• Gina's Journey

    Welcoming the New Year with Curiosity

    I’ve always liked New Year’s Eve. It’s probably my favorite holiday behind Halloween. Though I haven’t been faithful about choosing resolutions every year, nor sticking to every one of them, the ones I’ve done have led to some of the best decisions of my life, such as reading the Bible all the way through or writing a short story every month, which led to the birth of my first novel. This year, I’m still pondering my specific resolutions. But I did want to greet 2024 in style. It’s how I roll when I want to see big changes. The last time I went this hard for a new year was…

  • The Writer's Toolkit

    My Top 5 Tips to Optimize Your Writing Process

    Every writer wants to know new ways to help them write more, better, or more often. I’ll let you in on my own routine for kicks and giggles, but remember it always comes down to what works for you. It’s really a matter of trial and error. So what works for me might leave you stymied, and what works for you might end in me scrolling Pinterest instead of typing words.So without further ado… My Top Writing Process Tips: Routine and Habitat 1. Make playlists. If you’re like me, music can be a double-edged sword: rife with inspiration, but a sucker for your attention if you’re not careful. Some writers…

  • The Writer's Toolkit

    The Writer’s Toolkit: 5 Ways to Bait Your Muse

    Typewriters, laptops, and notebooks all have two things in common: they serve writers and they can smell fear. You’re trucking along, writing like a pro, and then chapter six rolls around and suddenly you have the urge to clean the apartment from top to bottom. In fact, every little task you’ve been ignoring suddenly seems like a great idea because for some reason, you’ve lost the ability to put one word after another. This quasi-productivity is accompanied by feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt, and internal stagnation. You’re afraid to even say those fated words, “writer’s block,” because they feel like a life sentence. Honey, have a tissue. We’ve all been there.…