Bear Lake Writers Retreat

There was cheese: fancy cheese. Cheese so fancy it has names with three words. Also, grapes and berries to eat with the cheese, because Rob Wells loves cheese. When you love something, you put it on a cutting board, slice it up, and share it with your friends.

This is my second writers retreat, and I am working on the same book. It is a fun little book that gets more fun all the time. It is fiction for middle graders book. Also, writing is hard.

I am a slow writer. Part of it is that I don't write on my book every day, so my skill is still developing. Part of it is that it is my first project, and that means I don't know what I'm doing yet. Writers who know what they are doing have things called "outlines." These so-called outlines have plotlines, characters, big problems, little problems, hooks, etc. My book started with an idea, and I have more ideas, and I write and discover as I go.

My writer friends who publish books tell me consistency (that means writing every single day) is really important to completing projects. I believe every word they utter. I am re-committed to writing every day.

This is what writers look like. Only some of us don't have such wondrous headphones.

People have asked me if I learned a lot. It wasn't a conference or a workshop. It was literally sitting around with our laptops and writing. But, yes. I did. I learned a lot about the business side of writing as the authors talked about pitching to publishers, book proposals they were writing, and different contracts that were going well or not well. And I learned all about the world I am creating for my book. There was a lot to learn, and Google didn't even know all the answers, so I had to figure them out for myself.

And it was the best.

I flew out of Denver on Friday. My travel to Logan, Utah is kind of insane. 

The last hour was kind of like this. That is a tow truck pulling a car out of the ditch. Scary.

The simplest way to get to the Lodge would be to drive the 8 or 9 hours and just be there. But, then I have to drive all day and driving makes me tired. Plus, when I was planning the trip I didn't know I would have a friend who wanted to go with me. Next time I will bring my friend and we will drive together and then it will be fun. This time I drove 3 hours to the Denver airport, flew to SLC, and got a ride with a writer friend to the lodge in Logan. It took most of the day. Then I started writing. 

On Saturday I woke up early and wrote. Then I went for a run/adventure with a friend. Then we ate a delicious lunch of soup and bread.

Delicious, and photogenic.

Then I wrote again. Sunday, I woke up and wrote. Writing for me is typing on my lap-top, and listening to music. My music was blugrass instrumental, James Taylor, and Harry Potter stuff. I snacked, wrote. One meal was with the whole group, and that was a 2ish o'clock lunch. This meal was absolutely delicious every time and a wonderful time to chat. We all kind of put away our lap-tops for an hour, and talked. Part of this lunch was a party for a dear friend celebrating a big moment in her life. We all said a word describing her and it was meaningful. I will hold it in my heart.

Then I wrote again. I wrote, and wrote.

Slept.

Then I woke up and wrote again on Monday morning. I wanted so badly to get to 6,000 words. (One writer wrote 15,000. Isn't that amazing?)

Then, at 10:00, I stopped writing, shut my lap-top and started taking sheets off of beds, and putting them in the washer. I also took the trash out.

Taking the trash out was probably the craziest thing I did the entire weekend. The trash was at the main road, but I didn't really know that when I started out on my "taking the trash out" adventure. I hiked across a baby glacier that lived on the driveway of our lodge. Then I hiked down a snowy hill. My arms were burning because of the trash I was carrying. Then I walked across a road, and finally made it to the big brown trash cans at the main road. My arms were sore the next day, and I thought of the pioneers, and how taking the trash out is harder than it was back then. 

Then, the writing retreat was over. But I was able to have a slumber party with Jennifer Moore, the author of such novels as "Becoming Lady Lockwood," and "Lady Emma's Campaign." I met her family, and fell a tiny bit in love but in a totally appropriate way with her almost 8 year old boy. He had footy pajamas on, and was learning how to tell time, and that is the cutest.

Then I went to bed in my dream room, with books on every wall, a desk for writing, and a dreamy Mr. Darcy on the bookshelf next to my bed, with the roses he gave me.

Jennifer says Mr. Darcy is HER boyfriend, but she can have Heathcliff, and I get Mr. Darcy. 

Then I flew from Salt Lake City back to Denver.

But first, my plane was delayed so I ate some Wendy's.

Then I flew home. I had written down my parking spot at the Pikes Peak shuttle spot, so I even knew where my car was. Isn't that amazing?

Then I came home. My brain was tired, but happy. My kids were loud, but adorable and funny.

My husband was even more handsome than when I left him the four days before.

And I am 6,000 words closer to becoming someone who has finished a book. Some people call them "authors."