The Dog Pound - Author

Leigh Anne Florence, author of the popular "Woody Book" series and best known as Woody and Chloe's mommy, is Kentucky through and through. A native of Murray, Kentucky, Florence is a 1990 graduate of Calloway County High School. In 1996 she received her Masters Of Music Education from Murray State University. She now resides in Shepherdsville, KY with husband Ron, Chloe, Woody, Frannie the Body Guard, Wally the puppy, two labs, and a cat.

After seven years of public school teaching, Florence resigned from her teaching duties to concentrate on the Woody series. Leigh Anne along with Ron, Chloe, and Woody spend their days in the Kentucky schools, libraries, and other venues speaking on Woody's Five Ways to Be Successful and Woody's Five Ways to Improve Writing. In addition to schools and libraries, Leigh Anne has become an on-demand speaker for church events, womens’ groups, and community organizations.

Questions & Answers

Learn more about the author from this Courier Journal article by Darla Carter!

Fictional character you most identify with:
The mother on The Family Circus. I think I kind of look like that anyway — that dark, short hair — and where she has a house full of crazy kids, we have a house full of crazy pets.

Favorite way to unwind:
Music. Definitely the dogs. Sappy Hallmark movies and "I Love Lucy." I like the old stuff like "Good Times," "The Dick Van Dyke Show" — Nick at Nite stuff.

Favorite place to hang out with her seven dogs:
Probably our back yard (in Shepherdsville). We love our back yard. We have seven acres and a two-acre lake, and there are enough frogs and birds and squirrels that they have plenty of things to chase, and they love to dig.

Favorite pet:
Woody and I are one. We identify with each other. We can communicate. (The wiener dog stars in her book series.)

Favorite collection:
The mantel is lined with Hot Diggity Dog figurines in various guises, such as a cheerleader, basketball player and football player.

Favorite team:
We bleed Wildcat blue — for sure.

Favorite outfit:
It would be a black T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. I am no-nonsense. I wear sunscreen and ChapStick.

First website checked in the morning:
(After checking Woody's e-mail and his Facebook page,) it's usually the bank — when you work for a wiener dog, you need to make sure everything is OK at the bank.

On her iPod:
I have everything from Merle Haggard to a lot of praise and worship to Daughtry and Point of Grace, Patsy Cline and then some of Woody's favorite tunes — like the Oscar Mayer wiener dog theme.

Favorite authors:
Karen Kingsbury and Terri Blackstock, who are both Christian fiction writers, and Paul Brett Johnson, a children's author and illustrator.

Worst habits:
I leave the water running when I'm brushing my teeth. I leave all the lights on.

Biblical character she'd like to meet:
Noah, just because he was in the ark with so many animals for so long.

Clutter queen or neat freak:
I am a clean and neat freak — for sure. I can't function in clutter. I can't sit down to write if there's a coffee cup in the sink.

What's on your nightstand:
ChapStick and, usually, a bowl of water for the dogs to drink from when they wake up during the night.

What she hopes to hear God say someday:
I hope he says, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Come on in. Woody's waiting for you!"

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