Cara Achterberg’s recent talk at the New Market Area Library “Writing from the Heart” provided advice for aspiring authors, information on getting one’s book published once written, and inspired attendees with her concerns and solutions for dogs without homes. Achterberg, who lives in Maurertown in Shenandoah County, Virginia, is the author of seven books which include fiction, non-fiction and memoir. Her latest book will be out on January 28, 2025. She has taught writing classes in different settings over the years, and is currently a writing coach. Achterberg is a great example of someone who writes from the heart with passion!
Achterberg’s advice for future authors who are just starting out in their writing journey: “Write every day; write about what you know and don’t know; write from your passion; be open to criticism; learn everything you can; read your genre; read writing/editing books and blogs; don’t give up.” Achterberg’s presentation highlighted how she used these strategies in her writing.
For writers who want to get a book published, Achterberg’s description of different ways in which she has published books can provide guidance. Her experiences include publishing a blog (which she has continued doing over the years; check out her blogs “My Life in Paragraphs” about her writing journey, and “Another Good Dog Blog” about her family’s adventures in fostering dogs (as well about a dozen cats!) She notes that having a blog is a way to get one’s writing noticed. She also hired a literary agent early on.
For her first three books which were all fiction (Practicing Normal, I’m Not Her, and Girls’ Weekend), Achterberg used a small publisher. Her next two non-fiction books (Another Good Dog and One Hundred Dogs and Counting), were published by Pegasus, a larger publisher. And her book which is scheduled for January 2025 release is partly funded through crowd-sourcing Indiegogo, to reach more people who might not currently know about her work with animal shelters. Achterberg’s fourth novel Blind Turn was published at the beginning of the pandemic; all of the scheduled book tour events were cancelled, resulting in a loss of sales which impacts her getting her new book published by a traditional publisher, as publishers look at how authors’ most recent books have sold.
One of Achterberg’s passions is fostering dogs, over 300 so far! She also owns a dog friendly Airbnb in Woodstock, Virginia. After fostering fifty dogs, she decided to tour some of the shelters where her foster dogs came from with a photographer friend. She collected supplies to take to shelters that might need them. What she found was shocking conditions in shelters, which propelled her to write One Hundred Dogs: The Heart of Shelters and Rescues. She has continued tours concentrating on municipal and small rural shelters, and now focuses on solutions to the problems at shelters, since the problems are well documented. She created the non-profit “Who Will Let the Dogs Out?” with photographer Nancy Slattery. Their mission is “to raise awareness and resources for homeless dogs and the heroes who fight for them through writing, photographs, and film and inspire change.” Her newsletter reports that they have traveled to 110 shelters, rescues, and dog pounds in twelve states. The website for the non-profit is www.WhoWillLettheDogsOut.org. Achterberg states in her newsletter “I am convinced that this situation doesn’t exist because people don’t care, it exists because people don’t know. I hope you will join us. Together we can let the dogs out.”
Another endeavor that Achterberg has undertaken is a Facebook page which combines two of her passions: “Dogs & Books.” On this page, she hosts Yappy Hour each month with author Teresa J Rhyne (New York Times best selling author.)
An interesting fun fact about Achterberg is that she was a childhood friend of now Delaware Senator Chris Coons, who founded the “I Have a Dream” which is national direct Americorps program. Achterberg volunteers with “I Have a Dream.” Other fun facts: she appeared on “Home and Family” on the Hallmark Channel talking about her book Another Good Dog: One Family and Fifty Foster Dogs” and People magazine chose Another Good Dog as a People’s Pick!
Since moving to the Shenandoah Valley, Achterberg has connected with other writers including Elizabeth Cottrell and Coe Sherrard, both of whom have presented adult programs at the New Market Area Library. Achterberg’s program finished out the 2024 adult program calendar; no program is scheduled for December. But watch for another program from Achterberg when her new book is released in 2025. Her passion for writing and much more will be evident when you meet her and come to a program that she does. Sign up for her newsletter at CaraWrites.com. (And kudos to the Adult Program Chair at the library, Beverly Butterfield, who started the adult programs in 2011, and has organized almost 150 programs to date!)
