Kristin von Kreisler was born on October 4, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, and all her life she has loved and rescued animals. She writes bestselling books about them and has spoken about their welfare on Coast to Coast to 560 U.S. cities and on the Voice of America to 123 million people. Her most recent book, EARNEST, is a novel about a couple in conflict over custody of their Labrador retriever. Before that, Kristin wrote AN UNEXPECTED GRACE, a novel about a woman and a golden retriever helping each other recover from violence and abuse. A memoir, FOR BEA, describes Kristin's beagle who came from a medical lab and influenced her to become an animal writer. Her books have been translated into ten languages, and her first book, THE COMPASSION OF ANIMALS, was a Book of the Month Club selection. Kristin lives on an island in Washington, where, she says, she'd rather work in her garden than breathe. Her kale grows to looming giants, and her lavender and catmint are sirens calling bees. From her desk she watches ospreys and seals, and every hour a ferry passes by. She and her husband have just renovated a historic Victorian farmhouse, where the island's first postmistress and sheriff once lived with their seven children. Before moving to the island, Kristin lived in California and freelanced for magazines and newspapers. Her articles have appeared in anthologies and textbooks and in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, Woman's Day, and Reader's Digest, where she was a staff writer. She has taught English at the University of Hawaii and journalism at California State University at San Jose.Book clubs: To set up a Skype or conference call, send an email to kristin.von.kreisler@gmail.com or contact the publisher.