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Dena Harris blithely calls herself an overachiever, and that’s an understatement.

This Rockingham County resident juggles writing, public speaking, publishing, volunteering, marriage, homemaking and full-time (I mean FULL-time) adjusting to life with two “inside” cats, Lucy and Olivia. Oh, and she runs marathons, too.

Tending to cats is a fairly new thing for Harris and her husband, Blair. Neither of them had cats before they moved to Madison in 1995, the year after their marriage.

Eleven years ago, Lucy made an appearance near the Armory in Wentworth, where Harris was attending a Toastmasters meeting.

That night, Harris got a cat, or Lucy got her.

Harris’ knowledge of publishing and her writing skills led to the publication of “A Lesson in Stalking,” a cat lover’s book with the subtitle of “Adjusting to Life with Cats.”

In the book, Harris, Blair and the cat are the characters trying to learn how to live together

By the time the book was published in 2005, Harris had taken an online writing course and had become known for her writing for various pet magazines, as well as six or seven other publications.

She also served on the board of directors of the Cat Writers Association.

Before long, she had an agent and another book, “For the Love of Cats,” which she describes as a “hardback full of photos and everything else about cats.”

Harris’ third and latest book is “Who Moved My Mouse?” Published in October 2010, the book is a parody of self-help books, but for cats instead of humans.

To research the book, Harris borrowed so many self-help books from the library that the librarian gave her an empathetic look and asked: “Is everything OK?”

The book likely will add to Harris’ reputation as a “cat humorist.” Chapter headings such as “How to Win Friends and Influence Dog People,” “Purrsonality Profile” and “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Cats” promise lots of laughter even before the reader begins the book.

Harris’ first publishing company was her own, Spotlight Publishing, so named, Harris explains, to hide the fact that she was self-publishing.

Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, put out her 2010 book.

Recently Harris received notice that “Who Moved My Mouse?” will be published in the Netherlands, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and Thailand.

In any language, her best customers are people who are on the lookout for something to give to their cat-loving friends.

There is a difference between cat people and dog people, she says. Dog people are more breed-specific, but cat people are not selective. A cat is a cat.

The fact that Lucy, the Armory cat, and now Olivia, a brownish tabby, are Rockingham County born may have nothing to do with Harris’ success as a writer. But according to Harris, Rockingham County is the best place she and her husband could be.

After graduating from Miami University of Ohio, Harris came to Greensboro where she worked with the Women’s Resource Center and received her master’s degree in library science from UNCG. She met and married Blair, who works at Lorillard, in Greensboro.

After a year of marriage, they went on a house hunt. They wanted a historic house with solid construction. They found they could get more house and land for their money in Rockingham County.

It was their good fortune, she says, to find just what they were looking for on Hunter Street in Madison in the 1907 Webster house, where they have lived for 16 years.

She and Blair love the “old-timey” atmosphere in a small town. The neighbors are like family. She is a cheerleader for living in Rockingham County. She once teamed with Mike Moore to do a radio show at WLOE called “How’d You End Up Here?” Now, she might say to the public, “Why Didn’t You End Up Here!”

She is a longtime member of the board of directors for the Animal Protection Society of Rockingham County and a member of the board of the Rockingham County Arts Council.

The council is preparing a holiday studio tour at Christmas, and Harris is planning for a big turnout of artists and tour guests.

Dena Harris is thinking about writing a science fiction-themed novel for young adults.

She’s just thinking for now. She will have to figure out how she can work writing a novel into her life as a talented woman on the go.

An Eden native, Rachel Wright is retired as a teacher at Morehead High School and an instructor at Rockingham Community College.