Purr-fect words as we start the New Year… Let’s make each day count!

For this Caturday, I have a bit of this and that to share. First off, I put together quite a comprehensive list at the Cat Writers’ Association blog of all the pertinent dates for 2015 related to the special days, weeks, and months devoted to promoting causes and awareness for our feline friends (click here for link).

On the surface, some of them might not appear to be cat related, such as March 23 – 29, National Tsunami Awareness Week, however, after personally interviewing someone who was directly involved in the devastating 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan, I know only too well how significantly the pet, stray, and feral cat population was affected. By including dates such as this, it reminds us to always be prepared to take care of the animals (and people) in our lives because we never know when a natural disaster can occur.

Please be sure to bookmark the page for future reference – all of these special events give us leverage to help spread awareness to make the world a better place for the safety, health, happiness, and well-being of our feline friends and it can be done in many forms – not just writing and blogging – such as speaking on the radio, art, photography, volunteering, fund-raising and so much more.

Please, please, please kitties – be kind to me with your questions!!

I know January has already started so I apologize for the delay in getting you this information in a timely manner. Right now the two big dates we have coming up are January 22 – National Answer Your Cat’s Question Day and January 24 – Change a Pet’s Life Day. They are both great topics, although with my gang of seven, I am a bit concerned with the Answer Your Cat’s Question Day. That really is a lot of questions for me to answer and I can only imagine what they will want to know from me –especially our inquisitive Jazmine… Oh, and I must mention, even though it is not cat related and it is not on the calendar, January 21 is National Squirrel Appreciation Day. I’m nuts about squirrels and that’s all I’m going to say!

Whoo Hoo! BlogPaws Nashville!

The next bit of news I would like to share is information on the upcoming BlogPaws Conference that will be held this year in Nashville from May 28 – 30 at the Sheraton Music City Hotel. I have been blessed to attend several of these conferences and they have all been great, but this one really promises to be the best one yet, especially for us cat lovers. Not to mention, Nashville!! How fun is that??

Not only will Hauspanther (aka Cat Style Expert, Kate Benjamin) be sponsoring the Cat Style Lounge again, but this year’s conference will debut two “cat-track” panels that have been formed in conjunction with the Cat Writers’ Association to help bloggers of all levels who wish to learn more about writing and publishing.

Both panels will be held on Thursday, May 28 and anyone who registers for the BlogPaws Conference is eligible to attend. The first panel is “Publish or Perish?” and features pet book author and publisher Amy Shojai; best-selling author and cat behaviorist, Pam Johnson-Bennet; best-selling cat and dog book publisher, Lisa Erspamer; and best-selling author and publisher, Bob Mayer. The panel will discuss the current state of publishing from the “traditional” to “indie” paths, how publishing has changed, why bloggers should write a book (or become a publisher), how to choose your publishing path, pitfalls to avoid, and how to leverage social media and blogging to build your author platform.

The other panel, “Bridging the Gap Between Bloggers and Publishing” features holistic cat expert and award-winning blogger and photographer, Layla Morgan Wilde of Cat Wisdom 101; writer, photographer, and Editor of CatInTheFridge, Alana Grelyak; award-winning blogger, editor, and author, Janiss Garza of Sparkle Cat; and myself. The session will be a “how to use your blog as a springboard to professional publishing” by learning how to write, research, edit, and design your blog in such a manner that it becomes a portfolio of quality work to help open the door to publishing deals.

You wouldn’t know it from looking at this picture, but I am not really a fan of public speaking. But, since I enjoy helping people, I am trying my best to break out of my comfort zone. This was me several years ago at a CWA panel with the late Lorie Huston (prior to her becoming CWA President) and Janiss Garza.

There will be many more speakers and keynotes throughout the conference as well as exhibitors, sponsored events, the Nose-to-Nose Awards ceremony and so much more. For those of you on the fence, I do hope you decide to go – please click here for information on registration and the full-line up of speakers and events. The best thing about BlogPaws (besides catching up with old friends and meeting/making new ones) is that the conference is designed for all skill sets and levels – from beginners to expert.

Catching up with blogging friends is such a wonderful part of the BlogPaws experience. This was Salt Lake City in 2012 and I am seen here with Christine Michaels of Riverfront Cats and Debbie Glovatsky of Glogirly.

And if you aren’t sure what you want from blogging – is it something you strictly do for recreational fun, is it a way to spread awareness about particular causes, is it a way to earn income, or is it a path towards a professional career in writing and publishing – you are certain to learn something and hopefully better define your path. At the very least, you will always get some yummy cheesecake, great photo opportunities with all the animals and people who attend, and the “feel-good” experience of being around like-mined people. Oh, and the swag… How could I forget to mention the swag!

Did I mention the swag? That’s the only reason my cats let me back into the house and don’t hold a grudge when I abandon them for a few days!

That’s it for now – I need to wrap things up and get started on writing my panel discussion. If anyone is thinking of going to the conference and has not yet bought a ticket, I have one available at a discount rate of $100.00. Please contact me at dbarnes@zeezoey.com if you would like to purchase it from me. I promise you will not regret going!!