ZEN LLAMA ZEN

About the Book

This book is dedicated to anybody who has ever had a bad day and needs to find their happy place; Especially when your happy place is Llamas and Alpacas. I also want to give thanks to all my family who believed in me and encouraged me to follow my dreams.

About the Author

I live in the Pacific Northwest for most of my adult life. I worked in the Seattle area for an airplane manufacturing company for 30 years. I had a stroke in 2019 and had to learn how to talk, how to walk, how to hold a pencil, how to write and draw all over again. With everything that was happening with airplane business in 2020, I decided it was a good time to retire. It was time to follow my dreams. Zen Llama Zen was my therapy to getting better. I practiced drawing and writing daily and soon I began creating my books. I married in 1995 and have two beautiful daughters. I became an owner of a little alpaca named Zek in 2008 after helping a local alpaca breeder halter train her yearlings for a big show. I began my journey in learning about alpacas and llamas through a Washington State University Extension Youth Program called 4H. I was a volunteer as a 4H Club leader teaching various life skills like Social Science, Leadership, community service and environmental stewardship. Some of the subjects I taught were about how to process wool, how to spin wool into yarn, needle felting, painting, stop motion animation, photography and performing arts. My daughters joined the WSU 4H program in 2008 and began showing their llamas at shows and learning about the value and services llamas bring to the community. Some things llamas provide us with are companionship, environmental stewardship, textiles, guards for smaller livestock, transportation, packing, and public relations. I love hiking the many trails amongst the foothills of the cascade mountains and fishing the lakes, rivers and streams with my family. I am the oldest of three and have travelled across the united states in my lifetime as my father served in the United States Airforce, when I was a young child. The stress of moving all the time and trying to make friends was hard to adjust to. I was also extremely sick when I was growing up, so keeping up with schoolwork was incredibly stressful. I had always had a desire to write and had plenty of time to draw. My dad would bring the Sunday Comics to the kitchen table and we would try to draw the comic strips and add our own words or phrases to them for fun. When I was about 10 years old, I told my father that one day I hope to be an author of children’s books and just do what I love doing drawing, writing and bringing a smile to everyone I meet. In 2017 my father fell ill and was in the hospital for 8 months. Every day I would take my sketch book to the hospital and draw while my dad rested. Some days he would feel good enough to try drawing with me. He as well as the nursing staff and doctors said I had a gift that needed to be shared with the world, so I did and here I am, sharing my stories with you today.