A Book About a Cat Named Carrot and a $50,000 Gift

Books can definitely bring about a lot of good in the world. But here is a unique example of how a small book has had a very big impact on people around the world and how proceeds from its sales have helped a very special cause. Here is the transcript that tells it all:

MELISSA:      How did this whole wonderful experience with Carrot turn into a book?

ERIN:     It all came about, we got Carrot as an 8-week-old kitten. I surprised my daughters for their birthday. And I noticed right away that she was a lot like our former cat that had passed away six months earlier, Baby. Baby would allow my girls to do everything from dress-up to pushing a stroller, sit in high chairs, and even take baths. And every cat owner knows cats hate baths.

So when we talked about getting a new kitten, I warned them, “This cat’s not going to be like Baby. It might now let you hold it like Baby did, and lay on it and all the other little things you did with your kitty cat.” But within 48 hours of having Carrot, which my daughter named within a few minutes of having her – I said, “What should her name be?” and she blurted out, “Carrot!” So that is how she got her name. And I asked her, “Why Carrot?” “Because she’s orange!” So it stuck.

And within 48 hours, I realized we had another very unique cat on our hands, and I soon saw my girls pushing her around on the little kid tricycles, in the stroller, and she was just so laid back, sitting there pretending to do her nails. Even allowing our 8-month-old baby at the time play with her ears and tail, smoosh her little face, and the cat just purred and purred and purred.

And so I started to document it over the months and realized I had something here. I said, “How cool would it be to document her life over the course of a story and turn it into a book?” So I got this idea, what about The Diary of a Cat Named Carrot? Carrot’s voice coming out and telling you about her daily life. Kind of how I document it on Instagram with her almost 300,000 followers. And so that’s what I started to do, started to document over the course of her first year of life for the book.

MELISSA: That’s wonderful. And how did you begin your online presence with Carrot?

ERIN:     Instagram came first. I created that within two days after getting Carrot, created her Instagram account. And it wasn’t until two months later after we adopted her that I started to put together this idea of putting a book together. I took this picture and actually posted it, this picture of her dressed up in a little tutu and a bow in her hair, a little headband. She was lying in my lap, and I took that picture and posted it on Instagram and Facebook and said, “This could be the cover of a book.” Having no idea this cat was going to have a book one day, but that was the post. And finally, a book was discussed and suddenly I had a publishing company working on putting this book together, ultimately I knew had to be the cover of the book. It was like I predicted it all those months earlier.

So it was within two months that I realized that after creating her Instagram account, that the book started to be developed.

MELISSA: Were you writing from the voice of Carrot there, or were you writing from a different perspective?

ERIN:     On Instagram, I’m always speaking from my voice. It was the book that I wanted people to come across as if Carrot is telling them a story, and that’s how the book reads. It’s the diary of a cat as if my cat could actually talk. And I want it to come across that way instead of me telling a story, just because of how the little entries go, and how you think the cat might possibly be thinking. Because we always wonder what our pets are thinking. And we never know, so I thought it would be cute to do it from the perspective of the cat talking rather than me telling the story of what my daughter and our cat did that day.

MELISSA: I was looking at different sales pages for the book, and there’s such a warm reception for the book, and there’s no question there’s a human/animal connection for the kids. I read a lot of children’s books to my grandkids, but this one is unique because it shows possibilities for them with animals, and I think it grows a really rich understanding of the wonderful connection you have with animals if you choose. And like you said, your children just acclimated and the cat is much more an integral part of their life than just a “pet.” A member of the family, like others, but even more than that because integrated in the fabric of what they do during the day.

ERIN:  Oh, yes, definitely. I feel it’s important for kids to grow up with pets. I think it teaches them responsibility,

MELISSA:      It’s very good, and they say it really does develop a more wholesome child to have them caring for animals. So that’s a very powerful thing. For whatever reason, my two sons loved their Husky when they were young, we had one. But they didn’t take daily care of the dog, whereas my granddaughter who’s 5 when she visits she always takes care of the dog, and the dog is always with her like Carrot seems to always be with your daughters. Do they feed her?

ERIN:     Oh, they feed her, they’ll sit her in a highchair and feed her with a baby spoon. And throughout the course of our book, I’m trying to show different milestones – family, for example – Thanksgiving, Christmas, the trouble she would get in, like climbing the Christmas tree. The mischief. And my two-year-old would get into throughout the book, and you see the kids – especially the toddler, the baby grow to a toddler, you see them grow and Carrot herself, starting off as this little kitten, and she grows through the end of the book, and she turns 1 in the book and celebrates her first birthday.

One of my favorite passages out of the book is Spa Day, and you wouldn’t believe if you didn’t see it, but Carrot lets the girls put a little pink robe on her, put a washcloth across her eyes, and then they take the washcloth off and they cut up cucumbers and put cucumbers on her eyes. And she just lays there and purrs away. And I literally had to take a video of this just to show people that I didn’t quickly throw some cucumbers on the cat’s eyes and snap a picture and then she ran off. She lays there and we play spa music – it’s hilarious!

MELISSA:      I love that tandem growth with your younger daughter, it’s so cute. What’s happening now? Because the book’s been out and how’s Carrot doing now? New things have come beyond the book?

ERIN:            Yeah, I’ve just been sitting down with her and doing a lot of media interviews. We’re always just looking for new creative ideas. I’ve got a post coming up here, when she gets in trouble, I’ll put her in the basement. She climbed up my Christmas tree, so I put her in the basement because she kept climbing the tree. Well, I joked that “She put me in the basement,” so I’ve been in the basement for a week on Instagram, and my cat’s taken over and I’m using the cat’s voice. So I have been documenting over the course of the week all the different things this cat has been up to. I have to get creative.

