INSPIRE YOUR SOUL, INSPIRE YOUR WRITING

I just came back from yet another SCBWI Green Gulch Writing Retreat (they're having it twice a year now - in Spring and in Fall). I tell you, I'm hooked! I'll have to bring a camera next time, so I can post some pictures. I arrived about 4 pm. on Friday, Sept. 18. I found my assigned room, set up my computer, and looked out the large windows overlooking the lush hillside to see not one, but two baby deer munching on leaves and grass just a few feet from me! Ahhh ... if that doesn't inspire your writing, it should inspire the Soul, or at the very least, your oneness with Nature.

I spent the weekend working on my Young Adult novel which I had just started. Chapters one and Two have been very slow going, but by Sunday morning, Chapter Three was flowing much more fluidly. It was an all-women group this time, some of whom I had met and known at previous Green Gulch retreats and other writing conferences, some I got to meet and know for the first time. A small intimate retreat like this is such a great place to make new writing friends. I'm looking forward to seeing a few of these women again at the SCBWI Fall Conference in Oakland, October 24. I also really enjoyed the informal critique groups in the evenings. Usually attended by just a small handful of us, the Saturday night one attracted almost the whole group and it took us close to 3 hours to get around to everybody! But what a treat to hear some of the wonderful pieces the other writers are working on, and to get good insight and some direction about your own work.

The food was delicious as usual, especially this delectable potato salad and an out-of-this-world spinach fettucine dish. The next Green Gulch Retreat is in April, and you can bet my Macintosh laptop I'll be there!

By the way, my friend, Elizabeth Shreeve's new picture book, Oliver at the Window, just came out from Front Street/Boyds Mill Press. Check it out on her website, www.elizabethshreeve.com. Elizabeth also has a Book Party planned to launch the publication of this book at the Book Passage in Corte Madera, on Sat., Oct. 3rd, at 2 pm. Do come by, say 'Hi', get a signed copy of the book, and tell her I sent you.

AND YOU THOUGHT BOOK PUBLISHING WAS SLOW ...

I just got an email from Carolyn Yoder from Highlights for Children magazine. The article I sold to them in 2005 on the Dragon Boat Festival is slated to be published in the June 2010 issue. That's 5 years after they purchased it! Oh well, Better Late than Never, I say. I'm just happy to finally see it in print. Of course, a few things had to be changed and added to make the article a little more contemporary. So, for those of you who have a subscription to Highlights, look for it in June.