My fourth children's book, Come with Me, was released in March 2019. Click this link to order the book Come with Me on Amazon.com
Come with Me earned the Creative Child Magazine Awards Program 2019 Book of the Year Award in the category of Books for Kids or Parents and the sub-category of Kids Story Books; a Purple Dragonfly Book Award honorable mention, Picture Books 6 & Older, 2019; and Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Professional Communications Contest, Children’s Books/Fiction, Second Place, 2020.
See the Come with Me page on this site by clicking here Come with Me
Three awards in the 2019 Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Professional Communications Contest: First Place, Creative Verse - Single Poem; First Place, Blogs - Personal; Third Place, Blogs - Personal.
A photo of my Forest (cat) is showcased in the 2019 Workman Publishing (NY) “365 Cats” Page-a-day calendar. He is shown for St Patrick’s Day. Click here to order on Amazon.com.
My poem, "secrets in the soil" appears in issue 56 of Another Chicago Magazine. See my poem by clicking on this link. ACM
2017 Creative Child Magazine Awards Program
"Book of the Year Award” in the
Kids Books Category.
See the book and judge's comments by clicking the button here:
Tracy's essays about raising her pets can be seen at:
WagtheDogUK, Catster.com, Dogster.com, American Pet Magazine, Russell Publications newspapers, Momence Progress Reporter,
Fido Friendly magazine, Simply Pets magazine
Here are the links:
www.wagthedoguk.com www.catster.com www.dogster.com Russell Publications Momence Progress Reporter
American Pet Magazine Fido Friendly Simply Pets
Formerly columns were published with:
Tails Pet Media, Big Bark and Woofswipe.com
Judge's comments (2011): "Fun, personal looks at life with pets."
Judge's comments (2012): "Delightful. Stories told with love and humor."
Judge's comments (2016): "Sweet entry about the author's dog, Trucker. A short, model-telling. Simply told. 'Turning down the bed' Another slice-of-life entry about the bedtime habits of the author and her dog. Funny and light-hearted."
Judge's comments (2017): "The blog piece does a nice job educating the reader regarding a pet's feelings as well as an owner's during a breakup.
The imagery used supports the piece extremely well."
Judge's comments (2018): "The first post made me laugh, and the second post made me cry. Both were well written and appropriate for the target
audience, with good clarity of message."
Judge's comments (2019): "The author has an engaging style in telling the story of her dear Angel, and the need for all to have a right to that story.
Shows the deep connection of people and their animals."
&
"I cried. It was unexpected but a mark of the author's loving storytelling skill. The author delves, like an anthropologist, into a facet of pet behavior that I, who once had a dog, had never contemplated: that some possessions speak to not only humans but to our partners in evolution, dogs (and cats). With care and love, the author describes her dog's attachment to a fluffy duck toy and with it, tells a story about humans and pets and their things. In the age of Marie Kondo, when one should hold something and ask if it brings you joy, this seemingly simple story extends the web of sentient beings and how we all may be connected."
about ...
Tracy Ahrens is a graduate of Eureka College, Eureka, Ill. with a bachelor's degree in English and many classes in art.
Since college graduation, she has been a journalist, editor, author and artist.
While she was a full time journalist and editor for online and print publications, magazines and newspapers for many years, she now writes casually for online and print publications.
Her professional writing memberships include the Illinois Woman's Press Association, the National Federation of Press Women, Dog Writers Association of America and Cat Writers' Association.
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105 writing awards locally, statewide and nationally (as of 2023) include:
Eureka College Creative writing awards, 2 Second Place awards and 1 Third Place award, Fiction, between 1988-1992
Eureka College Burrus Dickinson Award, approximately 1992
Eureka College Outstanding Senior Award, 1992
Certificate of Appreciation, Kankakee County Humane Society, for helping promote kindness to all living things, 1994
Certificate of Appreciation, Kankakee County Animal Foundation, for outstanding contributions to humane treatment of animals, 1994-1995
Kankakee County Medical Society Certificate of Appreciation for comprehensive reporting of medical issues to the people of Kankakee County, 1994
Pink Ribbon Partner Award, certificate of appreciation, Kankakee County Health Department Breast and Cervical Cancer Program, mid-1990s
Small Newspaper Group, Second Place, Feature Series, 1994
Illinois Public Health Association, Media Award, 1996 and 2000
Illinois Press Association, Second place, Best Coverage of Medicine, 1997
Small Newspaper Group, Second Place, Spot News Coverage; Second Place, Feature Series, 1997
Certificate of Appreciation, Four Rivers Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, newspaper coverage of Alzheimer’s disease, 1997
Illinois Associated Press, First Place, feature writing, 2000
Northern Illinois Newspaper Association, Third Place, Feature Writing, 2000
Northern Illinois Newspaper Association, 2 Honorable Mention awards, Personality Feature Writing, 2001
National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Excellence in Print Journalism Award, 2001
Illinois Woman's Press Association, First Place, news reporting; First Place, Special Articles in Science/Health; Second Place, Feature Story; 2 Third Place awards, Feature Story, 2002
National Federation of Press Women, First Place, Special Articles in Science/Health, 2002
National Multiple Sclerosis Society Greater Illinois Chapter, Public Education Award, 2002
Nomination for Outstanding Volunteer of Kankakee County, Because Animals Really Kount, 2002
Illinois Woman's Press Association, First Place, Feature Story; Second Place, Feature Story; Second Place, Special Articles – Health, 2003
National Federation of Press Women, Second Place, Feature Story, 2003
Illinois Academy of Family Physicians, Media Award, 2003
State of Illinois Senate Recognition for receiving the Illinois Association of Family Physicians Media Award for healthcare coverage in the community, 2003
