"It's All About the Story" by Cynthia Gregory
Our speaker on April 17, 2025, was Cynthia Gregory, a writer, writing coach, and publisher. Cynthia has a Master of Fine Arts degree in literature, is a certified life coach, and works with other writers to help them sharpen their writing skills and get their work published. She’s “all about the story.” Our brains are wired for stories; they teach us language, sensory prediction, empathy, emotion, and imagery. Stories help us with memory and strengthen neural pathways. By reading and hearing stories we connect to characters, helping us make stronger social connections.
Cynthia fell in love with writing as a youngster. She started her career writing travel and food articles. Her early efforts at fiction writing were rejected by publishers, so she doubled down and worked harder. One rejection she received came with a handwritten note from the publisher telling her that her work was great and that she should keep trying. She started registering in story-writing contests and did well; she even finished 2nd in a contest competing against thousands of other writers. Her first book was “Journaling as Sacred Practice: An Act of Extreme Bravery.” It took her 48 days to write it at a pace of 1,000 words per day. It is about how to journal better with short exercises about what writers can do to improve their writing. “What is Possible From Here” is a collection of short stories including stories she’d been working on for years and stories that came out of the Covid experience and the 2017 fires in Sonoma County. “Love Notes From the Soul: Stories of Transformation and Hope” is a collection of short stories from 30 authors from 7 countries. “Love Notes” grew out of a retreat she attended at Big Sur. She was sitting on a bench, reading poetry, and listening to monks chant when we heard a voice telling her “love notes.” She followed up on this idea by collaborating with these authors on an anthology whose premise is how we deal with adversity.
Cynthia’s mentorship of other writers has led to a variety of interesting books, including one about occupational therapy for autistics and another about better health through menopause. She teaches writers some of the important lessons she’s learned, including not taking rejection seriously and doubling down on improving one’s writing skills through journaling, practice, and collaboration.
Thank you, Cynthia, for the wonderful presentation and for lifting us up with your passion and commitment.
