Christina Garner's Blog, page 7

Me, Today

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” ~Jack London

Recharge

Heading out to go camping with a dear friend and my pup today. Can’t wait to visit those giant Sequoias again. I haven’t been since I was a kid, but I will never forget how awe-inspiring they were. I imagine I’ll have that same experience this time around. And really, who couldn’t use a little awe? As I buckle down to finish Tether, it’s the perfect way to recharge.

Book 2 is Out!

Chasm, Book 2 in the Gateway Trilogy is ready for download!

Two months have passed since Ember Lyons nearly died killing the powerful Root Demon threatening the Los Angeles Gateway. Physically healed, images of the day still haunt her and she can no longer access the power she wielded then. She can’t talk about it to anyone at The Institute–not even her handsome, demon-hunting boyfriend, Taren. Besides there are bigger things to worry about: Gateways around the world are weakening, Keepers’ Marks are fading, escaped lesser demons are populating Los Angeles, and it looks like the Root Demon wasn’t alone.

When the Institute sends Ember and a team to Europe, she hopes to find answers and security on the journey, but another attempt on her life reminds her she’s never safe.

Then she’s thrust together with the mysterious Alexander. Ember can’t be sure if this charismatic man is her most formidable enemy or greatest ally. Either way, she knows needs him, because he’s the only one who knows anything about… the Chasm.

thoughts for the middle of the night

Found this in an old journal. I’m (a bit) less tortured now…

thoughts for the middle of the night

you are not alone.  not even right now when you are feeling you must be.  whether someone lies next you or not, you feel the illusion of loneliness and it is suffocating, i know.  it feels unbearable and all powerful. but it isn’t.

the real problem is that you aren’t alone enough. because as isolated as you feel, IT is still there.  the voice in your head.  it’s the one telling you that not only are you truly alone, but that there is something wrong with that. something wrong with you that leads to this condition.  what if you didn’t believe that voice?  what if, when you are trembling and raw, you saw only the truth with no interpretation?  woman, awake, in the middle of the night.  everything else is spin.

Awww…

I got a tweet from a reader today that she loved Gateway and wished she was a Keeper. Just the thing I need as I push to finish Chasm!

“If you follow your bliss, doors will open for you that w...

“If you follow your bliss, doors will open for you that wouldn’t have opened for anyone else.”

~     Joseph Campbell

Lean In

I’m working furiously to finish Chasm on time: polishing, deepening, refining. I had an  interesting insight just now and I thought I’d share it.

When I “lean in” to my plot problems (places that don’t quite make sense, gaps in logic, etc.) as opposed to wrestling with them, I find that I come up with multi-faceted, layered solutions that serve not just to solve the problem, but deepen the overall story. I suspect this works in life, also.

“What we resist, persists,” as the saying goes. Instead of running from, or tackling head-on an issue, it might be worthwhile to lean in, and see what happens. What new insights might we gain from a place of curiosity, as opposed to an attitude of eradication?

What do you think?

Nap Time

Nap time is always better with a friend.

Griffin and I enjoying some down time in the midst of “get the book done” chaos.

Say not, “I have found the truth,” but rather, “I have fo...

Say not, “I have found the truth,” but rather, “I have found a truth.”

Say not, “I have found the path of the soul.”  Say rather, “I have met the soul walking upon my path.”

For the soul walks upon all paths.

The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.

The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.

~Kahlil Gibran, TheProphet

I call him, “Legs.”