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Jill Hedgecock

Fiction Writer

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Cameron

A Dog’s Viewpoint: Breaking the Rules and Getting Away with It

Certiain rules are not meant to broken.  Or are they?  I never considered making the canine character, Shadow, the narrator in my book.  Even if I hadn’t heard that novels told from the dog’s point of view were unpublishable, my novel focuses on a young girl’s unfortunate circumstances rather than the dog’s special talent.  Yet, now that I know it is not only possible to get these types of books into print, I wouldn’t rule out experimenting to see if I could write in a dog’s voice in the future.

One great example of successfully capturing a dog’s mindset  is demonstrated in Garth Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain.  And Stein isn’t the only author to overcome this supposed insurmountable publishing hurdle either.  W. Bruce Cameron also broke the forbidden barrier in his novel, A Dog’s Purpose.  Clearly, readers are not nearly as biased against watching the world through a dog’s eyes.  Both Stien’s and Cameron’s books made it to the New York Times bestseller’s list. 

The lesson learned?  A good story trumps all.  Write what you love and, with a little luck, readers will follow.

Filed Under: Dogs, Publishing, Reading, Writing Tagged With: A Dog's Purpose, Art of Racing in the Rain, Cameron, dog narrator books, Garth Stein

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Event: June 21, 2025 Book Reading and Scavenger Hunt at Reasonable Books

San Francisco Bay Area people please come to this fabulous event. Win the scavenger hunt and get a huge gift basket! Don’t forget to RSVP! Hope to see you there!

May 10th Speaking Event: Mount Diablo California Writers Club Writer’s Table

SF Bay Area Writers: Please come join me at the May 10th Meeting of the Mount Diablo Branch of the California Writers Club. Writer’s Table starts at 11:15 am and goes until noon. The featured speaker, Allison Landa will follow from 1 to 2 pm and will speak on What Can We Learn About Writing […]

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