My Story; My Way (or How Cats Have Helped Shape My Professional Life)

Daisy

People often ask how I came to write these fun, little Klepto Cat Mystery books. I’ve done numerous interviews at mystery writers and cat websites on this topic and I tell my story on my profile page at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Patricia-L.-Fry/e/B001HO3QYU/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1420568072&sr=1-2-ent as well as at my own websites: http://www.matilijapress.com and http://www.patriciafry.com. Here’s my story for those of you who’ve missed it.

I haven’t always loved to write, but I have always been in love with cats. My passion for the written word and the process of writing began to develop in my early twenties and I eventually decided to turn it into a profession.

Writing for publication wasn’t something I jumped into blindly. After all, no one can earn a living writing. (Isn’t that the mantra we’ve heard all our lives?) But who listens to the wisdom of others when there’s a passion involved?

So by 1973, I’d spent the previous eight years preparing myself to become a freelance writer—always with a cat or two or three at my side. I was a Mom first and an informal student second. I read every writing magazine and writers’ success story I could find. I studied the magazines I wanted to write for. And then came that fateful day in 1973 when I sat down and wrote my first article on a borrowed manual typewriter set up in a corner of my bedroom.

The first article I wrote sold—that’s because I’d done my homework. I chose a topic I knew well and I studied appropriate magazines to discover what was missing from them and what I could contribute. What were the topics of my first articles? Horses and cats. But, knowing how important it is to write what is wanted—what is trending—I branched out and ultimately found myself writing about grief and grieving, relationships, parenting, spiritual issues, gardening, the lighter side of business, creativity, and many other topics.

While I can’t say that I was a standout among freelance writers, I managed to earn a living for many years writing articles for a wide variety of magazines.

To be continued…

Watch for additional segments to this story. 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—the Klepto Cat Mystery series, in particular—and why they’re selling so well.

If you have any questions along the way, please direct them to me at PLFry620@yahoo.com.