Community Spotlight: Local Author Pens Book On Self-Healing

Everyone deals with loss differently, and for Susan “Sparky” Kedzie, she used those difficult times as the inspiration for her book, A Thousand Purring Cats. Having conversations with her mother sparked an idea.

A Thousand Purring Cats

“I was feeling silly and I said, ‘well, Mom, I think you just need a thousand purring cats to come to your door,'” said Sparky. “She laughed and didn’t understand where that was coming from, so I explained and she said, ‘I think there is a book there.'”

Sparky hosted a soft book launch at the Headwaters School of Music and the Arts in Bemidji where her family and newfound fans gathered for her accomplishment.

“Happy cat day to you!”

“The book sounded interesting and I like to support the arts in the community,” said guest Shane Fjerstad. “It’s a beautiful day so, here we are. I didn’t know Susan prior to this, but she’s a great lady.”

It was a four-year process for Sparky’s vision to come to life, and each illustration in the book tells its own story. Last year, she received a grant from the Region 2 Arts Council to help complete the second half of the illustrations.

“It’s about emotional healing and so that’s kind of a heavy topic, so I wanted to make it lively and playful,” said Sparky. “The text is lively and playful, so I wanted the images to amplify that.”

Peggy Ellingson considers herself a cat lady. She came out to support Sparky and left with a copy of the book.

“I looked through it last night, I read part of it and I just thought, ‘I need to have this and take it home and read to my cats,'” said Ellingson.

When she isn’t writing, Sparky spends her time as an art teacher. She hopes her book will connect with children and teach them about the healing process.

“I liked how it had lots of pictures and very well drawn,” said guest Magnus Fjerstad. “I liked how it was saying someone always loves you.”

Sparky hopes to have a hard launch for her book in November.

A Thousand Purring Cats is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.