About the Author

John Sheirer has been teaching college writing for three decades, including more than twenty years as a full-time faculty member at Asnuntuck Community College in Enfield, Connecticut, where he has served as Writing Coordinator and Liberal Arts Department Chair. He has been honored multiple times with inclusion in Who's Who Among America's Teachers, and won the Distinguished Service and Educational Excellence Award at Asnuntuck. His books include the memoirs, Growing Up Mostly Normal in the Middle of Nowhere and Loop Year: 365 Days on the Trail, a short story collection, One Bite: Stories for Short Attention Spans, Stolen Moments, and Busy Lives, a collection of essays on current events, Tales of a Real American Liberal, and a collection of photos and life lessons coauthored with his dog, Libby Speaks: The Wit and Wisdom of the World's Wisest Dog. He's a winner of the Connecticut Green Circle Award, and his books have been honored as a finalist for the Sante Fe Writers Project Literary Award, the Next Generation Indie Book Award, the International Book Award, and the Eric Hoffer Book Award. John's essays, short stories, poems, and photographs have appeared in hundreds of print and online publications, and he is a regular columnist on politics and current events for his hometown newspaper, the Daily Hampshire Gazette. He is a frequent guest on political podcasts, and the Facebook page for his book Tales of a Real American Liberal has more than 10,000 followers and recently won the Blue Book Good Pagekeeping Award. John lives in Northampton, Mass. with his wonderful wife Betsy and literary Border Terrier Libby. He has two fantastic grown-up stepchildren and recently became a first-time grandfather. You can find him at JohnSheirer.com, and you can find more of his photographic writing prompts at the Facebook page, What's the Story?