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My Author Journey: How I Went From “Oohhh NaNoWriMo Sounds Fun” To “Self-Published Author”

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Grab a beverage, sit back and get comfy because I have a story to share.

It all started about ten years ago when I decided to try writing a novel in one month during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) which gave me the writing bug something fierce, so I decided to take a writing class here in NYC and then an online correspondence course in writing and then I outlined a whole book using another course. (I love taking courses yo!)

Around this time I also had the cutest baby in the world and quit my day job. I had dreams of writing while he napped – which I sometimes did, other times I too naped because although he was adorable he was not the best sleeper.  Momma was tired. 

Let’s just say, what I thought would take 2 years tops took 8 years from start to finish.  This included outlining, writing the first draft, buying another course to teach me how to edit my novel, doing that very long process, and getting so sick of my own book that I wanted to scream.

Once I called it done or at least done for me, I started researching agents and got super overwhelmed.  I had joined a Facebook group for writers and the vast majority were starting to look into self-publishing.

I was still skeptical because the world hadn’t really changed yet and some people still looked down their noses at indie publishing thinking it was like those vanity presses where you just want to get your book made so you can hand it out to friends and family (which no judgment from me – you still wrote a freaking book, I’m proud of you!)

So, I did what I do best – research and reading and I bought a course. HA! I learned all about self-publishing and got a professional editor (who’s amazing) and hired a professional book cover designer (who’s also amazing) and I self-published my novel using Amazon’s publishing tools.   

For me, I decided I was too impatient to wait another few years for an agent to pick me, for that agent to send the manuscript around to publishing houses, for someone there to pick me, and then the whole process of turning that into a book. I didn’t want to wait that long after taking 8 years to write the book.  

And I love being an indie author.  

Some days are really hard as I wear all the hats and have the final say in all decisions but then again – I wear all the hats and have the final say in all decisions.  Meaning, I get to be in full control of my novel and how it looks online and out in the world.

I’m really glad that we, as writers, have options. So, if you are a writer what’s your opinion? Do you dream of having a publisher guide you along this journey or are you excited to try things out on your own, discover things, make mistakes and try again?

And I have a question for my readers – how do you find out about books? Especially indie books? Do you let the bookstores guide you or do you have a favorite resource for discovering your next great read?  Hit me up in the comments below (scroll down to where it says Leave a Reply) or email me here and let me know!

 

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OrangeTheory’s Transformation Challenge & What I’ve Learned About Myself

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

We are half-way through OrangeTheory’s Transformation Challenge and I have learned a few things about myself and just in general that I would like to share.

💪 I love the community aspect of OTF and the challenge BUT I’m not much of a joiner when it comes to the themed weeks. Sorry, but I only have regular workout clothes, not costume pieces. I do like the ones where we have to take pictures with other people and wear our colors.

💪 Going three times a week is still all I can manage right now. In fact, I did two classes in a  row (Tuesday and then Wednesday, both at 12noon) and I thought I was legit not going to make it to Friday.

💪 OrangeTheory is not only great for my physical health, but it’s also doing wonders for my mental health. I could be having the worst day ever but I come out of class with a smile on my face. 

💪 Even though I am slow and lift using lighter weights, I have amazing form and I am getting stronger and faster. I did some chest presses with 15-pound weights and I’m power walking at 3.3 mph consistently. For me, this is HUGE!

💪 InBody Scans definitely give you more information than a regular bathroom scale — I gained a pound during our midpoint weigh-in but according to the other numbers it was all muscle so score.

💪 I am a fitness person! I miss OTF when I’m gone for too long, I’m thinking of signing up for the DriTri (which sounds slightly terrifying), and I have a 5-year goal of participating in a RunDisney race — who am I?!?! I never thought I would be this person…EVER. 

If you are an OrangeTheory junkie, like me, how’s the transformation challenge been for you?  If you do some other type of exercise – can you see similarities between what I’ve learned and how it’s been for you as a fitness person? 

Let me know in the comments below – I would love to hear your stories of getting stronger and faster and having more mental health!

 

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Trying New Things On My Road To A Zero-Waste Lifestyle

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

This might surprise you, especially since I haven’t really shared this part of my life with you, but I’m pretty crunchy granola. I mean, we used cloth diapers when our son was a baby – which most of our friends thought was pretty weird and extreme. I loved it! And having such a good experience with soft bamboo and organic cotton diapers led me to reusable menstrual products, reusable shopping bags, and nice glass and stainless steel bottles for water and coffee when out and about. 

