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| This is the hotel where we slept. |
I had a fantastic time at the Falling Leaves Writing Retreat on the shore of Lake George, New York. Last year, I enjoyed this retreat too, but due to the circumstances, I wanted to be alone, I went to bed early, and at times I fought back tears. This year, I went to bed late, I wanted to socialize, and I laughed--a lot. I was pleasantly surprised to find the gorgeous fall foliage was still on the trees, an added bonus. On Saturday, we had a four-hour block of time that included a critique. I revised a manuscript for half of it and went for a walk for the other half.
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| The view from the front porch of the hotel. |
Lisa Rush and I stuck out our thumbs and hitched a ride with the elderly golf cart driver, named Roger. We had a blast! He shared some venison jerky with us and drove us to an area that we didn't realize was part of the grounds.
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| We devoured brownies and roasted marshmallows at the Saturday night bonfire. |
The week before I left for this retreat, I fell into a writing rut after receiving two rejections on the same manuscript. I started thinking about the holidays, the memories, and the hole that will never be filled. I had the attitude that I was paying a lot of money for five lottery tickets, one from each editor. After hearing a couple of retreat success stories and meeting so many published writers, I came home hopeful.
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| Lisa Schnell, Chris Mihaly, Mary Kay Carson, Alisha Gabriel |
I was impressed by the caliber of the attendees. Many had published books. These photographs were taken during the last 15-20 minutes of the retreat. "Smile, like you've bonded!"
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| Linda Marshall, Susannah Buhrman-Deever |
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| Lisa Hladish-Rush, Angela Calabrese, Annie Kuhn |
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| Sue Heavenrich, Marie Sanderson and her husband, Annie Kuhn |
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| Becky Loescher, Carolyn Scoppettone |
