Some of My Friends Are People  
My Life As a Country Vet
Celeste Matthews, DVM

Do you know how to remove a tumor from a goldfish? Have you ever delivered a 
calf in freezing weather? How about saving a kitten that almost drowned in a
toilet? How about fixing a duck's beak after it bit a July Fourth 
firecracker?

Did you ever read James Harriot's book "All Creatures Great and
Small"? What about Robert Miller's "Most of My Patients Are Animals"? What 
about John McCormack's "Hero of the Herd"?
What if Harriot had been a 130 pound city girl (those were the days -- I'm 
fat now; but I would consider a diet if needed), 
dumped out in rural south Georgia, in a time when women were not 
considered fit to be veterinarians, treating all types of animals?

Then you would have me and my story, "Some of My Friends Are People".

People love pets. The pet food industry is a multimillion dollarbusiness. 
Collars, leases, doghouses, and other pet supplies make millions of dollars 
for their producers. People love books about animals.

Women love to read about other women beating the odds.

My book is a fun book.  I am is a good storyteller, and with the right agent,  
I believe that my project can be sold widely.
 
This book is a true story (true except where I lied) about the trials and successes of mixing family 
and work. (Names of characters have been changed so I won't get sued.)
Within the story, there are multiple little stories about life as 
a rural veterinarian. Some of these stories have been published in magazines 
in somewhat condensed forms; however, I retain all rights. 
 
One was published in "Trailrider Magazine" which has a readership of about 35,000.
 Another was published as a cover story in "Veterinary Forum" which has a readership of about 50,000.
 (I tried to tell all my friends about being on a magazine cover without letting 
them see that also in the picture was a 1500 pound bull. Kinda kills the 
romance.) Several other stories from ther book were published in "Veterinary Forum",
but not as cover stories. 
 
First paragraph of book:

     "The screaming woman woke me up from my exhausted sleep.  A truck door slammed. 

There was a loud rapping on my door, and that horrible screaming.  For a split second,

I thought that I was having a nightmare, but the screams persisted causing

me to assume that the house was on fire or perhaps under siege from terrorists.

We had only moved into the old house a few days before, and I felt panicked at waking up so

violently in a new place.  This sudden awakening startled me so that my heart was pounding in my ears.....  "