And one of the things I did was I went on Amazon and put in her shopping cart a whole bunch of cat stuff, over $1,000, and I’ve got Carrot at the computer. I was locked in the basement while she’s making some Amazon purchases.

MELISSA: Wow, that’s a great one! I love your creativity here.

ERIN:     Another thing about Instagram is there’s so much bad news in this world, you see it scrolling through Facebook, you see it on the news, so it’s a breath of fresh air to be able to post things that make people laugh and smile. So that’s why I get creative and think of silly things and cute, adorable funny things to post because there’s so much negativity in this world. And it also gives me a balance because of the work I do with my life is really serious work, so Carrot kind of balances me out from the very serious stressful stuff, as far as my career is involved.

MELISSA: if you think about it, she epitomizes that balance point, and what a dear soul she is, what a gift to you, and so many other people because you share her with the world.

What do you have hopes for? I love the creative expansion there. Do you have anything else planned as far as another book, or at this point?

ERIN:     Because she’s so young, I’m sure there may be another book down the road. People say, “You should start the next diary, the next year of her life,” because I’ll post things and it looks like it would be the perfect diary entry. People have told me to do calendars. Right now I’m focusing on how she could possibly – I served on a board for a nonprofit, and she has helped me raise over $50,000 for this nonprofit through social media. So I’m hoping to think of creative ways where she can help continue her social media presence in raising funds.

MELISSA: How old is she now?

ERIN:     She just turned two.

MELISSA: And I know that this book also provided an opportunity for you to serving a non-profit initiative?

ERIN:     Yes, the organization that I serve on the board for is called The Children’s Advocacy Center, there’s 900 of them in America, and they deal with helping abused kids. The investigation, full-court process, all of that. And so my heart is dedicated to that, and that’s why I serve on this board and I have this perfect opportunity with such a huge following, I raise money right online, and I’ve raised over $50,000.

MELISSA:      I’m definitely going to look into that. When I was going to law school, my focus was on child advocacy. And my undergraduate degree was in social work and sociology. The work that you do, I just wanted to bring that out for anyone to note what a wonderful gift that is, too. Again, I appreciate and want to point out to anyone listening, reading, whatever – this conversation that you’ve uniquely blended the wonderful care with the kids, with the play, with the cat, and Carrot’s a rescue cat – with your creativity. It’s turned into almost an artistic venture for you, which is beautiful.

ERIN: It definitely has, and the nice thing is, it’s helped me – some people say, “What are the odds of getting two incredible cats that just have such similar personalities, and are not your ordinary cat?” They act like dogs, they do things –

MELISSA: Even beyond a dog.

ERIN:     Yeah. And the only way I’ve tried to describe it, we got fortunate with another cat because I felt like it was God’s way of helping me continue this mission in my life, and reach an entire huge platform I have of the cat’s followers to continue my mission in bringing it, reaching people that never would know anything about it. And the great thing is, I have so many international followers, to take the work that I’m doing and the law that I’ve gotten passed across America and take it international.

And it is allowing me to make these connections with people because I share on the cat’s page – “This is what I’m doing when I’m not taking videos,” I don’t just sit at home all day and change diapers and feed these little kids and take cute videos for all of you. But actually, this is what I’m doing when I’m not doing that, and it’s allowed me to expose people to the work that I’m doing and the awareness I’m trying to bring around the prevention of child abuse.

MELISSA: I think that’s so incredible, and on behalf of somebody who loves giving, my organization Networlding, I’ve created different social-good initiatives and also have created in the past not-for-profits with a focus especially on children, I especially love the outreach globally. Just the other day I was thinking of the idea of words that ripple around the world, and that’s a gift that the book offers you. And I’m recognizing your impact internationally.

Are there particular places that you have – either surprised you, or you’re so grateful…? Can you talk just a little bit about the international connection? Which is Networlding, it’s netting the world, it’s having that wonderful ability to create change, and as you said, you’re doing it and you’re still there – the mom, the kids, the animal – it’s wonderful. So how’s it looking with outreach around the world?

ERIN: The nice thing is with me doing this, I’ve had people coming to me saying, “Hey,” that follow the cat, send me messages saying, “Can I get this passed in my country?” So I’ve got people in Sweden, Germany, India…all coming to me and asking me these questions, so I kind of just let them know, look at how your education system is set up in your country, and how things are done will lead you, take you to steps on how to get something like this passed in your country. It’s just been amazing, though, to make these different connections with people. And it’s also been amazing to see on the spectrum just how many international followers it has. I have people contacting me from Iraq, Iran, Singapore, Guatemala – you name it. I’ve mailed out her book to countries all over the place. So many different countries I’ve mailed the book out to, because she has so many international followers. So it’s kind of unique to see them reach that I can make around the world all through a computer screen. And my husband to me, it’s mind boggling to him, it’s crazy that there’s this obsession about cats! There’s a lot of cat people in this world, and what’s even more amazing is I have people that follow me that tell me they don’t like cats, but they like Carrot!

MELISSA: Oh, wow! I am so grateful that we got to spend time together on that. I know that you have a website for Erin’s Law, and why don’t you just share all your different places where those interested can reach out?

ERIN: So erinslaw.org is where you can find more information about my law, for students, for parents, educators – all the resources there. And then I’ve got my own personal website, Erinmerryn.net where you can find a lot of other information there, more about what I do and see the other four books that I’ve written. And on my social media page, you’ve got The Cat Named Carrot Facebook page, The Cat Named Carrot Instagram page, you have the Erin’s Law Facebook page, or you can just follow me at Erinmerryn. But yes, there are lots of places to see the work that I’m doing with the cat, and my law and advocacy.

MELISSA:      Thank you so much.

ERIN:     Thank you.