2005 Outstanding Young Alumni Award from Eureka College, Eureka, Il.
Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, First Place, Features, non-daily newspaper; First Place, Personality Profile; First Place, Section Edited by Entrant, non-daily newspaper, 2006
National Federation of Press Women, Inc. Communications Contest, First Place, Section Edited by Entrant, non-daily newspaper, 2006
Illinois Press Association, Illinois Better Newspaper Contest, Third Place, personality profile, 2006
Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, First Place and Third Place, Features, non-daily newspaper, 2007
Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, First Place, Special Articles - Health & Fitness; First Place, Personality Profile; Second Place, Section Edited by Entrant; Second Place, Features, 2008
Illinois Press Association, Excellence in News Contest, Second Place, Lifestyle Section, 2008
Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, First Place, Features; First Place, Special Articles - Arts & Entertainment; Second Place, Special Series; Third Place - Special Series, 2009
Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, Second Place, Non-Fiction Book for "Giant Hero," 2009
Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, First Place, Special Articles - Health; Second Place, Special Articles - Sports; Second Place, Features; Third Place, Personality Profile; Third Place, Special Articles – Arts & Entertainment, 2010
Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, First Place, Feature Story/Daily Newspaper; Second Place, Humorous Columns, 2011
Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, Second Place, Non-Fiction Book/Humor – Raising My Furry Children; Second Place, Humorous Columns, 2012
Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, Third Place, Columns/General; Honorable Mention, Book of Poetry – “Nature Will Heal,” 2013
Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, First Place, Columns; Third Place, Editing and Page Design, 2014
Cat Writers’ Association Communications Contest, 2 Certificates of Excellence, Online Article/Any Other Topic and Online Article/Behavior & Training, 2015
Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, Honorable Mention, Web and Social Media, Blogs, Personal, 2016
Cat Writers’ Association Communications Contest, Certificate of Excellence, Online Article /Any Other Topic, 2016
2017 Creative Child Magazine Awards Program "Book of the Year Award” in the Kids Books Category for "Sammy Sparrow's First Flight"
Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, Second Place, Web and Social Media, Blogs, Personal, 2017
Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, Second Place, Web and Social Media, Blogs, Personal, 2018
Cat Writers’ Association Communications Contest, Certificate of Excellence, Online Article/Any Other Topic, 2017
2018 Folio: Eddie and Ozzie Awards, Honorable Mention, Column/Blog for "I Still Am" in CURE magazine
Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, First Place, Web and Social Media, Blogs, Personal; Third Place, Web and Social Media, Blogs, Personal; First Place, Creative Verse, Single Poem, 2019
National Federation of Press Women, Inc. Communications Contest, Honorable Mention, Blogs, Personal; Third Place, Creative Verse, Single Poem, 2019
2019 Creative Child Magazine Awards Program “Book of the Year Award” in the Storybooks for Kids Category for “Come with Me”
2019 Purple Dragonfly Book Award, Honorable Mention, Picture Books 6 & Older, “Come with Me”
Illinois Woman’s Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, Second Place, Children’s Books/Fiction, “Come with Me,” 2020
Illinois Woman’s Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, First Place, Single Poem; Third Place, Single Poem; Honorable Mention, Single Poem; 2 Honorable Mention Awards, Web & Social Media/Blogs/Personal, 2020
National Federation of Press Women, Inc. Communications Contest, Third Place, Single Poem, 2020
Illinois Woman’s Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, Second Place, Blogs, Personal; Honorable Mention, Blogs, Personal; Second Place, Single Poem; Third Place, Single Poem; Honorable Mention, Single Poem, 2021
2021 Creative Child Magazine Awards Program “Preferred Choice Award” in the Picture Books for Kids Category for “Cloud Jumpers”
2021 Creative Child Magazine Awards Program “Preferred Choice Award” in the Picture Books for Kids Category for “What if the Moon…”
Illinois Woman’s Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, Second Place, Children’s Books/Fiction, “What if the Moon …,” 2022
Illinois Woman’s Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, Honorable Mention, Children’s Books/Fiction, “Cloud Jumpers,” 2022
2022 Purple Dragonfly Book Award, Honorable Mention, Outdoor Recreation, “Cloud Jumpers”
2022 Purple Dragonfly Book Award, Honorable Mention, Picture Books 5 & Younger, “What if the Moon …”
2022 Purple Dragonfly Book Award, Honorable Mention, Picture Books 6 & Older, “Cloud Jumpers”
Cat Writers’ Association Communications Contest, 2 Certificates of Excellence, Written Article, Entertainment, 2022
Illinois Woman’s Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, First Place, Creative Verse, Single Poem; Third Place, Specialty Articles/Personal Essay, 2023
***
Tracy is also the author of children's books, non-fiction books, poetry books, and her poems have appeared in chapbooks and magazines across the country. See samples of her poetry and view some of her artwork on this website.
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contact me by e-mail at: mylittleforie@yahoo.com
Follow me through Amazon Author Central by clicking here
amazon.com
all art and writings seen here are copyrighted