Writings da' Bomb!

Don't you hate it when a good thing has to come to an end. I spent this weekend, Thursday through Sunday at the Chesapeake Romance Writer's Spring Retreat. What a fantastic experience. This isn't my first retreat with them but it certainly has been my most productive. While the attendance was down from the previous years it was still a huge success. Eleven of us, writers converged on Chanco on the James in Spring Grove, Virginia (in the forest) on Thursday afternoon. We lodged in the Watson Lodge, a huge eight bedroom house, three levels with eight bedrooms. Sleeps 20 people. A wonderful set up with no television, no phones and very and I do mean very limited cell and internet reception. Each writer came with different backgrounds, different concepts and different goals. We even had an aspiring ten year old join us this year who turned out to be very determined in getting the job done. She come with goal of writing 20 pages and completed the weekend with a total of 35. Wow. there were goals of perfecting the query letter and pitch with someone who was headed to the Romance Writer's National Conferance in two weeks and she had editor and agent appointments, someone else had the goal of finishing the edits to her latest work, another had the goal of writing something, anything. She'd just gotten back into the writing groove and was looking for some inspiration. I had the goal of getting started on a new story that came to me as I was selling my books at the West Orange street fair in New Jersey, this past Memorial day weekend. I wanted ot make a good dent in it. The dent went out the window. I totalled that baby. I finished the story! It's a novella and it topped out at 110 pages, but wow! Happy dance time. Everyone got what they came for this weekend. The writing atmosphere was so intense and every one met their goals. We topped off with 1,128 pages completed collectively by the 11 people who attended. How's that for butt in chair and hands on key board!

Yeah for June!

Whew! I am glad the month of May is over and done. What a stressful month. From bathroom explosions and plumming issues to hubby having a car accident and totaling his car. We all just thank God he was not injured. He misses his car, his baby. Material as it is, he'll get another one soon. I've been hitting the street fair and craft show circuit and loving every minute of it. A few weeks ago I was in Chesterfield Virginia at the Chesterfield Public Library Author and Craft show and then Langley Air Force Base for their spring bazaar. At both I sold some books and got some new friends and readers. What more can an author ask for. Memorial Day weekend I spent time in New Jersey at the West Orange street fair. Had a blast. Sales were good and met a man passing by who stopped to chat and talk about my books. I've dubbed him Italianlicious. Because he was just that. He has inspired a story out of my alter ego Alexis Ke. Got started on it today. Already ten pages down in a couple of hours. I love it when stories come to me like that. She's gonna have fun. I also found out today that 'The Shadow Box', another Alexis story will be released in November at Red Sage. Well, I guess, if I put all of the stress, good and bad in one hat, maybe May wasn't so bad after all.