Dusty Rainbolt

Dusty Rainbolt, ACCBC, is an award-winning cat writer according to her answering machine. She recently stopped writing on her cats because they move around too much and they smeared ink all over the furniture. She’s worked as a professional free-lance journalist since the late 1980s, and began specializing in pet journalism in 1995. Today, she’s the editor-in-chief of AdoptAShelter.com, a shop-to-donate website that benefits animal charities. In 1986, a chance event changed her forever and set her life on a new course. A family moved from their apartment, abandoning their pregnant tabby cat in the snow. Accidental midwife, Dusty received a real life lesson in the plight of unwanted pets. After she found homes for Mom and her kittens, Dusty jumped head-first into cat and kitten rescue. Over the years, she has successfully bottle fed over 800 orphan kittens, and rescued and rehomed more than 700 adults and weaned kittens. She's an associate certified cat behavior consultant and member of International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. Some people describe Dusty as a Renaissance woman, or maybe they really mean she’s ahead of her time. Six years before the premiere of Syfy Channel’s Ghost Hunter show (and the TV ghost-hunting craze that followed) Dusty got her kicks hanging out in creepy locations wielding EMF meters and video cameras. Her experiences later provided her with fodder for her latest paranormal mystery, DEATH UNDER THE CRESCENT MOON (Yard Dog Press.) (You can watch Dusty’s Crescent Hotel ghost voice video that inspired her novel at http://youtu.be/N4evQfzfczE.) Readers who love both ghosts and cats might also enjoy her award-winning nonfiction book, GHOST CATS: HUMAN ENCOUNTERS WITH FELINE SPIRITS (The Lyons Press), and her latest science fiction/fantasy anthology, THE MYSTICAL CAT (SkyWarrior Books.) Her scifi fans know Dusty for her comedy, including the humorous science adventure, ALL THE MARBLES (Yard Dog Press.) Along with three other redheaded writers, Dusty co-authored the outrageous fantasy series THE FOUR REDHEADS, including: THE FOUR REDHEADS OF THE APOCALYPSE, APOCALYPSE NOW! and REDHEADS IN LOVE. Cat lovers know Dusty best for her cat care/behavior books KITTENS FOR DUMMIES (John Wiley & Sons) and CAT WRANGING MADE EASY: MAINTAINING PEACE & SANITY IN YOUR MULTICAT HOME (The Lyons Press.) She is responsible for all story content for AdoptAShelter.com. Her award-winning column "Ask Einstein" appears every month on AdoptAShelter's website. You can read Dusty’s articles in Cat Fancy and on Catster.com, Petfinder.com, and AdoptAShelter.com. She frequently guest blogs. Dusty serves as vice president of the international journalism organization, Cat Writers’ Association (www.catwriters.org). Since joining CWA in 1995, Dusty’s books, columns, reviews and articles have been honored with more than 50 writing awards. She is a two-time recipient of the prestigious Friskies Writer of the Year Award. Find out about her fiction and paranormal work at www.dustyrainbolt.com. Read Dusty’s blog, “Confessions of a Cat Writer” at her cat care/behavior website, www.dustycatwriter.com. Follow her at http://www.facebook.com/dusty.rainbolt or checkout her feline heartworm awareness Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/NixiesHEARTwormBEAT.