Author Sheila Schmitt is truly an overnight sensation.

The Conestoga resident has written four books in a nine-month span, the first of which was crafted while many people were sleeping.

"Lucky Penny" was self-published through Amazon in October 2025. "I couldn't sleep one night, and I knew I had the story in my head," she said. "Something made me write it, and I wrote it on my phone in the middle of the night, and then I revised it. It took a little while to do revisions. Then I just sent it to (Amazon), and they had it published within two months. That one went really fast."

"Lucky Penny's Saturday Surprise" was released in December 2025, followed by "Ornery Little Kitty Goes to the Barn" in January 2026 and "The Moo Crew" in July. All of the books are available on Amazon.

The first three books were based on true stories, and the fourth work was fable-based. "The books are all about our animals, and the theme is 'I love you a lot, and then some more,'" Schmitt said. "The first two are about horses, and the third one is about a cat that we just took in. The fourth one is about our four pet steers. They're about love and hope and how things come full circle."

"The Moo Crew" was inspired by Schmitt's livestock. "I always had the story in my head because people aren't used to others having pet steers, so they get a lot of attention from people," she said. "People will stop - family, friends, and even some strangers will just stop and ask if they can pet them because they're really friendly. It was just a matter of getting the story in my head onto paper."

Schmitt and her husband, Greg, are both third-grade teachers at Bart-Colerain Elementary in the Solanco School District. They have a total of 20 animals - three Great Danes, three roosters, two horses, four steers, and eight cats.

Penny arrived in 2018. Some Amish children were riding her on a trail when Penny's arthritis flared up. The kids asked if they could house Penny in the Schmitts' stable for a while, and Penny never left. Eighteen months later, a horse known as Whispering River collapsed in their yard while pulling a buggy during a heat wave, and he had a new home as well.

The Schmitts and their pets are surrounded by family. Her late grandparents Jacob and Mary Neff resided next door and are referenced in the books. The Neffs' old red barn was renovated with help from the community. Sheila's parents, Betty and Ken Neff, live in an adjacent house, and so does her twin sister, Shelly Kyle, who is also a teacher. Ken helps take care of their animals when the Schmitts are away.

Sheila Schmitt's students have read the first three books and will peruse "The Moo Crew" when classes resume this fall. "They love it," she said. "It teaches them all about writing and how to write a book, and I share the whole process with them. The second thing is they know our animals by name. We talk about them all the time and use them for everything. It's neat for them to see the animals published now. (On July 14), a friend of ours who's a teacher in Solanco asked me to read at Wesley Church, so I got to share my book at story time. I got to read it to a whole lot of kids and parents yesterday, and that was neat."

Schmitt isn't finished writing books but will enjoy some well-earned rest. "I'm going to take a little break and enjoy just reading them," said Schmitt. "It is neat to see people's reactions to it, because a lot of people love animals. It's just that this whole thing has just come full circle. That was really the theme of everything. It just includes so many people and so many neat relationships now. We have an amazing farrier that does our hooves for us, or we can call anytime we need anything. We have an amazing vet. We have hay. It's amazing to see all the relationships and how people get so excited about animals."