THE POWER OF A SOLO [WRITERS] RETREAT

 ​Not sure if you know this about me or not, but I am a fiercely independent person. And that means I personally really need my alone time every now and then. Being a mom to two young kids, it's nearly impossible to get that time anymore but, my incredibly supportive husband took over kid-duty for the weekend and sent me on my way on a solo writers retreat. I was itching to get started on my middle grade novel. The "MG" novel that has been sitting in my brain for over a decade is finally a WIP (Work-in-Progress) and I am 5,220 words in. There is a lot for me to figure out on "how" to exactly polish a Middle Grade Novel, but the words being out of my brain and on paper is a HUGE step in the right direction and it is very exciting. 

I stayed local at the Linden Row Inn downtown and made sure I visited some of the "hip" new coffee spots. I went to Roastology coffee and wrote in their awesome warehouse type cafe for the entire morning. After I had my caffeine fix, I relocated to my hotel for the weekend where I wrote by the fire in the Linden Row Inn lobby. The Inn has a black cat who sat on the couch and watched me type for hours. This was equally creepy and sweet. Many people have asked what I listen to when I write as they have seen me around town with earbuds in tip tapping away on the keyboard in my own little flow state world. The answer, classical music. I listen to the same 10 songs on repeat. In short, the weekend provided me with the opportunity to focus on writing which is a great outlet for me. 

While the traditional publishing route is proving to take even longer than I originally expected, I am filling my time in other ways, trying not to sit around and wait. 

• The 12x12 picture book challenge is keeping me on my toes. It's mid-April and I haven't yet written my next draft so that is a big item on my to do list for the month. I have written 3 new picture books in 2022 already. I love them all.
• I am close to making a very exciting decision to partner with an environmental activist group on a fun tie design concept to spread awareness about plastics in our oceans. I've worked with Kate and Dick at PeterBlair and the tie / scarf design is almost complete. Very exciting things to come on this front. 
• This weekend we are heading back to Figure 8 where I get so much inspiration to write and *spoiler alert* it is the setting of my middle grade novel, so I need to get some fresh content. 
• I submitted one of my new picture books to a Work In Progress contest for SCBWI 2022.
• I submitted a second new picture book to a Most Promising Manuscript award for SCBWI 2022. The results won't come out until October 2022, but I'm proud of myself for submitting some new material out to the world. 

Lots of more excitement on the way, thank you again to my friends and family for your constant support and interest in my path to become a children's author.