Katrina and Winter: Partners in Courage

Welcome to the letter K for the A-to-Z Challenge. I'm delighted to host Amazon best-selling author, Nancy Stewart as she shares with us a special true life story of courage.

Katrina and Winter: Partners in Courage
by Nancy Stewart

Katrina Simpkins is a hero to everyone who meets her. She is certainly a hero to me.

I heard about Katrina three years ago at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Clearwater, Florida, where we had gone to see Winter the young dolphin who had lost her tail in a crab trap line. She had been fitted with a prosthetic tail to help her swim the way a dolphin does.

A video had been produced by the aquarium about Winter's meeting children fitted with prosthetic limbs who found strength and solace in this amazing dolphin. Katrina, whose life had been profoundly changed by meeting Winter, was featured in the video.

Two and a half years later, I received a phone call from a woman who identified herself as Martie Simpkins. I immediately thought, "I've heard of this woman." And I had.

Martie is Katrina's mom. She'd seen what I'd written about Winter on my blog and wanted me to write the authorized biography of Katrina, as it related to her relationship with Winter.

I was excited and apprehensive about doing the book. I'd never done a biography, and it was instantly crucial to me to do the best job I could for Katrina. It was both frightening and exhilarating.

And then I met Katrina. She and her family, who live in Indiana, visited us one weekend. That's all it took. She captured my heart as she does everyone's. The book is important for Katrina. For me, it is serious, and it has become personal.

Katrina Simpkins, who was born with Proximal femoral focal deficiency, is the bravest person I've ever met. She is kind, loving, expansive and wise. And she's only twelve. It is my honor to have written her biography. The book will be released in May, 2012 by Guardian Angel Publishing.

The story of Katrina and Winter is inspiring. Her life is remarkable, as is Winter's. These two youngsters are forever inextricably connected. Each has a formidable story. Each is a hero of the first water. Put them together with the help of Guardian Angel Publishing, and you have Katrina and Winter: Partners in Courage.

Nancy, thank you for being my guest today. It's been a true pleasure.

Visit fellow bloggers at the A-to-Z Challenge.

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Best wishes,
Donna M. McDine
Award-winning Children's Author
The Golden Pathway ~ August 2010 ~ Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc.
http://guardianangelpublishing.com/pathway.htm ~ Literary Classics Silver Award and Seal of Approval Recipient and Dan Poynter's Global e-Book Awards Finalist