Then the last few years I got a bit lazy and having my son accidentally throw another reusable snack bag in the trash at daycare made me decide that regular Ziplocs would be easier. But as we approached 2020 I decided I wanted to make a few more changes – very slowly – that would take me a bit closer to a zero-waste lifestyle.

Now, let me stress a few things – I’m not going to ever be militant about things. We will still have paper towels in the house for really gross messes (I have a kid) and I don’t see myself ever giving up toilet paper (seriously, that’s a thing) but I do think the changes I’ve made so far and the ones on my list below make my life easier, and it’s fun – it makes me feel good. 

So, I went to Pinterest and started doing some research and made a list. I started with bamboo cotton rounds to replace cotton balls, a bamboo toothbrush to replace my plastic one, and I got samples of shampoo and conditioner bars. This last one was the weird one, but I was intrigued from reading about them and watching a few how-to videos on YouTube. I went with a company called Ethique because they offer samples, are available on Amazon, and got rave reviews across the board.

The cotton rounds and bamboo toothbrush took no time getting used to at all, but I was really worried about those bars and then I took my first shower and felt like a freaking goddess!  The shampoo and conditioner bars were LOVE at first use, they smelled good, they lathered well and were just really easy to use. My hair felt, looked, and smelled fantastic! I was completely hooked. I barely waited to order full sizes and a cute container to hold them in the shower. 

The next item on my list was a lotion bar, regular old soap bar as shaving cream, and buying reusable coffee basket to replace filters and new reusable straws (we have a few but I would like a few more). So, I ordered another sample pack from Ethique that had body bars and went to work and I’ll be honest, I’m not in love with the lotion bar yet. My skin feels great afterward, but it’s a bit tricky to slide on my skin – I’m either too damp or too dry, but I’m going to keep trying until the sample is gone to make up my mind 100%. Oh, and regular old castile soap – we use Dr. Bronner – works great as shaving cream so that was also a win!  I haven’t bought the coffee basket or straws yet, but they are next on the hit list.

Other items to look for or buy – mesh produce bags, those silicone baking sheets instead of using foil all the time, and beeswax covers or something else to cover food instead of saran wrap. If you consider yourself eco-friendly or zero-waste what else should I add to my list?  I’m trying to buy or find a few things at a time, and also figure out what around the house I can already use or repurpose.

Even if this seems extreme to you, what new things have you tried this year? It can be scary to step out of our comfort zone, even if it’s something we want to do, so know you are not alone and that being a little nervous is totally normal. If you’d like some help or just want to brag on yourself – because we need to celebrate the small wins – comment below and let me know!

 

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Coffee as a Reward? It works!

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Well, I had thought I was going to talk about how I use timers and rewards to fuel my writing life, but yesterday I realized I don’t use timers and rewards. I want to and I used to, but I haven’t added that back into my routine this year YET.

Late last year, while I was working on the second draft of my novel, I was using my lovely Alexa to set a timer for doing word sprints. Once I was done with my session then I could either do another one (if I had time) or I would stop for the day feeling quite proud of myself and give myself a reward or a treat. At the time it was drinking my coffee. That’s right, I was delaying coffee (one of my absolutely favorite things) until after I had gotten in my writing session for the day. And it worked!

What happened? I got done with the draft and sent it to my editor and decided I needed a break. And I did need a break from writing and editing and all that, but I should have kept up with the timer/reward system in some way because I am having one heck of a hard time getting back into the swing of things this year now that I have a third draft to do. 

The other thing that happened is I created a new morning routine that I thought was working, but then I realized just yesterday that I don’t have time to write now. I was trying to do it in the afternoon after my son got home from school while he did his math homework, but that wasn’t working. I tried doing it before I started my day job but that wasn’t working either.

I knew something needed to change, so I thought through my morning routine and decided to switch things up going forward. I wake up at 5:30 am and wash my face, brush my teeth, grab a glass of lemon water and meditate. That takes a little less than 30 minutes. Last month I would then journal and scroll my phone for another 30 minutes before waking my son up. NOW I’m going to take my laptop with me into the living room and write after I meditate. AND I will add back in the coffee as my reward if I write for at least 15 minutes.

How about you? Do you use timers and rewards in your everyday life? Are your routines working for you or are they causing you stress? Is there any way you can make a tiny (or big) change and try that for a week or two – as an experiment – to see if it makes a difference?  Let me know by commenting below and we can do this together!

