Runnin' Down a Dream
How many people actually believe if you really put your mind to it, you can achieve whatever you dare dream? Some optimists out there maybe, but if that's not you, and you are the larger percentage of the population who believes it's nice to say that, but reality is a rough business, I'm here to tell you - YES! If you dare dream it, you can make it a reality! How can I stand behind this? Let's start at the very blog-inning.
Mom and I started our blog four years ago as part of Mom's quest to run down a dream. She was trying to get a literary agent to pick up some grown-up books she'd written, but all the query submission forms had fields for social media, a website, and . . . a blog. Mom said, "I cannot write the kind of blog they want."
"What kind of blog do they want, Mom?" I asked.
"Well, I've got a lot of opinions, and you need that for a blog," Mom explained, "but blogs have to have some kind of focus or theme, or it's just a lot of blah, blah, blah."
I didn't want Mom to quit before she really even got going, so I told Dad about this crossroads, and he stepped right up to the encouragement challenge! Before I knew it, Mom was working on her first post . . . for about five minutes.
"Ugh. This is never going to work. This isn't me!"
Mom's frustration was high. "Let me see."
I hate seeing her like this, so I stood up, put my front paws on her legs to get a better look at the computer, and started reading.
"This is a great start!" I really meant it. I could see where Mom was going with a heartfelt message. "What don't you like about it?"
"It's too schmaltzy. I'm not schmaltzy. I'm sarcastic. The two don't go together."
She's right. She is sarcastic. But there's also a softy in there, and I could see that's the person she was afraid to showcase.
"I've got some schmaltz," I said. "How about if I do it - with help from you, of course."
Mom looked at me very, very skeptically. Did I mention she's also pessimistic?
"You think dogs don't have ideas? You think we can't write? I might not be able to type, but I'm already rolling forward with this post in my head."
"Yeah?" Mom still sounded skeptical, but she said, "Alright. Bring it! You roll on, and I'll type."
And thus was born our first blog post, followed by our website, and a little social media. We talked through some other ideas, and Mom said she really liked the idea of me just sharing my thoughts and adventures, as long as I didn't air too much of our personal business. Who me?
When we told Dad we were doing a dog blog he said, "OK," in that way he does when he's surprised and a little uncharacteristically skeptical himself about something he thinks is weird. But as is always the case, he came around, because no one in this house likes to disappoint Mom.
How a dog blog was going to help Mom get published, we didn't know - we still don't! Four years later, though, we've had a ton of fun with it, and we don't care if anyone likes it or not!
Surprisingly, people have read it. We have a few legit fans. One of them is our friend, Kerpelman. He asked a few years in, "What are you doing with this blog?" Good question. We didn't know, but he planted a seed. He told us about his sister, who writes and publishes dog books for kids. Ooooo - I loved the sound of that! After a while some of our family and friends said, "Why don't you write a Gus book," in response to Mom's frustration over her still-not-published grown-up books. It was not exactly the advice Mom was seeking, but the idea kept growing, and Mom came to love it as much as I did.
Last year we met a few people who really watered that seed, and we've spent the last eight months or so putting it all in motion. Right now we are at the precipice of snagging that dream of publishing our book!
Coming soon you will be able to purchase our seasonal story, The Christmas List! Yes, it started with a blog post, but it's now a standalone story, with amazing illustrations, courtesy of our new friend, Chad Thompson.
If you're reading this - two things:
1. Thank you for following along and inspiring us to keep on reaching and running down our dream!
2. Check back soon for the book details!!
Woo-hoo-hoooo!!!!!
💕 Gus and Mom
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