Say hi to THE DOG LOVER'S BUCKET LIST

Exciting news: I'm going to be a published author!

“I'm acquisitions editor at Quarto: a leading publisher of illustrated nonfiction. I'm currently seeking a writer for a dog-related title…” began the email I received this summer.

I’m a little embarrassed to admit that my first thought was this is fake. Anyone who’s spent a couple hours around me knows my greatest dream is to publish a book—specifically one about dogs. It wasn’t until I realized the editor had followed me on Instagram that I accepted this possibly-very-exciting reality.

The next morning we hopped on a call. Nicole pitched me an idea, I liked the idea, we worked out the logistics—and now, not quite six months later, we’ve wrapped up final manuscript and design revisions. Which means I’m going to be a published author!

By next spring, my name will be on a book. A tangible, physical book. A book you can buy from a major store. A book you can give to a friend. A BOOK!

It’s called The Dog Lover’s Bucket List (I got to give a lil’ input on the title) and is part inspiration-education and part journal. Pub day is set for May 19th. That’s less than six months away. Pinch me!

This book is what’s called an IP project. The publisher owns the idea and contracts me to execute it, with similar terms to my other freelance writing work (a flat fee for a clear deliverable). Although it’s not a traditional book deal—I do not have a literary agent or paved path to publish my hybrid memoir—I am thrilled. The Dog Lover’s Bucket List is all about encouraging fellow guardians to do more with their companions. (Heck yeah!) The Quarto team is lovely and professional, plus they let me infuse the project with my own voice. (Heck yeah times two!) And a thoughtful inspiration-education-journal is both different and similar enough to my Paws and Reflect manuscript to feel like a great complement.

I’ve only gotten more excited.

Naturally, The Dog Lover’s Bucket List has taken over my recent schedule and brain space. I’m still working on my dream book—before we left Portland I finished a multi-week writing workshop hosted by Emma Reynolds where my top goal was to finalize a chapter organization I’m happy with, and I’ve since kept revising the manuscript/proposal ad nauseam—but I’ve shifted my target timeline. Such is life. (“Change is the only constant,” they say. To which I respond: “change… and pushing back deadlines.”)

I will have plenty more to say about The Dog Lover’s Bucket List up until—and let’s be honest, long after—pub day next spring. Looking forward to sharing it with you!! The final cover and preorder links are coming soon.

Y’all, how cute is this sample page?! So much thanks to the design team for crafting illustrations I love. The visuals affect how the words come across!

Now that I’ve announced the jump-up-and-down-yay thing, I want to be honest that I’ve still felt plenty discouraged about my writing and traditional publication hopes and *gestures broadly*.

I overthink my skills and work ethic and plans. I get jealous seeing other people living what I imagine as my dream. (I then feel guilty for feeling jealous because I do not want to lug around a scarcity mindset—but dammit I am a human with such messy edges.) I sit in front of a blank white page and beg the words to come and then give up and make a second mug of coffee to sip while reading other writers’ work and asking myself why I didn’t write their perfect sentences myself.

This fall has fulfilled its promise to be busy—my second niece was born in September, we’ve since been on the road full time again, we keep running into van issues—and protecting time to write for myself, beyond the work that pays the bills, has been harder than I expected.

It’s left me feeling insecure.

But I am realizing, over and over again, that I am the only one who can ever 1) affirm that I am a Real Writer with valuable things to say and the necessary talent/effort to say them, and 2) give myself permission to move through life as such.

None of this is novel, I know. The world is full of artists doubting their work, struggling with jealousy, buckling under rejection, telling the same story. But although it’s not a remotely unique feeling, it is a present one—currently (and maybe forever) part of my life. It’s mine and I’m trying to face it.

And I can hold space for the doubt while celebrating the affirmation.

Mostly, though, today I am celebrating. Maybe go play with your dog to join in? 😉

Please enjoy this flowerbed that stopped me in my tracks back when I was outlining The Dog Lover’s Bucket List.

In case you missed it

November’s monthly recap is full of good books (and some cute Scout photos).

My van is broken, but my dog is great! (Nov recap)