 

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The Longest January

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Anyone else thinking this January has literally gone on forever?!?!  I mean, there have been 5 Wednesdays!!

AND doesn’t it seem like everyone is all go-go-go this month?  Making new goals, starting big projects, and doing All. The. Things?  Aren’t you already tired? I know I am. I think that’s because we are still in winter mode, still in the hibernation phase. The curl up on the couch, kick it with Baby Yoda and drink hot cocoa (or wine, I’m not judging) phase.

I mean, I get it – it’s the beginning of a new year and a new decade (although – is it really, or does that start in 2021? I’m kinda confused) and we’re all being pulled to make these giant 1, 5, and 10-year goals. BUT it’s also dark at 5 pm still and COLD. I’m not ready to jump into action.

Have I gotten some stuff done this month? Sure! But not as much as I wanted and it’s not for lack of trying, it’s for lack of energy.  I’m tired and that’s OK. I think I’ve finally realized that it’s okay to still be in winter mode. To want to curl up under the covers with a book and take some much-needed self-care time. It’s okay to plan out the next few months and then sit back and go – yes, that’s going to be awesome, now where’s my remote?  

If we start doing, doing, doing now and miss out on the planning and the rest and the dreaming part then I think we get 6 months into the year, feel burnt out, and just give up.  I don’t want to do that and I don’t want you to do that either. I’m not saying – don’t do anything though. I’m saying if you’d rather read a non-fiction book that supports your goal – great!  If you want to watch YouTube and gather research – awesome! If you want to make plans and journal and brainstorm and mind map and then take a very long nap – amazing! You are not behind, you are exactly where you need to be.

And so am I!  And that’s beautiful.

So, tell me…what are you doing this month to support your goals?  No matter what that looks like, let me know so we can celebrate together!

 

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Lunar Planning: Using The Moon To Help Me Achieve My Goals

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Awhile back I came out of the broom closet about my new found witch title. I’ve had a few friends and family look at me with wide eyes and wonderment, but the thing is – I am still me, just with a slightly different spiritual journey. One where I am connected to nature, Mother Earth, and the Moon.

I love the moon and have been fascinated with her since I was a small child. Now I use the phases of the moon to help me achieve my goals. I use her cycle to help plan my month and my weeks. How? Let’s start at the beginning of the cycle – although, it’s a circle so there’s technically no BEGINNING, but since today is the New Moon I thought it would be a good place to start.  

New Moon

When the sky is dark and the moon isn’t visible.  It’s the perfect time to set new intentions. It’s when I journal, use my tarot cards and sit with what I want to accomplish for that cycle.  I usually set 1-3 intentions using present tense language. For example, I want to create a fun, easy, Instagram strategy where I can connect with others and enjoy my social media time.  

I personally make this a small ritual for myself.  I have a tall white candle that I light while laying out my tarot cards and journaling about what I want to achieve that month.  Then I write my intentions down on an index card and place them into my Universe box – which is just a cute gift box that has some pretty tissue paper and my offering – for me, it’s one of my birth year quarters.     

First Quarter 

About a week later, I look over my intentions and set one action for each one that I want to work on that week.  Again, using our Instagram example – I might write down in my planner: Set aside one hour this week to make fun, colorful images for the upcoming posts.  That’s it, just one action 

Full Moon

Letting go, releasing what no longer serves me and setting another action for the week.  Again, I do a small personal ritual with journaling prompts, my white moon candle, and tarot cards.  I will write down what I’m releasing on tissue paper and flush it away (as burning stuff in our apartment isn’t always safe).  So, again, using my example I might write: I am releasing self-doubt and worry. Down the toilet it goes!

Last Quarter

About a week after the full moon, I one last time look over the intentions and choose a final action for the week.  At the end of this week is usually the dark moon where I will review my month before starting over. Now, this can be debated (is it different or the same as the new moon) but for me, I like to take a small moment for the dark moon, ending one cycle before beginning a new one.  

And that brings us back to the New Moon again.  I usually have some ideas of what I want to work on, but I use the tarot cards and my journal to guide me and I set 1-3 new intentions (or I’ll revamp an old intention for the new cycle – depending on the goal and what I want to work on).

For me, this works – it gives me time to pause, connect back to my goals and my desires and what I want out of life.  It gives me a chance to slow down, take time for myself and connect with others either online or in my New Moon Circle that I go to here in Queens. Going forward I hope to continue this practice, deepening it even more, connecting with the moon’s powers to transform me in ways I can’t even imagine right now.

