Latest NewsJanuary 7, 2021!
An examination of forgiveness in the aftermath of a fatal texting and driving accident.
Liz Johnson single-handedly raised an exemplary daughter—honor student, track star, and all-around good kid—despite the disapproval of her father and her small town. How could that same teenager be responsible for the death of the high school’s beloved football coach? This is Texas, where high school football ranks right up there with God, so while the legal battle wages, the public deals its own verdict. Desperate for help, Liz turns to a lawyer whose affection she long ago rejected and attempts to play nice with her ex-husband, while her daughter struggles with guilt and her own demons as she faces the consequences of an accident she doesn’t remember. Can one careless decision alter a lifetime? A tragic, emotional, ultimately uplifting story, BLIND TURN could be anyone’s story. In BLIND TURN, the newest novel from Cara Sue Achterberg, the unthinkable becomes real when a moment of texting means that a good and careful girl takes the life of the beloved football coach in a Texas town where football is religion. Achterberg’s writing is so acute and deeply felt, this story so urgent and heart-wrenching, that the reader cannot turn away.
-Jacquelyn Mitchard, NYT best-selling author, THE DEEP END OF THE OCEAN One of the few books in recent memory I was completely unable to put down, yet still wished I could read more slowly so it would never end. Achterberg writes with a seamless combination of aching sensitivity and a page-turning urgency. Easily one of the best books of any genre I’ve read this entire year. -C.H. Armstrong, author of Roam and The Edge of Nowhere From its life-shattering opening on, pages will seemingly turn themselves as you seek resolution for this novel’s imperfect yet courageous characters, and for one eye-opening reason: these events could have happened to any of us. An important story about how taking responsibility for our actions—even if accidental—can turn a nightmare into rays of hope. —Kathryn Craft, award-winning author of The Far End of Happy 100 Dogs & Counting!One Hundred Dogs and Counting: One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and A Journey into the Heart of Shelters and Rescues was released July 7, 2020 from Pegasus Books!
This book not only continues our foster journey begun in Another Good Dog: One Family and Fifty Foster Dogs, but takes you deeper into the world of dog rescue to discover where the dogs come from and why. But most importantly, it offers hope, heroes, and an opportunity for you to help.
Read latest reviews! “Achterberg throws a blinding light. This combination of personal story and heartbreaking manifesto will shock and move readers.”--Booklist
Did You Know I Have a Podcast?Neither do very many other people! Who Will Let the Dogs Out is a podcast about my visits to the shelters, rescues, and pounds in the southern US. I'm a huge fan of podcasts and decided to dip my toe in the water of this medium in an effort to reach an even bigger audience with the messaage that we CAN save the dogs suffering and dying in our shelters. I'm excited to introduce you to some incredible heroes and take you along with me and my road companion/rescue buddy, Nancy, on the rescue road. Be sure to subscribe, comment, and share wherever you get your podcasts!
Who Will Let the Dogs Out?
Who Will Let the Dogs Out is an initiative of Operation Paws for Homes created by photographer, Nancy Slattery, and myself. Our mission is to raise awareness and resources for southern shelters and rescues through writing, photographs, and film to offer support and inspire change.
Our last trip in March 2020 was to Tennessee, Mississippi, and Missouri. We have tentatively planned a trip to Georgia and Florida for January 2021. You can find updates on Facebook, Instagram, and WhoWillLetTheDogsOut.org.
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. Here is an article from a local paper in Alabama about one of our shelter visits. Me? On TV?
Yep, that's me on the set of Home & Family (Hallmark Channel). I had the chance to be their guest and talk not only about my latest book, Another Good Dog, but what it's been like to foster over one hundred dogs. I enjoyed my little brush with Hollywood, but LA traffic just about did me in!
