I received a very interesting, completely out of the blue business proposal last week. I’m very carefully considering it . . . I would be doing what I love, in writing, with a (GASP!) steady income!

It’s kind of scary to contemplate doing something I never thought I might have the opportunity to, but I believe God puts opportunities in our path for a reason!

My goal for summer is to take a critical look at everything to do with Shelmar Publications, update what needs to be updated, organizing, re-doing, and so on. In June I’m focusing on all things Internet-related, including my blogs (I started a new one–more on that later), website, and newsletter.

I’m seeking God’s guidance and leading in all I do (although I wish sometimes that instead of gently guiding he would give me a firm kick in the right direction!). I want whatever I write–be it in a blog, newsletter, book, study guide, workbook, or even in an email!–to benefit the reader–to, in the words of the mission statement of Shelmar Publications, “To inform, encourage, and inspire.”

Since motherhood is one of my passions (I wrote a book about it–Home is Where the Mom Is–you can read an excerpt at www.shellyburke.net) I’ve decided to start a blog titled, Between Cooing and College; Surviving the Middle Stage of Motherhood–the Teenage Years! You can check it out at www.themiddlestageofmotherhood.blogspot.com. I hope to provide information, encouragement, and inspiration to moms who have kids of any age, but especially those in the teenage years. Catch up with my latest joys and trials on the blog.

This blog will focus exclusively on hints and tips for writing, as well as goings-on in my business, Shelmar Publications. I have come to the conclusion that most people dream of writing . . . and most, if not all, people would like to improve their everyday writing. Both aspiring writers and those looking to improve everyday writing will benefit from this blog. I’ll give suggestions for writing an outstanding “thank you” letter, comforting “sympathy” message, and so on.

The newsletter will also have a new format, focusing on practical hints and tips for the everyday writer as well as the aspiring professional writer, a short excerpt from one of the Shelmar Publications books or workbooks, short Bible verse and devotion, and one of my personal book or website recommendations. I want the newsletter to be fun as well as useful.

My overall goal is to benefit you, my readers. Please tell me what YOU want to see on my blogs, website, and even in future books or workbooks. You can reach me at shelly@shellyburke.net, or leave feedback on either blog. Thanks in advance for your input!

Yeah–I got a fun phone call tonight.

The lady calling had heard about me from the owner of a Christian book store; she was calling to ask me to speak at a women’s get-together next month! I haven’t been doing a lot of speaking lately, so I was very excited about the invitation.

I look forward to encouraging the ladies who are at the get-together.

Whether you’re a beginning writer, not even to the “beginning” point, or experienced, you can practice writing no matter where you are or what you’re doing.

Several examples:

• In church, critique and edit the bulletin. Look for misspellings, awkward sentences, and so on. Come up with ways to spice up the announcements! (please do not do this DURING church, but when you’re waiting for church to begin, or after church! )
• When you’re at a class or workshop, look for misspellings or awkward sentence structure in the handouts or Power Point presentations.
• Do the same when you’re reading the agenda for a meeting or notes of that meeting.
• Read small-town newspapers. I’m not trying to pick on small-town newspapers–they’re usually so much more interesting than big-town papers. And . . . they usually don’t have professional proofreaders or editors on staff. The un-proofread, un-edited articles that sometimes make it into the paper can be confusing, unclear, unorganized . . . and quite entertaining to the writers and aspiring writers reading them.
• Read editorials and personal columns in newspapers and newsletters. Critique them, also. Many times the point these columns or letters are trying to make is not clear; re-write the letter or column, or write a column or letter expressing YOUR point of view. (This weekend a friend and I were talking about a column that a lady in our area writes for the paper.   As well as sounding very negative, the lady s columns include sentence fragments, unorganized thoughts, and abrupt endings. She said that one year as an english project, her daughter’s class corrected the grammar, etc. in these articles . . . and sent them to the writer!)

This week, practice editing a church bulletin, company newsletter, or poorly-written column or editorial.

Yep, it’s been a while since I’ve posted. Waaaay too long! Thanks to those of you who wrote, wondering where I’ve been!

I’m taking a hard look at my business-where it’s headed, where I’m at, and my goals. I’ve decided to focus this blog exclusively on writing. I’ll be giving tips and hints for the beginning writer. 

I’ve started a blog for moms, titled “Between Cooing and College; Surviving the middle stage of motherhood–the Teenage Years!” You can check it out at http://themiddleseasonofmotherhood.blogspot.com/ 

My goal for the rest of June is to update and improve my website, this blog, my amazon.com website, and so on–June is “Internet Month.” I have a goal of working on these every day (except Sunday) for several hours.

I will still be publishing my newsletter, but with more of a focus on writing. I’ve been praying about all of these decisions; I want God to lead me in the direction in which He wants me to go. My ultimate goal is to help my readers make their dreams come true.

I look forward to your thoughts, comments, and suggestions! 

WOW-the last week has been a busy one!

