A Journey Through Medical and Holistic Treatments for Pets
Valerie J. Wood has always loved animals, particularly dogs, cats and horses, although over the years she has had pets (in addition to dogs, cats and horses) ranging from a cockatoo, mynah bird, lamb, turtles, newts, tropical fish, and even a preying mantis when she was a youngster. For more than 15 years, she and her husband, Woody, bred and showed Abyssinians, American Shorthairs, a Turkish Angora, Egyptian Maus and other breeds of cats—as well as dogs (Doberman Pinschers) and a Quarter Horse.
An avid sports fan, and hockey fan in particular, Val worked as a photojournalist for the long-defunct Hockey Ink! magazine, covering the AHL and ECHL from 1993-1997. She was on the ice as a photographer when the Richmond Renegades won the Riley Cup in 1994-1995, and extensively covered the Baltimore Bandits, as well as the Hershey Bears, in the mid-1990's. Her novel, Enforcer, was a result of her love of hockey, writing, and frustration that there were no contemporary novels about hockey's elite players, much less the teams' enforcers. Val has also photographed sports ranging from stock car racing to APBA boat racing and college and CFL football (as an on-field photographer for the CFL Champion Baltimore Stallions) and minor league baseball, as well as being an avid photographer of pets and nature. She has written extensively for www.femmefan.com as the senior auto racing correspondent, and for various online sports and other websites over the years.
Val worked as an editor, writer and graphic design/professional layout artist for a major federal organization for over 11 years. She is particularly interested in holistic medicine, responsible pet care, animal welfare and animal rights. Her hobbies and interests include art, reading, cooking, theatre, history and photography.