I’ve been sitting on this news since last winter! In February, I received a completely unexpected e-mail from a book editor at Olive Branch Books, a sister press (and the religious arm) to the Well-Trained Mind Press which publishes classical home education materials. He asked me if I’d be interested in writing supplementary children’s activities for the activity book that would accompany Year Four of the Telling God’s Story series. It took me about two seconds to decide, “YES!” The last time I got paid to write was when I was 18 and wrote the news column for my small town in the regional newspaper. So, the editor got me all set up with everything I needed to know, and away I went. Truth be told, I was very nervous (I have admired this press for years, and have loved using their materials). But I studied the previous activity books and got a feel for what the press would be looking for. I wrote a few activities and submitted them for feedback. To my delight, the editor seemed pretty happy with what I’d come up with. He asked for tweaks, I tweaked, and he wrote back, “accepted.” I was soooo thrilled with the first “accepted” response!
I went on to write more activities and meet his request for number of activities plus deadlines. After meeting the initial deadline (and submitting activities that were deemed “accepted”), I turned my attention to other things. Then over the months after that, the editor sent me a few more requests for activities!! It was so great to know that my contributions were valued.
And last week, he notified me that the book had been published! That evening, I sat on my couch and read through the entire book, smiling the biggest smiles I’ve had in awhile. It was an absolute thrill to see MY WRITING in print in a published book. It so happens that I’ve admired this series, too, ever since Pete Enns’s Telling God’s Story: A Parents’ Guide to Teaching the Bible was published. I read that book and loved it – it was unlike any other children’s Bible guide I’d seen before.
My other exciting opportunity is that I’ve been contracted to provide online writing tutor services with the Well-Trained Mind Academy! I’ve been working with my first student since the beginning of September. This online academy that serves middle school and high school home educators has been in existence for four years. Every so often, I would look at the course offerings; and from recent expansions, it was obvious that it is growing exponentially. No wonder – the courses listed are top-notch with top-notch instructors, and the variety has grown! As would have been expected because of the book it is named after, it contains a lot of literature and history courses. But many science, math, art, and music courses have been added in the short time it has existed. I would LOVE to have had many of these courses in high school because of the way they are taught. Anyway, so yep, I am quite honoured to be one of the tutors!! (although I have to add that I was TERRIFIED of learning all the technology that goes into conducting online sessions. It took me a few training sessions, but I finally got the basic structure in my head.)
Both of these opportunities have been a helpful addition to my local reading tutor (and sometimes craft) income streams – very grateful here!
Colleen Callahan Sharpe 