Kim Meredith never planned to write one book, let alone six.

The Hempfield Township resident discovered that once she finds inspiration, she is compelled to get busy.

Meredith's latest work, "The Lady and the Mouse," was published in August. It can be purchased by going to http://www.kimkluxenmeredith.com. The book is also available in four states - Pennsylvania; New Jersey; Delaware; and Florida, where it is for sale at Books and Books, Judy Blume's bookstore in Key West. Meredith met the famed children's author a few years ago.

Locally, "The Lady and the Mouse" can be bought at Aaron's Books, 35 E. Main St., Lititz; Bookshelf Shenanigans 2 N. Market St,, Elizabethtown; and Bound Books, 21 S Beaver St,, York.

"I have a lot of grandparents that buy it so that they can have it in their collection to read to grandchildren when they come and visit," said Meredith.

"The Lady and the Mouse" is the fourth collaboration between Meredith and illustrator and artist Lisa Madenspacher, who lives in Columbia. It is a 20-page hardbound book with Madenspacher's watercolor illustrations.

"This book is completely different because it's written in rhyming prose," said Meredith, who is a retired Spanish teacher. "I've never done that before, and I wanted to do something different. The inspiration was a gentleman who is a friend of mine had an English cottage picture, and I looked at it, and I thought, 'Well, that would make a good story.' The springboard for my idea of this friendship. It's about an unlikely friendship between an older woman and a mouse who comes to visit, and he helps her to take care of her house. She has this beautiful cottage, but it's too large. He comes, and they become fast friends as they spend the day cleaning and taking care of the house. It just shows that this unlikely friendship can come through working together."

Meredith and Madenspacher previously teamed for three books about Henri and his hermit crab family - "Henri's Home," "Henri to the Rescue," and "Heidi Saves the Day."

"I have four grandchildren, and my youngest grandson used to like to have me tell him mouth stories, stories I would make up," said Meredith. "I would read 'The Berenstain Bears.' He goes, 'No, Mimi, tell me a mouth story.' I realized, I can make up stories. I'm not a trained English teacher. I don't a background of literature. It's just something that I enjoy. So, the story started coming, so that was the first one, and that was the second one, then that was the third one because my granddaughter said, 'Well, you have stories about Henri; what about his sister, Heidi? Girls can do as much as boys.'"

Meredith, a native of upstate New York who moved to this area in 1977, wrote her first book, "Listen for the Whispers," after tragic circumstances. "I was widowed at age 40," she said. "I had I kept a journal, and that turned into a book, an inspirational book that I used to speak quite a bit around the country at grief groups and support groups. So that was my first one."

Her second tome was "Ocean Whispers." "I love the beach so much," she said.

"I picked up 42 seashells one summer on the beach in 2018, and each shell gave me an inspirational message."

Meredith is grateful to the people who have helped her along the way. "I have a very good network support system that has evolved over the books," she said. "I feel very fortunate. It's a well-oiled machine, and Lisa has become a wonderful friend of mine. She's an extremely talented artist. Those are original watercolors, and they are works of art."

Yurchak Printing in Landisville has printed Meredith's last five books. "I'm really happy because they have a very high-quality product that when I bring these books around to vendors, they see the quality of them, they almost sell themselves," said Meredith. "They have been marvelous, really supportive."

Meredith stated that she will continue to write blogs on her website while waiting to see if she is moved to pen another book.

"I never know what's going to come in my head, and I don't like to force it," she said. "This one ('The Lady and the Mouse'), I didn't see coming. I never know, so I'm kind of right by the seat of your pants type of writer. I wait till something hits me and inspires me, and then I act upon it, but I don't have a set formula or a plan out there."