Kat Shepherd has spent over twenty years promoting joyful literacy, first as a classroom teacher and later as an educational consultant and author. She loves to create engaging stories for undiscovered readers, and her favorite genres to write include mystery and horror. She is the author of the 4-book middle grade series Babysitting Nightmares (Macmillan) and the 2-book middle grade series The Gemini Mysteries (Little Bee).
Kat has lived all over the country, and she currently lives in Minnesota with three dogs and three guinea pigs. She loves all animals, but dogs are her favorites. Kat has fostered and rehomed 23 dogs and counting, and she has trained dogs for everything from basic obedience to production work for film and TV. Kat is also a huge supporter of zoos and has been lucky enough to work as a volunteer keeper for both the National Zoo and the Trevor Zoo. She went on to spend six months of Saturdays sitting in class studying to become a docent at the LA Zoo, where she gave educational tours and served as a personal chef for monkeys, but not at the same time.
Kat’s dream is to become a great philanthropist, and even though she hasn’t achieved it yet, it’s never too early to start. That’s why Kat started the Microphilanthropy League, an organization “for people with big hearts and tiny wallets.” It’s easy and effective—folks gather together over food and fellowship to pool their money to fund small community projects. The organization has funded everything from a library knitting club to a refrigerator for tigers!
Open to work for hire and IP work in picture books, chapter books, middle grade, and young adult. Special interests in mystery, horror, adventure, presidential history, animals, zoology, Judaism, volunteering/philanthropy, dog training & rescue, and Earth & space science
