Blog Hop Around the World

Hi World!  Bet you thought this was Sam’s blog right?  Well, it normally is but today we’re having TWO blogs – “his” and “hers”………why?  Because I’m involved in a Blog Hop thanks to my friend Dianna of These Days of Mine who invited me to participate.   Dianna and I have been friends for a while – she lives in southern Virginia and we don’t get to see each other often but I feel like I’m in her world every day through her blog.  She posts spectacular photos of sunsets and sunrises on the water – she lives right on the water and the views are gorgeous and different every single day.

So the Blog Hop invites bloggers to answer four questions then nominate/ask three other blog friends to answer the same four questions the following Monday (a week from today).   No special links or widgets to install – just answer the questions and ask three of your friends to do the same the following week.  Easy?  You betcha!

1.How does my creative process work?     If I’d answered this question back when I was writing books my answer would be slightly different than it is as a blogger.  Writing a novel for me took a bit more planning and research and attention to detail, but writing Sammy’s blog for him is totally “by the seat of my pants”……whatever comes to me at the moment I start his blog for the next day, is what I write about.  I put myself in Sam’s place (which, after 14 years with him I seem to be able to do!) and whatever I imagine to be on HIS mind, is what we talk about.   If you follow him you know there are three “givens” in a week of Sam’s blogs…….Tuesday is the Tuesday Teaser with photos of far away (or near) places and everyone has to guess WHERE.  Then Saturday we talk about bacon – endlessly – Sam’s Saturday morning treat is bacon and the whole world knows that by now.  On Sunday we take a bit of a break for a Silent Sunday where we generally post a fun photo with no “verbage” required!   Anyway, my creative process works THROUGH Sam’s eyes – it’s the world through Sam and I enjoy doing that.

2. How does my work differ from others of its’ genre?  We read a LOT of pet blogs and for the most part, they are written “by” the pet – from the pet’s perspective – life through their eyes.  There are some that have the pet owner blogging about things the pet has done or places they’ve gone with their pet but when I started Sam’s blog, I purposely did it so it was as if HE was writing it.   Only with time visiting other blogs did I realize that a lot of other pet bloggers did the same thing.  So I’m not sure my work differs much from other pet blogs.   When I wrote novels and childrens books, I know that the way I worked on those was different from most other writers I knew………..I wrote without an outline – I allowed my characters to take me where THEY wanted to go.  Whatever seemed fun, logical, or interesting was where the action went……I put myself IN the story and wrote from INSIDE looking out.   I thought it might appeal to a reader to have that kind of perspective – it made it fun to write too.

3. What am I working on?  As an “every day” blogger, I am always working on something – getting ready for Tuesday Teaser or the next day’s blog or next week’s project – and Sam is now a Cat Scout and member of the Tabby Cat Club and both of those are fun organizations who do a lot of fun things.  Sam’s “knee-deep” in Scouts for instance.  He organizes activities for his Troop and tries to be supportive of his fellow Scouts……this takes TIME.  So I’m almost always working on something “for Sam” – you might say it’s a labor of love…..because it is!    I’ve thought about doing another childrens book……and have a sequel to my mystery partly finished and getting dusty on the shelf when I quit writing a few years ago……….but for now – Sam keeps me plenty busy.

4. Why do I create what I do?  That’s an easy one……..and will be the shortest response of the four questions.  I do what I do because I love it.  Blogging is wonderful – it’s my window to the world of pet blogging and the MANY friends I have as a result.  I wouldn’t trade that for anything.

Now I must confess that while I extended the invitation to join in the fun and be one of my three bloggers to answer the questions next Monday on their own blog, I heard back from only two of my friends who were totally “on board” to participate NEXT Monday.  Julia, who writes a totally wonderful blog about her blind cat Oscar and Sam and I enjoy “seeing” Oscar’s world through HER eyes is one of those.   Their blog is Lessons With Oscar and if you aren’t familiar with it, you should be!!   The other is my very creative friend Kelly whose blog Boomdeeadda is a total delight full of crafty wonderfulness.  She has an eye for art, and a magical slant on everything else in her life.  Since the idea is to have three friends respond and I only have two,  if any of you WOULD like to answer the questions next Monday on your blog and pass it on to three of your “willing” friends – please do so!!

You’ll get a separate blog from Sammy today – I know you don’t want to miss that!   Thanks for bearing with me through this one……….I don’t normally toot my own horn but Sam was very generous and allowed me to use his WordPress blog.  He’s such a good boy!!

Hugs, Pam (Mom of Sam)

Me and Baby Sam