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People Make Plans: A Heart Dog and a Castle in Hawaii
Set against the lush beauty of Hawaii’s Big Island, People Make A Heart Dog and a Castle in Hawaii is a heartfelt novella inspired by true events.
At its center is Ray, a once-in-a-lifetime heart dog whose steady presence carries Shelly through betrayal, grief, and the unraveling of the life she thought she knew.
Tender, haunting, and ultimately hopeful, People Make Plans is a story of resilience, healing, reinvention, and the pawprints that remain on the heart forever.
At its center is Ray, a once-in-a-lifetime heart dog whose steady presence carries Shelly through betrayal, grief, and the unraveling of the life she thought she knew.
Tender, haunting, and ultimately hopeful, People Make Plans is a story of resilience, healing, reinvention, and the pawprints that remain on the heart forever.
150 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 29, 2026
About the author
Sheri Smith
11 books10 followersSheri Smith's life has been anything but ordinary - and she writes every word of it.
At seven years old, Sheri was starring on Broadway and appeared in the longest-running M&M's commercial of its era. In the 1970s she joined the Navy, and by the 1990s she had built a thriving catering company serving prestigious clients across Southern California. After 9/11 she followed her heart to the Big Island of Hawaii, where she spent fifteen unforgettable years and even built a castle-themed oceanfront vacation rental that gained national media attention.
Today Sheri channels a lifetime of reinvention into her writing. Her debut memoir, Mama Drama: A Journey with Bipolar and Dementia, Finding Light Through Loss and Grief, is a raw, funny, and deeply moving account of family, mental illness, caregiving, and the healing power of a once-in-a-lifetime heart dog named Ray. Her six-volume epistolary series When We Wrote Letters traces decades of real correspondence from the Sixties through the Nineties, while An Ancient Spell collects passionate love poems, and her newest novella People Make Plans: A Heart Dog and a Castle in Hawaii is inspired by true events on the Big Island.
Sheri believes in the Hawaiian concept of Aloha - that love is more than a word; it's a way of life. When she's not writing, she stays active with daily swimming, gym workouts, and pupsitting.
Visit her at sherismithauthor.com
At seven years old, Sheri was starring on Broadway and appeared in the longest-running M&M's commercial of its era. In the 1970s she joined the Navy, and by the 1990s she had built a thriving catering company serving prestigious clients across Southern California. After 9/11 she followed her heart to the Big Island of Hawaii, where she spent fifteen unforgettable years and even built a castle-themed oceanfront vacation rental that gained national media attention.
Today Sheri channels a lifetime of reinvention into her writing. Her debut memoir, Mama Drama: A Journey with Bipolar and Dementia, Finding Light Through Loss and Grief, is a raw, funny, and deeply moving account of family, mental illness, caregiving, and the healing power of a once-in-a-lifetime heart dog named Ray. Her six-volume epistolary series When We Wrote Letters traces decades of real correspondence from the Sixties through the Nineties, while An Ancient Spell collects passionate love poems, and her newest novella People Make Plans: A Heart Dog and a Castle in Hawaii is inspired by true events on the Big Island.
Sheri believes in the Hawaiian concept of Aloha - that love is more than a word; it's a way of life. When she's not writing, she stays active with daily swimming, gym workouts, and pupsitting.
Visit her at sherismithauthor.com
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 13, 2026
If you read Mama Drama and fell in love with Ray, this book is the next chapter you didn't know you needed. People Make Plans is a shorter read but it packs just as much heart. Sheri takes you to Hawaii and into the story of building a castle-themed vacation rental on the Big Island, and it's every bit as wild and beautiful as it sounds.
But this isn't really a book about a house. It's about what happens when you follow your heart to a place that changes everything, and about the bond between a woman and her dog that holds it all together. Ray is the soul of this story, just like he was in Mama Drama, and Sheri writes about him in a way that will make you want to hug your own pet and never let go.
The Hawaii details are vivid. You can feel the salt air and the red volcanic dirt and the chaos of island life. Sheri has a gift for making you feel like you're right there with her, figuring it all out in real time.
I read it in one sitting. It's the kind of book that makes you want to take a big, impractical leap and trust that it will work out.
But this isn't really a book about a house. It's about what happens when you follow your heart to a place that changes everything, and about the bond between a woman and her dog that holds it all together. Ray is the soul of this story, just like he was in Mama Drama, and Sheri writes about him in a way that will make you want to hug your own pet and never let go.
The Hawaii details are vivid. You can feel the salt air and the red volcanic dirt and the chaos of island life. Sheri has a gift for making you feel like you're right there with her, figuring it all out in real time.
I read it in one sitting. It's the kind of book that makes you want to take a big, impractical leap and trust that it will work out.
August 10, 2026
Quick story that tackles many tough subjects. Death, disease, DV. The book did a good job of discussing these topics without making the reader feel rushed.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews