Author

RENEE GOTCHER • A NEW CHAPTER

I am a wife, mother of three daughters, entrepreneur and home educator who looks at each day as a new opportunity to see God write another chapter in my life and the life of my family. My passion is to share that journey with others as an encouragement and testimony to God’s amazing grace, unconditional love and desire to continually shape us into the image of Christ.

My first professional career was in journalism. I was an executive editor for a national technology weekly magazine based in San Francisco, where I worked through the highs and lows of the Internet explosion for seven years. I have a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, where I was editor of our graduate magazine project’s prototype publication BusinessLink. I also have a bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications, with an emphasis in print journalism, from Oral Roberts University, where I was editor of the university yearbook, writer for the university newspaper, and student association communications coordinator.

After leaving the journalism world in 2002 to become a work-at-home mother, I was a freelance editor and writer, and I also started an independent business as a Mary Kay beauty consultant. For seven years, I held the position of Sr. Sales Director for a team of inspiring entrepreneurial women until the Spring of 2011, when I decided to focus on home educating my three daughters full time and reconnect with the writer in me.

Because writing remained a personal passion of mine throughout the years, I dabbled in a few communication projects along the way. I was publicity director for the Durango MOPS Group for two years, publishing the group newsletter and keeping members in the loop on activities and opportunities. I also started a women’s business community in Durango called the Business Women’s Idea Exchange — which remains active today under the leadership of the two fabulous local entrepreneurs who helped me create this dynamic group.

I also started writing a personal blog: First, it was known as “A Durango Mama’s Diary,” and more recently it became “A New Chapter.” Content from “A Durango Mama’s Diary” is now featured in this blog. I am also the editor and lead author of NextGen Homeschool, which is a homeschooling blog I share with my homeschooling sister and sisters in law about homeschooling our next generation as formerly homeschooled parents. I recently started doing some writing consulting and content creation as well — as time permits! — through my new writing business, WriteWords Ink.

I grew up in California as the eldest of eight children, and since leaving home for college, I have lived in Tulsa, Chicago, San Francisco, Denver, Portland (OR), Durango (CO) and our current city of residence, Castle Rock, CO. We are outdoor enthusiasts who love to travel and enjoy God’s breathtaking creations, for which Colorado is an excellent showcase. Camping, hiking, fishing, snowboarding, skiing and biking are some of my family’s favorite activities. I also enjoy photography, scrapbooking and card-making (when and if I can find the time), and I am discovering a love of creative homemaking and cooking that I’ve honestly never had. My favorite monthly reads are Real Simple magazine and Martha Stewart Living, although I will be the first to admit my life is currently neither of these things!

A New Chapter reflects a lifetime of continual learning and God’s leading to share this journey with you for His greater glory.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” —Proverbs 3:5-6