About the Author and Illustrators

A smiling woman with blonde hair wearing a purple top with a bow tie standing outdoors in a park with trees in the background.

Heather Price

Heather Price has served as an educator for over 28 years in the Centerville City School District, located in southwest Ohio. Her focus has been on elementary students, kindergarten through fifth grade, as a classroom teacher and gifted intervention specialist. Heather earned her Bachelor of Science in Education from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She received her Master of Science in Education from the University of Dayton, focusing on literacy. Heather furthered her knowledge of gifted learners by earning her gifted endorsement from the University of Cincinnati. During the writing of her first children’s book; The Day We Met an Angel, she combined her love of books, children and dogs. It was a dream of Heather’s to put her experience into print in the form of a realistic fiction memoir. It is her hope that this story will inspire readers to see the relationship they have with their pets as a spiritual connection, which has a powerful ability to heal. The story continues in Springboro, Ohio, where Heather lives with her husband Jason, and of course Raguel.

A young woman with brown hair in a braid, smiling while sitting in a black office chair, holding a paintbrush, with painting supplies visible in the background.

©ShortShot Photography. www.shortshotphotography.com

Gayle Cobb

Gayle Cobb is a Cincinnati native who specializes in realistic and children’s Illustration.

From the difficulty the individual faces to the curiosity of children, her art focuses on the mundane and the imaginative; a reflection of the artist’s logic intertwined with creativity.

Having attained a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Illustration from Indiana Wesleyan University, she has since shown her art in exhibitions locally and in surrounding states.

In addition to illustrating for 10 years, Gayle’s previous relevant experience includes being a recipient of the 2019 SCBWI Artist Showcase in Cleveland, winner of the SCBWI’s San Diego conference “Most Promising Manuscript” for her portfolio in 2020, and ranked in the “Top 10 Artist of 2023” from the Outstanding Creators Awards for her Illustrations in “Her Eyes Were on the Stars,” written by Jennifer Sommer.

My abilities in Illustration range from realism to children’s Illustration. By providing detail and whimsical renderings, I create to represent individuals in moments of life; capturing events that bring growth and wonder to the imagination.

My hope is to inspire others to see things differently; whether it is observing detail in a flower or reminiscing about their childhood. My desire is to enable people to see the beauty that can be found in hardships, innocence and the everyday stresses of life.”

Learn more about the artist at: www.gcillustration.com.

Connie Fintel

A smiling older woman with blonde hair, wearing a denim jacket, sitting at a glass table with drawing tools and a sketchpad with a partially finished artwork, in front of a large window showing greenery outside.

Connie Fintel provided support for Heather as The Day We Met an Angel was being formed; early in concept, with some of the artwork helping to form the images that would tell the story. Connie’s ideas are used throughout the book; and her illustrations are featured on the endsheets in the front and back of the book, as well as in the picture frames in the fireplace scene. Connie passed away in August of 2023 from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Even as the disease started to take hold, Connie and Heather would discuss the book and how best to share the story Heather needed to tell.

Connie was the mother of five children, each of whom she loved dearly. She was always an artist, even in her youth. Connie trained at Bowling Green State University where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design. She continued her professional development and eventually became a professional photographer, focusing mainly on family and children’s photography, which she perfected over the years. Even though her attention was primarily on raising her children, and her marriage with her husband Bob, she always kept working her artistry. Eventually she began to paint again in watercolor and pencil forms which blossomed as Connie and Bob spent more time on the Outer Banks in Corolla, North Carolina. In fact, Heather and Connie first met in Corolla, North Carolina even though they both spent most of their time in the southwest Ohio area where Heather is a teacher and Connie lived to care for her family. It was through their friendship formed at the beach where The Day We Met an Angel continued to take shape.

We (Connie, Bob and our children) are thankful to Heather for including Connie’s illustrations and ideas. Seeing Connie’s talent shine through her paintings, both in this work and the art she created, always brings a smile to the observer. Her artwork will live on in The Day We Met an Angel and in the many paintings and images she created throughout the years. We hope you enjoy The Day We Met an Angel as much as Connie took pleasure in contributing to it.