Nikki Moustaki
writer, pet industry consultant & animal trainer & care expert
Nikki Moustaki, full time freelance writer, pet industry consultant, animal trainer, and pet expert, splits her time between New York City and Miami Beach. She has two Schnauzers and three parrots. When she’s not writing or building websites, you can find Nikki playing the drums. Currently, she is on book tour for her new book, Dogfessions!
Nikki is available for TV and radio appearances
See below for some of Nikki’s cool projects and books:
NIKKI’S BIO
Nikki Moustaki, MA, MFA
BetterWords Inc.
Writer, pet industry consultant, and animal trainer, Nikki Moustaki, has published more than 35 books of nonfiction, including Dogfessions: Secret Confessions from Dogs from Harper Collins Publishers (2008). She has been featured on BBC Radio, in The New York Times and Glamour Magazine, and on the Tony Danza Show, among others. Most recently, she hosted, co-produced, and co-wrote the NBC/MSN online show, The Celebrity Pet Dish, with her Schnauzer, Pepper, as her co-host. Her two primary interests – writing and animals – collide in her work, allowing her to travel through both the landscape of the writer and the interesting world of the pet industry.
Her popular websites include www.dogfessions.com, www.catfessions.com, www.rockfessions.com, www.girlfessions.com, www.pugfessions.com, and her latest, www.dogvice.com. Nikki also writes monthly feature articles for several pet-related magazines, including Dog Fancy, Popular Dogs, Water Garden News, Pet Style News, and Pet Product News, among others. Nikki has written many articles for Latina Magazine about fashion and celebrities, and has also written for the Village Voice, Jane, and the National Endowment for the Humanities Magazine.
Nikki holds an M.A. in creative writing from New York University and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Indiana University, and will earn an MFA in fiction from NYU in the fall of 2008. She has taught creative writing at both NYU and IU, as well as at The New School in New York City. She is the recipient of a 2001 National Endowment for the Arts grant in poetry, and has been awarded many national prizes and honors for her writing, including a Pushcart Press nomination in 1999 and 2000, and her poetry and essays have also appeared in various anthologies and college textbooks, including Poetry After 9-11: An Anthology of New York Poets, and America Now, chosen by Robert Atwan, editor of the Best American Essays series.
Before beginning her career as a freelance writer and editor, Nikki worked as an acquisitions and development editor at Macmillan Publishing and IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., where she specialized in the non-fiction market. She currently works as a fulltime freelance writer and splits her time between New York City and Miami Beach with her two Schnauzers and three parrots.
RESUME
Nikki Moustaki, MA, MFA
EDUCATION
New York University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, New York, New York
M.F.A. Candidate, creative writing, fiction, 2008
Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
M.F.A. received 12/99, creative writing, poetry
New York University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, New York, New York
M.A. received 5/97, creative writing, poetry
Florida International University, Miami, Florida
B.A. received 4/93, English Literature
Graduate coursework, 1993-1995
PUBLICATIONS
Pet Books
Dogfessions (HarperCollins Publishers, 2008)
The Canary: Animal Planet Pet Care Library (TFH Publications, 2008)
Schnauzers: Animal Planet Pet Care Library (TFH Publications, 2008)
Pocket Pups: The Phenomenon of the Small Dog (Kennel Club Books, 2006)
Clicker Training for Puppies (forthcoming, Kennel Club Books, 2006)
The Kuvasz (Kennel Club Books, 2006)
The Greater Swiss Mountain Dog (Kennel Club Books, 2006)
The Wirehaired Pointing Griffon (Kennel Club Books, 2006)
Labrador Retrievers: Animal Planet Pet Care Library (TFH Publications, 2006)
Parakeets: Animal Planet Pet Care Library (TFH Publications, 2006)
Lovebirds: A Complete Guide to Caring for Your Lovebird (BowTie Press, 2006)
Conures: A Complete Guide to Caring for Your Lovebird (BowTie Press, 2006)
Parrots for Dummies (Wiley Publishing, 2005)
Parakeets for Dummies (Wiley Publishing, 2005)
Finches for Dummies (Wiley Publishing, 2005)
A New Owner’s Guide to African Grey Parrots (TFH Publications, 2004)
Quick and Easy Parakeet (TFH Publications, 2004)
Beginner’s Guide to Doves (TFH Publications, 2004)
The Guide to Beginning Obedience for Dogs (TFH Publications, 2003)
A New Owner’s Guide to Lovebirds (TFH Publications, 2003)
Your Outta Control Bird (TFH Publications, 2003)
The Guide to Owning a Puppy (TFH Publications, 2003)
Why Do Cockatiels Do That? (BowTie Press, 2002)
Why Do Parakeets Do That? (,BowTie Press, 2002)
Parakeets (TFH Publications, 2002)
Taming and Training Cockatiels (TFH Publications, 2001)
Books: Various Topics
10 Things You Gotta Know About Your First Year of College (Barnes and Noble Press, 2005)
Not Another Feel Good Singles Book (Alpha Press/Penguin Putnam, 2003)
Zagat’s Guide to NYC Shopping (contributor, 2003 issue)
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing Poetry (Alpha Press/Penguin Putnam, 2001)
Cliffs Notes, Dante’s Inferno (Hungry Minds, 2001)
Cliffs Notes, Orwell’s 1984 (Hungry Minds, 2000)
Magazine Writing
Dog Fancy Magazine, BowTie Publications, 2001-current
Popular Dog Series, BowTie Publications, 2003-current
Water Garden News, BowTie Publications, 2002-current
Pet Product News, BowTie Publications, 1995-current
Bird Talk Magazine, BowTie Publications, 1994-current
Koi World, BowTie Publications, 2002-current
Veterinary Practice News, BowTie Publications, 2001
Ferret Magazine, BowTie Publications, 2001-current
Critters USA, BowTie Publications, 2001-current
Rabbits USA, BowTie Publications, 2002-current
Ferrets USA, BowTie Publications, 2001-current
Birds USA, BowTie Publications, 1999-current
Latina, 2003-2004
Village Voice, 2003
Jane, March Issue, 2003
Diabetes Forecast en Español (American Diabetes Association), 2004-2005
Web Copy
Home Again ID, 2006-current, web copy writing, consulting, acquisition and editing
Lafeber.com, copy for website (forthcoming)
Beak Appetit, Gourmet Pet Supply, 2006 (forthcoming), web copy for site
Animal Network, BowTie Publications, web copy, 2004-current
Guiding Eyes for the Blind, 2004, web copy for site
Pets.com, 2000, web copy/articles
PetSmart.com, 2000, web copy/articles
Poetry Periodicals
The Literary Review, review of new volume of poetry, 2003
Bellevue Literary Review, Volume 2, Number 1, Spring 2002
TriQuarterly, volume 112, 2001
Spoon River Poetry Review, 10 poems, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
PIF Magazine, 2000
Yemasee, 2 poems, Spring 2000
Yalobusha Review, 2000
Gulf Stream, 2 poems, Spring 1999
Many Mountains Moving, (2) Summer, 1999; fall 2000
Amaranth, Summer, 1999
Cimarron Review, 2 poems, Fall 1999
American Literary Review, volume 9.2, Fall 1998
Alaska Quarterly, volume 17, #1 & 2, Fall and Winter 1998
Madison Review, 2 poems, Volume 20, 1998
Cream City Review, Spring, 1998
Chester H. Jones Anthology, 1997 & 1998
Berkeley Poetry Review, issue #30, 1997
Quarterly West, issue #44, Spring/Summer, 1997
Incarnate Muse Press, 2 poems, Fall, 1997
Yankee Magazine, 1996
The Quarterly, 1995
Anthologies
America Now: Short Readings from Recent Periodicals, 2006, Robert Atwan, Ed. (St. Martin’s Press)
Literature as Meaning: Penguin Academics Series, 2006 (poetry)
Literature as Meaning: An Anthology of Poetry, Essays, Fiction, and Drama, Longman Publishers, Wendy Steiner, Ed., 2005
Pomegranates: An Anthology of Modern Greek Poets, Dean Kostos, Ed.
