Gina G writes

 The "W" Books The "W" books were all about mysteries, written by two of my favorite authors, Johnny Worthen and Nina Wright. Book 1: Thicker Than Water by Johnny Worthen. A Tony Flaner mystery. If you have not read any of Johnny Worthen's books and you love a quirky, fun whodunit, this series is a great one to check out. Tony Flaner, the sarcastic sleuth, has given up being a good detective and taken up pet sitting a pampered, untrained dog for a high-strung family. Naturally, the dog is kidnapped right under Tony's nose. Tony tries to care, but he really doesn't. He has other things to worry about, like the sudden death of his neglected aunt Vicky in Moab.  Tony travels from Salt Lake to Moab to figure out who killed his aunt and why. Along the way, he deals with the local police, tourists, small town politics, an ex-girlfriend's recently released, psychotic former husband, Nordic Indians, tabloid slanderers, elves, goblins, wine connoisseurs, hate...

 The Alphabet Books U and V The U Books: Book 1: Confessions on the 7:45 by Lisa Unger  Selena is on her way home from work when the train is delayed. Rather than get off, she stays and strikes up a conversation with a woman named Martha. Selena confesses that her husband is having an affair with the nanny. Martha shares that she is having an affair with her boss. The next morning, the nanny goes missing. What follows is described as a fast-paced thriller.  The book was okay. I had a few issues with it. One being the setting. When it started, I thought the setting was England. The second issue was Martha. She seemed like a cardboard character of a femme fatale. The backstory was interesting when it finally came out, but even then, I couldn't get into it. I was bored. But I did finish it.  I give it three stars. Book 2:  The Butcher and The Wren by Alaina Urquhart This was a better-written thriller. The characters were original. The setting was made clear, and th...

 Catching Up Yes, it has been a while since I posted anything about my book challenge. I will keep this short and sweet. Or as short and sweet as possible.  The R Books: Wildwood Whispers by Willa Reece  Goodreads describes this book as a "dark, tender, and thought-provoking, adding that it is a beautifully woven tale of fantasy, feminism, and mystery." I was so bored I couldn't finish it. I made it halfway through and put it down.  * blah Book two: Home Is Where The Bodies Are by Jeneva Rose This was a good mystery. It involved family dynamics and a secret, buried. When Beth, Nicole, and Michael gather together to sort through the family home after their mother's passing, they come across an old home video with a confession on it. What do they do? It concerns a missing person from their childhood. They have the answer or think they do. If you love a good mystery read this one. Very well written. The characters were great. ***** The S Books... Fever Dream by Sam...

 The Writing Journey I had the weekend off. I spent half of my time combing through four chapters in my completed novel. This is phase four of the writing journey. Phase one is getting the story down. Phase two is fleshing it out. Phase three is making sure everything flows. I let the book sit for a month before I went back to it. On Friday, I sat down and prepared myself for phase four, combing through each sentence, paragraph, page, and chapter. I read the page out loud. I read it backwards. Was there repetition? Did I use clichés? Did I have a hook? Page one is very important. You have to hook the reader and make them want to turn the page. You need to introduce the setting, the timeframe, and the main character. I moved on to the second page, where I introduced the "inciting incident." In this story, it is the introduction of a very bad, messed-up man. He is going to set things in motion that my main character and his best friend will have to right. I went through the sam...

 November Musings November is my grateful month. I love everything fall. I start celebrating the season in August. All of the summer decorations are replaced with autumn colors, and my all-time favorite Holiday, Halloween, arrives in October. I will admit that my Halloween decorations stay up far longer than my Christmas decorations, but then again, I'm not a fan of Christmas. It's too garish, too pushy, and too commercial.  Many people move straight to Christmas after Halloween, but I like to keep the holly jolly crap as far away as possible, which is a challenge given that I work in retail. I want to give November its due. This is a time of reflection, of relaxing over a mug of warm coffee while listening to music and reading a good book. This is a time for walking under the changing colors of the leaves and feeling the crisp chill in the air. It is finally (here)flannel shirt weather, and I will confess, there is nothing sexier (in my opinion) than a person wearing flannel....

 The "Q" Books Book 1: The Night Child by Anna Quinn I went with this one because the setting was in Seattle. :) Brown teaches high school. One afternoon, after she has dismissed her last class of the day for the Thanksgiving Holiday, she sees a disembodied face. She sees it again when she is out with her family celebrating the holiday. It's the sad face of a little girl. But who is she? And why does she make Nora feel trapped? She meets with a neurologist and a psychiatrist. Why is she getting these flashes of a Valentine's dress? What happened in her past? As Nora digs deeper, she confronts the lost child she once was, embraces her, and learns the sordid, horrible truth she tried to bury.  As the story progresses, a terrible secret is discovered--a secret that pushes Nora toward an even deeper psychological breakthrough. It is a story of resilience, hope, and the mind, body, and spirit's ability to save itself. It examines the impact of traumatic childhood exper...