My last entry was at the beginning of my journey to obtain a Master of Strategic Communication degree from Westminster College in Salt Lake City. I am now in my final semester. 

The capstone project for this program is with an international client. Together with my entire cohort, I will complete a project for an organization called The Home Project in Athens, Greece. They work with refugee children to help them find homes and education so they can have a stable future. 

In April of this year, my cohort and I will spend 10 days in Greece working with The Home Project. Shortly after we return, we will all graduate. 

I have several ideas of what I want to do after graduation. I will wait to explain those later. Until then, I will be busy finishing up my education by working on an individual capstone project. The focus of that project will be social media communication. Throughout my academic career I've specialized in conducting social media communication research. You could say I'm a master at social media communication. Just a few more months and I'll officially be a master of strategic communication. 

I've only been out of school for 9 months and I'm already itching to go back.  I've applied for a master's program at a local college.  I had narrowed my choice down to three schools, none of which were Westminster College, here in Salt Lake City. I found this program when I was researching programs for my husband. Once I read the information about the program, I began to get excited because everything about the program answered all that was lacking in the other three I was considering. It all just seemed to fit so nicely into what I was looking for in a master's program.  So, I applied. I'm waiting on two final letters of recommendation from former professors and then I'll find out if I get accepted.  Honestly, I'm not worried, but there's always that chance. I love learning, always have.  I can thank my dad for that.  He is the perpetual student in life and through his example, has passed that love of learning on to me.  I look forward to gaining more knowledge and can't wait to start school again.  Yahoo!  Cheers to higher education. It's exciting times for me.

All who know me, know I am a politically active citizen.  I vote. I endorse candidates. I donate time and money to political causes that are important to me and I volunteer as an administrator on a local political discussions page. All this political activity causes me to do a lot of political writing. I recently reviewed the campaign financial disclosures for candidates in our local elections.  I noticed there was a lot of disparity in both the amount of money candidates spend and the sources from which they obtain that funding.  

Personally, I trust candidates who obtain their funding from a variety of sources, rather than mostly self funding or lacking in outside sources.  Here's why: I feel it's important for candidates, especially on a local level, to get out and talk to their constituents. How can they represent their constituents on important issues that affect them if they don't engage with the citizens and get to know them as individuals, homeowners, taxpayers, employees of community companies, business owners in the community, etc? Also, if they are talking to the people and the people find them to be honest, full of integrity and qualified, the funding will come from many sources. Small donations add up and , I feel, speak to the character of the candidate more than one or two big donations.  I also question a candidate's diplomacy skills, ability to work with others and their initiative to work hard as an advocate for themselves and their city when they refuse to ask for backing from outside sources. The experience they gain and connections they make while campaigning can be useful and important to moving a city forward if and when they become elected officials of the city.  

That was my own theory and reasoning behind the old adage of "putting my money where my mouth is." I donated to one of my local candidates and I'm proud to say that when I compared his financial campaign disclosures to the other candidates', he was mostly externally funded.  The other candidates were mostly self-funded.  I think he's going to be a great mayor when he wins.  (I believe in the power of positive thinking.) 

I did some academic research on the topic to see if my theory held true.  Although I couldn't find any articles on local elections, I did find one interesting one on national elections and self-funding verses outside funding. If you're interested, I think it's worth a read.  Some of what it said supported my views, which I found interesting.  

This is how I feel lately.  I'm having a hard time getting started...that's one of my major pitfalls as a writer.  Once I can get started, I usually can finish fairly quickly.  It's the getting started part that's hard. 

I've had several people ask me when the next book is coming out.  Soon, people soon.  I love that my readers are anxious for the next volume of Cheeseface and Solomon.  It makes me happy as a writer.  

I promised my editor at Idea Creations Press that I would have it written by the end of the summer.  And one thing my parents taught me is to keep my word when I give it to others.  

​So....Let the writing begin!

It's been a busy semester for this senior.  I landed my "big girl" job before I even graduated....more about that later.  For now, here's an honor I received from the college of Humanities....a feature on their website.

I put my husband in charge of being CEO of Cheeseface Books.  As CEO, his job is marketing, public relations, consulting with the COO (me), and like any CEO, oversee the day-to-day and overall success of the entire operation.  Most days, he has a pretty low-key job, but lately he's stepped up his game and done A LOT of marketing.  

​Just yesterday, he sent out over 40 social media shares of a marketing post to various local sales groups.  I've already seen an increase in orders from his efforts. As well as sales increase, I've seen an increase in customer engagement from those who have already bought the book.  

It's been fun for me as the author and COO of Cheeseface Books to receive the feedback from customers, especially since it's all been extremely positive.  Because of my CEO's efforts, there have been others who have shared his social media marketing efforts with their audience.   My husband is a great CEO!

That's the first dollar made from the sale of Cheeseface and Solomon signed by the customer.  I am beyond grateful to her and all who have purchased the book so far.  I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the positive reception of this little story.  It truly has been a dream come true in so many ways.  

I will also be forever grateful to Kathryn and Doug of Idea Creations Press for their belief in me and the potential they saw in this story.  It would have been exciting enough to have it published, but to have won the first writing contest sponsored by Idea Creations Press is just another layer of pride and humility all at once.  

It will be fun to see where this first volume takes me.  I guess I better get started on Book 2 of the series: Solomon Gets the Cooties.  Such is the life of a writer, no sooner can we celebrate than more work is to be had.  I should be so lucky!