Meet the Characters
Miss Olive
The “fairytail” began years ago with a small dog named Sophia. Like Miss
The real Miss Olive is a tiny, special-needs rescue pup who was adopted from the Italian Greyhound Rescue of the Gulf Coast into her loving “furever” home in 2015. Miss Olive suffered from neglect and health issues, and lost one of her legs to cancer, as well as her teeth because of a lack of medical care. The neglect and illnesses she endured have never affected her loving, sweet, and gentle spirit. Miss Olive joins her mommy, Susan Marie, at the microphone each week as the co-host of the award-winning The Doggy Diva Show airing on Pet Life Radio. Along Florida’s sunny Gulf Coast, the name Miss Olive is synonymous with uniting homeless pets with loving “furever” families.
Her award-winning stories, Miss Olive Finds Her “Furever” Home, Miss Olive Finds Her “Furever” Friends and Miss Olive Finds Her “Furever” Winter Wonderland are the three books in The Doggy Diva Diaries trilogy about Miss Olive and her “pawsome” life-changing adventures.
Susan Marie
Since 2003, when The Doggy Diva Show aired its first broadcast, Susan Marie and her canine co-hosts—the doggy divas—have been committed to sharing important health and lifestyle information for pets and pet parents, with help from pet professionals, authors, and national industry experts. The show was inspired by and continues to honor its original mascot, Sophia the Doggy Diva, who captured the hearts of listeners, becoming “the voice of the voiceless” for homeless animals everywhere. Since 2007, Susan and her divas have penned the bimonthly editorial column Diva Delights, which promotes animal adoption, fostering, and “paying it forward.” Susan Marie is the author of Miss Olive Finds Her “Furever” Home, which was awarded the 2019 bronze Moonbeam Children’s Book Award and the Dog Writers Association of America’s Maxwell Medallion for the 2018 Children’s Book of the Year. The second book in The Doggy Diva Diaries trilogy, Miss Olive Finds Her “Furever” Friends, received Creative Child magazine’s 2020 Book of the Year award in the Encouraging Kindness category and first place in the 2020 Royal Dragonfly Children’s Book Contest, and Top Honors from the National Parenting Product Awards (NAPPA). The third book in the series, Miss Olive Finds Her “Furever” Winter Wonderland, received the Creative Child magazine’s 2021 Book of the Year Award in the Kids Holiday Book Category.
Susan Marie is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, the Dog Writers Association of America, and the Florida Writers Association. A passionate champion of animals, Susan Marie donates a portion of the proceeds from The Doggy Diva Diaries series to animal-rescue organizations and hopes to pass along her love of animals to future generations.
Miss Sophia
The “fairytail” began years ago with a small dog named Sophia. Like Miss Olive, Sophia was a rescue dog who lived her early life in neglect, fear, and sadness, and dreamed of finding unconditional love. Her dream came true when she was adopted into her loving “furever” home in 2001. Despite her sad start in life, Sophia was destined to help others by becoming “the voice of the voiceless,” advocating for homeless pets awaiting “furever” families of their own. In 2003, she became the co-host of The Doggy Diva Show, and in 2007, she co-wrote Diva Delights, a bimonthly magazine column. These multimedia platforms allowed Sophia to share her powerful message of “paying it forward” to homeless animals. After her passing in 2013, Sophia was honored by her beloved animal community, which came together to celebrate her life, even naming a star after her!
