Chaucer Sees America is presented by Canterbury Tails Books, an imprint of The Armarium Press Inc., an independent publisher of business and educational books. Founded in 2000 by Carmen Madrid and Robyn Larson McCarthy, the New Hampshire-based company is a proud member of The Independent Book Publishers Association, the New England Independent Booksellers Association, and the Souhegan Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Before launching their book publishing venture, Miss Madrid was a founding partner and chief financial officer of the Reed-Marec Consulting Group. A project manager with more than 20 years experience in IT, she has worked on independent projects for the Los Angeles Times, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Transamerica Insurance Group. Before relocating to New Hampshire, Miss Madrid served two years as board chairman of the Create the Magic of Giving Foundation for homeless children in Southern California.
A former editor for both consumer and trade publications, Ms. McCarthy has written on business and current affairs for The Wall Street Journal, the Journal of Commerce, USA Today, and other publications. She edited and wrote a regular column for the online magazine Automotive Traveler from 2009-2013. Ms. McCarthy has been a long-time volunteer for the animal-rescue group SPARE, to which The Armarium Press donates 10 percent of the sales of Chaucer’s books.
Chaucer, who describes himself as a “wily and wonderful wire-hair fox terrier,” has been traveling the U.S.A. for much of his 16-plus years. He launched his website in 2003 during a four-month RV trek as a means of educating his young friends and family members about the cultural and historical sites he was visiting. He gathered much of the research for his first book during that trip as well, and Tube-Sock Tricks, and 101 Other Tips for RVing Success was published in October 2007. Road-trippers and campers, even sailors and soccer moms gave him rave reviews!
With the successful launch of his road-trip book, Chaucer turned his attention to writing non-fiction titles for the elementary school set. Launched in 2008 under the imprint Canterbury Tails Books, the Chaucer in the Classroom series began with Learning Is Cool… It’s the First Day of School! Chaucer is currently wrapping up his second book in the series, Stand Up and Cheer… Make it a Drug-Free Year! The 32-page case-bound books combine illustrations by award-winning artist John Clarke with photographs of Chaucer in actual classrooms around the country. Details about the series are available on the Chaucer in the Classroom page.
Chaucer is joined in his travels by a yellow lab named Brontë, whose insightful reviews also grace the pages of Chaucer Sees America. She has proven particularly helpful in investigating those dog hotels and day camps that are a bit too high-activity-oriented for a terrier of Chaucer’s mature years.