Do you use the moon as a guide? Do you have any questions about the process? Would you like to see sample questions or even a tarot spread? Let me know by commenting below and then, come over and join me on Instagram to see me in real-time share my process via Stories for the next month (maybe longer if people seem interested).

I hope you have a magical day – now go and set some New Moon intentions of your own!

 

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How To Get Into The Head Of A Character

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

I’m getting ready to start the 3rd round of revisions on this current WIP and with that comes some new characters (and revisiting old characters) and getting to do something I absolutely love – using my acting skills!

If you didn’t know, I have a BFA in Theatre Performance, and although I no longer do any acting, I still use the skills I learned when I create characters. To create a character I have to become the character. I have to get inside the character’s head and think about what they would do, how they would say things, and how they would act in certain situations. I need to make them as real as possible.

To start, I close my eyes and visualize what the person looks like. How are they dressed? What does their hair look like? Where are they? What are they doing? Then slowly, I become them. I picture myself wearing their clothes and doing what they are doing.  Seeing the world through their eyes. Then I start writing

 If I’m interviewing a brand new character then I write the questions as me, but I answer as them. If I’m revisiting an old character, I have them write a diary entry. I pick a time or place within my book and just let them tell me something.  If I’ve visualized them long enough it really does start to feel like someone else is writing. This is both very cool and a bit freaky.

For example, my new POV character, Gina, has a cousin named Libby, who is really upset in one part of my story, so when I did her diary entry she just dumped everything on to the page stream of consciousness style. But Gina’s twin brother, Carl, who is very smart and organized, wrote almost like a Twitter version of his day with times, dates, and complete sentences and proper grammar. Two very different characters with very distinct personalities. 

This feels like magic to me and reminds me of the absolute best part of my old acting life – becoming someone else to tell a story. When I can use my brain to create a person out of thin air, it’s literally awesome. 

What part of the writing process would you like to learn about next?  Would you like to know more about revision? Self-publishing? How I found my editor?  Seriously, let me know and I’ll add it to my list of topics I want to talk about over the next few months.

 

 

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Look At This Stuff? Isn’t It Neat? NO! It’s a mess, Ariel, a really big mess!

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Have you ever had a Really Big Goal on your list of To-Do’s that keeps alluding you? A few weeks ago, I shared my Q1 Goals and way down on the list was: Beautifying The Apartment.    The thing is…it’s really so much bigger than just making the apartment look nice. So. Much. Bigger. 

We live in a decent-sized two-bedroom apartment with our 8-year-old son and all of our crap. Everywhere.  See, to start making it beautiful, we have to see the floor first. UGH! Step 1 of this overall goal is to declutter, organize, throw out, donate, and basically clean up the apartment. And this is where I get stuck, every time. 

Want to know a little secret? This has been on my goals list for a few years.  And last year we made a small dent, but we never finished because looking around at everything starts getting overwhelming! I look at each room and get tired just thinking of the hard work and energy and time that it’s going to take and instead, I make coffee and find some chocolate and flip on Disney+ (because who doesn’t love Baby Yoda?!?!).

I have a fairly strong WHY for this goal – to feel comfortable and more at home in our space. But that doesn’t seem to help motivate us into action.  Yes, I said US because this is not a solitary ME goal, this involves my husband and my son – so it’s not just me trying to motivate myself, it’s me trying to motivate all of us, at the same time, to accomplish a common goal.  Not easy.

So, I would love to hear your thoughts, ideas, and any advice you might have on this goal.  Have you ever had to declutter an entire room or apartment or house before? How did you chunk up the tasks? How did you keep from being overwhelmed and just get started? Seriously – any advice you can offer is appreciated? 

I’ll just be over here, looking at the piles, drinking my coffee, googling Baby Yoda gifs. Thanks!

 

A Few Of My Favorite Things…When I Write

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

It is now firmly into 2020, almost the middle of January and you know what that means? It’s time to get some writing done!

As I gear up to start revisions again I thought you might like to see a list of the things I need to start writing.

☕️ Coffee – mmmm, coffee

📕 My beat-up project notebook (see image – this thing has been in numerous bags and flung all over my desk/office area)

🖊 Various blue pens – my pen color of choice for most things (like I’m lowkey upset that the emoji is a black pen)

☕️ Coffee – ok, I’m all set up, I’ll grab a 2nd cup

🎼 Music, I actually created a playlist specifically for this revision/draft to help get me into the mind of not one but two teenage girls

💻 Scrivener and GoogleDocs – I did a lot of my outlining and pre-writing for this draft over in GDocs so I could share with my Editor/Writing Coach but now I need to get those notes back into Scrivener where I do most of my actual writing

☕️ Coffee – can never have too much!

