This event will feature:
A reading by the author
A conversation between two adoptee authors
Audience Question and Answer
Carlyn Montes De Oca
Author and Late discovery adoptee
About the Author
CARLYN MONTES DE OCA is a multi-award winning author of Dog as My Doctor, Cat as My Nurse and Paws for the Good Stuff. She is an international speaker, animal-human health expert, and passionate animal advocate. Her latest book, a #1 Amazon bestseller, Junkyard Girl: a Memoir of Ancestry, Family Secrets, and Second Chances, is available now.
A former film editor on such movies as Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Three Men and a Little Lady, Carlyn holds a bachelor’s degree from Loyola Marymount University in communication arts and a master’s degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine. She is also certified in plant-based nutrition from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutritional Studies at Cornell University.
Montes De Oca was voted PETA’s Sexiest Vegetarian Over 50, and is an ambassador at Animal Protection of New Mexico. A sought-after speaker and founder of The Animal-Human Health Connection, Carlyn frequently talks with community groups, non-profits, corporations, and at national and international conferences on the powerful ways human health, happiness, and longevity are improved through our connection with our animal companions. She has been featured on ABC, CBS, NBC, and Woman's Day Magazine. Her powerful TEDx talk is entitled - The Life-Changing Power of the Animal-Human Health Connection.
A longtime resident of Northern California, Carlyn now lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her husband, Ken Fischer, an award-winning sound editor, and her beloved rescue dog, Grace.
Sara Easterly
Author and adoptee
About the Host
SARA EASTERLY is an award-winning author of books and essays. Her memoir, Searching for Mom, won a Gold Medal in the Illumination Book Awards, among other honors, and her children’s book, Lights, Camera, Fashion!, illustrated by Jaime Temairik, garnered several awards, including an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award. Sara’s next book will release in 2023, a collaboration with birth parent Kelsey Vander Vliet Ranyard and adoptive parent Lori Holden—an extension of their partnership on the Adoption Unfiltered video podcast.
Sara’s essays, articles, and book reviews have been published by Dear Adoption, Englewood Review of Books, Feminine Collective, Her View From Home, Godspace, Neufeld Institute, Psychology Today, Red Letter Christians, Severance Magazine, and the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI), to name a few.
Sara has long been supporting other writers. She is the founder of Adoptee Voices, and previously led one of the largest chapters of the SCBWI, where she was recognized as SCBWI Member of the YEAR.
In addition, Sara is a publicist and event planner; the founder of Book Bonding, where she reviews heart-led children’s books; and a trained facilitator with the Neufeld Institute.
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