Bio

Stephanie Feldstein is the Editor of Change.org's animal welfare and wildlife community. She has a B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan, where she received a Hopwood Award for poetry. DOWNWARD DOG is her first novel, inspired by her experience as a pit bull advocate, humane society volunteer, and owner of several spoiled rescue dogs.

FULL BIO

Stephanie Feldstein grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. Though she began writing at an early age, it was years before she had more than one dog at a time. When she moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan for college, she was able to delve deeper into both her passion for writing and for helping animals. A part-time job at the Humane Society of Huron Valley led to involvement with local rescue groups, fostering animals, assisting with training classes and the behavior helpline at the Michigan Humane Society, and volunteering with Pit Bull Rescue Central. She recently launched Patient Pup Training, a dog behavior consulting and in-home training business that specializes in helping rescued pets adjust to their new homes.

Stephanie earned her B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan, where she won the Hopwood Award and Jeffrey L. Weisberg Memorial Award for poetry. After graduation, she became active in the local writing community, participating in poetry readings throughout southeast Michigan, including A Night Out in Ann Arbor with Garrison Keillor and the United Nations’ Dialogue Among Civilizations project. She was a runner-up in the Allen Ginsberg Memorial Poetry Contest and was awarded the bronze medal for modern poetry in Logic Alley’s Poetry Olympics. She also co-founded a weekly critique group, which is still going strong today and has been invaluable over the years, particularly during her transition from poet to novelist.

Stephanie still lives in Michigan with her assortment of cats and dogs (always including a pit bull or two), and the occasional foster animal that needs help finding a home. She is the Editor of Change.org's animal welfare and wildlife community.