Manifesting a byline in my favorite magazine: How it happened

It was far more complicated than writing a great pitch.

I’m so happy and proud to share my first-ever article for Texas Monthly, about efforts to save our native tortoise, one of only four tortoise species found in all of North America.

Don't Mess with the Texas Tortoise

A scientist, a ranch owner, and an Australian shepherd named Scout are working together to help the threatened South Texas reptile.

A big boy Texas tortoise, Cactus Creek Ranch, Rio Hondo, TX. He has necrotizing scute disease, as seen by the whitening of his shell.

It’s a dream byline for me. I love Texas Monthly magazine and I love wildlife, especially the resilient critters from South Texas, where I grew up. (They feature prominently in my memoir manuscript.)

How it happened

For decades now I’ve longed to shift away from what I’m good at — healthcare and medical writing — to focus on what I love — wildlife and nature writing.

Sounds kinda simple, right? It’s not like I’m hoping to be a theoretical physicist or professional snowboarder. But as I shared in a post about the lasting sting of a dysfunctional boss, I tried to make this change once before and it ended badly, which deeply wounded my confidence. I gave up.

As a person who has since (mostly) healed from family trauma, I can look back on that painful situation and realize “giving up” was a decision that helped protect me from further harm. At the time, I didn’t feel safe taking risks, not when so much of my life felt unstable. So I went back to prioritizing what came easily to me.

I could write many, many words about how I got brave enough to try again to pursue my dreams, but in short it was:

—Giving myself the permission to look inward and focus on the question: Who am I and how do I want to help the world?

—Reading a book about creative/existential depression and, as recommended by the author, coming up with a life motto to help me when I slide back into “does any of this even matter? do I matter?!” mode.

—Learning about setting action-based goals which are way better for my mental health than outcome-based goals (the latter of which are far more common in corporate settings).

—Keeping self-compassion front and center as I inevitably received rejections, which is the worst part of being a freelance writer. (I pitched Texas Monthly several other ideas before this one was green lit.)

Going forward

As much as I want to keep the momentum going—I have so many wildlife stories I want to pitch!—it’s important to keep reality in mind. There isn’t much time to do so right now. I work part-time as a managing editor for a healthcare website (and I’m not ready to let it go anytime soon; I love being part of a “team,” which isn’t possible when you’re solely a freelance writer). I’m the mother of a volleyball-obsessed tween with a crazy summer camp schedule (and I love her very much). And I need to revise my memoir manuscript (tortoises may need to be added to the plot).

For now, I have to be selective, and I have to be patient¹. And that’s OK.

1. As I learned reading Of Time and Turtles by Sy Montgomery, injured or sick turtles heal on a much slower timeline than humans, which we can all take a lesson from. “Turtles embody patience and fortitude,” she writes. Indeed.