The Gemwriter

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Another New Year

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by

Frances Brown
in

What’s your buzzword for 2026?

I’ve seen it on multiple social media posts and it’s been the topic of a number of blogs I subscribe to. Instead of a New Years Resolution, many are just picking a key word for the year.

Mine is TRUST. With so much uncertainty in my life since becoming a widow last summer, I’ve decided to stop trying to control everything.

We are not ever in control anyway.

So instead of setting lofty goals, penning lengthy to-do lists, and making promises to myself to “do this” or “do that” every single day, I’ve decided to just let go.

TRUST.

Trust that the Universe supports me. Trust that everything will work out okay. Trust that whatever comes my way, I will know–somehow–how to handle it.

Of course, there are endless unfinished projects on my hard drive.

And on dozens of USB drives tucked into my desk drawers.

In opening up a document that I got over 30K words into, a GREAT story idea, I stalled. Why?

Because I did not trust myself to do the story justice.

It’s time to TRUST and surge forward.

The book has a name. It has a genre. It fits in well with my other Haunted Romance novels.

So why not plow ahead? Even if I can’t get my “target” goal of 1500 words a day written. Even if my writing for that day is reading back over the last chapter to see where I left off.

But I felt like having some fun. So I loaded my story blurb into ChatGPT and asked it to create a cover for me.

WOW. If that’s not something to get excited about, I don’t know what is.

Details coming soon.

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Comments

One response to “Another New Year”

  1. gailingis Avatar
    gailingis

    My dear friend,

    I’ve been thinking about you, and I wanted to share something personal—not to convince you of anything, only to tell you where I found peace when I didn’t think peace was possible.

    Years ago, after my husband left, the pain felt unbearable. I truly wanted to say goodbye to this life. I searched everywhere for relief—travel, tennis, friends, family, distractions—but nothing touched the ache.

    I was very young when I married, and a mother soon after. I had been innocent, and suddenly I was alone. For a while, I even took medication just to dull the pain, until I realized it was costing me the things I loved, like tennis.

    During that time, two married friends, Andy and Terri, stayed very close to me. They were kind in a way I had never seen before—quietly generous, deeply present, and full of love. I finally asked them what made them that way. They told me they had a relationship with God and with His Son.

    I’ll be honest—I was Jewish, and accepting Jesus felt impossible to imagine. But after five years of watching their lives, I realized I wanted whatever gave them such peace.

    One evening, Andy gently asked if I would accept Jesus into my heart. I didn’t argue or analyze—I simply nodded. And in that moment, something lifted. I could breathe again. When I left their home, the night felt bright and alive, as if I were floating in a clear, flowing stream. I knew something had changed.

    That was in 1978, and it changed my life—not by removing all hardship, but by giving me peace, beauty, and hope where none had existed before.

    I share this only because I care about you. No expectations, no pressure—just my story, offered with love.

    Always here, Gail Gail

    Gail Ingis, Author/Artist/Designer/ Beauty Consultant (203) 887-4245 gailingisclaus@gmail.com https://www.counter.com/?aff=GAILINGIS http://beautycounter.com/gailingis

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