realistic. It’s sometimes difficult to realize the intense cruelty still evident in a world where humans continue to abuse and take advantage of animals.
The plot develops from Kat’s (aka Luna's) rough beginnings on a farm and follows the journey as Kat escapes and searches longingly for a safe place to call home. The descriptive narrative is brutally honest at times, but tender and compassionate as well. Like Bruce Cameron’s A Dog’s Purpose, Marshall Saunders's Beautiful Joe, and many others, this story will definitely warm the hearts of dog lovers and many will shed a few tears as they follow Kat’s journey.
