Putting My Wildlife Adventures to Paper

​Besides being a wildlife photographer in recent years, I’ve been a professional writer for a lot longer. I started out in natural resources as a technical writing and communications contractor with the USDA. Since then, I’ve done content marketing for a slew of high-tech, professional services, and other organizations. And I’ve done a lot of freelance writing, too.
 
Although I’ve earned respect for my work and I’m very proud of it (and steady income is just a tad helpful to one’s day-to-day living), it hasn’t exactly thrilled me to write about for example, big honking storage devices sitting in a data center, supply chain and logistics software applications, or enterprise change management methodologies. 

​So…a couple of years ago I switched to freelance writing and set up an LLC, which has given me the opportunity to tackle more diverse content marketing and writing projects—not to mention more flexibility to do the things I love, like…wildlife photography.

​One Sunday in February, I had a fleeting thought about an article idea that might work for my favorite magazine, Colorado Outdoors, which is the official magazine of Colorado Parks and Wildlife. I hadn’t done a magazine pitch in years, but I knew the ins and outs of doing one. In fact, the first time I pitched an article idea to a magazine almost 20 years ago, Complete Woman—a widely read national magazine at the time—they published it. Beginner’s luck maybe, but I don’t mess around with my query letters…I give them everything I’ve got.
 
So, once the article idea popped into my head that Sunday, I investigated how to submit it to Colorado Outdoors. Unlike many magazine publications, there wasn’t a mention anywhere on their website about article submissions. They didn’t openly invite them. But that didn’t stop me. I tracked down the editor’s name and made an educated guess at what his email address might be.
 
I spent the next couple of hours on my article pitch (an article that would include both narrative text and my wildlife images), and sent it to the editor that Sunday afternoon. And guess what? He emailed me back the next morning and said he loved the idea and that it might work well in their “Annual State Parks Issue.” I wrote and delivered the 1,800-word article (along with 6 wildlife images) to him in two days. 

​I’m happy (well, over the moon, really) to say that they did in fact publish my article in the 2024 March/April issue. It’s called “Expect the Unexpected in Colorado’s State Parks.” So far I’ve visited 26 of Colorado’s 43 state parks, and I have countless stories to tell. But this one zeroes in on some of the amazing and unexpected things I’ve witnessed and photographed while visiting the parks.

​If you’re interested in taking a look at the article, here you go. Also, people, just go for it.