Are you a writer or creator of some kind, tell me in the comments below what you need to start working on your projects?

 

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Up In The Gym, Working On My Fitness

Posted on by Jennifer Gregson

Exercise. It can seem like a dirty word, right? Like a curse.  I’ve never been that big on exercise. For example, in gym class as a kid, I would purposely get hit with the dodgeball so I could sit down.  I was tall, uncoordinated, and fat. Starting in 2nd grade I was almost always the tallest and biggest girl in class.  

I have tried many things over the years, some of which I enjoyed and some I hated – almost exclusively for the purpose of losing weight.  Now, that’s not 100% true – I loved tap dancing in college and the two years of karate I did, but otherwise, most things were punishment for being fat and eating too much.

Enter working with my nutritionist.  We had been working on mindset, feelings about my body and Intuitive Eating but not much about movement.  During one session I mentioned that I enjoyed going to Curves back in the day and only stopped because the rents in Manhattan are insane and they were sorta forced out.  I followed the owner to another gym but I hated it – because I really don’t like traditional gyms. So, Diana asked me what about Curves I liked the most and I said, “I knew what to do – you go in, you do your circuit, and you get out.  I liked the music and the coaches and the community aspect”  

She then said something that pretty much changed my life.  She said, “Oh, that sounds very similar to this new place I heard about called OrangeTheory, and one just opened down the street.”  Well, I immediately went home and started doing what I do best – research. I looked at the company’s main website, I watched YouTube videos, I read blogs, and I searched on Pinterest.  

I was pumped and wanted to try it, but I was also scared.  I’m still fat and haven’t worked out in any real capacity in years.  I’ve dabbled and done things at home here and there but I didn’t stick to anything longer than two or three weeks (if that).  I thought about walking and losing more weight and getting more fit before I started. BUT I couldn’t stop watching YouTube videos and reading blogs and basically obsess over this gym.  My husband finally said – just go and try it! And my Mom agreed – she said, “What are you waiting for?” 

I hemmed and hawed a few more weeks, walked past the place a few times and looked through the windows, and finally, I walked in and talked to the nice woman at the front desk and she signed me up for my first FREE class during Mayhem.  The 2nd hardest week of classes at OrangeTheory (the first being Hell Week). AND I did it and I didn’t die – in fact, I distinctly remember feeling proud of myself. I had so much fun – it was the hardest thing I’ve done since giving birth to my son and I loved every stupid minute of it!  And I signed up right then and there for a membership.  

That was the middle of May 2019 and I have consistently gone 2-3 times a week since.   Have I lost weight? Probably – I don’t do the scale anymore, but my clothes all fit better – I’ve gone down a size in shirts, pants, and had to buy new bras.  Have I gained muscle mass? YES! I can actually feel my biceps and my legs are super shapely. Have I become a fitness person? You bet…it’s crazy, but I love going to my OrangeTheory classes.  I look forward to them, I miss them when I have to be away, I adore the people I’ve met there from the other students to the staff. The coaches are phenomenal, they play the best music, and there is so much community – exactly what I was looking for.

Is it for everyone? No. If you hate group classes or hate the rower or treadmill or weights – then you are not going to like it.   I love it. Hands down, the most I’ve stuck with anything since those dancing days so many years ago. I have gained confidence, respect for my body in ways I didn’t have, and I’m just super proud of myself.

It’s crazy to call myself a fitness person, but I really am and it’s amazing!

What does your fitness journey look like?  What do you do for exercise and why do you love it? Please share below!

 

Resources

Looking to obsess and research the crap out of OrangeTheory Fitness (OTF)?  Look no further than this list of cool YouTubers and books!

OrangeTheory’s Website – here you can see what makes them different and check to see which studio is closest to your house 

Andrew Coleman Smith – the MAIN man of OTF YouTubers – he also has a Facebook Group

Grace Keller – Very down to earth Mama who keeps it real

The Fat Gay – Hilarious. Downright hilarious – he is fluffy and he is killing it at OTF.  

Hashtag Sab – She is sooooo amazing and her Instagram content keeps me motivated

Splat! – The funniest book I’ve read and totally relatable.  Want to know what Hell Week is really like? Read this book.

PUSH – One of the main founders of OTF’s book – I haven’t actually read this yet but it’s on my TBR list.  

 

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