Ralene Burke's Blog, page 8
September 16, 2016
Fab 5 Friday: Announcement Edition
September 14, 2016
Confessions of an Artist Hiding From her own Heart
I am an artist, but I’ve only recently accepted it. Growing up in an uber-practical Midwestern family, as a rule, artistry was something to be respected and grateful for, but it wasn’t highly valuable as a skill. So instead I focused on achieving practical things. Being organized. Being reliable and responsible. Changing tires, balancing check books, making lists. Life skills and algebra (*shudder*).
But I was only ever truly happy running around outside in the fresh green grass of the back p...
September 9, 2016
A Day in the Life . . .
I often have people ask me how I fit everything into my schedule. I homeschool, write, work, volunteer, and try to have some sort of life outside my home. One word describes my life: busy. Sometimes even overwhelming. But I love it and wouldn’t change a thing.
The basic truth is that no day during the week is quite like the other. With all of our activities, appointments, and obligations, it’s hard to set any kind of actual daily schedule. But I do follow some general guidelines.
6:00 a.m. –...September 7, 2016
Confessions of a Male Introvert Thinker Author
Ceramic coffee mug and newspaper on wood table.
When I decided to plunge into the work of novel writing, one of the first things I did was take stock of how those already in the business did things. I scoured websites, stalked social media sites, lurked inside launch parties, and otherwise gathered as much information as I could. I knew that writing a book was one thing, but connecting with readers and generating a following was something entirely different.
As I was writing specifically in t...
September 2, 2016
Goals: September 2016
After a summer full of conferences, vacations, and fun surprises, I can hardly believe it’s September already! Everyone’s kids are back in school (or almost), fall is in the air, and my schedule is slowly down ever so slightly. How about yours?
After a week-long work trip, I took a day to relax and refresh. Now it’s time to kick my brain into top gear and get going on all these goals and plans I have for the rest of the year. I need to break the big goals down into smaller, more attainable ch...
August 26, 2016
Novel News: July & August 2016
Where did the summer go? It has been crazy busy around here, and I feel like I’ve been getting nothing done. And the muggy heat has been beating down my energy levels, which is never any good.
At least I still have my books. And writing. And friends. Now I get to share some novel news with you!
New ReleasesThe final part of my novel serial is HERE! I’m so excited to wrap up this book and see where Brian and Fauna’s adventures take them.
The demon horde is on it...
August 24, 2016
Reconnecting with Your Vision
For the past several months, I have been preparing for my current book release and there are days I don’t know if I’m a marketer or a writer. I spend more time redesigning my website, answering emails and writing blog posts than I do writing stories. Honestly, there are days I walk into my office space and feel overwhelmed and want to quit. Kind of sort of, but not really. I know that is not an option.
The Bible says without vision the people perish. Right now, my writing is in danger of peri...
August 22, 2016
Bellanok: The Paladin’s Hope is Available on Amazon!
That’s right, my friends. The headline says it all. Finally, finally, finally . . . the serial is complete.
Bellanok: The Paladin’s Hope is the last of four novellas in a serial project. If you haven’t checked out the first 3, head over to My Books to find out about this fun fantasy adventure series.
For those of you have been reading along and excitedly waiting on the final installment . . . well, let me tell you a little more about it.
The Cover
As if becoming a paladin in a crazy...
August 17, 2016
Confessions of the Sufferings of a Fear-Deficient Man
I originally titled this post, “Confessions of the Sufferings of a Fearless Man” with the intent the title would do what all good titles do well—grab your attention. It’s not, however, exactly true that I’m “fearless.” No, I do have fears, but when I look back at my life I would have to say I didn’t have nearly enough of it for my own good at times. It happens to be the case that a lot of the fears I have come from bad things that have happened to me as a result of risk taking—fears I’ve acqu...
August 10, 2016
Confessions of a Writer, Mother, and Pastor’s Wife
Every time I share that I’m a writer, I have people look at me and ask how do I do it all? How do I balance raising four kids, being a pastor’s wife, and writing?
Confession time: I haven’t always done a good job juggling all three. Honestly, I think the only person who could is Supergirl, and even then I think she would struggle. But what I have learned is to have priorities, and those priorities have changed as I went from writing as an unpublished writer to an author with a deadline, and f...
