What’s Your Pet Passion?

Guest post by Blog Manager Robbi Hess

Back when I was first realizing that I wanted to be a writer when I grew up, I had dreams of being Barbara Cartland. I wanted to lie around on a silk chaise and have my secretary take down my every brilliant word while the footmen fed me truffles and kept Henrietta in fancy dresses and doggie treats. 

It didn't matter that I did (and still do) love paranormal romances and lighthouses, if Westerns were hot that was what I was going to write. Damn, finished that novel but now sci-fi was on the rise so I'd drop my Western, start to pen a sci-fi and all of a sudden Regencies were back in vogue. What the what?! How was I ever going to write quickly enough to jump on the bandwagon? Sadly, I wasn't. 

Lightbulb moment! Write what you love! I stepped away from writing romances for several years when I realized I'd be able to make an actual living — one that actually kept Henrietta in dresses and puppy chow — writing non fiction. Years later — last year actually, I got back to my original romance writing love and wrote a paranormal romance that took place in… you guessed it, a lighthouse! It was published and I'd realized my dream. What's this have to do with pet writing? Learn from my lesson and start out writing what you love rather than jumping on the trend bandwagon. 

Pick your niche. If owning a finger monkey or iguana is hot right now, great… if you love them and own them. If you don't then why bother? Be passionate about what you're writing. Do you love social media and pets? Then that's your niche. Are you passionate about the adoptability of pets in shelters or from specific breed rescues? Then blog about that, offer to volunteer for an organization for which you're passionate and help spread the word. 

Do you feel your area of the country needs a dog park? Are you pushing for more cooperation between walkers, bike riders, and pet walkers on the canal towpath? Blog about it. Have a deep and abiding love of organic foods or holistic health care for cats? Follow that love and pick your niche. 

Do you have a passion? Can you blog about it? Have you?