While researching on writersmarket.com I ran across the listing for the perennial dog lover’s magazine from the seventies: Dog Fancy. Curious, I clicked through to the submission guidelines, where I found this instruction:
“No stories written from a dog’s point of view.”
Which can only mean that they have not only received stories set inside the mind of Fido, but SO MANY that they have to include it in the submission guidelines. Somewhere out there, there are readers of Dog Fancy, who not only write fiction with canine protagonists, but also consider it SO GOOD, that they submit it for publication to their favorite magazine. My husband and I were discussing this fact, when an idea occurred to me:
ME: You know, I should write about this.
HUSBAND: You should! And then launch into a story about Madrid from the perspective of our dogs.
ME: OMG I am totally going to do that. “Ten Reasons I love Madrid, by Jack the Dog”
HUSBAND: Number One: Tapas that fall to the ground
ME: Number Two: Long Siestas
HUSBAND: This stuff just writes itself!
ME: Then after that, I will announce my new blog: ThingsThatAreOnlyFunnyToMe dot com*
HUSBAND: And you can end every post with, “guess you had to be there”.
ME: Nice.
ME: …
ME: I wonder how many people would unsubscribe that day.
(*Amazingly enough this domain is already taken.)
July 28th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
AROOOOO! ruff, ruff!!
July 28th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Maybe the dog mags don’t like it but I think it takes a little effort to write a tale from another’s viewpoint.,, especially a different creature. I had an attempt when trying to describe a penguin’s life in Antarctica (http://travel-wonders.blogspot.com/2008/03/life-as-penguin-antarctic-peninsula.html) with armies of gawking tourists gisdorged from ships. But now that I read it again, it probably is a sure way to increase your unsubscribe rate and you wander what you were on that day. Rest assured, I have never had another attempt!
Christine, I look forward to your “Mutt in Madrid” story.
MarkHs last blog post..The Aquamarine Necklace (Plitvice Lakes, Croatia)
July 29th, 2008 at 6:44 am
Markh: “Christine, I look forward to your “Mutt in Madrid” story.”
You might be the only one!
July 29th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
It’s funny that you mention this because last week or so, I came across Oscar the Blog Dog.
http://lifeofoscar.com/
Also, based on your great work in the Bombay Sapphire contest, I actually would look forward to your dog’s tales.
Daniels last blog post..Finding a renewed excitement
July 29th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
You know, I’d like to read a post by one of your dogs, they just look so cool.
Antoninis last blog post..Twenty days and counting…
July 30th, 2008 at 7:19 am
I like the dog story too, Christine.
It was very relaxing to read it.. take some time from all these travelling stories, researches and planning I’ve been doing lately.
Also, being a dog lover.. it was good fun! =)