BlogMutt Freelance Writer Spotlight: Cheryl Hosmer

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For July’s Freelance Writer Spotlight, we’d like to introduce you to BlogMutt’s very own Renaissance woman, Cheryl Hosmer.

Since Cheryl started writing regularly for BlogMutt, she has tackled some of our most challenging topics and has worked with our team to fulfill countless special requests from our customers. In addition to being a professional copywriter, she is also a playwright, novelist, voice-over actress, online educator, ghostwriter, “book doctor,” and editor with credits that include biographies of Steve McQueen and Elvis.

Cheryl-Hosmer-Writer-Spotlight.jpgAs an educator, Cheryl’s classes run the gamut. She leads workshops on “Cops and Courts” for journalists and creates courses for teachers working with special needs children, especially those diagnosed with MERLD (mixed expressive/receptive language disorder). She is passionate about helping MERLD children and their families, and maintains a small educational site about the disorder.

At BlogMutt, Cheryl has focused on technical fields. She says, “I love challenging projects. I choose usually what no one else wants to touch. Technical posts usually. They take me quite some time to fashion, but I enjoy the research.”

In the past year, she has written on a pretty wild range of industries and topics. Here’s a sampling:

  • Hygienist compensation structures (small business)
  • Multi-vector cyber attacks (data security)
  • Processing asynchronous systems with Elixir (IT)
  • Maximizing bond capacity (finance)
  • Staffing for software engineering (recruitment & staffing)

We asked Cheryl a few questions about herself, her writing, and her advice for up-and-coming freelancers. Here’s what she had to say.

Do you have a dog?

Cheryl: Yes, his name is Mr. Frodo (obviously, from The Lord of the Rings).

Frodo.jpg

What do you do outside of BlogMutt?

I am a full-time mom, wife, homeschooling teacher, and writer…pretty much in that order and often simultaneously!

How did you get started as a writer? As a BlogMutt writer?

I have been hooked on writing since 1971 when My Prayer was first published in our local newspaper (I was 6 years old). I started writing for our hometown newspaper in my late teens and began work there as a staff reporter in 1999. I signed up for BlogMutt in late 2014, wrote one piece and forgot about it until late 2016 when I started writing posts again.

What is the weirdest subject that you’ve ever written about on BlogMutt?

Garage doors! That was my first post. I turned it into a humor piece because I could not figure out how to do what had already been done a bazillion times.

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What is the most important piece of advice that you can give to beginning freelance writers?

Challenge yourself.

Get out of your comfort zone.

Write like you belong and you will.

Write pro bono locally until you get established.

Also, be prepared for frustration.

Anything else you’d like to share about writing for BlogMutt?

I am not a high-volume writer and that is not why I write for BlogMutt…I am choosy regarding clients and the more creative I can be with difficult posts, the more I like it. Also, the community of writers at BlogMutt make me a better blog writer. I have learned so much by reading the forums and by studying their techniques. I am looking forward to a long association!

Thanks so much to Cheryl for answering all of my questions, and of course, for the adorable photo of Mr. Frodo. We couldn’t be happier to have you as a part of our team!

Molly Michieli

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