The write stuff: With their new books, four local authors seek to inspire, thrill, entertain, and educate. - The Boston Globe

Since being told by doctors as a teen that he would die, Jothy Rosenberg of Wayland has completed the Alcatraz Sharkfest Swim 28 times, ridden 18 Pan-Mass Challenges, finished the Northeast AIDS Ride from Boston to New York City three times, and founded nine start-up tech companies.

Jothy Rosenburg, Mary Garcia

In recently publishing “Adventures on the Can Do Trail,” Rosenberg notched two more accomplishments: his first children’s book and sixth book overall.

Rosenberg is among several Greater Boston authors with new books that serve to inspire, thrill, entertain, and educate. Others include Lynne Reeves Griffin of Scituate (“Dark Rivers to Cross”); Carrie Shapley of Chelmsford (“Eat Meat Without Feet”); and Katherine L. Babson Jr. of Wellesley (”Tails with Gig: Stories from the Dog Blog”).

Rosenberg’s “Adventures on the Can Do Trail,” which follows a boy named Alex as he helps various animals conquer seemingly unsurmountable obstacles, offers the encouragement that Rosenberg, now 66, wishes he had received after undergoing an above-the-knee amputation of his right leg following a bone cancer diagnosis when he was 16. Dire predictions of his limitations only intensified after the cancer returned three years later, requiring aggressive chemotherapy and the removal of nearly half of his left lung.

Jothy Rosenberg is a competitive cyclist and swimmer.John Deputy

“All I heard was you can’t ski again. You can’t swim, you can’t skate. It was horrible,” said Rosenberg, who credits his father with helping him figure out the necessary adaptations to resume hiking and ultimately regain hope. “It took a while, but I finally started saying, ‘Who says I can’t!’ Not as a question. It’s not even a statement. It’s an exclamation. Because with a little compassion and a lot of hard work, everyone can overcome their challenges.”

In her personal life as well as professional roles as a writer, family counselor, and public speaker, Reeves Griffin said she is “endlessly fascinated by the extraordinary ways family trauma changes relationships.”

Writing under the name Lynne Reeves Griffin, she is the author of the family-focused novels “Life Without Summer,” (St. Martin’s Press, 2009), “Sea Escape,” (Simon & Schuster, 2010), and “Girl Sent Away” (SixOneSeven Books, 2015).

Lynne Reeves, whose latest suspense thriller is “Dark Rivers to Cross.” IAN DICKERMAN

Crooked Lane Books

Writing as Lynne Reeves, she addresses a range of social issues in her suspense novels, “The Dangers of an Ordinary Night” (Crooked Lane Books, 2021) and her new psychological thriller, “Dark Rivers to Cross.” Published by Crooked Lane Books in November, “Dark Rivers to Cross” is set in the wilderness of northern Maine, where innkeeper Lena Blackwell is forced to confront her deception when one of her two adopted sons uncovers his violent past.

Reeves Griffin said a common theme of her writing is “undiscussable grief” and the ways in which domestic violence, addiction, and mental health crises impact families’ lives.

“For many of us, the trauma inheritance shapes our lives in far-reaching ways, and still it’s a legacy we cannot escape and must endure,” she said. “Inhabiting fictional narratives offers readers a safe, vicarious path toward emotional resilience that heals.”

Carrie Shapley of Chelmsford.

Self-taught cook Carrie Shapley of Chelmsford has written a new cookbook to share the pescatarian recipes that she said helped her and her husband, Dean, reach their health goals. Published by Warren Publishing of Rock Hill, S.C., “Eat Meat Without Feet” features 165 recipes grouped into 14 chapters, including fish, shellfish, vegetarian, and vegan entrees as well as dry rubs, seasonings, salad dressings, and dipping sauces to “elevate a dish from earthly good to heavenly divine.”

The diet, which combines clean, plant-based proteins with omega-rich seafood, stands in stark contrast to Shapley’s upbringing on a Midwestern cattle farm where grass-fed meats dominated family meals. By age 12, Shapley was tending the vegetable garden and occasionally relieving her mother of dinner duty, which often involved chicken, steak, pork chops, meatballs, tongue sandwiches, and liver and onions.

“My brother and his friends were big hunters,” Shapley said, “so one year, venison even made it into the rotation.”

Shapley finally stopped making meat-based meals that she never liked after her two sons grew up and moved out. She said her exposure to different cultures and cuisines, increased nutritional knowledge, and “refusal to accept boring foods” led to developing easy-to-follow recipes that “taste good, look good, and make my body feel good” using widely available ingredients.

Designed for novice and experienced cooks alike, dishes range from 30-Minute Chili to Seafood Lasagna that Shapley said is decadent enough “for when you’re ready to propose and want a yes.”

She is already working on her second cookbook to inspire readers to further expand their palates.

“Most people have a bigger kitchen than me,” she said, “so go use it and find out what you can do in there!”

Katherine L. “Gig” Babson Jr. and Pippi.Katherine K. Macdonald

In Wellesley, retired attorney Katherine L. “Gig” Babson Jr. is a familiar presence within town government, where she has served as a Town Meeting member for 52 years as well as town moderator and chair of the Select Board and High School Building Committee.

These days, however, Babson is just as pleased to be recognized alongside Pippi, her “wonderfully rambunctious” black Labrador retriever. Babson documented her pandemic puppy’s adventures on Facebook prior to compiling them in “Tails with Gig: Stories from the Dog Blog.”

Illustrated by Wellesley resident and entrepreneur Katherine K. Macdonald, the book is in its fourth printing at Watson Printing in Wellesley since being published on Amazon this winter by Framingham-based Damianos Publishing. Net proceeds are being donated to Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.

Mischief unfolds on all 48 pages as Pippi raids the compost bucket, devours an entire roasted chicken, destroys a visitor’s $80 shoes, and dashes through the invisible fence to retrieve a duffle bag from the neighbor’s car, dump its contents, and chew the most interesting items.

“Gig represented me in Dog Court today. I realized that a retired attorney rusts quickly and I should have represented myself pro se,” wrote Pippi from indefinite house arrest. Fortunately, she redeemed herself at both “paw-signings” at Wellesley Books, where store manager Peter Sherman said “Tails With Gig” was the best-selling book of the holiday season.

Babson hopes that readers gain a greater appreciation for the power of pets to give joy, as well as the occasional surprise.

“Throughout the book, you see Pippi is curious and trying to find out about life, but all the while she knows she’s supported by a human who loves her — and she returns that love in everything she does.”

Cindy Cantrell may be reached at cindycantrell20@gmail.com.