Our daughter Morgan was Confirmed on Sunday, and what a great day it was! Time has flown since the day she was baptized. As our kids get into their teen years I pray that the way in which we’ve brought them up has integrated their faith into their lives. I do see evidence of this, but know it’s easy to drift away from faith. We will continue to do our best to set a good example for both Cody and Morgan and trust that the Holy Spirit will take care of the rest.

We were blessed to have family members join us for the weekend. Tim’s aunt and uncle from Minnesota come on Thursday. My sister and niece from southern Nebraska arrived Friday afternoon. My mom and dad from Missouri arrived Friday evening, as did my sister, her husband, and her husband’s father, all from Canada. 

Saturday was a windy, cold, rainy day–I was glad I’d scrapped my plans to have a meal made on the grill . . . I just had a feeling that wouldn’t work out. We enjoyed the day together, looking at pictures and talking a lot. We had a family birthday party in which we celebrated my niece’s 6th birthday, and everyone else’s b-day too (I won’t tell you how old we all are!). My sister made DELICIOUS cheesecakes, my mother-in-law made lemon meringue pie, and Sam’s Club made cream puffs and eclairs (thanks for that suggestion, mom!). Logan decorated her own cake and it was very colorful!  

Sunday, of course, was Confirmation. After a really rotten day weather-wise, Sunday was absolutely beautiful with sun, NO WIND, and a temp of about 70 degrees. After a fajita buffet for lunch, and a yummy cake, the girls and ladies went for a walk while the guys had a tour of the ranch and got stuck for a while. They didn’t mind and got out quickly. My sister’s fahter-in-law hadn’t seen a ranch like ours, and enjoyed learning about farming and ranching in Nebraska.

It was a special joy to spend Mother’s Day with my mother–that hasn’t happened in a very long time!

I had breakfast with the family on Monday before they all left for home. The only sad note of the weekend was that my grandpa was not able to travel with mom and dad to our home, as he hurt his back last week. Yesterday he was very short of breath, and mom just called to tell me he’s been admitted to the hospital. Please remember him in your prayers!

It was a whirlwind weekend and we have many happy memories . . . and almost 300 pictures, to help us remember every moment!

In preparation for our family coming for Morgan’s Confirmation, I gave the house a major cleaning (why is it the words “family coming to visit” almost automatically spark a huge fit of cleaning???). While I was cleaning, I finally took down . . .

 . . . the CHRISTMAS WREATH!!!!

Can anyone beat THAT for procrastination???

And happy birthday to my sister, Deb. Happy Birthday, Deb! Next year is a big one . . . (of course, I hit my “big” b-day last year . . . )

In celebration of the new month, I’m going to post a picture here. The lady who manages my blog and website (I e-mail her with any questions and she either fixes it, or tells me how to, in language I can understand) updated it recently and hopefully it will be really easy to post a picture or two.

It worked! I’m not sure why the picture is at the TOP of the post and not down here, but I’ll work on that next time! This is Morgan and her dog Jenny.

Since it’s the first day of a new month, take a few minutes and make several goals for this month. Remember to make them realistic and write them down. I’ll share my goals for May later today or tomorrow.

I was helping Morgan do some research for a paper she’s writing. The topic of her paper is how rising fuel and corn costs are affecting the beef industry, so I was looking through some of the agricultural magazines we get. I ran across an article titled, Gut Feeling: Farmer Forecasts Weather with Pig Spleens. Apparently the spleens are 85% correct (better than weathermen, the spleen-readers point out . . . ) giving much food for thought . . .

My thoughts, however, went to the topic of writing. As I paged through the rest of that magazine and several others, I saw articles about cooking, health, and even family issues. The magazines each have several editorial articles in each issue, with writers sharing their thoughts about showing cattle, the price of hay, and just driving down the road.

I thought, “WOW–I didn’t realize that I could write for farming magazines!” And since I’m always thinking in some way about writing I thought, “I should write about this on my blog, so my readers can look at different magazines to write for, too!”

My challenge to you? Look through several new magazines this week. When you visit a friend, ask her if you can look at the magazines she and her family receive. At the library, take some time to page through a magazine you’ve never read before. Bookstores are a great resource for unusual magazines; you can read them while enjoying a cup of coffee!

When you find articles similiar to those you write (or could write), either purchase the magazine or write down the information so you can check it out more in detail online. You just found a new market for your writing! 

And even if you don’t find a new source for writing, you’ll probably learn something. Now, excuse me while I go check out my pig spleens and decide if I’ll need an umbrella today . . .  

Several days ago I was invited to speak on August 23rd for a back-to-school brunch for parents, at a library about 50 miles from here! I will be talking about making goals and setting priorities. And I’ll work chocolate in there somewhere!

Speaking is one of my favorite things about my writing career–it’s fun to meet new people, encourage them, and hopefully give them some information that will help them in some way.

Sometimes speaking invitations come in groups–maybe I’ll get some more invitations soon! I hope so!