Talkfest Blog

Featured image for “Interview with Lisa Kruysman – Author and Artist”
Anne Marie Duquette

Interview with Lisa Kruysman – Author and Artist

Thank you for your sponsorship, which is very special to DWAA members. Please describe for us the qualifications which must be met to be considered for your award. The Manette-Begin-Loudon Award is presented to the…

Spotlight | July 29, 2024

Featured image for “Danica Barreau, M.Photog.M.Artist.Cr., CPP, MAI, Visual artist”
Anne Marie Duquette

Danica Barreau, M.Photog.M.Artist.Cr., CPP, MAI, Visual artist

I am a professional artist and photographer. At the urging of friends, I decided to try writing and illustrating a children’s picture book. The subject was the antics of my dog, Rook, who had started…

Spotlight | July 4, 2024

Featured image for “Kathy Hamrick, Part of a Winning Pair”
Anne Marie Duquette

Kathy Hamrick, Part of a Winning Pair

I have worked as artist/Illustrator in a commercial/fine art capacity for most of my life–which seems like a really long time! This book is number 3 in the “Tales of Sydney” series, and I have…

Spotlight | June 27, 2024

Featured image for “Kay Whaley, Part of a Winning Pair”
Anne Marie Duquette

Kay Whaley, Part of a Winning Pair

Sydney and the Christmas Star is the 3rd book in the Tales of Sydney series. I wrote the first book, published in 2019, as a gift to my two oldest grandchildren. My grandson is the…

Spotlight | June 21, 2024

Featured image for “Dorothy Wills-Raftery – Siberian Husky Advocate & Canine Epilepsy Awareness Ambassador”
Anne Marie Duquette

Dorothy Wills-Raftery – Siberian Husky Advocate & Canine Epilepsy Awareness Ambassador

Anne Marie Duquette interviewed Dorothy Wills-Raftery the Winner of the 2023 DWAA Captain William Lewis Judy Special Award sponsored by American Legion Brick Memorial Post 348 with the entry “March 13 is K9 Veterans Day:…

Spotlight | June 13, 2024

Featured image for “Interview with Lyn T. Garson, CVT, CCRP, responder and rehabilitator”
Anne Marie Duquette

Interview with Lyn T. Garson, CVT, CCRP, responder and rehabilitator

I am so honored to be a recipient of a Maxwell Award. I’m a writer and a Certified Veterinary Technician with over 40 years of experience in this field. I’ve spent the past 10 years…

Spotlight | June 6, 2024

Featured image for “Interview with Dr. Merrie Meyers, Second Chance Award Sponsor”
Anne Marie Duquette

Interview with Dr. Merrie Meyers, Second Chance Award Sponsor

The Second Chance Award should reflect the lives of older dogs that receive a chance for a new fur-ever home. Submissions are open to articles, books, blogs, TV segments, radio spots, videos, columns or other…

Spotlight | May 30, 2024

Featured image for “Contest Winner Spotlights Others’ Accomplishments”
Anne Marie Duquette

Contest Winner Spotlights Others’ Accomplishments

I’ve been companions with canines for 50 years. Two of them were my mobility service dogs as I’m a disabled veteran, and I’ve had others as pets. Since 1988, I’ve worked at home as a…

Spotlight | May 24, 2024

Featured image for “Tom Lonsdale, BVetMed MRCVS, Challenging the Status Quo”
Anne Marie Duquette

Tom Lonsdale, BVetMed MRCVS, Challenging the Status Quo

Thank you to all at DWAA for staging the competition and then providing generous peer group recognition for www.ThePetFoodCon.com and Multi-Billion-Dollar Pet Food Fraud. Dogs have been telling us for long enough, but mostly trivialized…

Spotlight | May 20, 2024

Featured image for “Neil S. Plakcy, Serial Mystery Writer”
Anne Marie Duquette

Neil S. Plakcy, Serial Mystery Writer

I have been a dog lover since I was a little boy, and a dog dad for the last 25 years. I like to tell people that I spend hours every day researching my books—walking…

Spotlight | May 16, 2024

Featured image for “Kay Stevens and Beth Kerber, Cross Country Collaboration”
Anne Marie Duquette

Kay Stevens and Beth Kerber, Cross Country Collaboration

I’d been herding with Border collies for about 10 years when Kay Stephens approached me about writing a book. I said “Yes.” I saw a need for a book that looked at sheepdog training through…

Spotlight | May 13, 2024

Featured image for “Barbara Buchmayer, Positive Herding Techniques”
Anne Marie Duquette

Barbara Buchmayer, Positive Herding Techniques

Thanks to DWAA and all the members and judges who donated their time to make this contest happen. I have a farm background and my main dog sport addiction is herding. My first two books…

Spotlight | May 9, 2024