I’ve written a children’s book!

I’m excited to announce that I have written a children’s book, Slow Dog. I never expected to write a book for kids, but my rescue dog Murphy inspired me to take the leap.

Sometimes it’s rewarding to step outside of our comfort zone and look at life from a different perspective. When I adopted my senior mixed breed dog Murphy, I knew one of the challenges for me would be to adjust my fast-paced life to his decidedly slow-paced one. It was a deliberate choice as I knew it would benefit my overall well-being.

While Slow Dog doesn’t have any specific ties to dementia, it does celebrate moving at one’s own pace. That’s a helpful lesson for all caregivers.

Slow Dog is available in paperback and e-book formats on Amazon. Part of the proceeds will benefit metro Atlanta animal rescue organizations.

A big thank you to illustrator Lana Lee who captured Murphy’s special spirit so well.

2 responses to “I’ve written a children’s book!”

Lori

September 19, 2022 at 3:48 pm

This is so exciting. Congratulations. It’s amazing how dogs can inspire things in us we didn’t even realize we had. Do you still have Murphy? I think we should’ve adopted an older, slower dog in our older age and with my chronic pain. But, Tre is here to stay now (as spastic as he is).

I had wanted to write a children’s story inspired by my first dog, but I had no idea how to go about it. Mine would’ve been for middle school age.

What age is Slow Dog for?

- Joy Johnston
  
  September 19, 2022 at 5:46 pm
  
  Thanks Lori! Yes Murphy is a bit under the weather at the moment but hope to have more time with him. I adopted him a year ago and his age is unknown so each day is a gift.
  
  I took a Writer’s Digest course on children’s book writing and then did a lot of my own research.
  
  Slow Dog is in the picture book category, so ages 3-5 or 4-6 range.