Author. Humorist. Speaker. Ultra-marathon runner. Former vegan. Defender of furry creatures (except spiders). Mid-westerner living in the South. Control freak. Business Writer. Dark chocolate addict. Cover hog. Klutz. Raised outside Dayton, OH, Dena graduated from Miami "We were a University before Florida was a state" University and migrated south. She met her husband on a blind date on Halloween and they settled into a historic 1906 North Carolina home, affectionately known as "the money pit." After earning her master's degree and running through a string of jobs--bodily injury insurance adjuster, corporate librarian, public speaking instructor, program coordinator for a return-to-work program for displaced homemakers--Dena started writing for pet magazines and eventually became a humor columnist for Cats & Kittens magazine. Her first book, Lessons In Stalking, was published in 2005 followed by For the Love of Cats, in 2006. Foreign rights for Dena's third book, Who Moved My Mouse? A Self-Help Book for Cats (Ten Speed Press/Random House, 2010) have sold to the UK, Brazil, Germany, The Netherlands, Taiwan, Russia and mainland China. Her next book from Ten Speed Press, Does This Collar Make My Butt Look Big? A Diet Book For Cats will be released in 2013.Dena has held editorial positions at numerous magazines. Her byline appears on hundreds of articles for regional, national, and international trade and consumer magazines, newspapers, and e-zines. She is a popular speaker and teaches writing workshops throughout the year.