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Cheryl Courtney Semick, Author, Publisher

about  me 

 

Words, to me, are living organisms. Connected just right, they can ignite a plethora of emotions. Tossed together, they fizzle.  Thus, I approach my writing craft with care and respect.​

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With a deep foundation in sales, media and communications, my writing is concisely rich and captivating, evoking emotional response and quick action. I am impassioned by the challenge and deliver a rapid turnaround.​

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Educationally, I’ve drawn more experience from media jobs than from formal classrooms. I ‘cut my teeth’ at radio stations crafting ad copy – up to 18 ads a day, but I discovered my passion in writing books.

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My years in freelance and on-the-job editing include newsletters, business proposals, masters theses, annual reports, resumes, ad copy, narratives, books, and more.

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Along the way, I developed a flair for desktop-publishing and create powerful advertisement pieces for expos, business, non-profit and private events in a wide demographic.

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Online I write, edit and proof web copy, design blogs and websites and have dabbled a bit in html and css coding.

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Most recently, I have been recording short messages on YouTube: Shine4TheKing.

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Also, check out my independent press, clay pen press on this site. You'll find my books and some of my great author's books, too!

My Portfolio

“A writer should be joyous, an optimist . . . anything that implies rejection of life is ​wrong for a writer.”

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- George Gribbin​

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I have published 5 of my own books and just over 30 books for other authors. Visit my Bookstore, Kudos page and my Happy Clients page for endorsements!

I have built over 10 websites for clients, plus 5 of my own throughout my career. Some I sold as a part of a business package I developed and some I discontinued. Visit my Happy Clients page for a few examples.

I wrote monthly articles for a column I named Doors & Windows in  a local newspaper called Community Word in Peoria, Illinois, for 17 years. Check out those articles here!

TV Host, Radio Announcer, Producer, Copywriter

RADIO: WZOE, AM Talk Radio, Princeton, IL 

Copywriter, Ad Voiceovers

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RADIO: WLRZ, Classic Rock, Peru, IL

Classic Rock, DeeJay (mid-day & midnight jock); Copywriter, Ad Producer & Voiceovers 

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RADIO: WLPO/WAJK, AM Talk Radio / FM Top 40 LaSalle/Peru, IL

Mid-Morning AM Announcer, News, Interviewer; FM DeeJay

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TV: WWTO TV-35, Ottawa, IL

All American Network, a TBN affiliate. TV Show host, Interviewer. Created my own show called, Single Source, where the highlight of my career was landing the first TV interview of Jerry Jenkin's, best-selling book, Left Behind. See us below!

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HIGHLIGHT OF MY TV CAREER:

 

I was honored to take a camera crew to Tyndale House Publishers in Wheaton, IL, to interview Jerry Jenkins, author of the best-selling book series, Left Behind, when the first book in the series was still on the press.

 

 

That day I also conducted 3 other interviews:

 

Mark Taylor, Tyndal's President, regarding the New Living Translation Bible that was also still on the press.

 

Timothy Botts, world-famous Christian Calligrapher

 

Representative from Adventures in Odyssey (Focus on the Family).

 

That was a very good day in my TV career!

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COLLEGE COURSES IN JOURNALISM:

​I completed 30 hours of an associate's degree in journalism at Illinois Center College. During part of my course work, I was the news reporter and copy editor for the college newspaper, Harbinger. I also won two essay contests while attending ICC.

Years ago when blogs were where everyone went, I created several: Doors & Windows was a Wordpress blog I created and named after my newspaper column. Check out some of those articles HERE and the Poem, Doors & Windows I wrote, too!

2010 - present

2010 - present

Writing Awards
  • Family of the Year Essay Contest Children & Family Services, 1998

  • Paul Simon Essay Contest, Illinois Central College, 1998

  • Women’s History Month Essay Contest Illinois Central College, 2000

  • Winterfest 2001 Hospitality Association, Best in the Midwest Award, ​

  • Employee of the Year Premier Food Service Las Vegas Seminar Essay Contest, 2000

  • Writer’s Contest for Creative Writing Illinois Central College, 1999

  • Writer’s Digest, Your Opening Line, March 2006

Why I Write

Can this really be explained? If you’re a writer, you know it’s impossible. I write because words flow out of my brain, through my fingers and onto paper. That”s it.

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That may sound over-simplified, but it’s the truth. There is never a time, awake or asleep, that I am not a victim of words fighting to flow through my fingers.

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Early on it was obvious to me that my duty was to capture them on paper, form them, mold them and make them sing, though it took many years before I could focus their power into coherent, publishable works.

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Still, like most writers, I am plagued by paralyzing procrastination.

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Then I ran into this statement that empowered me:

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​​Honor your dreams with action.

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I wish I knew who said it because I would like to credit its author. Jot it down, it’s so incredibly mobilizing.

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