Sitting in the cockpit of the little sailboat that was our new home, I thought that surely this must be the time to start writing.  My old companion, self-doubt, perched on the cushion next to me.  Together we eyed the blank journal in my lap.  Our little boat slid slowly south, the sea a rolling sheet of glass.  Had the passage of time acted like a vacuum cleaner and sucked up all my good ideas?

I opened the crisp new journal; the empty pages taunting that I wasn’t capable of filling them with worthwhile thoughts or lively descriptions.  I argued with the negative bully in my brain.  If I failed, did it matter?  If it turned out that I was no more than an average writer, I reasoned that at least I would be average at something I desperately yearned to do.  Indulging outrageously in positive thinking, I shoved self-doubt overboard and began writing.

Experience is the best tool in a freelance writer’s equipment bag. 

Christie Gorsline has been a real estate appraiser, travel agent, and ski instructor.  She has worked for a stockbroker and a life insurance salesman.  With a Master’s Degree in Education, she has taught high school classes to inmates in a correctional facility and journalism, English, and Spanish to inner city teens in Los Angeles and Tucson.

Motorcycling through 17 European countries she explored small villages and learned to pack light.  During her years on a small sailboat off the west coast of Mexico she learned to cook without refrigeration, explore without a car, and communicate via radio. 

Now living in the Oregon, and a happy new grandmother, Christie has organized writers groups, workshops, and was the organizer of the popular Payette Lake Writers Conference .  She has served on committees that oversee local police work, improve musical venues and expand library services.  Christie and her husband, Rick, ski in the winter, play golf in the summer and travel extensively.

During her years on the Pacific Ocean , Christie shoved self-doubt overboard and scribbled in journals.  She has earned licenses to teach high school, scuba dive, operate a ham radio, and appraise real estate.  What she’s not licensed to do, she simply does anyway, with enthusiasm and attention to detail. 

Christie sells travel articles to magazines and essays to newspapers.  She is a feature and travel writer for national and Oregon markets. Contact her to learn the secrets for living a life full of possibility and passion.  Schedule her to speak at your writer’s conference or write for your publication.