Local Woman Writes First Children's Book
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Five years later, Sue has her first children's book published based on that experience. The book is titled "Scooter the Little Black Kitty with the White Spot".
Baker will have a book signing April 24 from 1 to 3 p.m. at Readers World, Warsaw. The book goes on the market by Tate Publishing & Enterprises May 18. The book will be available through Barnes & Noble, Borders, Target.com and Amazon.com
In an interview Tuesday afternoon, Sue said she and Matt's 25th anniversary was on a Wednesday. They were making plans to go somewhere to celebrate it. That Saturday, after helping with the Master Gardeners Garden Walk, Sue came home and heard a "terrible noise." She found a little black kitten crying.
The next morning, the kitten was still there in the yard. Alone and starving. The Bakers thought the kitten might even be blind. Not wanting the kitten to suffer any more, the Bakers took the kitten in and started bottle feeding it.
The Bakers postponed celebrating their wedding anniversary until the following fall so they knew the kitten would be OK by then.
"I was thinking what a cute kids book that would make," Sue said.
The Bakers live out in a rural area of Kosciusko County, near some woods. Sue said she thought maybe the kitten was alone because it couldn't keep up with its mother.
Sue wrote out a rough story of what the book could be about, but then did nothing with it for a year. Eventually, she decided to try and get the book published and did some research on publishing books. Tate Publishing's name kept appearing.
In April 2009, Sue signed a contract with Tate to have the book published.
In the book, Sue said, "I just imagine the mother and all the kittens following her and Scooter can't keep up."
Sue recently signed a contract with Tate to have a second book about Scooter published. She is planning a five-part book series.
She said she can't say enough good things about Tate. Based out of Mustang, Okla., Tate provided all the artwork for the 20-page book.
"They did really well on the pictures," Sue said of the artwork.
With the purchase of a copy of the book, the buyer gets an audio download with it. Sue said Tate told her that they are one of the few publishers that provide that.
She said her husband was a big help with the book and the planned upcoming books.
"We really worked together on this," she said. "The whole series."
Scooter still lives with Matt and Sue Baker. She's different from most cats, Sue said, because she's more like a dog in that she follows Matt and Sue around everywhere.
"Once we started bottle feeding her, there was no way no one was ever going to get her then," Sue said.[[In-content Ad]]Matt took the morning bottle-feeding shift, and Sue fed Scooter in the afternoon.
When the Bakers took Scooter in, the kitten was only 9 weeks old. Luckily, it turned out Scooter was not blind, but just malnourished. Her eyes were barely open then.
"Even if she were blind, we would have kept her," Sue said.
Five years later, Sue has her first children's book published based on that experience. The book is titled "Scooter the Little Black Kitty with the White Spot".
Baker will have a book signing April 24 from 1 to 3 p.m. at Readers World, Warsaw. The book goes on the market by Tate Publishing & Enterprises May 18. The book will be available through Barnes & Noble, Borders, Target.com and Amazon.com
In an interview Tuesday afternoon, Sue said she and Matt's 25th anniversary was on a Wednesday. They were making plans to go somewhere to celebrate it. That Saturday, after helping with the Master Gardeners Garden Walk, Sue came home and heard a "terrible noise." She found a little black kitten crying.
The next morning, the kitten was still there in the yard. Alone and starving. The Bakers thought the kitten might even be blind. Not wanting the kitten to suffer any more, the Bakers took the kitten in and started bottle feeding it.
The Bakers postponed celebrating their wedding anniversary until the following fall so they knew the kitten would be OK by then.
"I was thinking what a cute kids book that would make," Sue said.
The Bakers live out in a rural area of Kosciusko County, near some woods. Sue said she thought maybe the kitten was alone because it couldn't keep up with its mother.
Sue wrote out a rough story of what the book could be about, but then did nothing with it for a year. Eventually, she decided to try and get the book published and did some research on publishing books. Tate Publishing's name kept appearing.
In April 2009, Sue signed a contract with Tate to have the book published.
In the book, Sue said, "I just imagine the mother and all the kittens following her and Scooter can't keep up."
Sue recently signed a contract with Tate to have a second book about Scooter published. She is planning a five-part book series.
She said she can't say enough good things about Tate. Based out of Mustang, Okla., Tate provided all the artwork for the 20-page book.
"They did really well on the pictures," Sue said of the artwork.
With the purchase of a copy of the book, the buyer gets an audio download with it. Sue said Tate told her that they are one of the few publishers that provide that.
She said her husband was a big help with the book and the planned upcoming books.
"We really worked together on this," she said. "The whole series."
Scooter still lives with Matt and Sue Baker. She's different from most cats, Sue said, because she's more like a dog in that she follows Matt and Sue around everywhere.
"Once we started bottle feeding her, there was no way no one was ever going to get her then," Sue said.[[In-content Ad]]Matt took the morning bottle-feeding shift, and Sue fed Scooter in the afternoon.
When the Bakers took Scooter in, the kitten was only 9 weeks old. Luckily, it turned out Scooter was not blind, but just malnourished. Her eyes were barely open then.
"Even if she were blind, we would have kept her," Sue said.
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092