{"id":669,"date":"2015-01-07T05:08:34","date_gmt":"2015-01-07T13:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=669"},"modified":"2015-01-07T05:08:34","modified_gmt":"2015-01-07T13:08:34","slug":"my-story-the-ups-and-downs-of-life-as-a-journalist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=669","title":{"rendered":"My Story–The Ups and Downs of Life as a Journalist"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Smokey,<\/a>

Smokey, AKA the Klepto Cat<\/p><\/div>\n

Thank you for following my story. I\u2019ve enjoyed bringing it to you. To continue\u2026<\/p>\n

As you may know you can\u2019t make a living as a freelance writer\u2014or so you\u2019ve been told and you\u2019ve read and many of you have even learned first-hand. I\u2019m glad I didn\u2019t listen to naysayers; I might have ended up working in the corporate world, living the dreams of others, dreading the coming of each workday dawn when I had to leave my cats behind and trudge off to a cubicle.<\/p>\n

Instead, I eagerly faced each day\u2014so much so that still, I find it difficult to wait for dawn to start my work. Often, you\u2019ll find me tapping away at the computer with a cat on my lap hours before daylight, excited to tackle a new chapter, revamp a scene, or pursue a fresh avenue of promotion for one of my books. And it has been that way throughout my writing career.<\/p>\n

People ask me how I came up with ideas for the hundreds (maybe thousands) of articles I\u2019ve written. I tell them, it\u2019s a matter of being aware. There are stories and articles in your thoughts, in the queries and actions of others, in your interactions and observances, in what you read and hear. It\u2019s simply a matter of paying attention. Once you have a snippet of an idea or a wisp of a topic, you can tweak, sculpt, and massage it into something useful or entertaining.<\/p>\n

Some of my most memorable story-discovery experiences occurred quite by chance. While visiting the Denver Zoo, I happened upon an unusual cat called a Pallas cat. I was intrigued and thought the editors of Cats Magazine<\/em> might be, too. They responded almost immediately to my snail mail query (remember, this was in the 1970s-80s). \u201cYes, bring us a story with photos.\u201d So I returned to Denver and got permission to go inside the cage with the cats before hours and photograph the shy and beautiful Pallas cat. Now that was a thrill! Because of my \u201cjournalist\u201d status, I was invited behind the scenes of many interesting sites and became up close and personal with some fascinating individuals. It was because of my numerous articles appearing in The Toastmaster Magazine<\/em> that I was invited, all expenses paid, to Dubai as the keynote speaker for their Toastmaster Convention in 1996.<\/p>\n

I seemed to have a knack for creating a viable article from a germ of an idea, and I got a lot of attention from magazine editors. Thus, I became an expert on many topics. You see, once you\u2019ve written about something, you\u2019re considered, by some, an expert. If you so choose, you can use this expertise to land additional assignments, a publishing contract, speaking engagements and so forth. But still, it\u2019s rare when someone seeks you out. Still, you, the writer, must pound the pavement, beat the bushes, and continue to woo the editors with your grand ideas. A freelance article-writer is constantly pitching, which means he or she must constantly create. First comes the idea, then the slant. Then comes the tricky part: You must approach the right editor for the right magazine at the right time with the right pitch. It\u2019s easier to get the acceptance if you have a reputation for being reliable and pliable (easy to work with), but even this doesn\u2019t guarantee a contract. A freelance article-writer must have her fingers in many pies in order to keep the money train coming her way.<\/p>\n

Early in my career path, I made a decision that gave me an unexpected boost. I landed a job as a stringer for a very small local newspaper. What a gift. I created a business column. Not only did I get tremendous experience interviewing people, but I learned how to meet strict deadlines and word-count requirements. AND I was meeting people with great stories appropriate for some of the magazines I was writing for.<\/p>\n

By 1998, I\u2019d been writing for publication for twenty-five years. I had maybe a dozen books to my credit and my own publishing company. Yes, I established Matilija Press in 1983 before it was fashionable or even convenient. My books ranged in topic from horsemanship to local history to grandparenting to a metaphysical adventure and even how to present a Hawaiian luau on the mainland. I continued to write about what I knew or was interested enough in to research. Late in the 1990s, people started seeking me out as an expert in the publishing field. I hadn\u2019t thought of myself as an expert in anything\u2014I was simply doing what I love\u2014following my passion. I was stunned to realize that I had answers\u2014credible answers\u2014to the questions hopeful writers and authors were bringing me. And it felt really good to be able to help those who were serious about their own writing\/publishing careers.<\/p>\n

That was another of three major turning points for me. To be continued\u2026<\/p>\n

Watch for additional segments to this story, which began January 6, 2015. Learn how I became a published author. Discover what prompted my reputation as a key player in the publishing arena. Find out what inspired me to shift gears completely and start writing fiction\u2014the Klepto Cat Mystery series, in particular\u2014and why they\u2019re selling so well.<\/p>\n

If you have any questions along the way, please direct them to me at PLFry620@yahoo.com<\/a>. You can now leave your comments here, as well.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thank you for following my story. I\u2019ve enjoyed bringing it to you. To continue\u2026 As you may know you can\u2019t make a living as a freelance writer\u2014or so you\u2019ve been told and you\u2019ve read and many of you have even … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9,11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=669"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":670,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669\/revisions\/670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}