Bella Diva

Retired high school principal and former Times News columnist Virginia Smith has added another notch to her writing belt - children's book author.

Smith has just released the book "Bella Diva," a tale about an orphaned cat and her journey from the Florida woodlands to Ocala.

Smith, who worked in the Jim Thorpe Area School District for 35 years, as both a teacher and a high school and elementary school principal, moved to Florida from South Carolina about five years ago to be closer to her daughter and grandchildren.

"I was a children's librarian in South Carolina. I worked there for eight years, and I loved the children's literature," she says.

She was inspired by the true story of her rescue cat, Diva, to write a children's book about her little adventure.

"I got the idea for the book because every time I told someone about Diva's story, they'd say, you should write a book!" says Smith.

Diva's adventure began about a year ago in the forests of Florida, where she was found by a boy who was biking to his piano lessons. The boy heard the cries of three orphaned kittens, and decided to bring them along to his practice.

The piano instructor was able to hear one kitten's singing from blocks away.

Hence the name, Diva.

It just so happened that this piano teacher also worked with Smith's grandson.

"My daughter Jennifer has a little boy, Colton, who takes piano lessons from a lady who runs a cat shelter. Jennifer would go with Colton for practice, and this little cat would jump up on her lap and play.

"None of the other cats would really bother anyone during practices, but it was like she chose Jennifer," says Smith.

When her daughter and grandchildren came to visit Smith during the week of Mother's Day last year, they brought a carrier with a little surprise.

"They opened it up, and out came Diva. It was like she knew me," says Smith.

When it came to writing the book, Smith says, "I'm a very traditional person. I used legal pads and pencils, and I wrote an outline of the story on those. The story just flowed out of me. The editors at Page Publishing were very nice to work with. They got an illustrator for me, and it was like she drew what I had in my head."

Smith says that Diva is doing well, and never hesitates to tell her what she wants through song.

"Bella Diva" is currently available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble's online stores.