My name is Karen L. Phelps. I’m an award-winning writer, editor and photographer.

For many years I’ve bred and shown pure-bred collies. My articles appeared in national magazines and several books. I’m an honorary, life-time member of the Collie Club of America. My writing explores the unique relationship between people and the animals they love.

I learned the power of the pen at age 16 when my article about Albert Payson Terhune’s beloved home, Sunnybank, was published in a national magazine along with the photographs I took during my visit. This article inspired a movement to save Sunnybank which is now a protected memorial park in Pompton Lakes, NJ.

So far I’ve written two books. My first, I Loved Them First, is a memoir in poetry about the horses and dogs I’ve shared my life with. It won a Dog Writer’s Assn. of America award.

My second is entitled For The Love Of A Horse. It is a coming-of-age novel about Maryann Madigan, a shy 14-year-old artist whose parents are killed in a plane crash. She leaves a wealthy Boston lifestyle to live on a horse ranch in Wyoming with an aunt she barely knows. Afraid of horses, her first riding lesson is a disaster. Then she falls in love with Shadow Dancer, a beautiful Appaloosa stallion. With the help of her aunt, a 16-year-old boy, and this special horse, she finds love, courage, and, ultimately, her true self.

I’m currently writing the sequel.