Tracy Ahrens

Recent news . . .

My fourth children's book, Come with Me, was released in March 2019. Stay tuned for a link on this site for the book, and until then, click this link to order the book Come with Me on Amazon.com

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

"Sammy Sparrow's First Flight" earned the
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:

Book of the Year award

Sammy Shelter Project

Click here to visit the Sammy Shelter Project page

Tracy's essays about raising her pets are published with:

WagtheDogUK, Catster.com, Dogster.com, American Pet Magazine, Russell Publications newspapers and Momence Progress Reporter. Here are the links:

www.wagthedoguk.com www.catster.com www.dogster.com Russell Publications Momence Progress Reporter
American Pet Magazine

Formerly columns were published with:
Tails Pet Media, Big Bark and Woofswipe.com

Winner of the 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest - First, Second, Third Place & Honorable Mention in "Columns" & "Web and Social Media, Blogs, Personal" divisions.

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 me

Tracy Ahrens is a graduate of Eureka College, Eureka, Ill. with a bachelor's degree in English and many classes in art.

Since graduation, she has been a journalist, editor and author.

Recently she was the editor and publishing assistant for The Frankfort Life magazine and publishing assistant for Schoolhouse Life magazine, owned by N2 Publishing. For approximately one year she served as a content screener for Legacy.com. She is also a freelance writer for the Chicago Tribune, Tails Pet Media Group based in Chicago, Catster.com, Dogster.com, wagthedogUK.com, bigbarkonline.com and CornerStone Media.

As time permits, Tracy also writes for magazines and publications. In 2015 she briefly contributed to a magazine titled Angel Rising.

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.

Some of her 66 writing awards locally, statewide and nationally include:
Illinois Public Health Association (Media Award 1996 & 2000), Illinois Academy of Family Physicians (Media Award 2003), Illinois Press Association (Second place, 1997 Best Coverage of Medicine), Illinois Associated Press (First Place, feature writing, 2000), Northern Illinois Press Association, Illinois Woman's Press Association (First Place, news reporting, 2002; First Place, features, 2003; First Place, special articles in science/health, 2002), National Federation of Press Women (First Place, special articles in science/health, 2002), National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (Excellence in Print Journalism Award, 2001) and National Multiple Sclerosis Society Greater Illinois Chapter (Public Education Award, 2002); 2005 Outstanding Young Alumni Award from Eureka College, Eureka, Il.; Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, 2006 (First Place, Features; non-daily newspaper; First Place, Personality Profile; First Place, Section Edited by Entrant, non-daily newspaper); National Federation of Press Women, Inc. Communications Contest, 2006 (First Place; Section Edited by Entrant, non-daily newspaper); Illinois Press Association, Illinois Better Newspaper Contest, 2006 (Third Place; personality profile); Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, 2007 (First Place and Third Place, Features; non-daily newspaper); Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, 2008 (First Place, Special Articles - Health & Fitness; First Place, Personality Profile; non-daily newspaper and Second Place, Section Edited by Entrant; Second Place, Features); Illinois Press Association, Excellence in News Contest, 2008 (Second Place; Lifestyle Section), Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, 2009 (First Place, Features; First Place, Special Articles - Arts & Entertainment; Second Place; Special Series; Third Place - Special Series), Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, 2009 (Second Place; Non-Fiction Book for "Giant Hero"); Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, 2010 (First Place, Special Articles - Health; Second Place, Special Articles - Sports; Second Place, Features); Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, 2011 (First Place, Feature Story/Daily Newspaper; Second Place, Humorous Columns); Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, 2012 (Second Place, Non-Fiction Book/Humor; and Second Place, Humorous Columns); Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, 2013 (Third Place, Columns/General; Honorable Mention, Book of Poetry); Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, 2014 (First Place, Columns; Third Place, Editing and Page Design); Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, 2016 (Honorable Mention, Web and Social Media, Blogs, Personal); 22nd Annual Cat Writers’ Association Communications Contest, 2016 (Two Certificates of Excellence, Online Article/Behavior & Training, and Online Article/Any Other Topic); 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, 2017 (Second Place, Web and Social Media, Blogs, Personal); Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, 2018 (Second Place, Web and Social Media, Blogs, Personal); Cat Writers’ Association Communications Contest, 2017 (Certificate of Excellence, Online Article/Any Other Topic); 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, 2019 (First Place, Web and Social Media, Blogs, Personal); Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, 2019 (Third Place, Web and Social Media, Blogs, Personal); Illinois Woman's Press Association Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest, 2019 (First Place, Creative Verse, Single Poem).

Tracy is also the author of children's books and non-fiction books, and her poetry has appeared in chapbooks and magazines across the country. See a sample of her poetry and view some of her artwork on this website.