Debbi Preston started hiking in California's foothills and the Sierra Nevada in 2003 and published her first book, 48 Dog-Friendly Trails in 2008. Two more guidebooks, Dog-Friendly Trails for All Seasons and 57 Dog-Friendly Trails, followed to update trail information and to introduce new trails to her readers. She also published two books with stories from the trails hiking with her dogs. "Tails" from the Trails covers experiences hiking with Preston's first dog, Toots, and I am Maggie follows Maggie's journey in her puppy years. Preston relays, "I never could have imagined how much trails change and how guidebooks need updating. In my previous job as a programmer, every time a new operating system came out, we had to rewrite our software. Similar with both situations, the rewrite gives you the opportunity to make improvements. In rewriting a guidebook, not only am I updating and improving, but I get to incorporate the new trails I have discovered, making each new book better than the last one."