Poetry After 9-11: An Anthology of New York Poets, Melville House Publishing, Dennis Loy Johnson, Valerie Merians, Ed., 2002
Fiction
The Tropic, Miami Herald Insert (short story), 1996
LECTURES/APPEARANCES/MEDIA
Regular Radio Spot on Pet Talk with Harrison Forbes, 2008-current
Book tour for Dogfessions, from HarperCollins Publishers, 2008
Plum TV network talking about Dogfessions, 2008
Animal Radio spots, 2007 and 2008
The Tony Danza Show, 2-3 weekly appearances, Sept. 2005-May 2006 as the handler of "Rocky" the Danza Show Parrot
BBC Radio Program, Outlook, interview segment on birds, Nov. 2005
9/11 Playwriting Workshop at the Public Theater, New York, NY, volunteer, facilitating children who lost a parent in 9/11 to write plays which were later performed at the Public with celebrities performing the roles, 2002
Of Animals and Man, radio broadcast, host Diane Levitan, DVM, topic of bird behavior, 2002
The Alliance for Young Artists and Writers Awards, Keynote speaker at award ceremony, New York, NY, 2001
Starbuck’s Writing Workshop Series in conjunction with Pathways to Success for Writers in NYC, Language of Hope Program, writing lecturer in poetry and memoir, 2000 & 2001
World’s Largest Writing Workshop Panelist, Writers Digest Magazine, Barnes and Noble, New York, NY, October 4th, 2001
Cultural Quarterly of Ft. Lauderdale, Interview about NEA grant, September 2001
AOL Online in conjunction with NovelAdvice.com, guest lecturer on the topic of writing memoir, 2000
Borders Bookstore, fiction lecturer, New York, NY, 2000
Fox News (live), segment on lovebirds, Feb. 1999
The Linen Weave of Words, radio broadcast (poetry), Bloomington, IN, 1998
OTHER WORK EXPERIENCE
Consultant, Home Again ID, Schering-Plough, 2006-current
Content acquisition, contract fulfillment and writer organization, writing
Celebrity Pet Dish, Host and Co-Producer, Produced by NBC and hosted on MSN
Script revision, voice over, on-air hosting, consultant, 2007/08
Volunteer Dog Trainer, Behavior Center, American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, New York, NY, 2004
Consultant, The Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, Scholastic Inc., 10/00-10/01
Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, juror coordinator and judge, 2001
Starbuck’s Urban Blend: Pathways to Success for Writers in NYC, Language of Hope Program and Awards, 2001
Editor, Howell Book House, Macmillan General Reference, IDG Books Worldwide Inc., New York, New York 5/99-5/01
Developing series and single titles; book and author acquisition; contract negotiation; evaluating manuscripts; writing advertisements, cover copy, and press releases; marketing, publicity and promotion; developing book models, publishing proposals and publishing programs.
Intern, HarperCollins Publishers, Regan Books Division, New York, New York, 9/95-5/96
Reading manuscripts, writing reader reports, clerical duties.
Resident Assistant, New York University, New York, New York, 8/96, 5/97
Educational and social programming, team building, problem solving, mediation.
Adjunct Professor, The New School University, New York, NY, 1/02-1/05
Workshops in writing poetry.
Associate Instructor, Indiana University, 8/97-5/99
English composition, introductory creative writing, advanced poetry workshop, advanced fiction workshop.
Two years of pedagogy in creative writing and composition.
Instructor, New York University, New York, New York, 1/97-5/97
Introductory creative writing.
HONORS AND AWARDS
National Endowment for the Arts grant, poetry, 2001
Word Works Poetry Series Finalist, 2003
National Poetry Series, finalist, 2001, 2002
Crab Orchard Poetry Series, finalist, 2001
Pushcart Press XXVI, nomination, 2001
Pushcart Press XXV, nomination, 1999
New Issues Poetry Press First Book Poetry Prize, finalist, 1999
"Discovery"/The Nation semi-finalist in poetry, 1999
National Society of Arts and Letters Literature Merit Award, 1999
W.B. Yeats Society of New York, second prize for poetry, 1999
University of Wisconsin Press Poetry Series, semi-finalist, 1998 and 1999
W.B. Yeats Society of New York, First Place Award for Poetry, 1998
James First Novel Fellowship, Heekin Group, Finalist in the Novel, 1998
Chester H. Jones National Poetry Competition, third place, 1998
Dana Awards, Honorable Mention in the Novel, 1998
Chester H. Jones National Poetry Competition, second place, 1997
James Jones First Novel Fellowship, finalist, 1997
Squaw Valley Community of Writers Scholarship, Fiction, 1997
W.B. Yeats Society of New York Honorable Mention Award for Poetry, 1997
Squaw Valley Community of Writers Scholarship, Poetry, 1997
References available on request
Check out Nikki’s latest book, Dogfessions, based on her website, www.dogfessions.com
You're shamelessly in love with your dog. And his adoration for you would eclipse the moon. But is love all there is to your relationship? When you come home to find the trash can toppled and a few "surprises" on your rug, what then? Behind your best friend's doting gaze, ever wonder what's he's really thinking? Here's your chance to find out. Based on the website www.dogfessions.com, this full color collection contains hundreds of handmade postcards that reveal the deepest confessions from dogs and their owners. From unabashed admissions ("Yes, I made that puddle 5 minutes ago") to thoughtful revelations ("I think I kiss the dogs more than I kiss my husband") to self-affirmations ("I do this deliberately to look cute"), you'll steal a glimpse into the lives of dogs and their dearest devotees. Brought to life with photographs, illustrations, and collages, each Dogfession is uniquely hilarious, bittersweet, oddly random, heartfelt, or outrageously silly. All together, they are addictively compelling and compulsively readable. But don't say we didn't warn you: If you have a soft spot for dogs and secrets, you'll sit, stay, and roll over for this irresistible book!