People Magazine chose
Another Good Dog: One Family and Fifty Foster Dogs as a People's Pick! You can learn all about the book, the dogs, and fostering at www.anothergooddog.org Here is an brief audio excerpt from Another Good Dog:
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Connect with me just about anywhere:Hey, I'd love to send you my (occasional) newsletter!Who am I, you ask?I am an irrepressible writer, a curious cook, a lazy gardener, a loyal friend, a dog trainer in training, and an occasional cowgirl. I'm also a compulsive blogger, a creative writing teacher, an almost famous novelist, and a rescue dog advocate. I will talk your ear off about processed food, growing tomatoes, Virginia wine, shelter dogs, or the puppies I'm currently fostering. If you ask about my kids, I may brag a bit, as they are certainly worth bragging about. If you follow me on Facebook or twitter or instagram you'll be treated to near daily doses of my thoughts, adventures, and animal photos. Links to all my social media ramblings are above. I'd be honored if you followed me anywhere....
Here's a recent interview with a top-rate book blogger - she even features some of my foster pups! I'd Love to Meet You
One of my favorite things to do is visit book clubs. If you're club would like me to stop by in person (or by skype or Facetime), give me a shout and I'd be happy to get it on my calendar!
Need a speaker/presenter (in person or virtually) on any of the following topics: The Crisis in our Southern Animal Shelters Writing Getting Published Dog Rescue Fostering Life as a Shelter Dog Then I'm your girl - contact me to set something up! Current Foster Dog:
Mama Mia is a 2-3 year old sweetheart of a pup with a stellar brain and energy to spare. She loves people, plays hard with other dogs, will definitely chase cats, and would do best with an experienced dog person. For more information visit: OPHRescue.org
Meet my office mates:OtisOtis is one of the four surviving puppies from a litter of foster puppies who broke with parvo soon after they arrived at our house. The Movie Mutts came from a dog pound in western, TN. (RIP Hooch, Toto, Enzo, and Lassie) We adopted him Christmas week and he is a daily reminder of why we rescue and all the work that is still left to do.
Miss Fanny Wiggles!
I met Fanny in a dogpound in western Tennessee a year ago. She was emaciated, living in filthy conditions, and destined to be destroyed at a local vet's office. Now she's the sunshine of my life, happily pouncing on soccer balls, tackling all our foster dogs, and making me smile on a daily basis. If you're looking for a best friend yourself, I hope you'll choose to rescue.
Gracie
My other rescue pup, Gracie, turned ten this year and still has the countenance of a puppy. Gracie loves us the best she knows how-- by protecting us from the Fed Ex guy, the milkman, the horses in their pasture, and every imagined danger that only she sees. She has mellowed as she enters her second decade, though, and is sweeter and friendlier, collasping in a heap at the first touch and offering her belly for endless rubs.
My Life in Paragraphs
Read weekly occasional posts of my writing journey (with occasional writing advice) on my blog, My Life in Paragraphs. Be sure to subscribe by email for the latest posts.
How'd you like to be one of my cronies?I'm always looking for people who'd like to be on my street team to help me promote my books. You get some great rewards and I promise it'll be fun! If you're interested, shoot me an e-mail at carasueachterberg @ gmail.com!
We foster dogs with Operation Paws for Homes, a non-profit network of foster homes in Maryland, Virginia, and south-central Pennsylvania. They transport dogs from high-kill shelters in the south to foster homes so they can be adopted into families who will care for them. Every new dog we welcome to our home is a new adventure and I blog about all of them. If you'd like to get involved as a foster home, volunteer, or donor, contact OPHRescue.org! My blog, Another Good Dog, shares stories of our family's experiences fostering.
I Write Fiction Too!Before I was sidetracked by the dogs, I was a novelist. Actually, I am still a novelist! My novels are women's fiction written from the heart to explore truths we all face in our every day life-- Who am I really? What is love? and What really matters?
The next novel drops January 2021 and asks, "Is there anything too awful to be forgiven?"
Another Good Dog Blog
Love dogs? Then you're my favorite kind of person. I hope you'll check out Another Good Dog, where I write about our family's adventures in dog rescue. We've fostered over 100 dogs now and counting! The blog has over 5000 subscribers now - hope you'll be one, too!
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