Meet Susan Lyman: The Heart Behind Tails Untold
Hey everyone, I’m Gael Orr, not just Susan’s publisher, but also a friend.
Susan and I first met more than 15 years ago while we were both working in the natural foods industry. If you’ve ever met Susan, you already know how magnetic she is. She’s one of those people you remember.
One of the things that captivated me when we first met was a project she told me about that had absolutely nothing to do with the food industry. Susan created individually personalized books for people and their pets, bringing their beloved pet to life in the book. She created books for people whose pets truly were their “petkids,” as well as books for pet parents whose pets had passed. Each individual book included up to ten photos of the pet, along with personalized information and a memory of up to 100 words. The book was written in the pet’s first-person voice, telling the story to the reader from the pet’s perspective. Many people called Susan’s books keepsakes or, when a beloved pet had passed, memorials.
I remember being deeply moved by the compassion behind the idea. It told me a lot about Susan.
Then life happened.
Susan and I hadn’t actually spoken in close to ten years. We stayed connected on Facebook and occasionally commented on something the other had posted, but neither of us picked up the phone. You know how it goes. Life gets busy, years pass, and suddenly you realize a decade has gone by.
Then I published my first children’s book.
Susan reached out to congratulate me, and our friendship picked up as though we hadn’t skipped a beat. We talked about my book, and she asked who had published it. I told her I had published it myself.
And then I told her I’d help her publish hers.
Enter Scrappy
That conversation started what has now been about six months of weekly calls, going through Susan’s story page by page. We’ve edited and refined it, talked through what she wanted the story to become, developed the illustrations, changed them, changed them again, and watched a little imaginative terrier named Scrappy slowly come to life.
Somewhere along the way, I got pretty attached to the little guy myself.
The result is Scrappy’s Search for the Sweetest Treat in New York City, Susan’s children’s book about a determined little terrier on a delicious adventure through New York City in search of the perfect treat.
But one of my favorite things about working with Susan is that she isn’t finished dreaming.
She’s already noodling ideas about where Scrappy might go next. Paris? London? Edinburgh? Dublin? Niagara Falls? There is a whole world out there for one curious little terrier to explore, and I have a feeling Scrappy’s passport could eventually get pretty full.
A New Chapter for Tails Untold
That’s also why we’re breathing some new life into this blog.
You’ll hear more from Susan here, not only about Scrappy and whatever adventures may come next, but about something that has been at the heart of Tails Untold from the very beginning: our relationships with animals.
Long before Scrappy went searching for treats through New York City, Susan was creating stories for people who loved their pets enough to want their lives and memories preserved in a deeply personal way. That compassion hasn’t changed. Now it has a little terrier running around inside it.
Susan’s creative passion is something I’ve admired since I first met her more than 15 years ago. I’m excited to see where she takes Scrappy next, and I’m even more excited that this time, I get to come along for the adventure.
And now, so do you.
Follow Your Curiosity!
