Long Island Veteran Pens 1st Children's Book On Dogs' Paris Adventure

HUNTINGTON, NY — Kate Miranda recently published her first children's book: A tale of two dogs who wind up in Paris after going through a magic portal and needing to find their way home.

"The Adventures of Gus and Coach: Paris Edition" is the first of a planned series, Miranda said. The dogs are based on Miranda's own dogs, Gucci and Coach. She wanted a way to immortalize her Mi-Ki dogs, as Gucci is a 13-year-old male black and white dog, and Coach is a 10-year-old male white canine.

"Gucci, my dog, who is the Gus of the story, he is getting older," Miranda, 53, told Patch. "He’s not going to be around much longer. He’s such a great sidekick for me."

The book can be purchased on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Miranda, whose real name is Cathy Gierbolini — she uses Miranda as a pen name as its easier to pronounce and remember — is a former service member. She was in the Navy and stationed in Scotland in the 1980s and then served in Afghanistan as a contractor from 2005 to 2010.

Gucci was Miranda's emotional support dog when she first came back.

"[Gucci] was my baby," she said. "And he’s getting older. So this is kind of a tribute to keep him alive forever."

The book starts with Miranda planting flowers in her garden during spring, and Gus and Coach fall into a hole she dug, which is a magic portal that transports them to France. The dogs, not knowing where they are, walk around the country and learn. Miranda inserts knowledge of French foods, Notre-Dame, the L'Oeuvre, and culture. After some exploring, the dogs return to where they landed, fall asleep, and awake back in their beds.

"You don’t really know if they ever really went, so it’s another adventure for another day," Miranda explained.

The Paris edition is the first of a series, "The Adventures of Gus and Coach," she said.

"The premise of the story is travel and adventure for children," Miranda said. "I want simplicity and innocence back. I think with COVID, I kept hearing about how the children suffered a lot due to the fact they were locked down. They didn’t have that exposure."

Miranda said she wants her books to be as fun as possible.

"Each book is to kind of give a little bit of education, but yet make it fun through the eyes of the children," she said. "Because the dogs are like little babies."

Miranda is nearly finished with her second book, which will focus on the month of December and cover every single holiday in it across the barrier of religions. A magical angel tree-topper will take the place of a portal in that book.

Her third book idea sees the return of the magic portal, but this time, Gus and Coach will wind up in Alaska and learn about salmon swimming upstream.

Miranda said she chose Paris for her debut children's book because she really loves France. A hot dog vendor in the story is based on a French soldier she befriended while stationed in Afghanistan, she said.

"I downgraded him in the story," Miranda said with a laugh. "He knows. We were talking about it recently. We still talk all the time."

Miranda shared a message to her fellow disabled veterans.

"Keep the faith. Some of the hands-on events I’ve seen and been part of, you have to have a certain level of faith. I’m a Christian; I believe in God and Jesus. You have to find something that you believe in to keep you going. Ultimately, that will get you through the worst of your times. It might be a friend or family member. Somebody you feel a purpose or driven to. It could be a religious figure. Whatever it is, find what that is and focus. If you can’t figure out what you believe in, then try to be someone that can believe in you. Try to be the person someone believes in."

Miranda said she hopes to eventually publish memoirs about her own life and experiences.