It's Gone to the Dogs!

I have been waiting for moths for the first launch of this site and it is finally up and running. What is the site, you ask. Well, it's dogtime.com where a good chunk of my work has been published.

How much work? 85 breed profiles and an 1130 term dictionary. This was a major contract for me and it was one that I enjoyed working on, being the animal lover that I am. I think the site is amazing and not just because my work is on it. Go on over and check it out. You will be really happy.

Let's switch gears a bit, and if you haven't noticed already, I tend to switch my ramblings very quickly or at least the direction it is going. Anyway, I owe a lot to dogtime. Not only was it my first contract, it was also the catalyst that made me give up my day job, as a very unhappy Early Childhood Educator, and move into the career I had only dreamed about. The fact that they not only offered a green writer a very good contract right from the start, they also paid well and made every new assignment something that I looked forward to. The articles they asked me write helped build my skill, my confidence and also my portfolio, which as we all know is very important. I was extremely fortunate to have a good, well paying contract right from the start. I have several contracts now and I no longer work in my "designated" field.

It isn't to say that I didn't enjoy being an Early Childhood Educator. I enjoyed working with the kids, and I had some pretty amazing families over the years but I was burnt out. I didn't care about how much I was making but how I was being treated. Let's face it, Early Childhood Educators are not treated as well as they should be especially by centres. I could go on and on but I won't since I would sound very bitter. Basically it all boiled down to dreams and fulfilling them.

Was my dream to work in daycare? No, although I enjoyed my years in the field. Was it to be a writer? Definitely. Early Childhood Education was a good place to gain my strength and to realize where I was destined to go. It gave me skills when it comes to raising my own kids that I don't think I would have had without it. It gave me a unlimited well of information to draw from and for the first time since I started writing nine months ago, I am actually using it for parenting magazines.

I urge anyone to grasp on to opportunities that let them realize their dreams. It is never too late to try to fulfill a dream and it will always be an exciting ride but it is worth it in the end. Dogtime was that opportunity for me and I will always be grateful to that contract, the people associated with the company and the wonderful editors (yes, it's supposed to be plural) that I worked with.