Joanne BlondinJoanne Blondin wrote stories about her outdoor adventures and wanted to put them in a book. Friends told her that no one would be interested because she was not trekking in the Himalayas or Outer Mongolia. Then, a truly remarkable cat walked into hercondo. That cat became the heroine of Joanne Blondin's first children's book, Matty, Detective Cat. Matty brought in slices of salami instead of mice; didn't move when a large German Shepard dog only a few feet away barked at her; and begged for chicken from her neighbor while he was barbequing. To emphasize how remarkable Matty was, she added some pretend characters: George and Charlie, arson investigators, Taylor, a chemist and Billy, her neighbor's brother-in-law to her story. Joanne Blondin's next children's book Professor Magillicutty's Dingle-Dangle Guide for Hunting Wild Animals is total fantasy. She wrote the first chapter for a class (Ten Stories in Ten Weeks) at Grub Street Writers in Boston. The prompt was to write a story in second person, explaining how to do something. Her story explained Professor Magillicutty's method for catching a tiger by the tail. In another story (She doesn't remember the prompt) Floral Bouquet thanks the Professor for his instructions. Floral wanted to catch a tiger but is ecstatic about the Burmese python she caught instead. A classmate suggested that the two stories could become part of a children's book. Joanne Blondin protested only briefly and spent the summer writing more stories for Professor Magillicutty's Dingle-Dangle Guide for Hunting Wild Animals. Read More Read Less