As a teacher, BRENDA EHRMANTRAUT spent years filling notebooks and journals with stories and ideas.

Night Catch was inspired when her brother deployed to Iraq and Brenda wanted to create a story that would connect and comfort his family during their year apart.

About Night Catch, she says, "I love hearing how parents and grandparents get choked up reading it; it makes me feel like I've made a human connection and a tiny little difference." Brenda feels honored to play a small part in supporting the sacrifices military families make through the distribution of her book.

Brenda was a reading and language arts teacher in Ohio and Washington before having children of her own. She and her husband, a minister, live in Beresford, South Dakota, where she continues to work in education.