Writing Process Blog Tour

 A short time ago Pamela from Something Wagging This Way Comes invited me to join the Writing Process Blog Tour.   I was flattered and a little intimidated at first.  My blog isn’t about me, its about other people’s dogs and awesome professional photography. But Pamela reframed the questions in a way that made sense for me.   If you don’t already read Pamela’s blog, you should!  She is funny, down to earth and she has the most awesome sweetie-pie of a dog named Honey.   Honey is practically perfect, but Pamela shared a hilarious story of her dogs’ most embarrassing behavior.  Pamela’s blog is a mix of stories about Honey, product reviews and giveaways and some independent research.   Right now she needs your help for a fun experiment she’s doing:  do you look like your dog?

© Alice G Patterson Photography

I don’t think I look like Nelly, but my kids joke that Nelly and I are one in the same.  

1. What am I working on?

I am excited to have some adoptable dogs,  a pawsitively amazing project, gorgeous dog sessions, another Caturday  and a DIY this month.  

2. Why do I write what I do? Why do I pick the images I feature?

Photography is the most important part of the process, and I feel a connection to the dogs through the photos.  I always want to highlight dogs that have been adopted, because I want to show that rescue dogs make great companions!   These two gorgeous Shelties were both rescues.

© Emilee Fuss Photography

The human-dog connection is really important to me, so I like images that show how dogs are cherished members of the family (whether it is a large family or a family of one person and one dog.)

© Britt Croft Photography

3. How does my writing process work?   Or how do I choose the images and tie them together?

I have a small notebook that I keep next to my desk with ideas for future posts, but most of my posts come from photographers.

My writing/editing process is pretty simple.  I’m fortunate because so many talented photographers trust me with their images, so I have a lot of great sessions to feature.   I think that getting quotes from the photographers and/or the dog’s family members is really key to showing the dog’s personality.  I do have an odd worry in multiple dog sessions that I don’t show a lot more photos of a one dog.  I KNOW that it won’t impact the dogs’ self esteem, but I  really need to be “fair.”  Sometimes though the photographer  has a lot more photos of one dog and there is nothing I can do about it.  

My editorial calendar is very flexible, and  I always feature adoptable dogs as soon as I’m able.    Ideally I write part or all of the post ahead of time, but there are mornings when I start with a blank post.  Often those same  mornings are when my dogs are super crazy/needy and the phone rings every ten minutes and I can barely put together a single sentence.  This summer I got stuck a few times and I didn’t  write a post at all.  So I’m hoping to have a few evergreen posts ready to go for a day when I can’t blog.   I try to proofread, but I imagine Grammar Girl would  cry if she had to read my blog.

Now its my turn to nominate two bloggers, and being obsessed with Newfies, I chose two bloggers with lots of Newf experience.  Jen Costello from My Brown Newfies and Robin Welter from Newf and Hound.  I first started reading Robin’s blog because she had a Newfie, Foyle as well as three Dachshunds.

© NewfandHound

Sadly Foyle passed away, but Robin still has Dachshunds galore. 

© Robin Welter, NewfandHound

Robin is also a great photographer and always comes up with wonderful topics.  I love her finds on Barks and Bites.

Jen Costello is amazing, she manages to be both hilarious, and truly informative about so many issues.

© Jen Costello, My Brown Newfies

© Jen Costello, My Brown Newfies

© Jen Costello, My Brown Newfies

 Sherman and Leroy are two of the most handsome dogs and Leroy causes all kinds of interesting situations.  Actually, Jen has the gift of making anything interesting.  

I am looking forward to  reading about Robin and Jen’s writing processes!