Judy Penz Sheluk: From Pink Slip to Published Author

Two things happened in the winter of 2003 that changed the course of my life. The first was learning my job was being eliminated. “Right-sizing the organization” was how the HR Manager referred to it, my manager nodding somberly, as if hearing the news for the first time. 

To be honest, I’d known it was coming. The bulk of my duties included the preparation of financial reports and projections for the company’s multiple sales divisions across North America. I knew which Division VPs were on target, which ones might earn a bonus, and which ones were, like me, about to get pink slipped. When I’d accepted the position two years prior, the sales accounting methods had been sorely lacking. But I was (and still am) a whiz at Excel and it didn’t take long to set up and perfect a system anyone with basic computer skills could take over. 

I left the office mulling over my future. The severance package, plus Employment Insurance, would cover my basic expenses for about a year. That took desperation off the table. Even so, I was weary of the corporate world, the structured 9 to 5 existence, and the mere thought of job hunting crushed my soul.

And then the second thing happened. That very day, in my mailbox, was a check for $75 from Antiques & Collectibles Showcase. A few months earlier, I’d submitted an article to them on the history of antique clocks, referencing major makers. It was the first thing I’d ever written for possible publication, and it would be my first publication credit. That it came on the same day as my pink slip seemed like an omen. 

I was meant to be a writer. And why not? From the time I’d read Emily Climbs by L.M. Montgomery in grade school, it’s all I ever really wanted to be. Life may have gotten in the way before, but it was finally offering a path. I took it and I’ve never looked back.

From the beginning, I took the job of being a writer every bit as seriously as I did every position I’d held in the corporate world. Print media was still, if not thriving, doing well enough in the early 2000s, and I soon developed a reputation as a reliable writer who submitted clean copy on deadline. Within eighteen months, I was under freelance contract with two trade publishers (the sort who produce magazines for various associations and organizations). I’d also continued to write for Antiques & Collectibles Showcase, as well as several other antiques-related publications.

But the one thing I’d learned from my corporate days was that diversification was important to survival. In 2005, I decided to attend, on my own dime, the Ontario Home Builders’ Annual Conference. I attended sessions, networked, and left with contacts to Ontario Home BUILDER and Toronto BUILDER magazines. What did I know about building? Well, nothing, truth be told. But I’d become a good researcher and an even better interviewer. Both magazines ended up hiring me.

My first editing break came with the current editors of Showcase decided to retire. The owners of the magazine asked if I’d consider taking over. In addition to editing articles, it would mean assigning the freelance content, writing features, working with the graphic artist and ad team, and managing the overall budget. I leapt at the opportunity to learn and grow.

Of course, all good things must come to an end, and in 2008, Showcase was sold. As luck would have it, one of the magazines I’d been writing for, New England Antiques Journal, was looking for a Senior Editor. I applied, was hired, and worked for them until the magazine folded. By that time, I’d given up all of my other writing gigs and contracts (including a four-year stint as Editor of Home BUILDER Magazine) to focus on writing books and short stories, and while I was sorry to see NEAJ end, I felt more than ready to become a fulltime author. After all, I had two mystery series on the go, and not wanting to put all my books in one basket, I’d signed with two different MWA-approved publishers. Everything was going according to plan.

Until it wasn’t. One publisher “culled” their author list one-by-one (eventually only self-publishing); the other closed shop altogether. In 2018, I found myself with the dubious distinction of being orphaned not once, but twice. And just like all those years before, when I’d faced the prospect of job hunting in the corporate world, the very idea of trying to find another publisher, almost certainly another small press, was far from appealing. 

But I’d learned a lot, over those past fifteen years. And so, in February 2018, I formed my own publishing imprint, Superior Shores Press. By the end of that year, I’d gotten my rights back, re-released my previous titles, and added a couple more. I also knew that I needed something to give my press legitimacy. I figured a multi-author mystery anthology might do the trick. I decided to call it The Best Laid Plans.

I posted the call for submissions in October 2018 on social media and the Short Mystery Fiction Society and received more than 100 stories by the time the submission period closed in February 2019. Plans released June 18, 2019, the first of five multi-author anthologies released over the course of seven years.

In 2023, I wrote two books on publishing: Finding YOUR Path to Publication, and Self-publishing: The Ins & Outs of Going Indie. These sorts of niche books will never earn what I like to call “Stephen King money,” but having talked to my share of aspiring authors, and traditionally published authors looking for a change (or having been orphaned), I knew the need was there. Path went on to win two awards, the Silver Falchion for Best Nonfiction from Killer Nashville, and Best Prescriptive Nonfiction from Writer’s Digest.

Right now, I’m immersed in finishing my first true crime book, a 1937 cold case mystery, launching on October 28, 2026. And, also for the first time, I’m writing with a co-author (Amanda Capper). 

I’m not sure what I envisioned when I got that pink slip in 2003 and started dreaming of what the future might hold, but I am grateful for every day since. Turns out, “right-sizing” was actually “write-sizing.” And I can’t begin to imagine a more fulfilling way to live my life.

—

About the author: The Past Chair of Crime Writers of Canada and a former journalist and magazine editor, Judy Penz Sheluk is the bestselling author of the Glass Dolphin Mystery Series, the Marketville Mystery Series, two books on publishing, and several short stories. She is also the editor/publisher of five Superior Shores Anthologies, including the 2025 Derringer- and Silver Falchion- nominated Larceny & Last Chances, and the 2026 Derringer-nominated Midnight Schemers & Daydream Believers. Find her at www.judypenzsheluk.com. Follow her true crime journey on Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky (links at https://judypenzsheluk.com/a-fatal-affair-the-murder-of-helen-grier/) 

 

  

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing